Razer Blade Stealth 13 Review - Is it worth spending $1,999.99?

Razer Blade Stealth 13 Review (2021)

The laptop which amazed many gamers

                 

Say Hi to ultra-portable gaming, Razer Blade Stealth 13 has become a daily gaming device for thousands of people.

Its strong metallic design, powerful processor, and upgraded GPU make it the only true 13-inch monster spec machine. 

In this detailed review of the Razor Blade Stealth 13, we will consider everything, the good, the bad to help you determine if this is a perfect match for you.

 

TECHNO HUB’s VERDICT We have reviewed many gaming laptops so far, Razer Blade Stealth 13 is a  laptop of its class, we have fallen in love with its sturdy  yet compact build, gaming capability, and battery life.   ➕PROS   --> Quite gaming (no fan noise) --> 13-inch impressive display --> Stylish Metallic Design --> Great Battery Life   ➖CONS   -->A little bit high price

 

Razer Blade Stealth 13 Specs

Talking about the specs we are reviewing the variant which has 10th gen Intel i7-1065G7 ice lake quad-core CPU, and Nvidia GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics.

A 16GB of memory in dual channel, a 512GB NVMe M.2 SSD for storage, and a 13.3” 1080p 60Hz screen. 

There are more options available, check the bottom for prices.

External Review | Design, Ports, Weight, And More

DESIGN:

The Razer Blade Stealth 13 is made of a classy solid aluminum unibody with an anodized matte black finish, both on the exterior and interior. 

The whole laptop feels extremely well built and premium.

However, due to the blocky design, the front did feel a little sharp if pressed against the right angle.

It’s also quite portable, which results in just impressive 6mm thin screen bezels on the sides.

There was minimal screen flex as the whole lid is solid classy metal.

The large hinge runs along most of the base aiding further instability.

It can also be easily opened up with one finger, demonstrating a fair weight distribution, so no problem in using it on your lap.

Fingerprints show up very easily on both the lid and the interior.

Despite being a smoother surface they were more difficult to clean as compared to alternatives.

WEIGHT:

The weight is listed at 1.42kg in the product description, but ours was a little under this. 

With the 100w Type-C power brick and cables for charging, the net weight increases to just under 2kg. 

Quite lightweight, isn't it? we are really impressed by the build of this laptop.

KEYBOARD:

                  

We found the keyboard of the Razor Blade stealth 13 alright to use though there are some sacrifices being made due to the smaller size of the laptop.

Like the small shift key on the right, many people don't use that one so no problem.

The RGB keyboard is just controlled with one single zone.

So the effects are limited. 

It’s possible to use the function and F10 and F11 keys to adjust the brightness between 16 different levels, or off if you prefer. 

There was some keyboard flex while pushing down hard.

The letter keys require 58 grams of force to actuate.

 

Overall the keyboard of stealth 13 was quite sturdy and rigid.

TRACKPAD:

                              

Razor Blade Stealth 13's glass precision touchpad is on the larger side, was super smooth to the touch, and worked extremely well.

It clicks down when pushed lightly and it’s got all the usual Windows 10 precision gestures. 

PORTS:

On the left from the back of the laptop, there’s a USB 3.1 Gen2, Type-C port, a USB 3.1 Type-A port, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack. 

                 

On the right, there’s a second USB 3.1 Type-A port and another Type-C port.

This one supports Thunderbolt 3 with 4 lanes of PCIe, so we could attach an external graphics enclosure like the Razer Core X.

An external graphics card enclosure refers to a tiny desktop computer case that can house a graphics card.

It has its own power supply, a PCIe slot for the card itself, and a case cooling fan.

In other words, with the help of a GPU enclosure, you can upgrade your laptop's Graphics card.

We would recommend you to attach the Razer Core X graphics enclosure and add the ultimate GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 2080 Super Windforce OC 8G Graphics Card to take your laptop to the next level.

Razer Core X Aluminum External GPU Enclosure (eGPU): Compatible with Windows & Mac Thunderbolt 3 Laptops - NVIDIA /AMD PCIe Support - 650W PSU

GIGABYTE GeForce RTX 2080 Super Windforce OC 8G Graphics Card, 3X Windforce Fans, 8GB 256-Bit GDDR6, Gv-N208SWF3OC-8GD Video Card

 

Internal Review | Display, Benchmarks, Gaming, And More.

DISPLAY:

Razer Blade Stealth 13 comes calibrated out of the box.

We measured the color gamut using the Spyder 5 and got 94% of sRGB, 66% of NTSC, and 71% of AdobeRGB, so decent results. 

At 100% brightness, we measured the panel at 440 nits in the center, and with a 1010:1 contrast ratio.

These results are above average compared to other gaming laptops, we have tested in terms of brightness and contrast.

There was pretty much no backlight bleed, but this will vary between laptop and panel. 

The colors were sharp and punchy the screen managed to show dark colors in the bumblebee movie trailer test.

PERFORMANCE TEST AND BENCHMARKS:

The Intel i7-1065G7 ice lake quad-core CPU and Nvidia GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics make Razor Blade Stealth 13 a monster. 

Its performance was more than our expectations. 

To test its full strength we ran GTA 5 and Witcher 3 at the same time and minimized both.

Then we streamed a full HD video and to add this all up we opened 6 random web pages,

To our surprise, the stealth 3 managed to run all of them without any lag or stutter.

BENCHMARK SCORES

The CPU only performance of the stealth 13 was above average. 

Razer Blade Stealth 13 managed to score 1,018 (multi-core), and 419 (single-core) in balanced mode.

While in the gaming mode it successfully scored 1,246 (multi-core) and 433 (single-core). 

The GPU was limiting its performance that's why we disabled the GPU and the results were even higher.

                       

We used Crystal Disk Mark to test the storage. 

The 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD was performing great for the reads, but the writes weren’t much better than SATA speeds.

We also ran a graphics test with 3D Mark.

The 3D mark test renders and pans a 3d graphics scene and test how the system copes.

The stealth 13 returned a pretty decent score.

                       

GAMING AND HEATING TEST:

The razer blade stealth 13 nicely managed to run many heavy PC games.

Their Fps were great and there were no visible lags. 

All games were tested at 1080p in gaming mode with the fan at max speed for best performance.

Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested using the game’s built-in benchmark tool.

It wasn’t possible to run the test at ultra settings due to the 4GB VRAM limit of  Stealth 13's 1650 Max-Q.

But given we’re only seeing 30 FPS at high settings, anyway, that’s probably not that big of a deal. 

Battlefield 5 was tested in campaign mode without RTX.

The medium settings felt ok for the most part, however the low setting preset was able to push us above the 60 FPS sweet spot.

 

Apex Legends was tested with maxed-out settings.

It was still playing ok with above 60 FPS on average.

But for a competitive first-person shooter like this minimum setting with over 100 FPS would be a better experience like in the Acer Predator Helios 300 gaming laptop.

                        

Fortnite was tested with the replay feature, with the epic settings was only just a little below 60 FPS. 

With medium settings, fps were well above 100 FPS.

Razer Blade Stealth 13 also successfully ran CPU consuming games like CS: GO. 

Overwatch was tested in the practice range.

Even at epic settings, the 1% low was above the refresh rate of the screen.

So it was still playing smoothly with 100 FPS and above achieved at ultra settings and below.

CS: GO was tested using the Ulletical FPS benchmark. 

As a game that depends primarily on CPU power, the results were down due to the 15 watt CPU.

However, well above 100 FPS was still possible with all settings maxed out. 

Overall the gaming performances were more than expected.

The Razer blade stealth 13 will serve you great in gaming. 

HEATING TEST:

Inside the Razor Blade Stealth 13, there are a couple of fans and a heat pipe shared between the processor and graphics. 

The Razer Synapse software allows us to swap between balanced and gaming mode.

Or adjust the fan speed. 

                         

Heat testing was completed with an ambient room temperature of 21 degrees Celsius. 

The idle temperatures were looking fine.

The gaming results of the stealth 13 towards the upper half of the graph were tested by playing Watch Dogs 2.

As we find the game to use a good combination of processor and graphics. 

The stress test is from running the Aida64 CPU stress test with only the stress CPU option checked,

And the Heaven GPU benchmark at max settings at the same time to fully load the system. 

Realistically all these temperatures are fine.

Even worst-case under the combined CPU and GPU stress test we’re not passing 72 degrees Celsius, there was never any thermal throttling. 

So don't worry about heating Razer has taken control of it.

AUDIO AND CAMERA AND BATTERY TEST:

Audio:

The two front-facing speakers are found on either side of the keyboard of the stealth 13.

They sound great, definitely above average.

We tested the audio sounds by playing two songs.

The first one was bass boosted used for checking the bass quality.

The second one was for checking the loudness. 

Razer Blade Stealth 13's loudness quality is amazing, the test score was awesome but as for bass quality, it chocked a little bit.

Camera.

  

The camera is found above the display in the center despite the thinner screen bezels.

And it’s got infrared for Windows Hello support. 

The camera is about average and the images are like the same as you would expect from a laptop's camera.

Battery Life:

The Razer Blade Stealth 13  is powered by a 53-watt battery.

It was tested with the screen at 50% brightness, keyboard lighting off and background apps disabled. 

While watching YouTube videos the Razer Blade Stealth 13 lasted for 7 hours and 21 minutes with Optimus. 

Gaming was tested with The Witcher 3.

50 minutes in the frame rate dipped from 30 to 20 FPS, and after 66 minutes it was unusable at 6 FPS. 

In total it lasted for an hour and 21 minutes.

The stealth 13 took an hour and 50 minutes to charge to full from nothing, so the 100-watt power brick seemed to be adequate,

It is also possible to charge up using the Type-C port on either side of the machine.

The Razer Synapse software also allows us to set different key brightness levels when on the battery to save power.

You can even swap it from 60Hz to 30Hz.

However, when set to 30Hz we only got an extra 8 minutes of battery life, which isn’t really much when it gets over 7 hours anyway.

BOTTOM LINE:

Overall the build quality and design of the Razer Blade Stealth 13 are great.

It’s made out of a solid block of metal that feels extremely high quality. 

The battery life was excellent, the touchpad was very nice to use, Type-C charging on either side is a plus point.

The presence of Thunderbolt felt great. 

The only major downside of the Razer Blade Stealth 13 is its premium price. 

The viability of the Razer Blade Stealth 13 is really going to depend on how much you value the smaller size and portability.

That’s what you’re paying for, right, a small machine that has power.

BUY NOW

Razer Blade Stealth 13 Ultrabook Gaming Laptop: Intel Quad Core i7-1065G7, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q, 13.3" 4K Touch, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, CNC Aluminum, Chroma RGB, Thunderbolt 3, Creator Ready

Razer Blade Stealth 13 Ultrabook Gaming Laptop: Intel Core i7-1065G7 4 Core, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q, 13.3" 1080p 60Hz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, CNC Aluminum, Chroma RGB, Thunderbolt 3, Black

 

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