Gaming based laptops have boomed in recent months and quarters. There are plenty of companies getting their feet wet and some are trying to push the limits. QHD+ is starting to look like a new standard in the higher end laptops, as seen in the 13.3” Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro and the 15” Dell XPS 15 (read Jarred’s review of the XPS 15 here), and Razer are deciding to go with something similar for the 2014 Razer Blade refresh.

Aside from the touchscreen 14” QHD+ panel, which is an IGZO panel rather than the pentile screen seen on the Lenovo, the New Razer Blade 2014 edition is equipped with an Intel Core i7-4702HQ quad core processor, 8GB of DDR3L-1600 and the recently announced NVIDIA GTX 870M. That sounds like a beefy machine to begin with, and beats out the old Razer Blade that only had a 1600x900 panel and a GTX 765M.

This new device measures 345x235x17.9mm, which Razer likes to point out is smaller than a dime. The machine isn’t the lightest, weighing in at 4.47 lbs (2.03 kg), but we do get an Intel 7260 2x2 802.11ac WiFi module in there as well as a choice of SATA M.2 drives. Razer is accepting preorders based solely on the size of the M.2 drive: $2200 for a 128GB, $2400 for 256GB and $2700 for 512GB.

The keyboard is fully backlit in green, and the laptop uses a 70Wh battery with a 150W power adapter. This makes sense, given the CPU is a 37W part and the GPU is set to be rated around 100W. This would reinforce the image on Razer’s website of dual fans in the chassis. Connectivity comes via three USB 3.0 ports, a HDMI 1.4a port and headphone/microphone jacks.

Razer Blade 14-Inch Specifications 2013

(Current) 2014

(New) Processor Intel Core i7-4702HQ

(4x2.2GHz + HTT, Turbo to 3.2GHz, 22nm, 6MB L3, 37W) Intel Core i7-4702HQ

(4x2.2GHz + HTT, Turbo to 3.2GHz, 22nm, 6MB L3, 37W) Chipset Intel HM87 Intel HM87 Memory 8GB DDR3L-1600 8GB DDR3L-1600 Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 765M 2GB GDDR5

768 CUDA cores,

797MHz/863MHz core

4GHz memory

128-bit memory bus



Intel HD 4600 Graphics

(20 EUs, up to 1.15GHz) NVIDIA GeForce GTX 870M 3GB GDDR5

1344 CUDA cores,

941 MHz core

5 GHz memory clocks

192-bit memory bus



Intel HD 4600 Graphics

(20 EUs, up to 1.15GHz) Display 14" LED Matte 16:9 900p

AU Optronics AUO103E 14" IGZO 16:9 3200x1800

Multitouch with LED Backlight Hard Drive(s) Samsung PM841 256GB

mSATA 6Gbps SSD 128GB / 256GB / 512 GB

SATA M.2 Optical Drive - - Networking Killer Wireless-N 1202

Dual Band 2x2 802.11a/b/g/n

Bluetooth 4.0 Intel Wireless-AC 7260HMW

Dual Band 2x2 802.11a/b/g/n/ac

Bluetooth 4.0 Audio Realtek ALC269 HD audio

Stereo speakers

Combination mic/headphone jack ? Battery 70Wh 70Wh Front Side - - Right Side USB 3.0

HDMI 1.4a

Kensington lock USB 3.0

HDMI 1.4a

Kensington Lock Left Side AC adapter

2x USB 3.0

Combination mic/headphone jack AC adapter

2x USB 3.0

Combination mic/headphone jack Back Side - - Operating System Windows 8 64-bit Windows 8.1 64-bit Dimensions 13.6" x 9.3" x 0.66"

345mm x 235mm x 16.8mm 13.6" x 9.3 " x 0.70"

345mm x 235mm x 17.9mm Weight 4.1 lbs

1.88 kg 4.47 lbs

2.03 kg Extras Webcam

USB 3.0

Killer Networks wireless networking

Backlit anti-ghosting keyboard 2.0 MP Webcam

USB 3.0

Intel 2x2 802.11ac

Backlit anti-ghosting keyboard Warranty 1-year limited ? Pricing $1,799 Starting at $2200 for 128GB

Powering 5.76 million pixels in QHD+ rather than 2.07 million of 1080p means an almost three-fold increase, and 4x over the older Razer Blade at 900p. That begs the question as to what frame rates we might see at 3200x1800 in this new device. I doubt that BF4 will be running at some high quality settings at 3200x1800, but I like the fact that the industry is headed to higher density panels in a smaller chassis.

Because I have been lax at being a proper gamer these past few years, my eyes would really open to a version of this without the discrete GPU – give me a high density, top quality panel with a lot of battery life and my usual OS, and all is good. However for running around to a LAN, it would either be an SFF machine or something like this that would fit right in.

Razer is taking pre-orders for shipping next month. In an interview with TechCrunch, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan explained how the company has listened to their customers, and aim to help alleviate the previous issues regarding keeping up with demand. Markets like Russia and Taiwan will follow after North America.