The RAZER Blade 15 (2018) 4K (UHD)

Could somebody please specify a specific release date for this year's 4K Blade 15 in the UK because i have been waiting for it and, although Razer said July on their website, the month is almost up and there is no sign of change or release. Pls reply if you know more than I do because it would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

Almost up, not fully up...
Be patient

 

I know, right? I’ve had my Razer Blade 4K 2018 on pre-order from Amazon.ca for over a month. My delivery date was supposed to be between July 17-23, but hasn’t even shipped yet. :S

 

People said that when the date showed June as well. Bad supply chain management is bad.

 

Look, the Blade 15 has a major component manufactured in Japan. The flooding in Japan has caused no Blade 15's to be produced, which means a huge backorder of 15's. Either way, bitching on the forums won't make it appear in your country any faster. It's still out of stock here in the US. Everyone can't get one, even the people returning faulty ones for a new one. My best guess? 3rd week of August while backorders in the US are fulfilled, and RMA's are sent out. Happy you know, now?

 

This is specifically about the 4k version, which was slated to be released before that happened - so your point is moot. Bitching doesn't fix it, you're correct - what people ARE doing, as noted in others, is just buying elsewhere. Fan boy a little less, mmmkay? Your guess is as good as Razer's as far as when it will actually be up for SALE, as evidenced by two months of failed deadlines, is pretty useless.

 

Actually all versions of the HD Blade are in stock and available from Razer.com, so the “unavailability” excuse doesn’t seem to hold weight.

I just got an update email from amazon.ca. My Razer Blade 2018 4K shipping date has been changed to sometime between August 13 to 28.

 

Vapor(chamber)ware, I tell ya

 

I do enjoy a good pun.
Razer always seems to have issues with their touch screen variant of the Blades, and I’m not sure why. Last year’s touch screen model was launched several months after the HD variant as well. At this point you’d think their supply chain issues would be hammered out for the touch screen supply.

HD variants are back in stock at the Microsoft Store, and Razer.com, so the only bottleneck that can be attributed to the delay is the display itself for the touchscreen.

 

That’s similar thing happen like last year, I ended up buying FHD and 4K external Monitor. 4K Blade 15 sales will be bad if they release it later, maybe nvidia by the time will announce next gen GPU, and poeple will hold buying Pascal laptops for this.

 

So, do you think it's worth waiting for the 4k model to arrive? (also, thanks to everyone who has commented on this thread; you've all been great help!)

 

I had QHD+ Blade 14 2015, first time when I changed to Blade 14 2016 FHD I felt Resolution downgrade but since i use for gaming, QHD+, 1800p games doesn’t play well on gtx 1060 and it was fine with FHD 60Hz, but now with 144Hz panel, this time their selling point is on 1080p 144Hz panel, 4K for video editing media consumption etc i can do on external monitor. So unless you’re really need 4K editing machine on the go I don’t see it’s worth to wait. Btw I thought I would also miss the touchscreen function and glossy screen like my old MacBook Pro, but I didn’t and literally this year I don’t even touch my touchscreen ultrabook. Windows touchscreen isn’t as responsive as Apple touchscreen so I’m good with that feature, you’ll get better screen for outdoor usage, Blade glossy screen is very reflective from previous devices, not mentioning battery life and extra weight disadvantage.

 

So I'll agree with that sentiment as well. I was REALLY holding out for the 4K, touchscreen Blade 15, because I'm a resolution junkie (I'll admit I do not really care about touchscreen on a standard, clamshell laptop). And then I stopped by the Microsoft store one day, checked out the FHD, 144 Hz display, and they had them in-stock, and I walked out with one. And now that I've been using my FHD Blade 15 for over a week (two, if you include the first one I had some issues with...namely one stuck pixel), I'm completely satisfied with the FHD display. I have a gigantic, LG 43UD79-B sitting on my desk right beside my Blade 15 (hooked up to my Corsair One with 1080Ti in it). It's 60 Hz, and while it's an awesome display, I have to admit, the 144 Hz display is buttery smooth. I always thought high refresh rate displays were only useful for competitive FPS gaming, but even in day to day life, I love this display. And as I'm getting older (50), I find that FHD works for me on a 15.6" display just fine, and I really don't need to worry about 4K, and any Windows 10 scaling issues.

The extra sharpness of 4K would be nice in some circumstances, but I'm not into content editing or photography, and I do like to play games in maxed out detail when travelling for work (my Blade 15 is my primary machine for work and play). If I really need 4K, I have the monitor right beside it, hooked up to a faster machine anyway. And on the road, FHD is perfect for me (wouldn't go any less, and about the most I would ever want is QHD+, but at 144Hz or better as well).

Maybe my next machine might be a QHD+ 165 Hz laptop display if they make one.....but so far, this one is awesome.

As a confirmed resolution junkie, unless you really need the 4K display for something you're doing, I'd say skip the waiting period, and go with the FHD 144 Hz option. It's a fantastic display.



Patrick

 

Alert! 4K 2018 Blade 15 just popped up as available on the Razer.com website.

 

Where? Still shows "available in july" , unless there's some caching issue

Now I see it - nevermind!

https://www.razer.com/comparisons/blade-15 still shows the July date so I suspect they just put the page up to stop bitching

 

Hi, I'm just wanting to know if you ended up changing your mind regarding the 4k version, are you still waiting for it to be released in the UK or have you got another laptop now? I am also seriously considering cancelling my pre-order for it on amazon UK as razer just keep failing to meet release promises, 1st week of august is now up and there no sign of change. Thank you.

 

My 2018 Razer Blade 4K arrived Fromm Amazon.ca this past Friday. One word: "Wow". First off, I have to say that I am VERY picky and OCD when it comes to build quality issues. I've owned two 14" Razer Blades (860m and 960m) that I've kept with minor build quality issues (dead pixels, and detaching lid insignia). I've also returned two 4K 2017 Razer Blade Pro's and one 2017 14" Razer Blades in the past year due to build quality issues. As far as I can tell, this is the first completely defect free Razer laptop I have owned. Before purchasing this Razer Blade, I purchased and returned 2 2018 1070 Max-Q Gigabyte Aeros because of screen issues (severe backlight bleed, keyboard backlighting unevenness and what appeared to be a hair laminated under one of the screens.)

Pros:
- The 4K touchscreen is vibrant, detailed, colour accurate and defect free (as far as I've noticed so far.) Touch input is accurate. Absolutely no backlight bleed (yay!) Screen is definitely brighter and sharper than the 1080p 144hz model (same LCD is used on both the 1080p 2018 Gigabyte Aero and 1080p 2018 Razer Blade by the way.)
- I had some issues at first with battery life (2~2.5 hours). Unit ran hot and fans would spin up under light load. I upgraded to the most recent build of Windows 10 April Update (1803) and battery life has improved drastically to around 7~8 hours, laptop is running cool as I write this review, and fans are turned off unless under gaming load. Fabulous!
- Everything seems to be running fine. Wifi is rock solid. Speakers are working good (had an issue when I first put headphones in the jack where there was no sound from the headphones, and when I removed the headphones there was no sound from the speakers, but this seems to have self corrected and switches over with no issues again so far.)
Cons:
- Trying to type without hitting the trackpad, as it causes the cursor to jump around, is difficult (palm rejection isn't so great.) I just have to make sure I maintain a proper hand posture while typing (my highschool keyboarding teacher would be proud!)
- The black finish is a real skin oil stain magnet (purely cosmetic and can be easily wh removed.) I actually think it's worse than earlier Razer laptops.

Final Thoughts:
- I had an issue where the battery wouldn't charge with the computer turned off. After uninstalling and reinstalling the battery management driver, it is charging while turned off (A quick google search identified the solution.)
- This is a great hybrid gaming and office computer. If you can afford the premium, it's definitly worth the price.

 

hey thank you for your input, I was of the understanding that no one who pre-ordered the 4k version from any amazon had yet recieved their product. Knowing that the orders of amazon.ca customers are being fulfilled has given me some reassurance that it won't be too much longer that the uk amazon domain recieves and starts delivering blade 15 4k's to their clientele (hopefully in the next fortnite). That being said, I appreciate your in-depth review of your 4k unit and upon seeing many good points about it in your post I have decided to keep my pre-order in place as i think it's worth the money as you said. If you don't mind I have a few questions, I am glad you confirmed that the screen of the 4k version is very vibrant and detailed as It was one of the main reasons I wanted this laptop, so in your opinion does the 100% aRGB on this laptop make for a better visual experiance when watching videos/movies/anime/netflix etc than other sRGB laptops you have owned? Also, since I would like to game on this laptop aswell as doing productivity work, I was wondering if you could play a game like fortnite/leagueoflegends/pubg and let us know how the laptop does? does it run smoothly? im planning on lowering the screen res to 1080p on the in game settings anyway when in game, are refresh rates close to the claimed 60 fps when your gaming in 4k or 1080p?
Thank you!

 

I have the new 4K Blade 15. You'll definitely hear the fans ramping up and down doing everyday tasks. I could just have a bade paste job, but I had the same issue on my launch blade 15 144hz, so doubtful. I find your battery life claim 100 percent inaccurate/false. I have the 4k Blade 15 and the 4k Aero 15X. Even after the version 1803 the max battery life you'll be getting is 4:30 hours unless you change A LOT of setting maybe 5:30 if you're lucky. The Aero easily gets 7-8 with its 97watt battery while my 15 blade 4K and others will struggle after the 4:30 hour mark. I don't know why you'd falsify the battery life estimate, but I do agree on your other points about the blade. It's a beautiful machine. I've already had to RMA my power adapter for it and still haven't gotten a replacement. That's on Razer and it's terrible customer support. Although it should've been rectified on a $3,000 laptop. I can see why youtube reviewers are bashing the CS when sending in an RMA. Here is my reddit review. The glossy 4K screen makes it difficult for outdoor use just FYI.https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/945oht/my_impressions_after_having_the_razer_blade_15_4k/

I linked my reddit mini review on the next page. I think it answers most of your questions. The screen is not as color accurate as the XPS or Aero 4k. It's overly saturated and unfortunately can look strange with skin colors. Besides that it looks amazing for anime/movies/etc. It's definitely better than most panels out there, but not what I was expecting after seeing all the marketing promoting the 100 percent color accuracy/etc. I've done Fortnite/HOTS/Dark Souls 3. They all run like a charm and look phenomenal with 1080 scaling. Runs smoothly in 4k as well for the games I've listed. The temps are pretty high and that's the only other thing I can add

 

Just to let you know, Scan have a date of 20th of August for the 4k in the UK - I've put the link and details in this post: https://insider.razer.com/index.php...de-15-4k-20th-august-in-uk.39865/#post-452052

looks like 20th August in the UK for the 4k version
https://insider.razer.com/index.php...de-15-4k-20th-august-in-uk.39865/#post-452052