Razer’s Blade family of gaming laptops are among the most premium on the market. And while there aren’t many big changes to the 2024 Blade 14, for the first time it will be available in both Classic Black and Mercury (aka Silver) at launch. Now that might not sound like a big deal, but it means you can get a portable device with strong performance that doesn’t scream about it like many other gaming laptops do. When you combine this with a sleek chassis milled from a single block of aluminum and a wealth of ports, you end up with a system that straddles the line between powerful gaming machine and portable all-rounder.
Design: Now in silver from jump
outside, Razer definitely takes the “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach. That’s not a bad thing for a laptop that’s the closest thing to a MacBook Pro for gaming. The entire system feels incredibly sturdy with only the slightest flex in places like the hood. And unlike the MacBook, the Blade offers a wide variety of ports, including four USB (two 3.2 Type-A and two Type-C with USB 4), a 3.5mm audio jack and a full-size HDMI 2.1 connector).
It also has a dedicated power outlet, so you don’t need to use an extra slot while charging. The Blade 14 even supports USB-PD (power delivery), so you can use third-party chargers as a last resort, although you won’t get full performance that way due to the lower 100-watt limit (vs. 230 watts, when using the included Razer brick).
The Blade 14’s two small downsides are that its super-sturdy frame weighs a bit more (4.05 pounds) than similar laptops like the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (3.31 pounds). You also don’t get an SD card reader like you do with the larger Blade 16. That’s a bummer for anyone who plans to occasionally use this thing as a photo or video editing machine, but it’s not a problem.
Display and webcam: Bright and lightning fast
While there’s only one display option for the Blade 14, it’s a good one. It features a 2560 x 1600 LCD panel that supports AMD FreeSync and a gamut that covers 100% of the DCI-P3 spectrum. It’s also more than bright enough at over 450 nits, while the anti-glare matte finish helps minimize reflections. This means not only do games and movies look great with vivid hues, but it’s also accurate enough for editing. The only thing I wish it had an OLED panel configuration like on the Blade 16.
Meanwhile, above the display is a 1080p webcam with an IR sensor for Windows Hello. But my favorite thing about this component is that Razer included a small physical shutter, which should reduce concerns about government agents spying on you.
Performance: Class-leading speed
The Blade 14 comes in two main configurations: a base model with an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS chip, 16 GB of RAM, 1 TB of SSD storage and an NVIDIA RTX 4060 GPU. There’s also an upgraded model with 32GB of memory and an RTX 4070 (which is the version we reviewed). In short, this thing flies, delivering about as much performance as you can get from a 14-inch laptop. In PCMark 10, the Blade 14 scored 7436 against 6170 from the ASUS ZenBook 14 OLED with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chip. But more importantly, it can handle almost any game you can throw at it with ease.
in Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p and ultra settings, the Blade 14 hit 101fps compared to 67fps from the RTX 4060-powered MSI Stealth 14 Studio. When I increased the resolution to 1440p, it was still pumping out a very playable 66fps. Meanwhile in Return at 1080p and epic settings, the Razer enjoyed a similar lead, hitting 92 fps versus 78 for the MSI. So unless you want to step up to a larger 15- or 16-inch system with room for an RTX 4080 or higher, this performance is essentially as good as it gets in this segment.
Battery Life: Better than expected unless your game is turned off
Gaming laptops are notorious for short runtimes. However, on PCMark 10’s Modern Office rundown test, the Blade 14 clocked a respectable 6 hours and 46 minutes. That’s more than an hour longer than the MSI Stealth Studio 14 (5:19) and almost good enough to last a full workday. But it’s still a far cry from more typical ultraportables without discrete graphics like the ZenBook 14 OLED (12:43).
However, even with some power-saving tricks like automatically reducing the display to 60Hz when running on battery power, you’ll still want to keep Razer’s power close at hand. When I was playing Teamfight Tacticsthe Blade’s battery dropped from 85 to 45 percent after a single 40-minute game.
Summary
With a starting price of $2,200 or $2,700 as configured, the Blade 14 is on the expensive side. But that’s not really new for Razer laptops, and there’s no doubt that this thing delivers a thoroughly premium experience, with its excellent build quality, beautiful display, and great performance. It’s equally adept at gaming or editing on the go, and with the silver model available at launch, you can get a machine that fits in better outside of LAN parties. The main thing that would stop me from buying one is the existence of ASUS’ refreshed ROG Zephyrus G14, which has similar specs and a much lower starting price of $1,600. But if you have the means, the Blade 14 won’t go wrong.
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