The new Razer Blade 18 is pushing the boundaries for gaming laptops

(Image credit: Razer)

published 4 April 2024

QUICK SUMMARY

Razer has just announced its next flagship gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 18. This is a mighty laptop with a number of world first innovations.

Reviewing the best gaming laptops for T3, I've seen some absolutely monstrous machines and a frankly ridiculous amount of RGB lights. But the newly announced Razer Blade 18 looks like a serious approach to making your recreation time the best it can be.

This huge 18-inch laptop sports top-of-the-line specs with an RTX 4090 GPU and Intels ultra fast 14th gen i9 HX processor. The fastest mobile processor on the market, you can even overclock it for unfathomable power. Basically, if you can't run a title smoothly and beautifully on this laptop, there's something wrong with your game.

That's the kind of performance we expect from Razer, but this time they've gone beyond that to bring a number of world firsts with the Razer Blade 18. I mentioned before that the Blade will feature an 18-inch screen, but I didn't tell you the best part, it will be the first of its size to come with a 4K resolution and 200Hz refresh rate (there's also a 300Hz Mini-LED QHD+ option if you prefer). That's frankly a staggering set of specs. There will be no need for one of the best gaming monitors here, although perhaps you might want to - the Blade 18 is also the first laptop to feature Thunderbolt 5 technology. This brings new levels of speed to data transfer and multi-device connection with up to 120Gbps bandwidth, which is triple the previous best standard.

Just because of its terrifying power, that doesn't mean Razer has foregone its usual form factor either. The Blade 18 is actually the thinnest 18" laptop to use Intel's top-of-the-range HX chipset, just 0.86 inches thick. I would still argue that any 18-inch laptop is a flat-out desktop replacement but it's always nice to have the option to move it around.

Honestly, a package such as this is aimed at the enthusiast market, and while the price isn't cheap, it's not as eye-watering as some other machines I've seen. The Razer Blade 18 will launch at $3099.99/ €3599.99, we don't have a UK price yet but that ballpark is good value compared to other leading gaming laptops.

Andy was T3's Tech Staff Writer, covering all things technology, including his biggest passions such as gaming. If he had to save one possession from a fire it would be his PlayStation 5. He previously worked for Tom’s Guide – where he got paid to play with ChatGPT everyday. When it comes to streaming, Andy will have his headphones glued in whilst watching something that will make him laugh. He studied Creative Writing at university, but also enjoys supporting his favourite football team (Liverpool), watching F1, teaching himself guitar, and spending time with his dog.