Word is hitler has a ton of the stuff. We'll need the cooperation of the us army. Fuel for tanks..they'll all want a cut of the gold...yeah yeah its all coming together..
Used markets like facebook marketplace work good. Got a 1070 laptop with 16gb ram and an i7 8th gen for 650, compatible with windows 11 so very future proof
@@HardwareCanucks with a little undervolting using the ryzen controller software for a bit more clocks and there's almost no disadvantage to the desktop 5800X! Awesome stuff.
@@OTechnology unfortunately it doesnt come close to the desktop 5800x, memory latency is high due to less cache and worse subtimings than desktop rams(3200cl22 probably in mobile cpus) and no mux switch. All these 3 things makes a huge difference if you are gaming at high fps.
@@sarthaksharma9152 yea that's true...its more of the lack of cache than anything. The 5700G proved memory latency is actually better on monolithic die Zen 3 if you can clock them as high as on desktop though....which you can't.
@@Timelessplays razer have catered the 14 for the gaming market, with 144hz freesync, smaller, soldered ram & a single smaller nvme ssd, while the 15 Adv has much more customisability, removable ram, another m.2, microSD and a 4k screen
this laptop destroys my £1500 gaming pc while being in a tiny form factor & includes a (great imo) keyboard and screen. It easily replaces both my full-tower desktop & ultrabook for uni work, not even the slightest bit overpriced in my opinion.
@@kieranwalkerkw this is exactly the reason im considering a blade 14. i was considering getting an m1 air for college and a ps5 or an xbox for gaming, but realised that blade 14 has both gaming and college stuff covered in a small form factor.
@@PhaIIanxx nope, for non workstation loads it's more than enough, even though I wish it were 3800mhz+ better timed memory, the only bottleneck I've had so far has been gpu/cpu, just the memory would probably make it a little snappier
@@PhaIIanxx Mostly gaming, but programs open instantaneously and i can have every program i need running and available while seeing very little impact on gaming performance
The memory thing might be a show stopper for me. I want a gaming laptop that I can use for development also and really don't want to drop this much on a laptop if I have to settle on something with less than 32GB of RAM. I'll either have to wait for an updated version, or settle...but settling when your buying a high end device really ruins the experience. Edit: The more I look at it, the more I feel like the 16GB memory choice is completely stupid. This laptop literally has the "best of" category of most of it's components, but the "bare minimum" for memory? Aside from meeting a price point I'm don't really know what else could have driven that decision. 🤷
I'd love to see the 3060 version tested. For $1800, if its performance is on par with the $1850 3070 Asus Zephyrus G15, then the price is very competitive.
Agreed Typing experience matters from person to person If you are a fast typer like me then you would probably want a bit of press and feedback from the keys And I use a M1 MacBook Air, which doesn't give that So once I start hitting 130 wpm and higher it really gets hard to know whether you've pressed a key or not The reviewers say that this keyboard is in a class of its own But that's honestly just not true
genunely, the 3070 model sounds pretty reasonably priced. Considering the sheer development time, build and power for size, at only about $800 more than what I paid for a similar spec machine, but with a ryzen 9? I would buy that in a hearbeat if I didn't already ahve this thing.
By far the BEST review of the Razer Blade 14! I’ve watched several reviews, and this covers everything, but it’s quick, concise, and gets to the point.
I got my Ryzen Razer 14 as close to Day 1 as possible; I've owned it for a few months now and it's literally a beast in every game I played so far (BFV, COD,etc.) . I recently started to utilize Ryzen Controller and man oh man, even on Boost settings my temps never go above 75. I'm going to do a video on it soon but it's worth noting that the major downside to the Ryzen platform (heat) can be easily supplemented with a little aftermarket magic.
@@Weird_Quests It's not as straight forward as the intel's tuning software and you only truly have control over a few variables but give me till the end of the day, I'm just at work right now but I'll give you a quick look at my current settings
@@michealsuen Although Razer Blades are durable, I have heard of Quality Control issues for years from them. It seems like when they get it right, they hit it out of the park, and when they get it wrong, it's a headache and a half.
Got my blade 14, 2 days ago and I'm a little nervous about battery bloating. Adjusting some of the processor settings I can't seem to get Valheim playing on medium settings without hitting 80C+ temperatures.
yeah, i wouldn't worry too much about that. I got mine two days ago and notice that the surface temperature is roughly the same across all modes over than boost/high gpu, and the battery is user replacable. Hopefully razer have got their shit together in regards to the battery issue but honestly I doubt it...
I have a 15" 4k display on my x360 Spectre. It's nice, but honestly it just too many pixels crammed into too small of a space. I have good vision and I still find lots of UI elements uncomfortably small.
I have QHD on my 2 27" desktop monitor (Samsung LSR27R750, VA panel; and LG 27GL850, IPS panel) and the details are barely big enough for comfort. So no, I wouldn't be buying any QHD 14" monitor and then having to scale up everything anyway. Sure it's nice if you watch 1440p youtube video (which is compressed as hell anyway) or do serious design work, but otherwise this is a very niche screen segment and that money could have been spent elsewhere. Also have FHD res on the Razer Blade Stealth 13" and was very tempted to scale up the UI. So I don't think moving up an inch warrants double the pixel density.
and don't forget, no thunderbolt 3, that is the dealbreaker to me (together with the RAM). The blade 14 will suffer a short lifespan (it seems people forget the limitations of the previous Blade 14 which was also pioneer and everyone ditched for the 15).
@@linusmlgtips2123 Ya you have to add your birthdate to your Worst Buy Rewards. Then when its your birthday month, just add something to the cart and in the checkout there will be an option for 10% off. I always wait til July to buy something big, lol
@@ctk4949 Damn. Too bad I already paid for a Razer gift card to take advantage of some credit rewards. Dunno about you, but my laptop isn't shipping until the 20th. Perhaps it's the same for Worst Buy?
It runs REALLY cool. It also uses a different battery from Blade laptops that were rolled out a few years ago that now seem to be exhibiting some random bloating.
Their configurations drive me nuts. I just want Ryzen with more memory (32), whether it's soldered or upgradeable. But they arranged for neither of these things.
Hmm. I've been waiting for Razer to come back to the 14" space, and this one gave me some hope - especially with that pewp keyboard layout a few gens back. Looks like 2 points will keep me away - 1) as others mentioned, 16GB with no way to upgrade is no way to go. 2) they keyboard. Alienware's keyboard has spoiled me. I liked the old Razer keyboard (mine's a late 2016 14 w/ GTX 1060), but it lacks the "snap" of the Alienware m15r2, and the travel of the 13r3. I haven't tried the new mechanical switches, but even with Linus' review, I still have my doubts. I guess it's time to see how the X15's fare; I've had off/on luck with Alienware stability. My Razer has always been rock solid, still is.
Nice review! One suggestion. When your going over the raw benchmarks and explaining the takeaway points you need to slow the pace in which you're flipping thru the slides. I can't even see which bar your referencing in your speech and you've already toggled to the next slide. Just a FYI thx!
I play destiny 2 on mine at 145fps. I have it fps limited. Fans stay wide open, and temps get to 63ish. Ita great and I love it! Plug keyboard, monitor, and mouse, or just plug controller an lay on couch.
I'm actually saving up for this, probably take to the end of the year but its a perfect small laptop with big power for gaming. I travel alot, so it works perfect for me. The 14" isn't much bigger than the 13", and I had a macbook air 13" through uni and just missed not having any power. This is a perfect compromise for me. Yes it's expensive, but It will last.
It would be really cool if you could do a review on the 3070 + 11800H Acer Predator Triton 500SE. It has some good specs, and seems to be a pretty good value as well
I really wish companies would adopt the xps 15 type of screen. I am hooked on the almost bezel less full screen. I hate dell but im stuck with the xps line until one of these other companies steps up.
In case you were wondering, this laptop can use the 100w Gan charger and still get 90W TGP. Just restart the computer with it plugged in to the Gan only. It's bananas I use razer 130w Gan for gaming it rocks. After it restarts, the synapse software locks it to balanced mode. Way better for travel.
Any plans to review the 11th gen intel Razer Blade 15 Advanced? I see the 10th gen in this comparison, the 11th does seem to fair better and has a 1080P camera. Regardless, thanks Hardware Canucks for always having well-done reviews.
Same doubts here. I do love AMD but be limited to 16GB, 720p and no thunderbolt it sucks bro. I’m planing to get a Razer Blade bot these limitations makes me think about to get an Intel 11th instead.
I really wish it had Thunderbolt 4 support. I know it can only be seen in intel ones, but still, if it was possible, would've been great. Plus the price should've been lower for a design profile that has been going on for years.
I'm not a gamer, I'm even a mac guy but I bought and switched a few gaming laptops during the last two years just because of the pandemic. Starting with Omen 15, Dell G5, Razerblade 2019, and lastly Asus M16. I like razer the best since it feels very balance between workhouse laptop and gaming. The keyboard is great for me too. The materials doesn't feel cheap like my plasticky Asus M16. However this one is weird, common Razer, even my Dell XPS 9500 has 32GB RAM
Sir, you have the best review on this Blade 14 model on RUclips! I wacthed them alllll so congrats. And congrats to myself, I just copped the exact same model for $1,100 in excellent condition. What a steal, I mean deal! 😁
Power button right above backspace is a cardinal sin.That would basically force me to disable the power button entirely just so I don't accidentally hit it.
Thank you for this review and for including more productivity benchmarks, helps me make a decision. I would buy the 3080 spec if it came with 32gbs of RAM. Doing so would most likely require Razer to equip dual rank RAM as opposed to the faster timings of the current single rank configuration. But I would take the higher capacity over the slightly better timings. Right now I’m strongly considering a 3070 spec since that seems to be the best overall value (relatively speaking).
Assuming that you're still in the market (and don't require more than 16 GBs of RAM), I strongly recommend the 3070 model. I've been using it for about a month now and not once have I ever desired more power or memory (but, I mainly use it for heavyish gaming and regular everyday use). Outside of initial setup and how picky games can be with drivers, I pretty much have no complaints to speak of.
@@aaronguerrero3391 It's been quite good for me, at least. At half brightness and the keyboard lighting off, I can get anywhere between 7-10 hours watching videos, browsing the web, or using Microsoft Office. When I turn the screen to maximum brightness and have the keyboard backlight on level 5/15, I tend to get around 5-6 doing the same load.
Looks like a really good high spec laptop that would be able to do double duty as gaming machine and workstation, except for the fact it only has 16gb memory. The fixed memory is a real limiting factor on how you can use this when not gaming, e.g. Running VMs. I did wonder if it would be possible to take it to an electronics shop and have them de-solder the ram and replace the module with a higher capacity. Obviously you'd kiss your warranty goodbye at that point.
I am a big Razer fan, and I'm glad to see the door open to them using AMD, I hope in the future though that they present some APU skews, sorta like an entry level gameing notebook with there degree of build quality.
I’m just gonna wait for the next generation blade laptops because i need to have a Ryzen CPU, be able to upgrade my ram, and have a gpu that comfortably runs 1440p games when undervolted because these things get HOT! Much hope for AMDs next Ryzen chips and Nvidias m gpus 🤞
Wow I'm really surprised, I didn't know a boatload of people sat only a foot away from their laptop to stare at a screen that small with that high of a pixel density, interesting!
It’s a lovely laptop, just wish AMD would get on the TB4 bandwagon, even M1 does. Also where are the 32GB and 64GB ram options? For serious productivity work that is needed. And yes 16:10 screen for more screen real-estate and to loose that chin. That web cam and mic… ouch. Still impressive package regardless.
I want to know what kind of black magic you guys used to get the battery to last so long. I get like 2 maybe 3 hours tops from my blade 14 and that's even after following a bunch of guides on reddit about optimizing battery life and thermals.
With all your Razer products, have you experienced battery bloating? I really like this laptop, but am reluctant due to a lot of Razer horror stories of destroyed and bent chassis. Do you have any input on that? Thanks for the great review!
We did a long term review of the Blade 15 and Mike has been using the Blade Stealth for almost 2 years now. No signs of bloat here or we would have reported it.
Looking at these results makes me think like Lenovo got that sweet spot. Price, power, upgradability, colour accuracy, keyboard, perhaps on the heavier side but that gives better thermals.
XPS is one of their volume series. Until AMD steps up and is actually able to PRODUCE their chips in higher volumes, expect their market penetration to increase substantially.
wont happen, dell XPS is also meant for high-end and business use, you need thunderbolt for docking stations and such. they might do it, but they wont be able to offer it as a precision laptop , and I dont think they want that segmentation.
It really would like HC to review how silent it is when doing light weight stuff (browsing, email) and how prone the touchpad are to missclicks. I bought the 2020 Base model and It is unusable due to the fans are spinning up and down all the time during light load and the trackpad are extremely prone (daily) to missclick.
Definitely snagging the G14 3060 for $1200 when more used stock begins appearing in 4-6 months. The MAG-15 looks juicy too of Eluktronics adds a overclocked* 3070 option. *via Eluktroboost which throttles the CPU and lets the GPU draw up to 125-135W (kinda like SmartShift)
I love the Blades but they need to make sure the battery doesn't become a ticking timebomb 1.5 - 2 years later when you use it exclusively for gaming. It's only thanks to extended warranties that I STILL have mine. Razer needs to solve the battery bloat issues.
I'd buy one right fucking now, but I just can't deal with an all black laptop. The amount of smudging and visible dust would bother me to no end. If they had this thing in Mercury White, like the Razer Book, this thing would be my number one choice!
I really want one of the two 14 laptops. I may go with zephyer and just get an external camera. I need one for potential interviews amd maybe remote work
The "RAM Quality" discussion is blown WAY out of proportion. The simple answer (though its not simple) is laptop gaming performance is highly CPU-bound at 1080P in some games while GPU power-limited in others.
@@HardwareCanucks We have been seeing for the last few months ASUS, Lenovo, etc shipping higher density lower rank memory with significantly slower sub timings. I’d bet the RAM in your Legion 7 is better than your Legion 5 Pro, and swapping from the L7 to the L5P would bring up your CS:GO benchmarks. I’m an avid RAM overclocker on desktop and swapping the stock RAM from my Legion 5 Pro to the HyperX C20 kit was a big improvement in lows and average.
oh BULLCRAP! The touchpad on the 14" is completely broken. Trying to click and drag, and trying to highlight text to copy (for example), will send the cursor flying inches up or down the screen. Thousands have reported this. The calibration is absolutely useless. Also, try plug in a powered speaker into the aux out. it's not grounded properly. Hint, absolutely and utterly protect your ears before doing so. And don't be surprised if your speaker driver blows. The buzz is THAT loud, like 80DB. it's dangerous. Guess what, another well known issue. And you know what? It sucks, cause it's a wonderful laptop performance wise.
I've gotten used to slightly bigger display. So I've pretty much look out for a large portable powerhouse. Seeing that 16 inch, QHD models exists, I'd be hard to press to go smaller compared to when I first learn about gaming laptops. But this product will definitely serve better for those hungry for light and portable but powerful machine. Razer definitely won the 14 inch category.
I feel like a fool for ordering only 6 weeks before the Blade 14 got released a Apple M1 Mac Book Pro with maxed out RAM and SSD. Apple had promised to release their own 14’ M1 at their last Conference in June but nothing happened. Yes things are certainly different with Tim Cook at the Helm than with Steve Jobs who always kept his promised deadlines for new product releases.
The deciding factor between these two for me was actually the battery and battery life. The G14 just has better battery life. I also like the pop of the keys on the 2021 G14. I hope you guys get a hold of one to check it out and see if you find the same.
It sounds stupid but the deal breaker for me was that I couldn't find the G14 in Black/Grey. Only the white model was available everywhere. Got the Blade 14 for $1400 on a sale and have been extremely satisfied since. Battery life has never really been an issue for me tbh.
What are you using as your main content creation machine? I'm trying to figure out whether to go for the new macbook m1 pro/m1 max OR for a razer blade.
The power adapter is great, IMO you're wrapping it wrong. Wrap it LONG ways around the adapter, then secure it with the strap. Watch my 'blade 14 early review' for a B-roll example. I really don't want them to change their 240w, its a great adapter.
Looks like it's okay enough with the surface temps when you hammer it But will it get even better when you put it in $20 ish cooling pad? Also is there any sort of cooling for the SSD?👀
Would be curious to understand what's your take on a light and thin gaming laptop (light to moderate gaming) in the 15" form factor -- How do you think Lenovo slim 7 ('21) compares to say a Razer blade 15 ? Especially if I said price is not an issue, value for money is.
I bought the Blade 14 and have been using it as my daily driver for games over the past few weeks as well and it's been a great experience so far. My previous laptop was the Razer Blade 15 Studio with the i7 10875h and a Quadro 5000. The 14" does such a better job at being power efficient and it keeps cool much better than my Studio Edition Blade.
@@amer-bloc To me the smaller screen on the 14" does make everything feel more cramped. I really like that it's running AMD but the screen on the 15" just feels so much easier on the eyes even though it's really only an inch larger. The 17" screen is even better obviously but then at that point I think the laptop feels almost too big and too heavy for a device that's supposed to be portable. Personally the 15" is my go-to. It's got the nice balance between power/screen size/portability between the three laptops.
I’m wondering which laptop maker will be the first one to add thunderbolt to the AMD laptop. There are AMD desktop motherboards with thunderbolt integrated so it is possible and can be done. That’s the only reason I haven’t pulled the trigger on an AMD laptop.
To those who think these MSRP are crazy. In EU MSRP for 3070 is 2400 EUR, and I bought my unit at retail for ~2500 EUR which is more than 2900 USD. Usually when companies bring their products to EU they keep numbers 1:1, which already makes it more expensive as eur is 1.20 to usd, but somehow Razer decided that price tag should be even bigger. Tbh, I wouldn't by it here if I realized that they sell 3070 laptop for 3080 price.
You're confused by tax. $ excluding tax = € including VAT In the US the price quoted is always PLUS SALES TAX, which varies by locale. In contrast prices in the EU always, by law for consumer sales, INCLUDES VAT, which is around 20%.
@@edwardkenworthy7013 Nice, didn't know that. But still that doesn't explain why Razer put higher numbers for EU region. I just think in this case it is better to buy laptop at US online retail, as price difference will easily cover shipment cost.
Brilliant and honest review. Superb narrative voice! I'd have bought this in a heartbeat and sold stuff to fund it. However, no 1080p webcam, better mic array, and mechanical keyboard stop this being the ultimate device. The UK version also has shortcomings with no backlight on the lower half of the number keys.
For most, the G14 is probably the perfect gaming laptop for casual gamers. If you need something more powerful, you can get the blade 14 in the same form factor, but you can get something cheaper with the same specs, just being a bit larger
why does the Flow X13 never get mentioned in comparison to thin and light ultrabooks. Is it because it needs an external GPU to be in the same class? Because almost every complaint you have about the razer blade, the Flow checks.
I want to warn people about the keyboards on these razer laptops. I've had the 15 for over two years and only recently the keys started dying seemingly randomly. Just be aware that if/when the keyboard starts to fail it's going to be a pain in the ass because you have to take the entire laptop apart to replace it. You can probably mitigate the issue by keeping the keyboard as clean as possible but I don't know. I don't want to take the whole thing apart to fuck with it.
I have a razer blade 14 and my biggest complaint is the speakers, I have a one plus 8 and a galaxy s21 ultra and the speakers on both of those sound better than the razer blade 14, I don't know if I have a faulty unit or what
I already read for getting better audio quality on Razer Blade, you can buy Dolby Atmos (windows store) which will result in much better audio quality. If you buy it, please let me know the results of it ✌🏻
Should I buy a blade 14 or blade 15 with frequent travel in mind. Completely disregarding specs, and just specifically talking about size. As I would prefer the blade 15 as I'm mainly using it for gaming but am concerned on how easy it would fit in my bag. (External monitor is not an option, as I will be living in different places)
I am sorry, but "smart move from Razer"? the Razer that waited until Intel had 10nm which has closed the gap so much, to release an AMD laptop? that forces then the user to pay for a premium laptop without premium connectivity (thunderbolt) or premium RAM (16gb only), and of course no competition to QuickSync for Adobe Premiere? I am sorry but this is "too little, too late".
What everyone fails to mention in these reviews is razer's abysmal reputation for reliability and user support. If you buy a razerblade then make sure to get a warranty and make sure to buy from their store since they will make any excuse not to honor the warranty. Also their customer support is literally the worst in the industry.
I'll buy one if I find a gold brick today.
They are found inside mountain all over
Good luck!
Word is hitler has a ton of the stuff. We'll need the cooperation of the us army. Fuel for tanks..they'll all want a cut of the gold...yeah yeah its all coming together..
🗿
you only need 2 ounces, so....
I'm watching this like "why haven't I ever bought myself a gaming laptop?" Then I saw the price and remembered why.
Used markets like facebook marketplace work good. Got a 1070 laptop with 16gb ram and an i7 8th gen for 650, compatible with windows 11 so very future proof
You are right. Its the price of a single GPU these days. ;)
@@lolcat many old gaming laptops have melt circuit boards and smoking dust inside. I wouldn't take the chance.
@@HardwareCanucks Exactly. Out of my price range.
@@allansh828 was really clean actually. But i will admit it's a gamble
Damn the boost mode is insane sustaining 4GHz+ on all 8 cores!
We were all surprised by that a TON.
@@HardwareCanucks with a little undervolting using the ryzen controller software for a bit more clocks and there's almost no disadvantage to the desktop 5800X! Awesome stuff.
@@OTechnology unfortunately it doesnt come close to the desktop 5800x, memory latency is high due to less cache and worse subtimings than desktop rams(3200cl22 probably in mobile cpus) and no mux switch. All these 3 things makes a huge difference if you are gaming at high fps.
@@sarthaksharma9152 yea that's true...its more of the lack of cache than anything. The 5700G proved memory latency is actually better on monolithic die Zen 3 if you can clock them as high as on desktop though....which you can't.
@@OTechnology There is no undervolting for ryzen laptops yet
If this had 32gb ram and a 16:10 aspect ratio, this would 💯% be laptop of the year.
It's probably the RAM that's messing with all the weird ranking in the laptop comparison.
Too bad their such an idiots to know why.
shut up!
instead of calling them idiots, why not tell them so they can make a video as well
they have called out manufacturers previously
That's the only reason I'm not buying this one vs the 15 advanced I work in a lot of professional software and additional ram is necessary
@@Timelessplays razer have catered the 14 for the gaming market, with 144hz freesync, smaller, soldered ram & a single smaller nvme ssd, while the 15 Adv has much more customisability, removable ram, another m.2, microSD and a 4k screen
@@Timelessplays 16 gigs or ram isn’t enough to run your programs that you need? What are you running?
Bought it, and love it. Favorite gaming laptop I’ve ever bought.
this laptop destroys my £1500 gaming pc while being in a tiny form factor & includes a (great imo) keyboard and screen. It easily replaces both my full-tower desktop & ultrabook for uni work, not even the slightest bit overpriced in my opinion.
@@kieranwalkerkw this is exactly the reason im considering a blade 14. i was considering getting an m1 air for college and a ps5 or an xbox for gaming, but realised that blade 14 has both gaming and college stuff covered in a small form factor.
@@PhaIIanxx Mostly the critically acclaimed ff14 online, but it can run almost games at 120fps at high/ultra, Ray traced stuff at like 75-80fps
@@PhaIIanxx nope, for non workstation loads it's more than enough, even though I wish it were 3800mhz+ better timed memory, the only bottleneck I've had so far has been gpu/cpu, just the memory would probably make it a little snappier
@@PhaIIanxx Mostly gaming, but programs open instantaneously and i can have every program i need running and available while seeing very little impact on gaming performance
The memory thing might be a show stopper for me. I want a gaming laptop that I can use for development also and really don't want to drop this much on a laptop if I have to settle on something with less than 32GB of RAM.
I'll either have to wait for an updated version, or settle...but settling when your buying a high end device really ruins the experience.
Edit: The more I look at it, the more I feel like the 16GB memory choice is completely stupid. This laptop literally has the "best of" category of most of it's components, but the "bare minimum" for memory? Aside from meeting a price point I'm don't really know what else could have driven that decision. 🤷
Yup same. I need as much memory as possible. Love everything about the blade except the dismal memory, my datasets don’t even fit in 16 gigs :(
I'd love to see the 3060 version tested. For $1800, if its performance is on par with the $1850 3070 Asus Zephyrus G15, then the price is very competitive.
But those LGBT light tho!🔥🏳️🌈
This guys voice sound so good, it makes the built in mic better than my dedicated mic
i think the keyboard is way too subjective. like personally i LOVE the keyboard on the razer blade
Agreed! I don't love it for gaming, but it is very nice for productivity purposes.
Agreed
Typing experience matters from person to person
If you are a fast typer like me then you would probably want a bit of press and feedback from the keys
And I use a M1 MacBook Air, which doesn't give that
So once I start hitting 130 wpm and higher it really gets hard to know whether you've pressed a key or not
The reviewers say that this keyboard is in a class of its own
But that's honestly just not true
Indeed. Linus loves the keyboard too.
i love your pacing of the commentary its something a lot of people lack when reviewing tech. verry good
genunely, the 3070 model sounds pretty reasonably priced. Considering the sheer development time, build and power for size, at only about $800 more than what I paid for a similar spec machine, but with a ryzen 9? I would buy that in a hearbeat if I didn't already ahve this thing.
By far the BEST review of the Razer Blade 14! I’ve watched several reviews, and this covers everything, but it’s quick, concise, and gets to the point.
Recently picked up a stealth but I really think the 14 is the sweet spot between power and portability. Almost went with the G14 for this very reason.
I got my Ryzen Razer 14 as close to Day 1 as possible; I've owned it for a few months now and it's literally a beast in every game I played so far (BFV, COD,etc.) . I recently started to utilize Ryzen Controller and man oh man, even on Boost settings my temps never go above 75. I'm going to do a video on it soon but it's worth noting that the major downside to the Ryzen platform (heat) can be easily supplemented with a little aftermarket magic.
How do you use the Ryzen Controller to do this? Would love to do these tweaks too :)
@@Weird_Quests It's not as straight forward as the intel's tuning software and you only truly have control over a few variables but give me till the end of the day, I'm just at work right now but I'll give you a quick look at my current settings
@@JackIslm that would be amazing! Thanks so much!
2:05 but the 3080 is the same wattage as the 3070 and only achieves 3 fps more. Definitely worth $600 more… 🙄
He's here to sell the laptop lol
If only it had a 16:10 screen like the Legion 7, an OLED like the previous model, and was offered in Silver...
So many conditions, better look elsewhere.
@@xmaverickhunterkx well, at least I didn't nitpick that it can only be configured with just 16GB or ram.
Bro if this laptop hit all ur above marks it would be a no brainer day 1buy for me as well! Maybe throw in a touch enabled screen 😅
And 32GB cause just 16 sucks
You pay a fortune for this and still they don't give 32 Gb RAM option. This what I call doomed marketing strategy.
Yeah... Why bother having a good gpu and CPU and then crap out with ram
time to get some soldering tools
yeah that just cripples it for productivity without reason
@@emanggitulah4319 disappointing for sure, Microsoft does this too with their surface line up. They nerf the amd options compared to Intel. Idk why.
I know, which is why Apple is going to continue getting more Windows customers.
I think the most important question is : does it still explode like the old ones?
I guess we will have to see
I have the Late 2016 Blade 14, that battery just swell every year or so! No more Razer for me!
@@michealsuen Although Razer Blades are durable, I have heard of Quality Control issues for years from them. It seems like when they get it right, they hit it out of the park, and when they get it wrong, it's a headache and a half.
awesome review as always!
I'd honestly would hope they made a Blade 16 'Advantage Edition' with a 90Wh+ battery
@Aurimas Povilionis I fully agree with you!
Got my blade 14, 2 days ago and I'm a little nervous about battery bloating.
Adjusting some of the processor settings I can't seem to get Valheim playing on medium settings without hitting 80C+ temperatures.
yeah, i wouldn't worry too much about that. I got mine two days ago and notice that the surface temperature is roughly the same across all modes over than boost/high gpu, and the battery is user replacable. Hopefully razer have got their shit together in regards to the battery issue but honestly I doubt it...
What has been the issue with batteries in their previous laptops?
A QuadHD display with GTX 3080 mobile on 14" notebooks is spectacular.
No one said.
@@UltraDXSASC If you saw it your tune would change. Its a really nice screen.
I have a 15" 4k display on my x360 Spectre. It's nice, but honestly it just too many pixels crammed into too small of a space. I have good vision and I still find lots of UI elements uncomfortably small.
I have QHD on my 2 27" desktop monitor (Samsung LSR27R750, VA panel; and LG 27GL850, IPS panel) and the details are barely big enough for comfort. So no, I wouldn't be buying any QHD 14" monitor and then having to scale up everything anyway. Sure it's nice if you watch 1440p youtube video (which is compressed as hell anyway) or do serious design work, but otherwise this is a very niche screen segment and that money could have been spent elsewhere.
Also have FHD res on the Razer Blade Stealth 13" and was very tempted to scale up the UI. So I don't think moving up an inch warrants double the pixel density.
I wish dell would add amd to their xps line
For 1800+ USD, having only 16 GB RAM is a deal breaker. Good thing that the G14 is available with 32 GB.
Problem with the G14 with 32GB is it comes with a useless (for the size) 4K screen and still only an RTX 3060. :(
and don't forget, no thunderbolt 3, that is the dealbreaker to me (together with the RAM). The blade 14 will suffer a short lifespan (it seems people forget the limitations of the previous Blade 14 which was also pioneer and everyone ditched for the 15).
Soldered RAM? F that noise, go kick rocks with Apple. I'm out.
@Limes89 same, 32GB RTX 3060 1440P 120hz screen
@@nunnil1655 I doubt that's dual channel.
Ordered mine from Worst Buy on July 1st and it still hasnt shipped. :'(
If you buy from Razer direct we hear they're already being received.
@@HardwareCanucks Thanks, but Worst Buy gives you a 10% coupon for your birthday month. So I can wait to save $220. lol
@@ctk4949 Holy shit are you joking me?? I just ordered from Razer and only got 5% off with a student discount. Damn, wish I knew!
@@linusmlgtips2123 Ya you have to add your birthdate to your Worst Buy Rewards. Then when its your birthday month, just add something to the cart and in the checkout there will be an option for 10% off. I always wait til July to buy something big, lol
@@ctk4949 Damn. Too bad I already paid for a Razer gift card to take advantage of some credit rewards.
Dunno about you, but my laptop isn't shipping until the 20th. Perhaps it's the same for Worst Buy?
I'm waiting for the Advantage edition... hopefully
Doubtful. RX 6000 anything are rarer than unicorns
Shame they didn't choose unsoldered RAM :(
Based on your experience so far, what advice would you give in keeping the Blade 14 cool? I am a bit worried about battery bloating.
It runs REALLY cool. It also uses a different battery from Blade laptops that were rolled out a few years ago that now seem to be exhibiting some random bloating.
@@HardwareCanucks That's good to hear, thanks for the reply.
Their configurations drive me nuts. I just want Ryzen with more memory (32), whether it's soldered or upgradeable. But they arranged for neither of these things.
Hmm. I've been waiting for Razer to come back to the 14" space, and this one gave me some hope - especially with that pewp keyboard layout a few gens back.
Looks like 2 points will keep me away -
1) as others mentioned, 16GB with no way to upgrade is no way to go.
2) they keyboard. Alienware's keyboard has spoiled me. I liked the old Razer keyboard (mine's a late 2016 14 w/ GTX 1060), but it lacks the "snap" of the Alienware m15r2, and the travel of the 13r3. I haven't tried the new mechanical switches, but even with Linus' review, I still have my doubts.
I guess it's time to see how the X15's fare; I've had off/on luck with Alienware stability. My Razer has always been rock solid, still is.
Nice review! One suggestion. When your going over the raw benchmarks and explaining the takeaway points you need to slow the pace in which you're flipping thru the slides. I can't even see which bar your referencing in your speech and you've already toggled to the next slide. Just a FYI thx!
Thanks for the suggestion. You could pause if you want but will definitely take that into account!
flame keyboard with purple and blue is stellar
The $2200 3070 model is the sweet spot and the one that most people should purchase.
Agreed!
I play destiny 2 on mine at 145fps. I have it fps limited. Fans stay wide open, and temps get to 63ish. Ita great and I love it! Plug keyboard, monitor, and mouse, or just plug controller an lay on couch.
I'm actually saving up for this, probably take to the end of the year but its a perfect small laptop with big power for gaming. I travel alot, so it works perfect for me. The 14" isn't much bigger than the 13", and I had a macbook air 13" through uni and just missed not having any power. This is a perfect compromise for me. Yes it's expensive, but It will last.
It would be really cool if you could do a review on the 3070 + 11800H Acer Predator Triton 500SE. It has some good specs, and seems to be a pretty good value as well
11th Gen laptops are looking better and better these days.
I really wish companies would adopt the xps 15 type of screen. I am hooked on the almost bezel less full screen. I hate dell but im stuck with the xps line until one of these other companies steps up.
In case you were wondering, this laptop can use the 100w Gan charger and still get 90W TGP. Just restart the computer with it plugged in to the Gan only. It's bananas I use razer 130w Gan for gaming it rocks. After it restarts, the synapse software locks it to balanced mode. Way better for travel.
Sold my truck and got one. Just need to find my way to work now.. maybe razer should make some USB A wheels and I can ride it like a skateboard
No 32gb no use! Shame. I would use it for photo processing, layers and upscalers eat RAM.
Soldered RAM? Shame! F that noise, go kick rocks with Apple. I'm out.
Same here
Any plans to review the 11th gen intel Razer Blade 15 Advanced? I see the 10th gen in this comparison, the 11th does seem to fair better and has a 1080P camera. Regardless, thanks Hardware Canucks for always having well-done reviews.
Same doubts here. I do love AMD but be limited to 16GB, 720p and no thunderbolt it sucks bro. I’m planing to get a Razer Blade bot these limitations makes me think about to get an Intel 11th instead.
I really wish it had Thunderbolt 4 support. I know it can only be seen in intel ones, but still, if it was possible, would've been great. Plus the price should've been lower for a design profile that has been going on for years.
They could have with a i7 11th Gen H-series, but at a worse performance deficit and feature set.
select x570 boards have thunderbolt; maybe its possible amd will gain full support soon.
@Aditya Wagh amd doesn't have thunderbolt bc of licensing issues from Intel iirc, not because they're lazy
I'm not a gamer, I'm even a mac guy but I bought and switched a few gaming laptops during the last two years just because of the pandemic. Starting with Omen 15, Dell G5, Razerblade 2019, and lastly Asus M16. I like razer the best since it feels very balance between workhouse laptop and gaming. The keyboard is great for me too. The materials doesn't feel cheap like my plasticky Asus M16. However this one is weird, common Razer, even my Dell XPS 9500 has 32GB RAM
Sir, you have the best review on this Blade 14 model on RUclips! I wacthed them alllll so congrats. And congrats to myself, I just copped the exact same model for $1,100 in excellent condition. What a steal, I mean deal! 😁
Power button right above backspace is a cardinal sin.That would basically force me to disable the power button entirely just so I don't accidentally hit it.
I managed to get zephyrus duo se today… delivery is on its way…got top model
NICE!
ASUS Zephyrus G14 has been easy to get from Best Buy in the USA. They had it for 1349.99 USD recently around July 4th and never sold out.
Thank you for this review and for including more productivity benchmarks, helps me make a decision.
I would buy the 3080 spec if it came with 32gbs of RAM.
Doing so would most likely require Razer to equip dual rank RAM as opposed to the faster timings of the current single rank configuration. But I would take the higher capacity over the slightly better timings.
Right now I’m strongly considering a 3070 spec since that seems to be the best overall value (relatively speaking).
Definitely agree. Would be much more worth the $600 upsell if it had the extra 16GB
Assuming that you're still in the market (and don't require more than 16 GBs of RAM), I strongly recommend the 3070 model. I've been using it for about a month now and not once have I ever desired more power or memory (but, I mainly use it for heavyish gaming and regular everyday use). Outside of initial setup and how picky games can be with drivers, I pretty much have no complaints to speak of.
@@jaylen11000 how's the battery's life going with your device? I'm on the market for one and am worried about it's overall battery performance.
@@aaronguerrero3391 It's been quite good for me, at least. At half brightness and the keyboard lighting off, I can get anywhere between 7-10 hours watching videos, browsing the web, or using Microsoft Office. When I turn the screen to maximum brightness and have the keyboard backlight on level 5/15, I tend to get around 5-6 doing the same load.
Looks like a really good high spec laptop that would be able to do double duty as gaming machine and workstation, except for the fact it only has 16gb memory. The fixed memory is a real limiting factor on how you can use this when not gaming, e.g. Running VMs. I did wonder if it would be possible to take it to an electronics shop and have them de-solder the ram and replace the module with a higher capacity. Obviously you'd kiss your warranty goodbye at that point.
Can you actually do that?
I am a big Razer fan, and I'm glad to see the door open to them using AMD, I hope in the future though that they present some APU skews, sorta like an entry level gameing notebook with there degree of build quality.
I’m just gonna wait for the next generation blade laptops because i need to have a Ryzen CPU, be able to upgrade my ram, and have a gpu that comfortably runs 1440p games when undervolted because these things get HOT! Much hope for AMDs next Ryzen chips and Nvidias m gpus 🤞
Wow I'm really surprised, I didn't know a boatload of people sat only a foot away from their laptop to stare at a screen that small with that high of a pixel density, interesting!
"non upgraddable ram" is the only reason why im skippin dis one
Soldered RAM? Shame! F that noise, go kick rocks with Apple. I'm out.
It’s a lovely laptop, just wish AMD would get on the TB4 bandwagon, even M1 does. Also where are the 32GB and 64GB ram options? For serious productivity work that is needed. And yes 16:10 screen for more screen real-estate and to loose that chin. That web cam and mic… ouch. Still impressive package regardless.
Blame Intel for lack of TB4 support on AMD platforms
@@Kidynamo123 Agreed 👍 😃
I want to know what kind of black magic you guys used to get the battery to last so long. I get like 2 maybe 3 hours tops from my blade 14 and that's even after following a bunch of guides on reddit about optimizing battery life and thermals.
With all your Razer products, have you experienced battery bloating?
I really like this laptop, but am reluctant due to a lot of Razer horror stories of destroyed and bent chassis.
Do you have any input on that?
Thanks for the great review!
also curious if they ever fixed this issue
We did a long term review of the Blade 15 and Mike has been using the Blade Stealth for almost 2 years now. No signs of bloat here or we would have reported it.
@@HardwareCanucks awesome, thanks for the quick reply! Then it seems more a matter of luck with QC.
Keep up the great work!
@@Tetsu-Ryu I still use my blade 14 1060 without issues.
@@kru420m that is awesome to hear! Thanks for the info. I love mine and get a bit worried, about the heat after excessive use.
Looking at these results makes me think like Lenovo got that sweet spot. Price, power, upgradability, colour accuracy, keyboard, perhaps on the heavier side but that gives better thermals.
Now It's Dell's move to include Ryzen into xps laptops 😶
XPS is one of their volume series. Until AMD steps up and is actually able to PRODUCE their chips in higher volumes, expect their market penetration to increase substantially.
wont happen, dell XPS is also meant for high-end and business use, you need thunderbolt for docking stations and such. they might do it, but they wont be able to offer it as a precision laptop , and I dont think they want that segmentation.
Im so glad i copped the g14 as soon as it came out now knowing that its a gem
Forgot to mention the finger print magnet finish. Gotta get a skin for it. Like Snake skin.
It really would like HC to review how silent it is when doing light weight stuff (browsing, email) and how prone the touchpad are to missclicks.
I bought the 2020 Base model and It is unusable due to the fans are spinning up and down all the time during light load and the trackpad are extremely prone (daily) to missclick.
Definitely snagging the G14 3060 for $1200 when more used stock begins appearing in 4-6 months.
The MAG-15 looks juicy too of Eluktronics adds a overclocked* 3070 option.
*via Eluktroboost which throttles the CPU and lets the GPU draw up to 125-135W (kinda like SmartShift)
I love the Blades but they need to make sure the battery doesn't become a ticking timebomb 1.5 - 2 years later when you use it exclusively for gaming. It's only thanks to extended warranties that I STILL have mine. Razer needs to solve the battery bloat issues.
Nice review. If it wasn't for 2 sticks of soldered ram this would be my laptop.
I'd buy one right fucking now, but I just can't deal with an all black laptop. The amount of smudging and visible dust would bother me to no end.
If they had this thing in Mercury White, like the Razer Book, this thing would be my number one choice!
I really want one of the two 14 laptops. I may go with zephyer and just get an external camera. I need one for potential interviews amd maybe remote work
Who is the guy in the sponsorship clips? Why don't you do them?
Dmitry, the other part of Hardware Canucks
The inconsistency I guarantee is via the quality of the ram supplied in the various laptops. You can see that based off of the CS:GO benchmarks.
The "RAM Quality" discussion is blown WAY out of proportion. The simple answer (though its not simple) is laptop gaming performance is highly CPU-bound at 1080P in some games while GPU power-limited in others.
@@HardwareCanucks well then testing the laptops on 1440p would solve that, but even then there are still some inconsistencies
@@HardwareCanucks We have been seeing for the last few months ASUS, Lenovo, etc shipping higher density lower rank memory with significantly slower sub timings. I’d bet the RAM in your Legion 7 is better than your Legion 5 Pro, and swapping from the L7 to the L5P would bring up your CS:GO benchmarks.
I’m an avid RAM overclocker on desktop and swapping the stock RAM from my Legion 5 Pro to the HyperX C20 kit was a big improvement in lows and average.
2021 G14 is really abundant in Indias surprisingly
oh BULLCRAP!
The touchpad on the 14" is completely broken. Trying to click and drag, and trying to highlight text to copy (for example), will send the cursor flying inches up or down the screen. Thousands have reported this. The calibration is absolutely useless. Also, try plug in a powered speaker into the aux out. it's not grounded properly. Hint, absolutely and utterly protect your ears before doing so. And don't be surprised if your speaker driver blows. The buzz is THAT loud, like 80DB. it's dangerous. Guess what, another well known issue.
And you know what? It sucks, cause it's a wonderful laptop performance wise.
the regular g14 is 1.6kg, the 1.7kg G14 is with that LED display on the lid
and its 0.7", again, the 0.87" is the one with that extra display
I've gotten used to slightly bigger display. So I've pretty much look out for a large portable powerhouse. Seeing that 16 inch, QHD models exists, I'd be hard to press to go smaller compared to when I first learn about gaming laptops. But this product will definitely serve better for those hungry for light and portable but powerful machine. Razer definitely won the 14 inch category.
I feel like a fool for ordering only 6 weeks before the Blade 14 got released a Apple M1 Mac Book Pro with maxed out RAM and SSD. Apple had promised to release their own 14’ M1 at their last Conference in June but nothing happened. Yes things are certainly different with Tim Cook at the Helm than with Steve Jobs who always kept his promised deadlines for new product releases.
If only they did a touchscreen version. I'd buy it tomorrow.
The deciding factor between these two for me was actually the battery and battery life. The G14 just has better battery life. I also like the pop of the keys on the 2021 G14. I hope you guys get a hold of one to check it out and see if you find the same.
I have the 2021 G14. I'm typing on it right now. It's great!
It sounds stupid but the deal breaker for me was that I couldn't find the G14 in Black/Grey. Only the white model was available everywhere. Got the Blade 14 for $1400 on a sale and have been extremely satisfied since. Battery life has never really been an issue for me tbh.
What are you using as your main content creation machine? I'm trying to figure out whether to go for the new macbook m1 pro/m1 max OR for a razer blade.
May I know what microphone you're using? Your voice sounds so clear 😊
The power adapter is great, IMO you're wrapping it wrong. Wrap it LONG ways around the adapter, then secure it with the strap. Watch my 'blade 14 early review' for a B-roll example. I really don't want them to change their 240w, its a great adapter.
Braided cables on laptops are a fail. Period.
Looks like it's okay enough with the surface temps when you hammer it
But will it get even better when you put it in $20 ish cooling pad?
Also is there any sort of cooling for the SSD?👀
Of course you can buy one right now, because it's basically scalper prices already. Only scalper prices are ever in stock anywhere on the planet.
PCs being in such high demand no one is in any hurry to make anything midrange and affordable. I hope we'll start seeing some 5600HS/6600M laptops.
The Omen 16 looks promising
Would be curious to understand what's your take on a light and thin gaming laptop (light to moderate gaming) in the 15" form factor -- How do you think Lenovo slim 7 ('21) compares to say a Razer blade 15 ? Especially if I said price is not an issue, value for money is.
if the keyboard had been better and the display brighter, would have done it for me. nice review thanks
I bought the Blade 14 and have been using it as my daily driver for games over the past few weeks as well and it's been a great experience so far. My previous laptop was the Razer Blade 15 Studio with the i7 10875h and a Quadro 5000. The 14" does such a better job at being power efficient and it keeps cool much better than my Studio Edition Blade.
Is the smaller screen size a problem for gaming? And how are the speakers? I'm undecided between the 14 15 and 17
@@amer-bloc To me the smaller screen on the 14" does make everything feel more cramped. I really like that it's running AMD but the screen on the 15" just feels so much easier on the eyes even though it's really only an inch larger. The 17" screen is even better obviously but then at that point I think the laptop feels almost too big and too heavy for a device that's supposed to be portable.
Personally the 15" is my go-to. It's got the nice balance between power/screen size/portability between the three laptops.
I’m wondering which laptop maker will be the first one to add thunderbolt to the AMD laptop. There are AMD desktop motherboards with thunderbolt integrated so it is possible and can be done. That’s the only reason I haven’t pulled the trigger on an AMD laptop.
Few months late but I think thunderbolt ports are property of intel so unfortunately amd cpus will probably never have thunderbolt ports
I am hoping you guys would review the Alienware x17 soon
To those who think these MSRP are crazy. In EU MSRP for 3070 is 2400 EUR, and I bought my unit at retail for ~2500 EUR which is more than 2900 USD.
Usually when companies bring their products to EU they keep numbers 1:1, which already makes it more expensive as eur is 1.20 to usd, but somehow Razer decided that price tag should be even bigger. Tbh, I wouldn't by it here if I realized that they sell 3070 laptop for 3080 price.
You're confused by tax.
$ excluding tax = € including VAT
In the US the price quoted is always PLUS SALES TAX, which varies by locale. In contrast prices in the EU always, by law for consumer sales, INCLUDES VAT, which is around 20%.
@@edwardkenworthy7013 Nice, didn't know that. But still that doesn't explain why Razer put higher numbers for EU region. I just think in this case it is better to buy laptop at US online retail, as price difference will easily cover shipment cost.
@@echoes_93 But when it arrives in the EU you will be charged customs import duty, VAT and a fee by the carrier for paying on your behalf.
Brilliant and honest review. Superb narrative voice! I'd have bought this in a heartbeat and sold stuff to fund it. However, no 1080p webcam, better mic array, and mechanical keyboard stop this being the ultimate device. The UK version also has shortcomings with no backlight on the lower half of the number keys.
I’m just waiting on the Razer Blade Stealth refresh.
For most, the G14 is probably the perfect gaming laptop for casual gamers. If you need something more powerful, you can get the blade 14 in the same form factor, but you can get something cheaper with the same specs, just being a bit larger
why does the Flow X13 never get mentioned in comparison to thin and light ultrabooks.
Is it because it needs an external GPU to be in the same class?
Because almost every complaint you have about the razer blade, the Flow checks.
I want to warn people about the keyboards on these razer laptops. I've had the 15 for over two years and only recently the keys started dying seemingly randomly. Just be aware that if/when the keyboard starts to fail it's going to be a pain in the ass because you have to take the entire laptop apart to replace it. You can probably mitigate the issue by keeping the keyboard as clean as possible but I don't know. I don't want to take the whole thing apart to fuck with it.
You gotta do an ROG Zephyrus M16 review ASAP!
the keyboard bothers me very much, if youre gonna make a final decision just make sure to test it beforehand.
I have a razer blade 14 and my biggest complaint is the speakers, I have a one plus 8 and a galaxy s21 ultra and the speakers on both of those sound better than the razer blade 14, I don't know if I have a faulty unit or what
I already read for getting better audio quality on Razer Blade, you can buy Dolby Atmos (windows store) which will result in much better audio quality. If you buy it, please let me know the results of it ✌🏻
Should I buy a blade 14 or blade 15 with frequent travel in mind. Completely disregarding specs, and just specifically talking about size. As I would prefer the blade 15 as I'm mainly using it for gaming but am concerned on how easy it would fit in my bag. (External monitor is not an option, as I will be living in different places)
I am sorry, but "smart move from Razer"? the Razer that waited until Intel had 10nm which has closed the gap so much, to release an AMD laptop? that forces then the user to pay for a premium laptop without premium connectivity (thunderbolt) or premium RAM (16gb only), and of course no competition to QuickSync for Adobe Premiere? I am sorry but this is "too little, too late".
a wise man in comment section
As soon as Razer releases a Mercury white Blade 17 with a 1440p screen with at least 120hz refresh, I'll buy it, immediately.
What everyone fails to mention in these reviews is razer's abysmal reputation for reliability and user support. If you buy a razerblade then make sure to get a warranty and make sure to buy from their store since they will make any excuse not to honor the warranty. Also their customer support is literally the worst in the industry.
I am worried that i will accidentally won't press the backspace but the on/off button.