Razer has announced an update to the Blade 17, which includes a 1080p webcam, improved performance, and a number of other small changes that make it a contender among the best gaming laptops you can buy.
The Razer Blade 17 can sometimes feel like the forgotten step-child in the Razer Blade lineup. It often gets updates late and doesn’t offer anything materially different than the 15-inch model outside of the larger screen.
But in its latest update, the Razer Blade 17 receives some enhancements that step up the game in a big way, most noticeably with the inclusion of the 1080p webcam, the Intel Core i9 processor, and improved graphics performance. Oh, and it’s no longer called the Razer Blade Pro 17. It’s just the Razer Blade 17 now.
On the outside, the Razer Blade 17 remains unchanged. It still has a 17-inch screen with loads of display options, starting with 1080p 360Hz all the way up to 4K 120Hz. The main performance difference comes from the new processor and graphics improvements.
The Razer Blade 17 offers up to an 11th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, which matches what is available now on the Razer Blade 15. The Core i9 ensures the best possible performance for not only gaming but also content creation. The Razer Blade 17 might no longer call itself a “Pro” laptop, but plenty of creative professionals may be interested, specifically in the glossy, color-accurate 4K models. It should be noted that the processor option is the Core i9-11900H, not the unlocked Core i9-11980HK.
The Razer Blade 17 still offers up to an RTX 3080 on the graphics side of things, but the system can now send a full 130 watts of TGP to the graphics card. This is up from the 105 watts of TDP on older models. This should offer a nice bump to graphics performance, even over the 95 watts offered in the Razer Blade 15.
The webcam is the other big feature in the new Razer Blade 17. Again, matching what the Razer Blade 15 was updated with earlier this year, you now get a 1080p webcam fit snugly into the top bezel.
Other new features include some enhancements that were recently brought to the Razer Blade 15. These include an anti-fingerprint coating, quad speakers, THX spatial audio, and a better trackpad with improved palm rejection.
The new Razer Blade 17 starts at $2,399, which comes with a non-touch 1440p 165Hz screen, an RTX 3060, 16GB of RAM, a Core i7 processor, and a 1TB PCIe solid-state drive. The RTX 3080 model starts at $3,299, which comes with a 1080p 360Hz screen. You’ll need to lay down a whopping $3,699 if you want the ultimate configuration with the 4K 120Hz screen, RTX 3080, and Core i9-11900H processor.
Lastly, Razer also announced a minor improvement to the Razer Blade 15 base model, which is the cheapest way into the Razer Blade 15 gaming laptops. While it still includes the older copper heat pipe cooling system (and is slightly thicker), it now offers an up-to-date spec sheet. The laptop features an 11th-gen Core i7-11800H processor and up to an RTX 3070. You can even configure it with a 1440p 165Hz screen for $2,199.
The base model still starts at $1,799, which comes with 16GB of RAM, a 1080p 144Hz screen, and a 512GB SSD.
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