The Razer Blade RZ09-01953E72-R3U1 is a bestselling gaming laptop that has been praised for its multi-touch Full-HD display, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060, CNC milled aluminum shell, 512TB M.2 SSD and for its compact size. Its sleek design and Full-HD display makes it popular among both gamers and the multimedia crowd who are looking for a display with a good sRGB score. However, despite the cooling system that Razer has used for this laptop, the thin size still allows for a lot of heat buildup causing the fans to run most of the time.
The Razer Blade has been CNC milled out of high-grade aluminum to offer you a thin and light laptop that has been filled with some great gaming hardware. Razer have done away with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M from their last generation Razer Blade and have gone for the newer and more powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 laptop edition GPU.
The newer GTX 1060 is based off of NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture and with 6GB of GDDR5, it offers far better graphics performance than the older GTX 970M. While VR gaming is still in a development phase for most of us, the GTX 1060 has been designed to perform far better than the GTX 900-series cards, giving it an advantage for future gaming experiences. However, if you really want to push the performance, then you can connect the Razer Core external GPU enclosure via the superfast USB 3.1 Type-C port.
However the Razer Core and a faster desktop grade GPU will push up the price dramatically. Being a premium gaming laptop, it features the latest 7th generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, which will make light work of most games or intensive apps. The newer i7-7700HQ boasts a performance increase of 9% over its predecessor, giving it the edge when it comes to more demanding applications. Backing up the Core i7-6700HQ processor is 16GB of DDR4 2133MHz RAM, which combined will allow for lag free gaming or intensive multitasking. While all this hardware is quite powerful, the thin design means that it can heat up quickly, causing the fans to run most of the time.
This might put off some users who are looking for a quieter machine for everyday use. While there is a 1TB version of the Razer Blade, the Razer Blade RZ09-01953E72-R3U1 features a decently sized 512GB SSD, which helps bring down the cost by a few hundred dollars. This will give you enough space to install some of your favorite AAA gaming titles, however some recent titles require over 50GB and will fill up your SSD quite quickly. Like the previous range, you get Razer Chroma which is Razer’s individually lit backlit keyboard.
This will allow you to set three different color zones so that you can truly customize your Razer Blade. The brilliant 14-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel multi-touch display offers rich colors, wide viewing angles and is great for gaming or for media editing on the go. However, the display is a bit small for hardcore gamers, we recommend connecting the Razer Blade RZ09-01953E72-R3U1 to a decent size monitor for the best gaming experience.
Note: This laptop originally appeared in our best high-end gaming laptops guide. For newer laptop models be sure to check out the latest high-end gaming laptops there. Full Guide
Pros
- Kaby Lake i7 processor
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
- Thin and light
- USB Type-C
- 512GB M.2 SSD
Cons
- Heats up under load
- Expensive
- No Ethernet
- No optical drive
Bottom Line
The Razer Blade RZ09-01953E72-R3U1 is a new an improved version of the Razer Blade which offers a powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card and a 512GB SSD.
- Weight: 4.10 lbs
- Processor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2.8GHz
- Display Size: 14 inch
- RAM: 16GB DDR4 2133MHz
- Operating System: Windows 10 Home
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
Critic Reviews
- LaptopMag March 15, 2017
The Razer Blade (starting and reviewed at $1,899) just got another power-up. The laptop has made the jump to Kaby Lake, Intel's 7th-generation line of processors, which promise better performance and power efficiency. Pair that with a VR-ready Nvidia Pascal GPU; lovely display; beautiful keyboard and sleek, lightweight chassis; and you've got one of the slimmest gaming powerhouses on the market. Whether it's being used for work or play, the Blade is ready and able to get the job done.
Read full review - DigitalTrends March 23, 2017
Just like every other laptop maker, Razer is making the move to Intel’s 7th-gen with a Core i7-7700HQ, 16GB of RAM, and a GTX 1060 with 6GB of GDDR5. All that power doesn’t come cheap, and even our base model review unit with a 256GB PCIe SSD starts at almost $1,900.
Read full review
Full Specifications
| Processor | Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2.8GHz [View Benchmarks] |
|---|---|
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 [View Benchmarks] |
| Graphics Type | Discrete |
| Graphics Memory | 6GB GDDR5 |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 2133MHz |
| Operating System | Microsoft Windows Windows 10 Home |
| Weight | 4.10 lbs |
| Battery Life | 4.5 hours |
| Hard Drive 1 | 512 SSD |
| Display Size | 14 inch |
| Display Type | IPS |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Display Technology | LED backlight | In-plane switching | Matte |
| Connectivity | 3x USB SuperSpeed | USB 3.1 Type-C (Thunderbolt 3) | HDMI | Killer AC WiFi | Bluetooth 4.1 |
| Audio | Stereo speakers | Dolby Digital Plus Home Theater Edition |
| Webcam | 2.0 MP |
| Additional Features | Razer Chroma backlit keyboard | memory card reader |
| Dimension (LxWxH) | 13.6 x 9.3 x 0.70 |
| Warranty | 2 years |
