Razer Blade Stealth (Mid 2017) Review

[Julio Franco]

The Razer Blade Stealth has received a refresh featuring the same great design, portable form factor, and solid selection of internal hardware, but now addressing previous downsides with a larger screen with smaller bezels, a better trackpad, among others, that make this a superb ultraportable contender.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/review/1475-razer-blade-stealth-refresh/

 

[Darth Shiv]

No discrete gfx I take it? I think there are some really good Max-Q options floating around.

Looks like options like HP Omen smash the Razer Stealth for gfx perf and the price is pretty comparable.

 

[Jon Tseng]

No discrete gfx I take it? I think there are some really good Max-Q options floating around.

Looks like options like HP Omen smash the Razer Stealth for gfx perf and the price is pretty comparable.

Max Q is aimed at heavy duty gaming laptops which sell for a lot more and have about a fifth of the battery life.

Similarly HP Omens are much larger and chunkier. Sure the price is comparable but that is a silly argument. The form factors are radically different.

 

[Jon Tseng]

What this thing is really crying out for are MX150 gfx and the new quad core gen 8s. That would be a significant bump in standalone performance.

I know they are pushing this as a ultrabook w plug I razer core, but given their gaming heritage throwing in the GPU is an obvious move to make...

 

[oldikes]

What this thing is really crying out for are MX150 gfx and the new quad core gen 8s. That would be a significant bump in standalone performance.

I know they are pushing this as a ultrabook w plug I razer core, but given their gaming heritage throwing in the GPU is an obvious move to make...

even the core gen 8 alone really (though the mx150 is also a solid inclusion). Im amazed they didnt wait and launch this with gen 8.

This is my favorite ultrabook designwise though. maybe someday...

 

[Reehahs]

What this thing is really crying out for are MX150 gfx and the new quad core gen 8s. That would be a significant bump in standalone performance.

I know they are pushing this as a ultrabook w plug I razer core, but given their gaming heritage throwing in the GPU is an obvious move to make...

even the core gen 8 alone really (though the mx150 is also a solid inclusion). Im amazed they didnt wait and launch this with gen 8.

This is my favorite ultrabook designwise though. maybe someday...

Probably because they know it is going to be a pointless generation with little performance improvement over the 7th.

 

[oldikes]

Probably because they know it is going to be a pointless generation with little performance improvement over the 7th.

the ULV 8th gen processors are moving from dual to quad core which will be pretty huge in some apps - though single core performance will probably be identical to this gen

 

[CameronP]

No discrete gfx I take it? I think there are some really good Max-Q options floating around.

Looks like options like HP Omen smash the Razer Stealth for gfx perf and the price is pretty comparable.

Max Q is aimed at heavy duty gaming laptops which sell for a lot more and have about a fifth of the battery life.

Similarly HP Omens are much larger and chunkier. Sure the price is comparable but that is a silly argument. The form factors are radically different.

Exactly. He's comparing apples and oranges. For some reason people continue to compare Razer's ultrabook with 'gaming' laptops. It's like buying macbook pro and wondering why it doesnt come with a gtx 1080. The answer is that a macbook isnt intended for gaming. A proper comparison to max-Q would be the Razer blade or blade pro.

 

[CameronP]

What this thing is really crying out for are MX150 gfx and the new quad core gen 8s. That would be a significant bump in standalone performance.

I know they are pushing this as a ultrabook w plug I razer core, but given their gaming heritage throwing in the GPU is an obvious move to make...

even the core gen 8 alone really (though the mx150 is also a solid inclusion). Im amazed they didnt wait and launch this with gen 8.

This is my favorite ultrabook designwise though. maybe someday...

Probably because they know it is going to be a pointless generation with little performance improvement over the 7th.

Dell and Lenovo have both recently started using 8th gen cpu's. I'm sure Razer will update soon enough. They are always a little behind. The 8th gen cpu's will be the first time we see quad core in ultrabooks. It could definitely be significant. Especially if you were using the core to game. Personally I'll be waiting for 8th gen to buy a stealth

 

[AntiShill]

Razer still requires the $500 Razer Core option if you really want to do serious gaming on this thing. At $1400 you have too many other better options for same or less money and many come with at least a GPU, and additionally some will also have the Thunderbolt 3 port too. See:

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/2071-best-gaming-ultrabooks/
http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10579-laptops-thunderbolt-3/

And you can get something like this with a GPU and TB3 port and still under 4 pounds for only $80 more see:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/msi-gs...gb-ssd-aluminum-black/5712735.p?skuId=5712735

So at $1400, the clueless ones will want a fruit logo on their laptop. The ones that want to game will want a GPU and/or TB3 for EGPU, and better bang for the buck option.

 

[Darth Shiv]

Max Q is aimed at heavy duty gaming laptops which sell for a lot more and have about a fifth of the battery life.

Similarly HP Omens are much larger and chunkier. Sure the price is comparable but that is a silly argument. The form factors are radically different.

There are some very small form factor Max-Q's like the Asus Zephyrus - that is more expensive sure but the point is it is VERY possible and as the Omen showed, the GTX1060 Max-Q was actually 2/3 the price of the Stealth so it's pretty feasible for small form factor, light weight and GTX1060 Max-Q perf which is enormously higher than onboard in the same price ballpark.

My particular beef is marketing onboard gfx as ready for games. You can't upgrade the gfx in these things and most people don't know how to spec a laptop their gaming requirements. If your expectations are to play old Blizzard engine games then it gets a pass but if you want to throw it at a AAA title prepare to be disappointed.

 

[Darth Shiv]

Razer still requires the $500 Razer Core option if you really want to do serious gaming on this thing. At $1400 you have too many other better options for same or less money and many come with at least a GPU, and additionally some will also have the Thunderbolt 3 port too. See:

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/2071-best-gaming-ultrabooks/
http://www.ultrabookreview.com/10579-laptops-thunderbolt-3/

You still need a card on top of the $500 too right?

 

[Theinsanegamer]

And once again Razer completely misses the opportunity to throw a 15 or 28 watt iris chip in the stealth.

Why would you buy this over any other ultraportable with an intel chip?

Probably because they know it is going to be a pointless generation with little performance improvement over the 7th.

the ULV 8th gen processors are moving from dual to quad core which will be pretty huge in some apps - though single core performance will probably be identical to this gen

Only in certain apps, when the chip isnt TDP limited of course.

iGPU performance is more of a hindrance to 15 watt chips then CPU performance is.

 

[AntiShill]

You still need a card on top of the $500 too right?

The additoinal $500 for a GPU is at the discretion of the buyer.

I actually recently messed with a eGPU setup with a levono Yoga 7201 13. The Yoga 720 13 I got at best buy for $730 last week, is now up $120 see:
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/lenovo...drive-platinum-silver/5722715.p?skuId=5722715

And I went with the Akitio Node eGPU enclosure here for $262 from Amazon:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XKKSNTS/?tag=httpwwwtechsp-20

And I had an old GTX970 lying around, and I also tested it with my GTX1070 that I borrowed from my desktop machine. I think it is well established that you will be taking a 25% or so performance hit going with a eGPU compared to the desktop, and that I can see that in the benches. In any case, they both worked fairly well for stuff like Overwatch and the Destiny 2 beta. So you do NOT really need to spend $500 for the GPU if you do NOT want to or have to. A HTX1050ti for $150 or so would actually work great. BTW the intel HD620 was actually plenty good enough for old games like Left4Dead2.

So in short, I got the setup for roughly $992. And the Levono Yoga 720 13 is a 2-in-1 in the 2 pound range. Which is to say the Razer Blade Stealth is really overpriced.

 

[Darth Shiv]

This is from their own page for reference. I guess there is a pretty strong inference for anyone who knows these titles that this is not a gaming powerhouse but it's pretty funny that they even had a section with a list of fairly recent games you can play on it.

So my point is someone who doesn't know what they are doing goes "Oh yeah awesome look at the cool games this can play!" but then tries a decently taxing title only to find

the iGPU is trash...

 

[pawel04]

Thats great news about the bezels, it looks great! Too bad that its still running a dual core, unfortunately if I was in the market that would be a 100% deal breaker for me in this day and age.