The Razer Blade 16 gaming laptop is one of the best gaming laptops that we have reviewed, featuring great performance, a fast and large screen, and more. Razer recently introduced a newer version of the laptop, equipped with the fastest chipset and graphics. We reviewed the latest Razer Blade 16 Gaming Laptop (Early 2024 model), and here are our thoughts about it.
Design
The Blade 16 and 18-inch versions are the largest gaming laptops in Razer’s portfolio. For the smaller Blade 16 model, you get to choose between the Black and Mercury chassis colors. And as you can see, we received the black model for review. The dimensions and weight of the laptop are the same as the previous Blade 16 that we reviewed before. The approximate dimensions are 21.99 mm x 244 mm x 355 mm, and the device weighs about 2.45kg.
While the 16-inch OLED display isn’t just brilliant for its viewing angles and solid colors, the panel also boasts a refresh rate of blazing fast 240Hz, along with 2560 x 1600 (QHD+) as the screen resolution. It is also the world’s first 240Hz OLED display panel, optimized for competitive gaming. The OLED panel comes certified with the VESA Certified ClearMR 11000 rating and DisplayHDR True Black 500 for those vivid-looking colors, minimal blur, and deep blacks.
It should be noted that the OLED panel is manufactured by Samsung, and features 400 nits of brightness. It’s also a delight for professionals, thanks to the Calman Verified certification and support for 100% DCI-P3 Color Gamut. Razer mentions that the screen also has a wider aspect ratio of 16:10 and an 89.1% screen-to-body ratio for wider content coverage. The screen also supports G-Sync, along with a response time of just 0.2ms, which should benefit competitive online gaming.
The Razer Blade 16 features the same line-up of connectivity options as the previous model. You get to use one Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, one HDMI 2.1 video output, a 3.5mm audio jack, and one UHS-II SD card reader. The Thunderbolt 4 and the USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port have support for 100W power delivery.
The keyboard is pleasant to type on, and you will be able to program the RGB backlighting effects per key. The keyboard features the Razer Chroma N-Key rollover. While the precision glass touchpad is very spacious with enough estate to swipe your fingers, it does take time to get used to it. There were many times when I was trying to do a /left/right mouse click, but the system did not respond, because I was pressing the wrong side of the touchpad.
There are also two front-firing speaker grills, located on either side of the keyboard. The audio system of the laptop features four speaker arrays, which include two tweeters and two sub-woofers, along with support for THX Spatial Audio technology and smart amplifiers. The front-facing FHD webcam also features a built-in 2-mic array. We should also mention that the FHD webcam also has a physical privacy shutter.
The entire laptop chassis is made of anodized, black T6 CNC Aluminum, and the Razer logo on the outer lid is illuminated. The bottom panel of the laptop also comes with dual air intake vents, along with rear-facing air exhausts.
Performance
Unlike the previous Blade 16, the latest version that we have here features the Intel Core i9-14900HX, a powerful 24-core monster of a laptop processor that includes 16 efficient cores and 8 performance cores. There are a total of 32 computing threads, and the maximum Turbo clocks can hit up to 5.8 GHz. The processor is joined by 32GB Samsung 5600MHz DDR5 SDRAM and a 2TB Samsung MZVL22T0HBLB-00B00 PCIe 4.0 SSD.
The GPU section is what got us more excited. The laptop houses the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 laptop GPU (Ada Lovelace), featuring a boost clock speed that can reach up to 2040 MHz, along with 16GB of GDDR6 VRAM. The chip also packs a total of 9728 CUDA cores, along with a 256-bit bus and a bandwidth of 576GB/s. The GPU also uses third-generation Ray Tracing cores and fourth-generation Tensor cores, along with support for DLSS 3 (Super Resolution + Frame Generation), for faster RT gaming performance. The GeForce RTX 4090 is currently the fastest laptop GPU that NVIDIA currently offers at the time of writing.
Users will also be able to change different aspects of the laptop, such as performance mode, keyboard RGB effects, audio equalizer, and more, using the Razer Synapse application.
We ran several benchmark tools on the laptop, including the 3DMark FireStrike series, TimeSpy series, Port Royal, Solar Bay, Storage, and CrystalDiskMark tests. The benchmarks were done with performance mode enabled and with NVIDIA 551.23 drivers installed. Take a look at the scores below.
Benchmarks
We also ran game-specific benchmarks for both Ray-tracing and non-ray-tracing modes, along with different modes of DLSS enhancements. The tests were done on Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Metro Exodus: Enhanced game titles. Since the laptop packs the RTX 4090 Laptop GPU, we set the graphics presets to the maximum possible, including ray-tracing settings. The games were tested at the native 2560 x 1600 screen resolution.
Other features of the laptop include a built-in 95.2 WHr rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery, along with a 2-year limited battery warranty. The laptop also comes with a 330W GaN power adapter. Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7 with support for IEEE 802.11a/b/d/e/g/h/i/k/n/r/u/v/w/ac/ax/be, and Bluetooth 5.4 technology.
Verdict
The Razer Blade 16 is for those looking for the best gaming performance from a laptop, along with a blazing fast refresh rate and larger displays. The latest Blade 16 features the same 16-inch OLED display, with a 2560 x 1600 (QHD+) resolution, and a 240Hz refresh rate. The OLED display features great viewing angles and brilliant colors. The laptop also comes with several connectivity options, including Thunderbolt 4 with 100W PD, HDMI 2.1 port, and more.
The chassis is made of T6 CNC Aluminum in black, and there is an illuminated Razer logo on the outer lid. The laptop is powered by the 24-core Intel Core i9-14900HX processor, along with 32GB 5600MHz DDR5 RAM, a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD, and the NVIDIA Geforce RTX 4090 (laptop). The RTX 4090 is the fastest laptop GPU currently on the market. The device also sports two tweeters and two sub-woofers, along with support for THX Spatial Audio. The device also houses a 95.2 WHr rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery.
