I’m still testing the new Razer Blade 16 and I have mixed feelings

The Razer Blade 16 is designed to be the gaming-focused alternative to the MacBook Pro, and I’m always here for that. I love a gaming laptop that still looks and feels like a somewhat normal laptop, and the new Blade returns to a thinner and lighter chassis design after the last-gen got a bit chunky. The top-end configuration also adopts the new flagship Nvidia RTX 5090 laptop GPU and an even heftier price of $4,499.99 ($200 more than the 4090 model).

I’ve spent some time with the new Razer Blade 16, but my first review unit had noticeable hardware issues and was replaced by Nvidia, which provided the Blades for RTX 5090 testing. I’ve only had the replacement unit for a few days, and while it doesn’t exhibit any of the same performance issues or buzzy speakers, it’s had a couple of random bluescreens of its own. I’m in troubleshooting talks with Razer, but while that’s ongoing, I’m still testing this laptop and sizing up my feelings about it. Consider this me posting through it — a little glimpse into my internal dialog. (You’re welcome. But also, …read more