Razer unveiled the 2017 update to its popular Razer Blade lineup on Monday and the new notebooks are just packed to the gills with high-end hardware. The new 14-inch Razer Blades come in two flavors, starting at $1,900 and both boast seventh-generation Intel i7 quad-core processors alongside a powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 GPU.
The 1080p model is slated to hit the Razer online store on Monday and other select retailers on February 20, while the 4K touchscreen model will likely be hitting store shelves sometime in the second quarter of 2017.
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Razer Blade (2017)  |
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| Dimensions | 13.6 x 9.3 x .70 (inches) |
| Weight | 4.10 lbs (1080p), 4.30 lbs (4K) |
| Processor | Seventh-generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ quad-core (2.8GHz) |
| Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB |
| RAM | 16GB |
| Display | 14-inch 1080p, or 14-inch 4K Touch Screen |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 or 3840 x 2160 |
| Storage | 256GB SSD, 512GB SSD, or 1TB SSD |
| Ports | 3x USB 3.0, 1x Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C), 1x HDMI 2.0, 3.5mm jack |
| Webcam | 2.0MP |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Battery | 70 watt-hours |
| Price | $1,900 (1080p), $2,750 (4K) |
| Review | Coming Soon |
This release follows on the heels of a banner year for Razer, according to CEO Min-Liang Tan.
“More users embraced this flagship computer model in 2016 than ever before. Beyond gaming it has been really gratifying to see people enjoying the power and portability of the Blade for video editing, music creation, and software development,” Tan said.
The new 14-inch Razer Blade has some big shoes to fill. though. The 2016 Blade was one of our favorite gaming notebooks of 2016 with its unique blend of style, portability, and performance. Packing that GTX 10-series, alongside a seventh-generation Kaby Lake quad-core processor, it will very likely run circles around the 2016 model when it comes to performance.
That said, those high-end components might come with an unseen cost. The 2017 models feature more horsepower, but they still rely on the same size battery, so it will remain to be seen if the new model is an overall improvement over the 2016 model.
