It comes as no surprise that a hardware manufacturer specifically for games, Razer, would be the first in the world to bring Triple-A, high-end gaming on the go in a real slick, compact design.
We’re not just saying that because Razer’s variety of laptops (especially its Razer Blade Pro 17) always hit high on any ‘best lists’ out there, but also because its designs are more or less parallel to cultural luxury artefacts.
Its designs were always leading to bringing about the world’s first gaming ultrabook with the Razer Blade Stealth 13, and after a few misses, it has finally hit the nail on the head with incredible polish. Though it undeniably comes at a significant price point, starting at Dhs6,899.
Here’s our verdict.
Design – Slicker than black
By all intents and purposes, The Razer Blade Stealth 13 is fairly simplistic – tone-on-tone Razer logo on the top, integrated sound bars along the sides of the keyboard, clean-cut edges and a matte finish. Oh, and completely black. That’s it, and we think it’s the coolest looking laptop out there.
It’s incredibly neat, with its display boasting 4.9mm side bezels to make the most of the 13.3-inch Full HD screen. Its 15mm chassis is organised and compact in a way that doesn’t make it feel too tight to use, along with considerable space for its glass touchpad that is simply nice to use. Also, its 1.3kg weight makes it easy to move where you want, yet it still feels weighty enough to make it feel like a powerhouse.
Speaking of which, clicking has a real solid functionality to it, along with each key on the keyboard. Keys are shallow but aren’t overly sensitive either – which is a huge plus when it comes to gaming.
Razer lets its signature Razer Chroma single-zone RGB on its keyboard to really make it pop. Unlike its siblings, it only lights up in once colour at a time in various waves, but those familiar with it and owners of Razer’s other products can make a real show out of it.
While it looks cool, we do notice that it’s easy to smudge, especially with extensive use.
At its side, expect one Thunderbolt 3, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C, two USB 3.1 and one audio jack, all neatly aligned.
Performance – Powerhouse on the run
Under the hood, The Razer Blade Stealth 13 comes with a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-1065G7 Quad-Core Processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q GPU, 512GB PCIe SSD and a 16GB DDR4 memory.
Now, considering mid-range gaming laptops these days definitely have beefier specs, especially on the GPU front (even with GTX 16 series graphics cards), the Stealth 13 doesn’t seem to compete. That becomes a lot more noticeable considering it’s pricier than laptops that can be cheaper.
That said, in our time playing Triple-A games and trending titles (We played Valorant, Fortnite, Apex Legends, Crysis 3, Halo 3 and Titanfall 2), rest assured we were hitting 60fps and above on high settings on all titles. With some games including PUBG and Fortnite, we were on max settings with an average of 45fps.
For how compact this machine is, it is amazing to see how fluid gaming is on high settings. It’s certainly not a gaming laptop that’s meant to impress benchmark tests on ultra-settings, but being able to easily slide the Stealth 13 into a bag and play well-known Triple-A titles is all that’s needed. Overall, expect to hit 60fps on high settings with a resolution of 1080p.
As a quick note, the Stealth 13 also comes with a 4K Touch model. While we didn’t test that model, the 13.3inch screen is simply too small to notice 4K resolution. The Full HD 1920×1080 is perfectly suited, especially when trying to cut that price point.
Extra bits
It’s a lot of power in a thin laptop, so we weren’t surprised to feel the Stealth 13 heat up when playing Triple-A titles or when playing for a considerable amount of time. Hence, its fan can be quite loud – to the point when we’re wondering if it’s going to crash. It never does though, and never interrupted use. Also, with its loud and pumping sound bars, the fan is not distracting.
The 512GB SSD can fit a few games, but that can be a struggle when finding more space for anything else such as movies, photos or documents. That said, it can be swapped out for something bigger if need be.
As for battery life, when just used for browsing or writing for work, it can last around six hours. Although, when playing games, that comes down to just over an hour and a half. Enough for a quick play when travelling, but probably best to bring the charger along, too.
The Bottom Line
The Razer Blade Stealth 13 is an impressive piece of equipment – one that we’re excited to use every time we open it up. It’s only real downside is its price, especially for gamers after laptops that bring the same kind of benchmarks (if not better) at a more affordable price point. However, it’s clearly made with longevity in mind – built with quality on all fronts. We’re sure gamers will always be eyeing it up, and it’s worth it.
Key Facts:
15mm chassis, 4.9mm side bezels, 1.3kg ultrabook
13.3inch Full HD 1920×1080, 60Hz/120Hz; 4K Touch 60Hz
10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-1065G7 Quad-Core Processor
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 with Max-Q (4GB GDDR5)
16GB DDR4
512GB PCIe SSD
One Thunderbolt 3, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C, two USB 3.1, one audio jack
Bluetooth 5.0
Time Out receives products on loan for review. Time Out’s product reviews are not influenced by external sources.
