Razer Blade Pro 1
The new Razer Blade Pro is significantly better than its predecessor, packing power into a portable slim design. Razer/Razerzone.com

Razer takes pride in crafting premium gaming laptops, so it’s only proper that the company has outdone itself with its latest spectacle, the Razer Blade Pro, a robust machine powerful enough to satisfy both gameplay and professional demand.

Play and work

Razer says that the new Blade Pro was “designed for play and engineered for work.” It has double the power of its predecessor when it comes to screen resolution, storage space and RAM.

The new 17.3-inch Blade Pro rips the old model to shreds with its 47-watt quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M graphics card and 16 GB RAM. It also provides both SSD and HDD storage.

The Razer Blade Pro is suitable for playing graphic-intensive games without sacrificing visual quality and fluidity. It can also take on resource-heavy application software that regular laptops can’t handle.

Portable power with VR capability

All of the Blade Pro’s power and components are packed into an aluminium slim design that is 0.88 inches thin and 3.07 kilograms light. Razer says that the new Blade Pro is for “enthusiasts and power users who want desktop performance but don't want to sacrifice portability.”

The Razer Blade Pro's specs also surpass the needed virtual reality requirements to accommodate the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets.

Thermal element

The Razer Blade Pro’s performance is sparked by its localised cooling chamber, which directs heat away from contact areas like the wrist rest and into the laptop’s exhaust system. This feature keeps the Blade Pro cool and circulating for better workload.

Switchblade UI

Its Switchblade user interface features an innovative virtual keyboard consisting of 10 touch keys and a contemporary LCD track pad. The keys may take some time to get used to, but they reportedly don’t feel uncomfortable. Razer says that the Switchblade UI will make gestures feel more natural and intuitive for editing, designing and gaming.

The Blade Pro also includes Chroma, an anti-ghosting keyboard feature with colourful backlighting that responds to in-game key presses.

Price and release date

With all its power and features, it is expected that Razer’s new gaming laptop comes with a hefty price tag. The Blade Pro, which will be available in November, starts at US$3,699 (AU$4,846). Product manager Kevin Sather acknowledges that the Blade Pro may not be suitable for regular laptop users.

“It's definitely not for everybody,” he says. “It's for people who need to get the most out of a PC.”

Australian shoppers will be able to get the new Blade Pro at Razer’s official online store.

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