Razer Blade Pro 17, Review, 4K (3.840 x 2.160) 120Hz, Price

Razer Blade Pro 17

Razerthink – In many ways, the Razer Blade Pro 17 represents the pinnacle of gaming laptop design. The Razer Blade Pro 17 packs some of the most potent mobile hardware you can get right now, including a new Nvidia RTX 3080 laptop GPU, an eight-core 10th generation Intel processor, and a 17.3-inch 120Hz 4K display series, all in all. It is packaged in an impressively slim design.

With a shiny new RTX 3070 graphics card and Intel’s octa-core Intel Core i7-10875H. With a 0.78-inch-thick aluminium body, a highly programmable RGB keyboard, and gaming prowess, this laptop is ready to take on its competitors in the best gaming laptops. But what makes it stand out as the weapon of choice is the use of a QHD panel (2650 x 1440 resolution) with a refresh rate of 165Hz. We’ve seen faster, sharper displays, but it’s a great middle-ground for gamers who don’t need 360Hz for fun.

The update to the Razer Blade Pro 17 (starts at $2,599; $3,199 at test) maintains last year’s design but brings new components and features. Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super (Max-Q) GPU and 300Hz display are among the best-performing machines and one of the most portable 17-inch gaming laptops out there, wrapped up in premium metal.

Razer Blade Pro 17 Specs

Design

From the outside, the Blade Pro 17 looks like the previous model. Significant updates to Razer laptops tend to come only every few years. Since this iteration of the Blade Pro 17’s design is only in 2019, the 2020 edition is focused on updated components and features. While keeping the old model doesn’t mean the design is boring, and there are quite a few subtle – and not-so-subtle – hints to its gaming legacy, with the RBG keyboard lighting, the glowing Razer logo on the lid, and more.

You will get a powerful gaming laptop with a beautiful design. Sticking to Razer’s tried and tested aesthetic, the Razer Blade Pro 17 is rather understated as gaming laptops go, meaning you can use this in the office or studio for work, and it won’t annoy coworkers. -Workers with flashing RGB lights.

Razer’s greatest achievements

Razer’s most significant achievement is its build quality, which is easy to carry around, thanks to its thickness of just 0.78 inches. The Blade Pro 17 is only 15.55 inches long and 10.24 inches wide despite the larger screen. Crafted from CNC-milled from an aluminium block with an anodized black matte finish for further protection, the Razer Blade Pro 17 looks and feels durable. The smooth matte finish gives off a soft sound when you rub it with your fingers.

The screen resolution remains full HD, but one of the additions is the 300Hz refresh rate. This is a boon for fans of competitive multiplayer. Because frame rate translates into a competitive advantage, we’ll cover how many frames this hardware can push in the performance section later. If you want to make this laptop a little more “Pro”, the more expensive SKU offers a 4K touch panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. Speaking of bezels, the 720p webcam is located along the panel’s top.

Excellent touchpad and a great keyboard.

The Razer laptop touchpad remains the best Windows touchpad out there, which is very similar to Apple’s MacBook. Measuring 135 x 80mm, They feel high quality to the touch and track very smoothly. The keyboard doesn’t stand out, but it’s still above average. There’s no specific feedback, but the mileage is comfortable, and the keys bounce well. Lighting is fully customizable via the Razer Synapse app and Razer’s Chroma Studio app, which lets you choose from a variety of lighting animations, specifying the colour and behaviour of each button as desired. There’s even Philips Hue integration so you can sync bulb and keyboard colours simultaneously while gaming.

22mm thick rubber feet.

These two legs run the entire width of the machine’s underside and provide room for the four intake fans to suck air in for cooling, with hot air being pumped out of the vents on the back of the laptop.

Port

On the laptop’s right edge sits one full-size USB-A, USB-C, and HDMI port, plus a full-size SD card slot and, handy, it’s set to the back of the machine, giving you room for a mouse if you end up using them all. On the left edge is another USB-C port, a pair of USB-A ports, a 2.5Gbits/s Ethernet jack and a 3.5mm headphone jack, and the patented three-pin power input.

Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

The wireless connectivity is decent here, too, with the Intel AX201 module delivering Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, ensuring you get the fastest wireless speeds and Bluetooth 5.

The essence of the design

Razer redesigned the hinges to “increase airflow to let hot air out quickly.” The hinge faces the air vent, with a gap in between. So while the hinge sticks out a bit more than you’d expect when the system is open, at least its purpose is clear. And the laptop’s premium finish also carries over to a sturdier hinge.

Performance

With the latest 10th generation Intel Core i7-10875H octa-core chip, it can be said that we will see some pretty hot benchmark numbers from all the Razer Blade Pro (2020) variants, especially when coupled with Nvidia. High-end RTX 2070 or Super RTX 2080 GPU. As you’d expect from a laptop with the specs (and price) list included with the Razer Blade Pro 17, it’s an excellent performance. At 1080p, the Razer Blade Pro 17 can easily handle even the most demanding games. The Valorant setting on the Ultra scored a perfect 350 FPS, offering a stunning visual experience that plays out very smoothly.

The Blade Pro 17 ran the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark very high at 68 fps at 1440p and shot 108 fps at 1080p. In Red Dead Redemption 2, on Ultra settings, it lost 20 fps from 1080p to 1440p on the title benchmark. At 1080p. On ultra settings, the Blade Pro 17 didn’t take too many framerate hits when running Far Cry New Dawn. It averaged 82 fps at 1440p and 89 fps at 1080p.

Since it’s an RTX card, ray tracing and DLSS support are included, and if you enjoy playing at 1080p, you’ll get an incredible gaming experience that few gaming laptops can match. The Razer Blade 17 is perfect for people multitasking with lots of apps open at once – or playing games and live streaming on Twitch, for example – so the Razer Pro 17 (2021) proves to be very capable workstation.

Razer Blade Pro 17 Upgrade Upgrade Capability

You can open the Blade Pro 17 by removing the 12 Torx screws. Once inside, an empty M.2 slot supports both PCIe and SATA SSDs. Razer says this laptop is expandable up to 8TB.

Check out our post also about the Razer Blade 15 Laptop.

Audio 

The stereo speakers on the Blade Pro 17 are located on either side of the keyboard, so you get a lot of sounds right in your face. The high-pitched sound was adequate, and I gained a newfound appreciation for the unpleasant background music in the game and the crisp, accurate sound. But a lot of basses are reduced here. The introductory instrument doesn’t sound warm, and the wind blowing in the intro also sounds unrealistic. But not as bad as I’ve heard in some of the best laptops.

Battery

The weakness of this laptop seems to be in the battery; With strong components like the one in this laptop, I understand the battery life must be very drained—only four hours of battery life when I play games. This isn’t good for laptops in this day and age, and it means you have to plug this thing in most of the time you use it. It won’t bother many people as a desktop replacement laptop, but if you want a laptop to be used on the road, this might not be an option.

Pros

• Good gaming performance for the price
• Extremely powerful
• Gorgeous display
• Durable build
• Colorful, fast display
• Highly programmable keyboard
• Plenty of ports

Cons

• Gaming at 4K needs tweaking
• Short battery life
• Very expensive

Overall

The Razer Blade Pro 17 is simultaneously one of the most influential and portable 17-inch gaming laptops available, commendable. This machine has arguably the best build and can scale to top components and features, but battery life is what it lacks. The Razer Blade Pro 17 is a stylish 17.3-inch gaming laptop with a highly programmable keyboard and balanced display that’s unique for a laptop with a higher resolution than many 1080p laptops out there that still bring the speed gamers need.