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Razer Blade 14 review: Slim gaming powerhouse brings great battery life

The 14-inch Razer Blade is a more conservative laptop than the previous model, but it packs a great combination of performance and battery life.

Headshot of Scott Stein
Headshot of Scott Stein
Scott Stein Editor at Large
I started with CNET reviewing laptops in 2009. Now I explore wearable tech, VR/AR, tablets, gaming and future/emerging trends in our changing world. Other obsessions include magic, immersive theater, puzzles, board games, cooking, improv and the New York Jets. My background includes an MFA in theater which I apply to thinking about immersive experiences of the future.
Expertise VR and AR | Gaming | Metaverse technologies | Wearable tech | Tablets Credentials
  • Nearly 20 years writing about tech, and over a decade reviewing wearable tech, VR, and AR products and apps
Scott Stein
10 min read

In what direction should PC gaming evolve? Tablet, laptop, or hybrid? Experimental or traditional? While PCs, especially Windows 8 ones, are growing out into all sorts of strange directions, it seems that gaming PCs have suddenly gone conservative. Alienware's latest laptops are a good example.

7.9

Razer Blade 14

The Good

The <b>Razer Blade 14</b> has a slim design with a powerful combination of fourth-gen quad-core Intel processor and Nvidia graphics; battery life is strong, too.

The Bad

A lackluster low-resolution, nontouch display doesn't fit the high-end design. The baseline 128GB SSD for $1,800 isn’t sufficient for a gaming PC; you'd better pony up for the 256GB or 512GB model.

The Bottom Line

Ditching gimmicks and delivering on function, Razer's slim 14-inch gaming laptop marries true power and good battery life in an excellent PC. All it lacks a stellar display.

The Razer Blade 14, Razer's newest laptop, is a throwback, too: there's no touch screen. There's no Switchblade second-screen clickpad. There's no convertible tablet mode. This is a laptop. At least it's a very thin, very sleek gaming laptop.

Sarah Tew/CNET

And, it's also a smart idea. Razer's previous products were experimental to a fault, showing off impressive design chops but lacking practicality for a regular consumer who didn't want to dabble in gimmicky second screens or sacrifice battery life for a modular tablet form.

Starting at $1,800, it's hardly a bargain; but considering the latest Intel processors are inside, along with a really good Nvidia graphics card, it's not such a bad deal at all.

I tried the Blade 14 out a month ago in a deep hands-on, but waited for a final-release version to post a full review and gaming impressions.

Sarah Tew/CNET

Here's the good news: the Blade 14 is awfully thin and sexy-looking. It has no experimental gimmicks like the never-utilized Switchblade UI in the larger Blade 17, and no battery limitations like the Razer Edge. And, it delivers on its gaming promise. But there are drawbacks.

7.9

Razer Blade 14

Score Breakdown

Design 8Features 7Performance 9Battery 8