The Razer Blade 16: A Gaming-Focused Alternative to the MacBook Pro
Design and Hardware
The Razer Blade 16 is designed to be a gaming-focused alternative to the MacBook Pro. I love a gaming laptop that still looks and feels like a somewhat normal laptop, and the new Blade returns to a thinner and lighter chassis design after the last-gen got a bit chunky. The top-end configuration also adopts the new flagship Nvidia RTX 5090 laptop GPU and an even heftier price of $4,499.99 ($200 more than the 4090 model).
Keyboard and Display
I love most of the hardware on the new Blade — most. Its 16-inch, 2560 x 1600 OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate remains a lovely panel to work and play on, just like its predecessor. And the keyboard and trackpad are overall very good. My biggest gripe with the keyboard is the new column of macro keys on the right, which often causes me to mute the microphone when I mean to hit the right arrow. It’s yet another problem that could have been avoided by using the standard inverted-T arrow key arrangement that’s easier to find by feel.
Performance and Battery Life
The thinner and lighter chassis is a welcome change (it shaves off a whole 7mm and 0.8 pounds), though I need to do more thermal testing to see if it’s as good at cooling as the last model. There’s also Razer’s Laptop Cooling Pad, which can give the Blade 16’s GPU and CPU up to 25W more power each. I have it here, so I’ll see if HyperBoost is worth the added noise and extra $150. I also wonder whether thicker gaming laptops might eke out more juice from the RTX 5090.
Conclusion
As I’ve already written, the RTX 5090 GPU in the Blade 16 is a fine upgrade if you enjoy DLSS and frame generation. I’m going to continue testing it, including more gaming while on battery power. However, I’m skeptical, because when I’m not gaming, the Blade 16 struggles to get through a basic work day on battery, even while using productivity apps like Slack, Chrome, and Google Docs on the integrated graphics.
What Do You Think?
What do you think? Does any laptop actually make sense for nearly five grand? Let me know in the comments, and if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see tested on the Blade 16 for the full review.
Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge
