Razer's Bodacious Blade 18 Gaming Laptop With RTX 5090 Is Up For Preorder
Razer today unveiled the latest iteration of its big and beastly Blade 18 gaming laptop (an upgraded version of the one we reviewed last year), which it's pitching as its most powerful Blade to date. According to Razer, the sharpened Blade 18 delivers a "premium desktop experience" in a mobile package with high-end hardware that creators and gamers alike will find attractive. And it's available to preorder now.
There are multiple highlights with the upgraded Blade 18. For one, Razer says its sports the first 18-inch dual mode display. What does that mean, exactly? As we seen in previous generation Blade laptops (though none as big as this) and some standalone monitors, gamers can choose between a higher resolution with a fast refresh rate, or a lower resolution with an even faster refresh rate.
What that translates into here is a choice between running at 3840x2400 (UHD+) at 240Hz, or 1920x1200 (FHD+) at a blistering 440Hz. The advent of dual mode displays negates having to choose between a high resolution or scorching fast refresh rate, which is neat. Razer also says the display is Calman Verified and factory-calibrated, which is also a nice touch.
Underneath the hood, the retooled Blade 18 pairs an Intel Core Ultra 275HX (24C/24T, up to 5.4GHz, 36MB of L3 cache) processor based on Arrow Lake with up to a mobile NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 GPU. If you don't need quite that much graphics muscle and/or want to spend less, Razer's also offering GeForce RTX 5080 and 5070 Ti options.
32GB of DDR5-5600 RAM and a 1TB solid state drive come standard, and if you're not opting for the top GPU option, you'll want to stick with those allotments. That's because bumping up the RAM (to 64GB) costs an additional $1,700, as it's only available with the GeForce RTX 5090 and 4TB SSD option. Likewise, doubling the storage from 1TB to 2TB will cost you $1,300, as it's only available with the 5090.
It can be confusing, but here are the available configs...
- RTX 5070 Ti + 1TB SSD + 32GB RAM: $3,199.99
- RTX 5080 + 1TB SSD + 32GB RAM: $3,699.99
- RTX 5090 + 2TB SSD + 32GB RAM: $4,499.99
- RTX 5090 + 4TB SSD + 64GB RAM: $4,899.99
Obviously these are all premium price points. It is a fully loaded laptop, however, with things like dual Thunderbolt ports (1x Thunderbolt 5 and 1x Thunderbolt 4), Wi-Fi 7 connectivity, HDMI 2.1 connectivity, Gigabit LAN, THX Enhanced audio, and a thin and light chassis precision milled from a single block of T6 aluminum.
"Along with impeccable build quality, Razer Blades come with an industry-leading battery warranty of up to 2 years. Razer’s award-winning customer service team ensures that users receive top-notch service and support. For those seeking extra peace of mind, RazerCare offers up to 3 additional years of coverage in select regions," Razer says.
Razer's also accepting preorders on its Blade 16, which it claims is the thinnest gaming laptop ever built at 0.59mm at it slimmest point. It features a 16-inch OLED display with a 2560x1600 resolution and 240Hz refresh rate, powered by an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (10C/20T, up to 5GHz, 24MB of L3 cache) or Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (12C/24T, up to 5.1GHz, 24MB of L3 cache) Strix Point processor based on Zen 5 and Zen 5c.
It's offered with the same GPU, RAM, and storage options as the Blade 18, but starting at $2,799.99.
