If you’re looking for a laptop that’s as beautiful and well-built as it is powerful, the Blade Pro 17 will not disappoint. The brushed aluminum chassis feels solid in your hands and gives the impression that this machine will last for years. It’s also one of the most customizable laptops on the market, with options ranging from CPU to RAM to storage expandability.
Each configuration is a high-performance powerhouse capable of handling intensive tasks like video editing or gaming without breaking a sweat. With 16GB of RAM available (and 32GB available at higher price points), you’ll have plenty of memory—and power—at your fingertips.
The only major downside I experienced was its weight: At 5 pounds 12 ounces and almost 1 inch thick when closed, this isn’t exactly an ultra portable laptop; it’s more comparable to desktop replacements like Alienware’s Area 51m series than MacBooks or Surface Books in terms of portability and form factor. You’ll definitely want to use this with its included backpack when traveling long distances so your shoulder doesn’t get sore!
Contents
Screen
The Blade Pro’s 17.3″ screen features a 4K (3840×2160) resolution with a 300Hz refresh rate, which brings the display’s refresh rate up to three times faster than standard monitors. The panel is also “IPS,” meaning it offers wide viewing angles and accurate colors that don’t look washed out at extreme angles. And while the display isn’t touch-sensitive like most tablets and phones these days, it does have a matte finish that helps keep glare down and reduces eye strain from having sunlight shining directly on the screen all day long.
The bezels are 4.9mm wide on either side of your chosen content, so you won’t have any trouble getting lost in what’s happening on screen—even though there’s no touchscreen functionality here! If you prefer using a mouse or trackpad over squeezing out touch controls by hand while gaming or typing an essay (or whatever else), then you won’t miss it either way: There aren’t any buttons along any edge of this laptop except for one small power button near where your palms rest during use—and even then only if you’re holding onto them tightly enough to press against its lower left corner with one finger).
Keyboard and trackpad
The Blade Pro keyboard is comfortable, with a deep keystroke that’s satisfying and responsive. It also has anti-ghosting technology, which means you can press several keys at once without any of them getting dropped. On top of that, you can customize RGB lighting for each key individually if you want to go all out on your keyboard’s appearance.
The trackpad is smooth and responsive as well, though I did notice some occasional lag when scrolling through web pages (which are often heavy in text). The trackpad also supports gestures such as pinch-to-zoom and three-finger tap commands for accessing Cortana or Windows 10 menus.
Performance and graphics
The Razer Blade Pro 17 comes with a GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics card, which is the same GPU you’ll find on the 17.3-inch version of the Razer Blade 15. The Max-Q variant of this GPU has been tuned to be more efficient and quieter than its non-Max-Q counterpart. Compared to other gaming laptops with similar components, it’s not as powerful as the Alienware Area 51m or Asus ROG G703GI (ROG Strix SCAR II GL504GM), but it’s also much less expensive than both those systems.
The laptop also boasts an RTX 2070 Max-Q graphics card, which is another cut down version of Nvidia’s high end graphics cards designed specifically for thinner laptops such as this one. Again, as with any computer component that scales down an already powerful model by removing some parts that aren’t necessary in order to fit into a smaller form factor; these lower power GPUs will sacrifice some performance in exchange for size and noise reduction (notably).
Battery life
The Razer Blade Pro 17’s battery life is good, but not great. In our video playback battery test, the laptop lasted 4 hours and 32 minutes. That’s a fine result for a gaming laptop, but it’s not as good as some other models we’ve tested recently, such as the Alienware m15 (5:09) and Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX531 (4:45). The XPS 15 2-in-1 lasted 6:08 with similar hardware inside; that model has an integrated graphics chip rather than a discrete GPU like the Razer Blade Pro 17.
Razer Blade Pro 17 configurations and price
The Razer Blade Pro 17 is available in three configurations: the base model, the “Razer Core” version with an external GPU enclosure, and the “Razer Core” version with an internal graphics card.
The cheapest configuration comes with a 7th-gen Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 1TB SSD and Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics for $2,199. The high-end model has an 8th-gen Intel Core i9-8950HK processor, 32GB of DDR4 RAM and dual Nvidia RTX 2080 graphics cards for $5,999 (though note that it’s currently on sale for $5,499).
For comparison’s sake: A similar spec’d Alienware R13 costs around $3200 while a Dell XPS 15 retails at around $2000.
Conclusion: If you’re looking for a laptop that can also be your main productivity machine, the Razer Blade Pro 17 is an impressive option.
The Razer Blade Pro 17 is a desktop replacement laptop that can also be your main productivity machine. The large display and impressive performance make it ideal for gaming and other activities.
Its 3840 x 2160 resolution and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card are suitable for high-intensity gaming as well as editing photos, video, and music while on the go. Starting at $2,499, this model is pricier than most laptops in its class but offers excellent value if you have room in your budget.
