Razer Blade 15 (2019) Complete Walkthrough: RTX Graphics

Another CES has passed and with it, we have yet another new laptop iteration from Razer (they launch so many laptops and new versions, I feel like its every few months and they have an announcement of some sort). Regardless though, this latest announcement was the unveiling of the Razer Blade 15 2019 model. I did a video on the original Razer Blade 15 not too long ago along with the Razer Blade Mercury White model and this is very similar but there have been some pretty significant upgrades since those models were launched.

Now, since Razer was kind enough to send one along for testing, I figured I’d do a complete walkthrough on it for you guys. If you aren’t familiar, a complete walkthrough on the site is where I try and go through every feature I possibly can so you guys are better prepared should you be looking to go buy one.

Here’s the best price I could find for the laptop.

Razer Blade 15 2019 Styling

Now, with that said, there’s a lot to go through. So, let’s get started with the styling.

That styling is essentially identical to the original 15″ model except that, at least according to their site, it is half a millimeter thicker than the Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model with the GTX 1070 (by the way, the GTX models are on sale and now being called Razer Blade 15 V1 on their site). I honestly can’t tell any difference at all though. And, regardless, that makes it thinner by about 2 millimeters than the Razer Blade 15 Base Model (which was launched not too long ago as a cheaper option of the Blade 15 that also added an ethernet port). Are we seeing what I mean by the number of Razer products being released?

Now, besides that unnoticeable change in thickness, the length and width are still identical (and identical to the Base Model, as well for that matter) so you are still getting a compact 15″ laptop like you’d expect.

For those not familiar with the V1 model, the device is machined out of a solid block of aluminum and then painted with this matte black finish and endowed with the unmistakeable three-headed snake logo on the top cover that, of course, lights up Razer Green.

We still have the choice of a 15.6″ 144hz non-touchscreen IPS display or a 4K 60hz touchscreen display and we still have the same 4.9mm bezels.

Above the screen, we have a 1MP webcam capable of 720P video (see the video above for what that looks like and the array microphones sound like) but unlike the previous model, we also have an IR sensor so that means we can use facial recognition and Windows Hello to log in to the device (something I appreciate that they brought to the Razer Blade Stealth 13 2019 model so it’s great to see the rest of the lineup getting it, as well).

 

Below the screen, we have our per-key RGB anti-ghosting clicky keyboard that is Razer Chroma enabled and can be controlled (along with the logo on the lid) via the included Razer Synapse app. You can fully customize each key, or go with an included setup like fire, ripple, breathing, my favorite spectrum cycling, or others.

Under the keyboard, we have the same large glass trackpad that is a precision trackpad which means it’s drivers are handled my Windows itself which just makes it more precise (go figure), able to use Windows gestures and just feel better in my opinion.

On either side of the keyboard, we have our dual stereo Dolby Atmos speakers (check the video for what they sound like at full volume).

Integrated into the right speaker grill, we have what looks like maybe its a fingerprint sensor, but it’s the power button.

Now for ports, on the right we have a USB-C port that is Thunderbolt 3 capable, a USB 3.1 port, a full HDMI 2.0B port, a MiniDisplayPort 1.4 and a kensington lock.

On the left, we have the proprietary power port, two more USB 3.1 ports and a 3.5mm audio jack.

On the bottom, you can get a glimpse of the fans attached to Razer’s vapor cooling chamber and a series of screws that, if you felt like it, you can undo to get access to the thankfully upgradeable RAM and SSD slots.

Now, it comes with 16GBs of RAM and the choice of a 256GB or 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD, but it’ll support up to a 2TB SSD and unlike the paltry 32GBs of RAM that the last 15″ model could be upgraded to, you can upgrade this one to a total of 64GBs if you felt the need. For how to do that, see my video tutorial I did for the last Blade 15 model (it’ll work the same for this model, as well).

Razer Blade 15 2019 Specs

Ok, now let’s talk about what else Razer put inside the laptop.

Inside we have the same 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H processor but Razer has replaced the NVIDIA GTX 1060, and 1070 graphics card options with the new RTX 2060, RTX 2070 Max-Q, and RTX 2080 Max-Q.

For the battery, an issue I have with most gaming laptops frankly, we have an 80Wh cell, the same as the V1 models. So I put them both side by side (1070 vs 2070 as a base comparison), put them all on the same settings, and here’s how they did looping a 1080P video.

Need to keep your laptop charged? Check out my video on the best portable AC outlet battery pack I could find.

As for performance, let’s see how the new 2070 model does vs 1070 one in some popular gaming benchmark on the same settings.

*RTX 2070 on left, GTX 1070 on right

And here are render times for the same video project in Premiere between the two laptops, as well.

Razer Blade 15 2019 Software

For software, we’re running Windows 10 Home and thanks to Razer’s no bloatware policy, we only really have the Razer Synapse app added to the normal Windows experience (along with the normal Windows bloatware like Minecraft etc. which you can thankfully uninstall by just right-clicking on it).

Now, really fast, in Synapse you can change the Chroma of the keyboard as mentioned (as well as any paired Chroma enabled devices) but you can also setup macros to run a combination of actions when a specific key is pressed (handy in games where you need to constantly use a sequence of actions over and over).

 

We have hyper shift mode that lets you add extra functions to keys that can be triggered when using the Hypershift button.

You can set up profiles for coloring, performance, battery settings, etc. to switch between manually or automatically based on what application or game you are currently using.

And finally, we have a module for Philips Hue to sync your Philips Hue lights with the Chroma settings and light up your entire room should that be something you’re into.

Razer Blade 15 2019 Pricing

So that’s it really. Only differences are the RTX cards, 0.5mm increase in thickness, upgradeable to 64GBs of RAM instead of 32GBs and the inclusion of Windows Hello support. But, the thing is, all of these models, cost basically the same as the V1 models. So the RTX 2060 144hz model starts at $2,299 instead of the $2,199 the GTX 1060 144hz model started at (it’s currently on sale for a few hundred less to get rid of stock I’m sure).

For the RTX 2070 144hz though it’s the same as the GTX 1070 144hz, starting at $2,399.

The RTX 2070 4K model and 1070 4K model, same at $2,899.

Leaving the RTX 2080 model the only one without a GTX equivalent since there were no GTX 1080 models, and that one is $2,999.

So, all the differences come and the exact same cost. The only time you wouldn’t be happy about that, is if you, say, bought the original 15″ model (Like I did. Crap.)

Here’s the best price I could find for the laptop.

And there you go guys, let me know what you think of the new Blade 15 2019 in the comments below and sign up for my weekly newsletter from my newly launched blog in the description to get all my videos and other articles that don’t make it to YouTube in a not-annoying weekly email. Thanks for reading!