Razer Blade 15

144Hz display is perfect for competitive gamers ; Beautiful design ; Solid 1080p gaming performance ; Light enough to double as a regular laptop

1080p version not great for creatives ; Trackpad isn't the best around

The Razer Blade 15 masterfully balances performance and portability.

144Hz display is perfect for competitive gamers ; Beautiful design ; Solid 1080p gaming performance ; Light enough to double as a regular laptop

1080p version not great for creatives ; Trackpad isn't the best around

The Razer Blade 15 masterfully balances performance and portability.

Sleek design and quality build across the board. Superior display for a gaming laptop. Much better battery life than competitors. Plenty of ports and storage.

No guarantee of 60fps gaming at maximum settings with this Max-Q graphics chip. Key backlighting is single-zone.

Bottom Line: The Blade 15 Base Model trims a few frills from Razer's flagship Blade, but it keeps most of its best aspects. Just make sure you need the slim design; you're giving up some gaming grunt to gain it.

Extra hard drive for storing games and media ; New Ethernet port ; Slightly lighter than original

Noticeably thicker chassis ; Gets unreasonably warm ; Noisy fans randomly spin up, even when idle ; Slower boot times with $1,600 config due to slow SSD ; Worse battery life during intensive use makes it less portable

Amazingly compact for the performance it packs ; 6-core Core i7 and GeForce GTX 1070

A little heavy when the power brick is counted ; Slightly slower CPU performance versus the competition

The laptop gives you a decent port selection. On the right side there's a Kensington lock port, mini DisplayPort, full-size HDMI, USB Type-A and Thunderbolt 3.

Excellent build quality ; High-end performance ; Great speakers, touchpad, and port selection ; Solid battery life

Area above keyboard can get hot enough to sear steak ; Display is dimmer than the competition’s ; Still no Windows Hello support

Still, the Razer Blade 15 is the best attempt at a high-end gaming laptop that can also work as a primary, everyday computer. It has the best build quality, sound, and battery life of any current gaming laptop, and can still game like a desktop. On top...

Stylish, lightweight design; Excellent battery life; Solid overall and gaming performance; Good audio ; Dim display; Shallow keyboard ; The base model of the Razer Blade offers a premium design, solid gaming performance and over 6 hours of battery life.

Dim display; Shallow keyboard ; The base model of the Razer Blade offers a premium design, solid gaming performance and over 6 hours of battery life.

The base model of the Razer Blade offers a premium design, solid gaming performance and over 6 hours of battery life.

Incredible performance for a portable ; Dazzling display, especially with 144Hz ; Sleek and stylish design

Can get ridiculously hot ; Underwhelming battery life

This ultra-portable has enough power to make your games console jealous, but it can also get unbearably hot

slightly lighter than the Blade 15 Advanced Model ; no performance throttling when gaming ; Thunderbolt 3; Razer Core compatible ; excellent build quality and rigidity ; secondary 2.5-inch SATA III bay ; cooler temperatures all around ; no uneven...

pulse-width modulation present on nearly all brightness levels ; no per-key RGB lighting or 144 Hz display options ; keyboard keys could be firmer in feedback ; fan noise could be quieter when gaming ; base warranty is only one year ; no fingerprint...

When users see "Base Model", they may assume that it would be slower and have fewer features than the "Advanced Model". This couldn't be further from the truth because the Base Model is just as fast as the Advanced Model and with two features (2.5-inch...

easy serviceability; upgradeable SSD, RAM ; crisp matte display with minimal ghosting ; Thunderbolt 3 w/ Razer Core support ; cool WASD keys when under load ; easy-to-use Synapse software ; excellent gaming performance ; Optimus graphics switching ;...

unable to sustain CPU Turbo Boost for extended periods ; Chroma color control requires account creation ; slight-moderate uneven backlight bleeding ; keyboard keys could be firmer and deeper ; no integrated RJ-45 or SD card reader ; no power button...

At the end of the day, the Blade 15 GTX 1060 Max-Q SKU is about 30 percent slower in GPU power than the Blade 15 1070 Max-Q SKU. The result is a configuration that actually runs longer, cooler, and quieter by noticeable margins. It is therefore...