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Razer’s Blade computers have always been more about how they look and how well they are made than how much they cost. Even the company’s newest computers have the same understated black metal shells and per-key RGB keyboards, but they also have taller 16:10 displays, which is a trend in the industry. That means the Blade 16 (which we are looking at) and the Blade 18 will get new names.
Both are officially bigger, but they are mostly just taller and deeper front to back than their predecessors, the Blade 15 and Blade 17. They also have 13th Gen Intel and 40-series Nvidia chips. The Blade 16 has a beautiful Min-LED dual-mode display that can switch between a 3840 x 2400 resolution at 120 Hz or a 1920 x 1200 resolution at 240 Hz for faster-paced games. It’s an interesting way to please both esports and AAA players, who are often the same people, and the display looks gorgeous.
Razer Blade 16 Specifications
Feature | Specification |
---|---|
Display | 16.0″ QHD 165Hz IPS, 2560 x 1440 |
Processor | 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11800H |
Graphics | NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Laptop GPU |
Memory | 16GB DDR4-3200MHz |
Storage | 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth® 5.2 |
Ports | 2 x Thunderbolt™ 4 (USB-C), 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1 |
Keyboard | Razer Chroma™ RGB backlit keyboard |
Razer Blade 16: Display
The Blade 16 Early 2023 has a mini-LED display with two modes that is the first of its kind. During our testing, our test unit gave us a number of interesting insights. At first, our unit’s AUO panel had a bug called “image retention” that left parts of the wallpaper forever etched on the screen (except when it was turned off), which was annoying.
But Razer has now released a software patch that fixes this problem completely. The Blade 16 Early 2023 is the first laptop to have a dual-mode 16:10 and 4:3 screens. Users can switch between native screen modes of UHD+ (3840 x 2400) 120 Hz and FHD+ (1920 x 1200) 240 Hz, which is a perfect integer scaling. The higher resolution can help with creative workflows, and the FHD+ at 240 Hz is useful for competitive play.
Ports and Connectivity
The power brick has a unique connector, but the laptop also has two USB-C ports, one of which is Thunderbolt 4, that can be used to charge at 100W PD. That’s enough power for light use, but if the GPU is turned on, it won’t keep the machine running for long.
Even though there are woofers, the bass sound isn’t bad, but it could have been much better. The middles and highs are clear, so it should be fine for casual hearing. There is also a 3.5 mm combo audio jack and Bluetooth 5.3 for connecting to other media devices. You can buy this laptop from its official website
Keyboard and trackpad
The keyboard seems to be the same as it was last year, which is exactly what we expected. As a former Blade owner, I’m used to Razer keyboards, so it didn’t take me long to get good at typing on this computer. The plan is well thought out, and each key is in a place that makes sense.
The only strange thing about it is that the power button is where the Del key is usually. Some people might find it hard to get used to how shallow the click is, but I’ve found that it just takes time. It helps that the keys are pretty big, and when you press them, you get a lot of feedback. So far, the covering on the keys is something we don’t like. Even after only a week of use, the WASD keys already look very worn. We’ll see if this works out in the long run.
Razer Blade 16: Performance
As you might expect from a laptop this powerful, you should be able to throw almost any task at the Razer Blade 16 and it will just crush it. We loaded the gaming drivers from Nvidia, but you can also use the studio drivers to make content. The power of this laptop makes it one of the most powerful laptops ever made. During our testing process, we even found that it beat many gaming PCs.
Razer Blade 16: Battery Life
In our normal Wi-Fi browsing test at 150 nits, the 95.2 WHr dual-battery pack lasts for 5.45 hours. The Razer Blade 16 RTX 4080 is just a little bit better. At 150 nits, the video playing run time is much better than the competition, which is around 8.5 hours. Even though the battery has strong parts, it only lasts about 1.5 hours when it is being used. With an RTX 4080 and a 99.9 WHr battery, the Lenovo Legion Pro 7 can last 53% longer.
Final Words
There’s a lot to like about the Blade 16, like its second-to-none chassis design, its surprisingly good webcam, and its good work and gaming performance. But the Blade 16’s best feature is its dual-mode Min-LED screen. Even though we didn’t find it upsetting, we don’t think most people will find the panel worth the price. For $3,299 in our review configuration with an RTX 4070, it’s hard to recommend over either the similarly configured Asus ROG Strix G16, which costs $1,300 less, or the bigger.
Razer Blade 16 review: THE GOOD AND THE BAD
The Good
- much more powerful and configurable
- improved speakers and battery
The Bad
- still an expensive series
FAQS
Over time, dust could build up in the vents and stop them from doing their jobs. Rest the Blade should on solid, flat surfaces to keep the air vents free of things that could get in the way of airflow and make it work better. Clean the Blade’s air vents often to keep dust from building up.
Click on the “SYSTEM” tab. Click on the “PERFORMANCE” button. Select “Custom” from the list of PERFORMANCE MODES. Set the setting for the CPU to BOOST.