CES 2023 Hands-On: Razer’s Fresh Blade 18 and 16 Bring Big New Screen Sizes and Next-Gen Power

Razer’s Blade gaming laptop line is getting bigger and better this year with two new 16-and-18-inch screen sizes announced at CES 2023.

The Razer Blade 16 and Blade 18 are the latest to adopt the growing screen trend, bumping up the display real estate from the traditional 15-and-17-inch sizes we’ve known for years. PCMag's Brian Westover was able to go hands-on with the devices at CES, and you can watch his impressions in the video above.

The other exciting addition is updated core components. Both laptops will run on the just-announced Nvidia 40 Series GPUs and Intel 13th Gen mobile processors. Read on for the details below.

Building a Bigger Blade: 18-Inch Displays Are Here

The Blade 18 is of particular interest: We’ve seen 16-inch laptops for the last couple of years, but the Blade 18 is part of a new wave of 18-inch laptops debuting at CES 2023. Alongside the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 and the Alienware m18, the Blade 18 is looking to be one of the top dogs at the high end of the gaming market this year. The Blade line is known for being slim and built with premium materials, so we’ll take a look at how that translates to this larger chassis.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

The Blade 18 measures 0.86 by 15.74 by 10.83 inches and weighs 7.05 pounds, which is up from the last Blade 17 we reviewed (0.78 by 15.55 by 10.24 inches, 6.06 pounds). The difference in the actual footprint isn’t actually much, as you can see, but the increased weight—already not so light—will be noticeable. The same anodized aluminum material is used for the chassis, so it will likely look and feel just like past Blade models.

The main focus is, of course, on the larger display. The new panel measures exactly 18 inches diagonally in a 16:10 aspect ratio. It bears a QHD+ resolution (2,560 by 1,600 pixels), a 240Hz refresh rate, and Nvidia G-Sync. The brightness is rated up to 500 nits, and the response time is 3ms. This is the only panel option across the Blade 18—the panel size is already new, so permutations are likely limited in availability.

It’s a true desktop replacement at this size, but still obviously many times more portable than a desk setup even at this weight. A gaming laptop will live and die by its components though, particularly if you’re trying to replace a desktop, so the CPU and GPU will be crucial.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

Fortunately for deep-pocketed shoppers, the core component options scale up quite high. The base model comes with the newly announced Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, and the less modest 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13950HX processor. The GPU is configured for up to 165W power, and the system is backed by vapor chamber cooling to manage its thermals.

The processor remains the same in all configurations, but there are several scaling GPU options: The Blade 18 can be ordered with an RTX 4070, RTX 4080, and RTX 4090. Serious enthusiasts will appreciate the latter options, and all the power will go to increasing frame rate and ray-tracing capabilities since there are no higher-resolution screen options to pair with the superior GPUs.

Alongside the increasingly potent GPU options, you can add memory and storage to your configuration. The base model starts with 16GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD, but models can go all the way up to 32GB memory and a 2TB SSD. The memory is also user upgradeable after purchase to a maximum of 64GB, and the same goes for the memory for up to 4TB.

Of course, even if the new 40 Series hierarchy should have the expected performance curve, we’ll have to test it ourselves to confirm that (and see what the ceiling of these new GPUs is) when Blade 18 units are available. The Blade 18 starts at $2,899.99 and will launch this quarter.

A Larger “Mid-Size” Blade: The New 16-Inch Option

These 16-inch gaming laptops may not be new, but this size is new to the Blade lineup. It’s a bit more traditional than the super-sized Blade 18, really just stretching the concept of the still-portable 15-inch option into a larger screen.

It measures 0.87 by 13.98 by 9.61 inches (HWD) and weighs 5.4 pounds—much more portable than the Blade 18—though still a departure from the previous Blade 15 (0.67 by 13.98 by 9.25 inches and 4.4 pounds). The larger screen size and updated components add about a pound to each of these new laptops compared to the existing sizes, testing the portability selling point somewhat.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

If 16 inches is more appealing, you’ll get a screen that’s just as advanced as its larger sibling. The QHD+ resolution and 240HZ refresh rate panel are here too, but unlike the Blade 18, there is more than meets the eye to the screen.

The Blade 16 is also available with mini LED panel that can swap between full HD+ 240Hz (a 1080p equivalent for the 16:10 aspect ratio, 1,920 by 1,200 pixels) or UHD+ 120Hz (a 4K equivalent for the 16:10 aspect ratio, 3,840 by 2,400 pixels) resolutions on the fly. This dynamic resolution panel allows you to change the resolution and refresh rate between those two options to better suit your next gaming session. The mini LED screens have a maximum brightness of 600 nits, while the standard IPS screen is 500 nits.

It’s no surprise that this laptop will also utilize the latest Intel and Nvidia components, featuring 13th Gen CPUs and 40 Series GPUs. The options are the same as the Blade 18 as well, with the Core i9-13950HX processor as the pick on all models, and GPU options running from the RTX 4060 to the RTX 4090.

(Credit: Brian Westover)

One key difference is, due to the smaller body and thus more limited thermals, the Blade 16 has a maximum graphics power of 140W. Memory also ranges from 16GB to 32GB (also user upgradeable to 64GB after purchase), and storage from 1TB to 2TB (also user upgradeable to 4TB). The Blade 16 will launch starting at $2,699.99 in Q1 of this year.

Both laptop sizes benefit from the signature Razer Chroma per-key customizable RGB lighting, Razer Synapse customization and monitoring software, support for USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, the precision touchpad (which we’ve traditionally rated as one of the best among Windows laptops), and Windows Hello via IR full HD cameras. Check back for our full reviews on these laptops once they become available later in the near future.