Razer's new Blade gaming laptops pack RTX 30 GPUs and wild 360Hz displays

Razer's Blade gaming laptops are beloved for two reasons: they're really powerful and they don't look like a Transformer. At CES 2021, the gaming giant (remember, it owns THX and nobody should be calling it a "boutique company" anymore) announced two new gaming laptops: the Blade 15 and Blade Pro 17. Both come with NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 30 Series laptop graphics and display refresh rates that can be configured up to 360Hz.

Sure, the M1 MacBook Air and MacBook Pro are game changers when it comes to thin-and-light laptops that last all day. But if you want to game with the highest ray-tracing fidelity on a laptop and don't want a megaton-sized device that'll break your back, the new Razer Blade 15 and 17 look damn enticing.

Pounds of power — Buckle up because this is gonna get number-heavy. The Blade 15 comes in two models: Base and Advanced. Both come with a 15.4-inch display, but you're gonna wanna pay attention because there are some big differences:

Base Blade 15 (starts at $1,700):

• CPU: 6-core 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10750H (2.6GHz / 5.0GHz Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (6GB GDDR6 VRAM) or RTX 3070 (8GB RAM)
• Storage: 512GB SSD (expandable to 4TB)
• RAM: 16GB (expandable to 64GB)
• Display: 144Hz Full HD (8ms) or 165Hz QHD (3ms)
• Battery: 65Wh battery
• I/O: Thunderbolt 3 USB-C, 3x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (USB-A), USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1 output, Gigabit Ethernet
• Bluetooth 5.1
• Webcam: 1-megapixel 720p

Advanced Blade 15

• CPU: 8-core 10th-gen Intel Core i7-108750H (2.3GHz / 5.1GHz Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (6GB GDDR6 VRAM), or RTX 3080 (8GB or 16GB VRAM)
• Storage: 1TB (expandable to 4TB)
• RAM: 16GB or 32GB (expandable to 64GB)
• Display: 360Hz Full HD (2ms), 240Hz QHD (2.5ms), 60Hz 4K
• Battery: 80Wh battery
• I/O: Thunderbolt 3 USB-C (with 20V USB-C chargers with PD 3.0), USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (20V USB-C charger with PD 3.0). 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (USB-A), HDMI 2.1 output, SD Card reader
• Wi-Fi 6E compatible
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Webcam: 1-megapixel 720p with Windows Hello

There's a little bit of give and take when you bump up from the base to the advanced Blade 15. Namely, more display options with faster refresh rates, more powerful GPU configs, an SD card reader, and a more powerful battery.

Now, for the Blade Blade Pro 17. This 6.06-pound, 17.3-inch laptop comes in six configurations with the biggest differentiators being the RTX 30 Series GPU and display resolution. The base model starts at $2,300; middle-tier starts at $2,700; and high-end version starts at $3,200.

Blade 17 Pro RTX 3060 ($2,400):

• CPU: 8-core 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10875 (2.3GHz / 5.1GHz Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (6GB GDDR6 VRAM)
• Storage: 512GB SSD (expandable to 2TB)
• RAM: 16GB (expandable to 64GB)
• Display: 360Hz Full HD (3ms)
• Battery: 70.5Wh battery
• I/O: 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (one is Thunderbolt 3), 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-A), HDMI 2.1 output, Gigabit ethernet, SD card reader
• Wi-Fi 6E compatible
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Webcam: 1-megapixel 720p with Windows Hello

Blade 17 Pro RTX 3070 ($2,700):

• CPU: 8-core 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10875 (2.3GHz / 5.1GHz Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB GDDR6 VRAM)
• Storage: 512GB SSD (expandable to 2TB)
• RAM: 16GB (expandable to 64GB)
• Display: 360Hz Full HD (3ms)
• Battery: 70.5Wh battery
• I/O: 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (one is Thunderbolt 3), 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-A), HDMI 2.1 output, Gigabit Ethernet, SD card reader
• Wi-Fi 6E compatible
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Webcam: 1-megapixel 720p with Windows Hello

Blade 17 Pro RTX 3080 ($3,200):

• CPU: 8-core 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10875 (2.3GHz / 5.1GHz Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (8GB GDDR6 VRAM)
• Storage: 1TB SSD (expandable to 2TB)
• RAM: 32GB (expandable to 64GB)
• Display: 360Hz Full HD (3ms)
• Battery: 70.5Wh battery
• I/O: 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (one is Thunderbolt 3), 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-A), HDMI 2.1 output, Gigabit Ethernet, SD card reader
• Wi-Fi 6E compatible
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Webcam: 1-megapixel 720p with Windows Hello

Should you want a display with a higher resolution display (at the expense of a lower refresh rate), Razer's got them for the Blade Pro 17:

Blade 17 Pro QHD RTX 3060 ($2,300):

• CPU: 8-core 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10875 (2.3GHz / 5.1GHz Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 (6GB GDDR6 VRAM)
• Storage: 512GB SSD (expandable to 2TB)
• RAM: 16GB (expandable to 64GB)
• Display: 165Hz QHD
• Battery: 70.5Wh battery
• I/O: 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (one is Thunderbolt 3), 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-A), HDMI 2.1 output, Gigabit ethernet, SD card reader
• Wi-Fi 6E compatible
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Webcam: 1-megapixel 720p with Windows Hello

Blade 17 Pro QHD RTX 3070 ($2,600):

• CPU: 8-core 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10875 (2.3GHz / 5.1GHz Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (8GB GDDR6 VRAM)
• Storage: 512GB SSD (expandable to 2TB)
• RAM: 16GB (expandable to 64GB)
• Display: 165Hz QHD
• Battery: 70.5Wh battery
• I/O: 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (one is Thunderbolt 3), 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-A), HDMI 2.1 output, Gigabit ethernet, SD card reader
• Wi-Fi 6E compatible
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Webcam: 1-megapixel 720p with Windows Hello

Blade 17 Pro UHD RTX 3080 ($3,600):

• CPU: 8-core 10th-gen Intel Core i7-10875 (2.3GHz / 5.1GHz Turbo)
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (16GB GDDR6 VRAM)
• Storage: 1TB SSD (expandable to 2TB)
• RAM: 32GB (expandable to 64GB)
• Display: 120Hz Full HD (3ms)
• Battery: 70.5Wh battery
• I/O: 2x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (one is Thunderbolt 3), 3x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (USB-A), HDMI 2.1 output, Gigabit ethernet, SD card reader
• Wi-Fi 6E compatible
• Bluetooth 5.2
• Webcam: 1-megapixel 720p with Windows Hello

RGBs everywhere — Oh, and don't worry, there's a full Chrome RGB keyboard. This is a gaming laptop after all. And this is Razer.

Price and release — Both the Blade 15 and Blade Pro 17 will be available from Razer.com and Razer retail on January 12. The Blade 15 will be available at other retailers on January 26 and the Blade 17 Pro will hit retail in Q1 2021.