Razer Sharpens Blade Laptops with Next-Gen Mobile RTX

Nvidia’s RTX graphics cards have officially entered the new year, and while desktop cards are still almost impossible to find (see where to buy RTX 3060, 3070, 3080 cards) without paying a markup, that isn’t stopping the company from developing new mobile RTX GPUs. Nvidia has yet to officially announce specifics yet, but with CES comes new product announcements. Razer, in particular, is already preparing for Nvidia’s next-generation mobile RTX GPUs with refreshes of the Razer Blade 15 and Razer Blade 17. 

We reviewed the latest Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model last August, we were impressed by its 10th gen Intel H-series and RTX 20-series Max-Q power. Razers’ new Razer Blade 15 and Razer Blade 17 options will continue to use 10th gen processors, but are otherwise updating to mobile RTX 3060, 3070 and 3080 series graphics. 

That’s excluding the cheapest Razer Blade 15 Base Model, which still uses GTX 1660 Ti graphics. But every other Razer Blade 15 config, both on the base and advanced models, uses RTX GPUs. Meanwhile, all available Razer Blade Pro 17s will use RTX graphics.

The Razer Blade 15 Base Model will have one RTX 3060 GPU option and two options with RTX 3070 GPUs. Meanwhile, the Advanced Model will have two RTX 3070 GPU options, two RTX 3080 GPU options, and one option that has an RTX 3080 GPU with 16GB VRAM.

As for processors, the new Razer Blade 15 Base Model will stick to the Intel Core i7-10750H, while the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model will continue using the Intel Core i7-10875H. The Base Model will have 16GB of RAM out of the box, while the Advanced model can have up to 32GB. For storage, the Base Model can come with up to a 512GB SSD, while the Advanced Model will pack a 1TB SSD on all options.

The Razer Blade Pro 17 is similar to the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model in that it will also use an Intel Core i7-10875H CPU and has memory options up to 32GB out of the box. For storage, it has both 512GB and 1TB SSD configs.

As for next-gen RTX mobile GPUs, the Razer Blade Pro 17 will have two configs each for the RTX 3060, RTX 3070 and RTX 3080.

As for the look of Razer’s new Blade series laptops, it will remain the same. That means you’ll still be getting a minimalistic chassis design with a full per-key RGB keyboard that has top-firing speakers on either side. You’ll also have display 4K, QHD and FHD display options, plus refresh rate choices ranging from 120 Hz to 360 Hz depending on your resolution and whether you opt for the Blade 15 Base Model or one of its pricier counterparts. Different configurations will also offer IPS and OLED screens.

New to this year’s Razer Blade 15 refreshes is a second SSD slot, so you’ll be able to upgrade your laptop’s storage on your own after purchase. This SSD+ slot, as Razer is calling it, will come on all models, though the company didn’t tell us whether it’ll be on the Razer Blade Pro 17 as well.

The Razer Blade 15 Base Model will start at $1,499, while the Advanced Model will start at $2,499. The Razer Blade Pro 17, meanwhile, will start at $2,299. Release dates have yet to be announced, but we look forward to putting them up against the best gaming laptops when they come out.