Notebook designers talk about the “Z” (axis) when they refer
to the designed thickness of a machine or components inside. The lower
the Z, the tougher it is to add complexity and dispel heat. Hence, most
gaming notebooks are on the thicker side, since they need the room for
large heat sinks and fans. A thermal solution capable of removing the
150+ watts of heat that a high-end gaming system produces simply
couldn’t fit inside a MacBook Air. High heat can lead to several
unwanted effects. It can shorten the life of batteries and traditional
hard drives. Heat can also make a machine uncomfortable to use. In a
notebook with a Z as low as Razer's Blade, getting components to fit in,
while also getting heat out, becomes the major challenge.
Razer’s motto is “For Gamers. By Gamers”, and it started catering to
that demographic in the 90s. Initially, Razer focused on high-end gaming
mice to help enthusiasts get the most performance possible by staying
on the cutting edge of technology, functionality, and ergonomics. Over
the past decade, though, we've seen the company expand its portfolio to
include keyboards, headsets, console controllers, and even gaming
laptops.
When Razer expanded its line-up with the original Blade, it was a
major departure from most gaming notebooks that came before. Razer
designed the Blade to generate as much performance as possible in a
portable machine, yet it still incorporated a large 17” screen. The
company eschewed the bulk and heft of laptop frames commonly used in
other 17” gaming machines in favor of a thinner, sculpted body that
reduced overall weight. Instead of a large OEM power adapter, Razer
created its own, which was lighter and smaller. Instead of a typical
trackpad, it included a small touchscreen running the Switchblade UI and
ten customizable keys.
The original Razer Blade (released at the tail end of 2011) dealt
with thermal challenges by employing a dual-core processor and Nvidia's
GeForce GT 555M, a combination that didn't require as much cooling as
competing 17" gaming machine. Unfortunately, the match-up also caused
the first-gen Blade to lag behind other notebooks in measures of
absolute performance. The machine was capable of mid-range gaming, sure.
But it was also slower than other systems selling at lower prices.
Razer's Blade had the looks and the portability, but it lacked muscle.
In the quest for a low Z, the performance trade-off was a little too
severe.
The second-generation Blade, which we are reviewing today, represents
a major effort to upgrade the machine's performance, while retaining
the thinness and features that set the original apart. With a unique
quad-core CPU that only dissipates up to 35 watts and a
highly-overclocked GeForce GTX 660M, the new Blade should move up a
couple of tiers in terms of speed. The cooling system is completely
revamped to be more effective than the original, too. To save space,
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are covered by one card. In the end, the second-gen
Blade should be what Razer's customers were hoping for all along: the
right mix of looks, performance, and portability. Is this the one?
Clad in semi-matte black anodized aluminum, the Razer Blade
is a strikingly beautiful machine. Subtle curves and ridges catch the
light, creating contrasts of black and grey that change as the machine
is moved. Punches of green in the USB ports and lid logo add just the
right amount of contrast to the otherwise dark metal shell. This is not a
machine that needs pulsating multicolored lights on every surface to be
noticed. The metal chassis is molded and shaped into a form that
transcends most other gaming notebooks. I'll use that word again for
emphasis: it's striking.
I'm not alone in my opinion. Toting the Blade to meetings, co-workers
would ask about it. Graphic designers who only use Apple products, and
typically scoff at my “boring” review units, wanted to know more. People
had to pick it up and see it from every angle. Even a local computer
hardware support center’s staff of jaded techs (they've seen everything)
clustered up around the Blade to get a closer look. Like its design
cues or not, the machine attracts attention.
At just .88”-thick, the Blade is very thin for a notebook with a
17.3” display. It’s actually slightly thinner than the latest 17”
MacBook Pro. And, like the Apple, it has the feel of being sculpted from
a single piece of metal. The Blade's body does not flex. If you hold it
in its center, the 6.6 lb chassis doesn't feel too heavy. Grip it with
one hand from an edge, though, and it gets quite a bit heavier.
The lid has a pair of subtle ridges that help to minimize flex when
opening it. They also frame the Razer logo and add very subtle curves to
the top of the machine. The logo itself is in Razer’s typical green,
which contrasts against a sculpted black anodized aluminum background.
The lid is precisely machined to allow the logo to be mounted under it,
achieving an engraved look. All of these little details come together to
create a three-dimensional look and feel.
When you open the lid, you notice that the hinges are very smooth and
solid. When it's shut, the screen stays in place. There is no latch,
and there don't appear to be any magnets holding the lid down. A
continuous rubber strip surrounds the far edges of the display bezel,
which both keeps dust out as well as cushions the lid. Closing the lid
is like closing the door on high-end luxury car: there is a solid, yet
silent bump, and it stays put.
Inside, the layout is similar to other notebooks with the exception
of the Switchblade UI. The screen is a 17.3” LED-backlit panel with a
resolution of 1920x1080. Above the screen, you'll find a webcam and
microphone, and above the keyboard, there's a power button with
integrated status lights. Just below the display hinge are the speakers,
which employ Dolby Home Theater v4 technology. The chiclet, or
island-style, keyboard features green backlighting. To the right of the
keyboard lies the Switchblade UI, lending to the Blade’s overall strong
visual presence.
Sitting on a desk, the machine is lifted about 5 mm in the back by a
pair of metal and rubber supports to allow better airflow through the
cooling system. When it's open, the top of the palm rest is only 14 mm
from the surface the machine is sitting on.
All ports are placed on the left side of the Blade. In all, there are
three USB 3.0 ports, a combo headphone/mic jack, HDMI 1.4, gigabit
Ethernet, and power. Exhaust ports for the CPU cooling fan are located
on this side of the machine as well.
We should note that the Ethernet jack holds onto cables much more
securely than typically seen. We’re unsure if this was an intended
feature or not. Nevertheless, you won’t have to worry about the cable
accidentally coming loose.
The right side only hosts a locking slot and exhaust ports for the
GPU fan. Speaking of, if you connect a mouse, you may find that your
hand rests directly in front of that exhaust port.
On the bottom of the Blade, air intakes are positioned at each of the
back corners for the CPU and GPU cooling systems. As mentioned, the
thermal solutions were redesigned for the second-generation Blade. We’ll
get to their real-world impact shortly.
Other than the tiny ring around the webcam, the air intakes have the only reflective metal on the entire machine.
As you can probably tell, we're impressed with the look and feel of
this notebook. Razer likes to say that the chassis was inspired by the
Army’s Ka-Bar, but I also see the influence of high-end supercars. A lot
of thought clearly went into the new Blade's overall design and
engineering. The bright, colorful displays combine with the clean, flat
exterior to give this product a slightly menacing look that befits a
gaming rig without going overboard on bling.
Unfortunately, removing the Blade’s bottom panel voids a
customer's warranty, and Razer requested that we not remove it either.
This does not make us happy. Although the company prevented us from
taking pictures of the notebook’s internals, Razer directed us to the
promotional video that contains brief renderings of the cooling system.
Still, we wish that we were able to capture the CPU and GPU thermal
solutions in action, because they do a great job of expelling heat from
the machine.
Razer positions the Blade R2 as a closed system with no
user-serviceable parts. The company only offers one configuration, and
your only choice is between Windows 7 or 8. You can also pick a one- or
two-year warranty (both of which are voided if you open the system).
While Razer isn’t the only company to discourage user upgrades, this may
be something to consider if you’re used to swapping drives and
upgrading RAM. It could also present an issue if you ever need to clean
dust from the Blade’s vents.
The screenshot below is from Razer’s promotional video. We tried to
label what limited components we were able to see in this rendering.
It also appears that the hard drive is located in the bottom-right
corner, directly beneath the machine's palm rest. Putting my ear up to
the chassis seemed to confirm this.
We also think that there's a PCIe slot for Intel's Centrino
Advanced-N 6235N Wi-Fi/Bluetooth card directly under the arrow keys on
the keyboard. Meanwhile, it looks like Lite-On's LMT-64M3M mSATA SSD
(used for caching) is under the Windows key.
Although we didn't label it, we're guessing the battery is located to
the left of the hard drive, below the keyboard. The battery is not
obvious in any other part of the system, and keeping it away from heat
would help minimize wear over time. Since we were asked not to take the
machine apart, a lot of these are just educated guesses, though.
In this second capture from Razer's video, we see the CPU cooling in
more detail. It looks like the heat sink may be mounted directly to the
top and/or bottom of the chassis to also transfer heat into them as well
as the heat pipes going to the fans. The bottom of the machine does get
very warm, which seems to support this. The 75-minute heat run you'll
see shortly supports this as well, since the hard drive slowly increased
in temperature as the entire chassis warmed. Again, we cannot be 100%
sure since we can’t remove the panel.
One component that did make a serious impression was the Blade R2’s power adapter.
The included 120 watt power adapter is custom-built for the Blade R2.
Weighing less than a pound, it’s much smaller than similar units, and
can actually deliver more than its rated output. In the images below,
the Blade’s adapter is compared to two other adapters that having
similar power ratings; Razer's is on the right.
Not everything is perfect, though; we do have a couple of issues to point out with the Blade’s design.
First, with all I/O attached on one side, you can see it gets crowded in a hurry.
Second, the right-angle power plug means that the power cord runs
straight back, hugging the side of the machine. This means that the cord
is usually right in front of the CPU exhaust vent, which can’t be good
for the vent or the cord.
The top of the palm rest is the same black anodized aluminum that
makes up the rest of the Blade. The keyboard and Switchblade UI are set
into a slightly recessed tray milled into the aluminum panel. The keys
themselves extend slightly above the recess and have a very good feel
overall, though if you push directly down with heavy force, there is
some slight flex.
It does take some time to get used to the Blade’s keyboard and
touchpad layout. If you are coming from a notebook with a full-sized
keyboard, number pad, and touchpad below the keyboard, your muscle
memory will have to be retrained. We found ourselves constantly looking
for the touchpad in the empty space below the keyboard. We also lamented
the loss of full-sized up and down arrow keys when going through menus
or documents (
Ed: Microsoft's Type Cover suffers this same limitation). In the end, though, the keyboard and touchpad layout on the Blade became easy to use after a few hours of acclimation.
The Blade's Switchblade UI is the same one found on Razer's
DeathStalker Ultimate desktop keyboard. The UI is made up of a
multi-touch LCD track-panel and ten dynamic adaptive tactile keys. Each
of the ten keys has a small 115x115-pixel display that can be customized
to different uses. The multi-touch LCD track-panel is similar to having
a 4” 800x480 smart phone (minus the phone) built into the touchpad.
Together, they are capable of providing a highly-customizable interface
for gaming and other tasks.
In addition, the applications included with the Switchblade UI run
directly on the touchpad. The experience is similar to running Gmail,
Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube on your smartphone. While it might sound
more like a gimmick to be able to run these apps, I can see situations
where they might be useful. Say you're in class taking notes on the
Razer Blade R2. The professor might be hostile to cell phones, go so far
as to ban them. You might not want your Twitter feed showing up on your
screen for the people behind you. You could bring up Twitter on the
Switchblade to keep the feed private, while leaving your smartphone in
your pocket. Even if someone only ever uses the number pad and timer
modes, the Blade still offers considerably more functionality than
standard touchpads.
When used with games, the Switchblade UI and Dynamic keys transform,
enabling access to macros and other personalization. This provides a
surprising amount of convenience in games where actions tend to be
repetitive. We found ourselves setting up custom configurations for
questing and professions in
Mists of Pandaria. We also used the Switchblade UI in addition to the mouse in multiplayer games like
Battlefield 3 and
Black Ops II.
Used purely as a touchpad, the Switchblade UI is quite good. We had no issues with tracking, and gesture support is excellent.
The two buttons below the Swichblade touchpad are slightly awkward to
use, however. They’re recessed, and have a narrow feel unlike any of
the other keys on the machine. While this may be a minor bit of
nitpicking on my part, it was noted by two other people that used the
Razer. Ideal buttons would be the same as those on the keyboard.
One concern we had about the placement of Switchblade UI and touchpad
was their position to the right of the keyboard. While this layout
makes sense to gamers, since we usually have our left hand on the
keyboard and our right hand on a mouse, what if you’re left-handed?
Would deviation from a centered touchpad be an issue? To find out, we
took the machine to a couple of lefties. Their only complaint was when
they needed to hold down a touchpad button and use the other hand to
select something. It was also pointed out that centered touchpads cause
your right hand to bunch up under your left when using the standard WASD
movement keys. Having the touchpad on the right is really the only
logical ergonomic design for a gaming notebook.
We just happened to have access to two other 17” notebooks
that feature striking designs as well: the last-generation 17” MacBook
Pro and the original Alienware R17x. Comparisons to the Apple are easy
to make, and even Razer likes to draw parallels. Comparing the Blade to
the Alienware is tougher, but both serve the same purpose: being 17”
gaming notebooks.
Starting with the 17” MacBook Pro:
Zoom
The Blade has a slightly larger footprint than the MacBook, and the
ridges in the lid and Razer logo stand out more than Apple’s minimalist
design.
Zoom
The Blade is slightly wider, but in terms of thickness, they appear to be very close.
Zoom
Again, with their lids closed, both machines appear to be the same
thickness. But this is only due to the ridges Razer puts into its lid to
increase stiffness.
Zoom
Once you open the machines, you can see that the Razer is actually a few millimeters thinner than the MacBook.
Zoom
The chiclet-style keyboards are similar. And while Apple has a larger
trackpad, the Razer provides more options with its Switchblade UI.
Moving on to the Alienware, we know that comparing a three-year-old
system to a brand new one is not fair. However, for this purpose, the
newest R17x is still very close to the same exterior design. We also
know you can put two video cards and faster processors into the
Alienware. But this is about showing a more compact way to build a
gaming machine. The Alienware in the pictures is a machine I own myself.
It has performed very well over the years, and has the battle scars to
prove it. On the other hand, it is one big, heavy chunk of a machine.
Zoom
As you can see, the Alienware is
much thicker. In fact, at its thickest point, the R17x’s display bezel is almost as thick as the entire Blade.
Zoom
Measuring front-to-back, once again, the Alienware is slightly
larger. However, the R17x’s full-sized keyboard with number pad takes up
about the same amount of space as the Blade’s keyboard and Switchblade
UI.
Zoom
Here is another way to visualize the Blade's height. Also, keep in
mind that the GeForce GTX 660M in the Blade R2 has about 2x the
processing power of the GeForce GTX 280M in the Alienware. Credit goes
to Nvidia for that.
Razer’s Synapse system is required for the Switchblade UI to fully
function. When you first start the machine, you are greeted by an
account login screen that asks for an email address and password. Until
you register your email address with Razer’s online system, the
Switchblade UI is nothing more than 10 dark buttons that do not work and
a trackpad. Now, the touchpad still works, but much of the
functionality that sets the Blade apart from other notebooks does not.
Attempting to use advanced Blade features prompts you with a message
that directs you to log in and create an account for the SwitchBlade UI
to work properly.
Once an account is created, the Switchblade UI comes to life. All
user settings for the Switchblade UI are synced to the cloud via Razer’s
Synapse, allowing settings to be moved across systems, keyboards, and
other peripherals. Checking the "Stay Logged In" box permits
Synapse-enabled devices to work even when a network connection is not
available.
The Synapse software starts and shuts down with Windows. If there is a
network connection available, the system syncs up with Razer’s cloud
service and saves the Switchblade UI user settings. If there is no
network connection available, settings are stored locally. This means
that, if you wish, you can block Synapse from accessing the Internet and
still have all the functionality that Switchblade UI provides.
The following screenshots take you through Synapse's features. Keep
in mind that the software manages all Razer products on a system, so if
you already have some Razer peripherals, you may see more options than
those available exclusively on the Blade.
Gaming Mode lets you disable key combos that could accidentally interrupt a game.
Backlighting for the keyboard and Switchblade UI is adjusted and saved to the Synapse cloud service.
Multiple keyboard customizations are available, as are multiple profiles.
The Synapse software also lets you record and edit detailed macros, which can even be used outside of games.
The trade-off to the convenience of saving settings in Razer’s
Synapse cloud service is that you end up providing information about
your machine to Razer. Depending on your privacy preferences, this could
be considered a bad thing.
Our biggest issue with the Synapse software is that until you create
an account and log into it, the Blade is essentially a crippled machine.
The Switchblade UI is truly its standout feature, and without a Synapse
login, you end up with just another touchpad. This bothered us enough
that we spent a couple of hours with Wireshark monitoring what the
software sent, and to where.
Our privacy concerns were addressed when we received more
information. We spoke with Razer representatives, who assured us that
the only data collected related to the hardware settings and
peripherals. Our own observations with Wireshark seem to support this.
The Synapse software can also be non-personalized, and “phoning home”
can be permanently disabled as well. If you log in with a throwaway
email address, Razer won't have your actual email address. If the box
for “Stay Logged In” is checked, and the Synapse software is blocked
through the system’s firewall settings, the Blade will never call home
and sync. This also blocks software updates. But then again, very
private folks are used to manually downloading and installing updates
anyway. In the end, Razer most likely isn’t changing its focus from
gaming to harvesting user data. We honestly believe that Synapse is
meant to help users get the most out of their hardware.
Other than the Switchblade UI, there is very little additional
software included with the Blade. What you get is there to control the
machine's hardware. Razer’s gaming-oriented focus is well supported by a
lack of bloatware.
Below is a screenshot from the Dolby Home Theater software, which
handles audio output for movies, music, and games. The EQ settings work
well in music mode, while the dialog enhancer tunes streaming movies
(played both on the machine directly and via HDMI with a couple of LCD
televisions).
Further control of audio settings is provided by the Realtek HD Audio Manager.
The Razer Blade ships in a padded inner box with a very distinct green band inset around the middle.
Opening the box reveals the Blade R2. This wasn't the actual unboxing; rather, it was the
reboxing,
just before sending the Blade back. What you see is a month's worth of
wear and tear. Outside of a few errant finger prints, the machine looks
like new.
Under the Blade R2, you are welcomed to the “Cult of Razer” by a box
holding software, instructions, a cleaning cloth, and stickers.
Of all the items in Razer's accessory box, the two most likely to be
used are the clear screen protector for the Switchblade UI and the
cleaning cloth for the Blade’s dark finish. The system restore image on
the machine's drive means you won’t have to use the included Windows
disc, though it is nice to receive physical media when many competitors
leave it out.
Running the recovery process is simple. At the POST screen, go into the system boot options and launch it, illustrated below.
Once you select “Start Recovery,” everything else is automated.
The green status bar slowly marches across the screen…
Our synthetics include 3DMark 11, 3DMark Vantage, and 3DMark 06.
With the latest version of 3DMark available, we know that 3DMark
Vantage and 3D Mark 06 show their age. But each still offers unique
insight to system performance, letting us compare older hardware you
might still have around. As you can see, we're using an Alienware M18x
with an Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M and an MSI GX60 with an AMD Radeon HD
7970M. We'll be able to see how the GeForce GTX 660M sizes up to the
fastest mobile modules that money can currently buy.
Looking at 3DMark 11, we see that the Blade's GPU is quite a bit
slower than the highest-end mobile chips out there (as expected, of
course). The GPU-only score of 2,434 is still higher than the typical
~2300 that most 660Ms achieve, or even the GT 650M’s typical 2,050.
Overall scores between the two Nvidia-based machines demonstrate
fairly linear scaling. This is to be expected given the faster CPU/GPU
combo in the comparison notebook. The Physics subtest yields a nice
surprise, thanks to a quad-core Hyper-Threaded processor.
Comparing the Blade to MSI's system reveals more differences. While
the Radeon HD 7970M is clearly faster than the Blade's GPU, Intel's Core
i7-3632QM walks all over the AMD APU.
In 3DMark Vantage, the GeForce GTX 660M is once again left behind by
the 680M and Radeon HD 7970M. However, in this older test, which doesn't
employ modern graphics features, the higher-end GeForce is only around
twice as fast as the Blade (rather than almost three times faster). As
we will see in our real-world benchmarks, which don't tend to be as
cutting-edge as synthetics, this Vantage comes closer to reality.
Once again, the Core i7-3632QM shows how fast it is. Against the
-3940XM which is the fastest mobile CPU Intel sells, it keeps up in the
CPU score pretty well. The A10-4600M falls far enough behind that the
Blade is almost able to catch up to the bottlenecked AMD-based machine.
We want to point out, though, that the A10-4600M doesn't feel sluggish,
despite the synthetic numbers. The APU does well under Windows 7 and 8,
and performs well in common tasks. Unfortunately for the dual-module
chip, it's up against two true quad-core CPUs.
The 3DMark 06 scores continue the trend seen previously. Performance
in 3D applications appears to be about twice as fast on the GeForce GTX
680M. The CPU sub-test again demonstrates the Core i7-3632QM's speed.
Leaving additional DirectX features off the table takes away the
Radeon HD 7970M’s advantage over the GeForce GTX 660M. In fact, the
Nvidia GPU outperforms it in nearly every measure. Retro gamers should
take note, since this benchmark represents theoretical performance in
older titles.
