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Razer's Blade Stealth gets an 11th-gen Intel CPU and OLED display option
Also new to the refreshed model is THQ Spatial Audio.
A few short months after it updated the Blade Stealth earlier in the year, Razer is once refreshing the ultraportable. New to the late 2020 model is a 10nm Tiger Lake processor from Intel. The four-core, eight-thread 11th-gen CPU features a 2.8GHz base clock speed and, in the case of the Razer Blade Stealth, a 28W TDP. The power output of its processor should make the Blade Stealth better suited for gaming and creative work than your typical ultrabook. Like the model it replaces, the new Blade Stealth features a GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU with 4GB of RAM. It also comes with 16GB of 3,733MHz LPDDR4X memory, and an upgradeable 512GB NVMe storage drive.
Also new to this model is THX Spatial Audio with four upward-facing speakers and a “Smart” amp to power everything. When you switch to the spatial audio mode, Razer claims the Blade Stealth will produce a more immersive soundstage.
When Razer refreshed the Blade Stealth earlier this year, the laptop’s headline feature was a 120Hz Full HD display with 100 percent sRGB coverage. For creatives, the company offered the option to upgrade to a 4K panel. This time around, Razer is taking a different approach. Replacing the 4K display is a 1080p OLED panel with 100 percent DCI-P3 coverage. The panel doesn’t include a 120Hz refresh rate, but you get the advantage of a higher contrast ratio and touchscreen support. Whether it makes sense to pay the extra $200 that it costs to upgrade to the OLED model will depend on how you feel about the potential for burn-in.
All those components still come in a chassis that is 15.3mm thick but now includes two Thunderbolt 4-compatible USB-C. It also comes with two USB-A 3.1 ports, as well as a combination headphone and microphone jack. For wireless connectivity, there’s WiFi 6 support.
You’ll be able to buy the 2020 Razer Blade Stealth starting later this month. The 120Hz will set you back $1,800, while the OLED variant costs a cool $2,000. In both cases, you’re paying a lot to obtain a laptop that is both portable and powerful, but then not many ultrabooks come with the level of processor and GPU performance you can get from the Razer Blade Stealth.
