Just slightly a year after the 2015 version of Blade Gaming Notebook was introduced to the market, Razer today has now announced the successor to the iconic 14-inch gaming notebook. While its exterior might looked just like its predecessor, the 2016 Razer Blade Gaming Notebook comes with a number of new features that should allow users to differentiate them apart.
For example, the keyboard on the 2016 edition features Chroma backlighting which is in line with the current crop of Razer products. At the same time, it is also equipped with an Intel Core i7-6700HQ processor from the sixth-generation Core processor’s family alongside 16GB of dual-channel DDR4-2133 RAM.
Running on Windows 10, other changes that Razer has implemented into the 2016 edition of Blade are Killer Wireless-AC 1535 wireless network adapter, a HDMI 1.4b port, and a USB-C port that also acts as a Thunderbolt 3 port which will allow it to support Razer Core external graphics card enclosure that was introduced earlier this year alongside Blade Stealth.
The 2016 Blade notebook also features PCIe M.2 solid state drive, instead of SATA M.2. At the same time, the new notebook also still features NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970M GPU but with double the amount of GDDR5 VRAM at 6GB. Interestingly, Razer has cease to offer the full HD display option for the new 2016 version of Blade and it will come with the IGZO QHD+ (3200 x 1800) multi-touch display by default instead.
While Razer has retained the same 70Whr lithium-ion battery from the 2015 Blade for the new version, it has decided to include the 2016 Blade with a slightly lower powered 165W compact charger. At the same time, its thickness remains as per its predecessor at 17.9mm although the new version is slightly lighter at 1.93 kg as compared to the 2015 edition which was listed at 2.03kg.
As the notebook as yet to appear on Razer’s online store for Asia Pacific, its pricing for Malaysia is not yet know at the moment. In case you need a reference, the US pricing for the 2016 Blade Gaming Notebook has been listed at USD 1,999 (RM 8,298) for the 256GB model and USD 2,199 (RM 9,133) for the 512GB variant once the notebook made its way to retail shelves later this year.
(Source: Razer)
