The Razer Blade Pro was one of a new breed when it first launched, proving that true gaming performance from a laptop was not only possible, but that it didn't need to be the size of a house. This iconic notebook paved the way for future releases in the Blade line from Razer, including the 2016 Stealth, the company's first true ultrabook.
But to close the year out with an almighty bang, Razer has gone back to the Blade Pro. The headline act in its laptop lineup has been reborn, and it's the craziest it's ever been. This is the ultimate laptop.
Razer focuses on three core PC products, and despite the pre-event obvious tease of a desktop PC, the curtain dropped on something quite different. But also not completely absent of that desktop mention, because the Blade Pro is every bit as powerful as a full desktop rig. Except you can take it with you. This is all the PC a gamer could ask for right now.
The Blade Pro is actually insane
So what makes it so good? Let's start from the outside and work in. The new Blade Pro, like it's predecessors, is a 17.3-inch laptop. The display takes one look at many competitors, has a chuckle, then stands there looking amazing in its 4K touchscreen glory. After all, a 4K display is about the best you can get on a PC right now, so the Blade Pro has it. Not just 4K, either, it also boasts 100% Adobe RGB and NVIDIA G-Sync. Because why not.
The chassis is all metal, finished in Razer's trademark black, broken only by the green glow of the company logo. I've been a critic of 17-inch laptops in the past and their need, built mostly on their ridiculous size and heft. The Blade Pro takes what many of us think about 17-inch laptops and throws it out of the window. This is the sleekest big notebook you've ever seen.
The design work is borderline witchcraft
It's staggeringly just 22.5mm thick and weighs in at 3.5kg. Just take that in, because this is a 17.3-inch laptop in a metal shell and it weighs under 8lbs. Sure, it's not a lightweight, but consider what it's made of and what's inside it and it's borderline witchcraft.
So just what is inside the Razer Blade Pro? Well there's an Intel Core i7 6700HQ CPU, which isn't too fancy. But there's also a standard 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB PCIe SSD Raid 0 storage. Again: two terabytes of speedy solid state storage. Then there's the graphics; how does an 8GB NVIDIA GTX 1080 sound? Pretty good, huh?
Razer's claims of being a desktop in a laptop are well founded, and when you take the above, add a sprinkling of Thunderbolt 3 USB-C and a Killer DoubleShot Pro dedicated network card, you get the picture. The Blade Pro is equipped to be all the machine you could want, be that at home or on the road. It ticks pretty much every box there is to tick given currently available hardware.
One thing desktops have though that the Blade Pro does not, is interior space. More specifically airflow to help keep those high-end components cool when they're being punished as they're going to be. Cooling is something Razer has paid particular attention too, and while the Blade Pro will get warm, Razer designed a specialized cooling system that should prevent it from getting too toasty.
The Blade Pro features a bespoke system containing the thinnest vapour chamber in the world. How well it performs in real world use, only time will tell, but it's impressive technology if nothing else.
The keyboard is one of the best to ever grace a laptop
A gaming PC be is complete without a top-notch keyboard. Despite the power of some of today's latest gamer-focused notebooks, there's only so much you can do with the keyboard. There are some crazy efforts with a full sized mechanical keyboard, but it's not exactly practical. Razer has taken everything it has learned making switches for its desktop keyboards and come up with what it says is the world's first low-profile mechanical keyboard for the Blade Pro. And it's one of the best laptop keyboards I've ever tried.
It's an unusual typing experience, as you're getting some of the feel you'd get from a regular mechanical keyboard, but with the key travel you'd find on a laptop. It might still be replaced as the default instrument of your fragging sessions, but there's no questioning what Razer has achieved with it. The unusual miniature display that sat to the right of the keyboard on the previous version of this laptop has been excised, replaced by a more traditional trackpad paired with a scroll wheel.
None of this comes without a price, and understandably if you're interested in a Blade Pro then you're going to have to dig deep. It'll go on sale in November, costing $3,699 in the US, with European pricing (inclusive of tax) as close in parity as possible at £3,499 and €4,199.
Oh yes, that's the other thing. Along side the big global product launch Razer has also announced it will begin selling its latest laptops in the UK, France and Germany with localized keyboard layouts for each. No longer do Europeans look on and lust, it's time to join the party.
Razer's trifecta of notebooks is nothing short of remarkable. The Blade Pro is the king of the hill, and it's setting a high benchmark for the others to follow.
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BERLIN – Razer ™ , the leading lifestyle brand for gamers, today announced the new 17-inch Razer Blade Pro. Completely redesigned from the ground up, the system is made specifically for enthusiasts and power users who want desktop performance but don't want to sacrifice portability. Packed with more power than ever before possible in a notebook under an inch thick, Razer's latest system is capable of handling virtually any task, anytime, anywhere.
The new Razer Blade Pro features the latest Intel® Core™ i7 quad-core processor and next-generation NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 GPU. It is the most powerful system ever built by Razer and the thinnest notebook available with a GTX 1080. Other highlights on the new Razer Blade Pro include Thunderbolt 3 for advanced connectivity options, 32 GB of DDR4 dual-channel memory, up to 2 TB of PCI M.2 SSD in RAID 0 storage and a built-in SD card reader.
While other similarly equipped desktop replacements are more than two inches thick and weigh more than 10 pounds, the new Blade Pro retains its iconic form factor. Its unibody CNC aluminum chassis still measures just 0.88 inches thin while weighing less than eight pounds. The included AC adapter is also far slimmer than those for similarly powered systems and complements the overall mobility of the Blade Pro.
Even more remarkable is the system's thermal management system. This all new thermal management system in the Blade Pro now includes the worlds thinnest manufactured vapor chamber cooling solution in a notebook. The vapor chamber reduces heat resistance and hotspots by spreading heat quickly, evenly and efficiently. A custom fan design and dynamic heat exchanger are paired with the vapor chamber to maximize heat dissipation. This allows the Razer Blade Pro to be the most powerful computer ever assembled in such a thin chassis.
The rest of the desktop replacement notebook offers a similar no-compromises approach. A stunning 17.3-inch 4K IGZO monitor with NVIDIA G-SYNC™ technology produces the smoothest possible framerates. The display offers 100 percent Adobe RGB color accuracy to deliver stunning visuals to gamers and professionals.
Additionally, the Razer Blade Pro is the first notebook to utilize Razer's Ultra-Low- Profile Mechanical switches. Each switch features a true actuation and reset point. Presses are registered with 65 grams of force, mimicking the feel of full-size mechanical keyboards. The keyboard and trackpad are also Powered by Razer Chroma™. This technology unlocks a virtually endless array of dazzling lighting effects that can be customized by the user or synced to display in-game events.
The specs for the Blade Pro exceed minimum hardware requirements of HTC Vive™, Oculus Rift and OSVR HDK 2, making it one of the most mobile VR-ready devices for enthusiasts and developers.
"The original 17-inch Blade was the first laptop that truly blended power and portability in a PC," says Min-Liang Tan, Razer co-founder and CEO. "We've taken that approach another step further with the new Razer Blade Pro. The thermal engineering behind it is staggering. It's incredible how far we've come, from having one product and a small team, to today, with a full catalog of gaming systems and a large group of engineers and designers pushing what a portable gaming machine can do."
"It's impressive what Razer was able to pack into the new Razer Blade Pro," said Mark Aevermann, senior product lead for GeForce gaming laptops at NVIDIA. "They have managed to design a gaming laptop with our flagship GeForce GTX 1080, in a form factor gamers can take with them on the road."
The 17-inch Blade Pro joins the rest of Razer's award-winning systems lineup. The 14-inch Razer Blade sets the benchmark for mobile gaming, while the 12.5-inch Razer Blade Stealth was named the "Best PC" at CES earlier this year for its combination of performance, value, expandability and portability. Both models recently announced refreshes that are shipping now.
For more information on the new Razer Blade Pro, and to register to be notified about on-sale timing, visit razerzone.com/bladepro. Units are expected to ship this November from Razerzone.com and select retailers.
