The all-new Razer Blade Stealth 13

Razer.WolfPack · 2018-12-04T15:58:27+00:00

Work faster. Game more. The new Razer Blade Stealth 13 is made to take you places: http://rzr.to/bladestealth Hey Insiders! The Razer Blade Stealth 13 has always excelled as the ultimate productivity ultraportable laptop. Now, it’s been completely redesigned with NVIDIA GeForce MX150 4GB graphics and the new Whisky Lake Intel Core i7 processor with Turbo Boost speeds up to 4.6 GHz. With up to 4X improved graphics performance, you can run games like Overwatch and Fortnite at buttery smooth framerates. And with increased battery life of up to 13 hours, you can stay productive for even longer. Featuring 60% thinner bezels and up to 4K resolution with 100% sRGB color space, the Razer Blade Stealth is made for visual clarity in content creation or entertainment. For gaming and productivity, a thin bezel Full HD Matte option is also available. No matter which model you pick, the Razer Blade Stealth displays are individually calibrated to ensure color accuracy out of the box. For additional security and convenience, the Razer Blade Stealth also incorporates a IR web camera with Windows Hello. Packed into a compact unibody CNC aluminium frame and available in three new configuration models, you can pick the Razer Blade Stealth 13 that’s perfect for your lifestyle. A near bezel-less display. Longer battery life. All-new superior gaming performance. Discover the new Razer Blade Stealth 13 now: http://rzr.to/bladestealth

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mdaly001
Would folks be willing to share their model and battery life?

1080p screen, MX150: 6-7 hrs @ full brightness on screen and keyboard.

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Joikansai
Community Ranger
1975 replies
5 years ago
25 December 2018

Droglez
Update on the crackling noise. It is in fact coming from the speakers - it’s not coil whine (which is also there in a small amount).

All in all I have encountered the following issues:

-battery discharge, when plugged in and gaming
-GPU struggling to get above 80% usage when plugged in (too low voltage - GPU-Z says ‘Vrel’, which means means that it is capping out based on unrealiable voltage)
- I want the keyboard to turn off backlight after 1 min, which happens, but it then comes back on after 25-30 seconds, and then turns off after 1 min, and the cycling through. This might be fixed by a synapse update.
- CPU thermal throttles @ 50C when not plugged in (I don’t know if this is on purpose to save battery life, but it seems like a very strange Way to do it)
- crackling noise coming from both speakers (I confirmed this by muting speakers, and the noise then stopped). It could maybe be fixed by BIOS Update.
-Small amount of coil whine. It’s not a problem for me at all, but it might be for some people, so I thought I’d put it out there.

In conclusion, I Will return the laptop, if I/we don’t get some clarification on the abovementioned soon. I can live with most, but the fact that my GPU is struggling at 80% is not acceptable. And when you pay 2000 USD (I live in Denmark, so it’s significantly more expensive here), I honestly don’t Think there should be any thing to “live with” in the first place.

Are you sure it’s thermal throttle not power limit throttle?
About gpu usage, is it on all games? It depends on games usually, poorly optimized one like pubg may not optimized all gpu usage efficiently.

D

Diel87
I have exactly the same problems as Droglez for the EU (France) unit

I am waiting for a driver quicky otherwise I will return the product too

It almost seems like they’re making the costumers doing the the QC for them. This is quality information they’re getting from US!

Joikansai
Are you sure it’s thermal throttle not power limit throttle?
About gpu usage, is it on all games? It depends on games usually, poorly optimized one like pubg may not optimized all gpu usage efficiently.

It is thermal throttle for sure. And regarding the GPU, I’m playing WoW, and the GPU is at 100% to the point where the laptop “realises” that it’s not able to sustain voltage. Thermals are good CPU is around 60C and GPU is around 60C aswell.

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Joikansai
Community Ranger
1975 replies
5 years ago
25 December 2018

Droglez
It almost seems like they’re making the costumers doing the the QC for them. This is quality information they’re getting from US!

It is thermal throttle for sure. And regarding the GPU, I’m playing WoW, and the GPU is at 100% to the point where the laptop “realises” that it’s not able to sustain voltage. Thermals are good CPU is around 60C and GPU is around 60C aswell.

Sounds to me it’s not optimized well, some dell laptops has similar issues even on charging condition, I think on battery condition the gpu usage isn’t controlled well that made software detect somehow thermal throttling, usually as you know, laptops cpu throttle will be usually 5 to 10 degrees under intel limited temperatures which is 100 for laptops cpu. And talking about intel, since this is new cpu, maybe it still isn’t optimized it as well, because recently I saw softwares like 3Dmark and even Intel XTU couldn’t recognize it well.
Thermal throttling on low temperature usually can be addressed with throttlestop my adjusting multilplier or other setting there, but for some it’s not ideal solution.

C

Droglez
It almost seems like they’re making the costumers doing the the QC for them. This is quality information they’re getting from US!

It is thermal throttle for sure. And regarding the GPU, I’m playing WoW, and the GPU is at 100% to the point where the laptop “realises” that it’s not able to sustain voltage. Thermals are good CPU is around 60C and GPU is around 60C aswell.

I understand you're having an issue, but how is it handling WoW in its current state?

D

Joikansai
Sounds to me it’s not optimized well, some dell laptops has similar issues even on charging condition, I think on battery condition the gpu usage isn’t controlled well that made software detect somehow thermal throttling, usually as you know, laptops cpu throttle will be usually 5 to 10 degrees under intel limited temperatures which is 100 for laptops cpu. And talking about intel, since this is new cpu, maybe it still isn’t optimized it as well, because recently I saw softwares like 3Dmark and even Intel XTU couldn’t recognize it well.
Thermal throttling on low temperature usually can be addressed with throttlestop my adjusting multilplier or other setting there, but for some it’s not ideal solution.

Exactly!
Would love if there would be an Update soon, so I wouldn’t have to return it. On paper it’s everything I’ve been looking for!!

D

Clabby94
Does anyone know if the TB port will send video to a external usb-c monitor?

I’m not sure, but I surely suppose that it will, since a TB port can transfer up to 40GB/sec. HDMI 2.0 can transfer 18 GB/sec and HDMI 1.4 can Transfer 10,2 GB/sec.

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Joikansai
Community Ranger
1975 replies
5 years ago
27 December 2018

Clabby94
Does anyone know if the TB port will send video to a external usb-c monitor?

Yes with usb c to usb c 3.1 gen 2 (10gb, similar with tb1 speed) or better one. I tried use usb c cable that comes with my usb c monitor, it didn’t work and use TB3 cable that come with Razer Core, it works. So you need at least usb 3.1 gen 2 10gbs data transfer speed.

C

Thanks for the replies! My stealth will be here Saturday

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Joikansai
Community Ranger
1975 replies
5 years ago
27 December 2018

Clabby94
Thanks for the replies! My stealth will be here Saturday :)

Fingers crossed that you’ll get good unit and hope Razer addressed issues mentioned above.

N

Will get mine Thursday. I hope everything will be alright with it and i can connect it to my core v2.

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Joikansai
Community Ranger
1975 replies
5 years ago
30 December 2018

Clabby94
To update this, mine is up and running! Right off I noticed two issues. First is that while playing games the laptop is discharging while plugged in. Actually right beside the battery percentage it will say "Plugged in, discharging". Other issue is that even though I'm hitting 60 fps and beyond, it's just not smooth at all. First thought was to check the refresh rate but in synapse it's set to 60hz. Although in windows display setting it shows 59hz. Regardless it's probably going back because the discharging issue makes it unusable.

Feel bad man. It sounds like ac adapter couldn’t provide power that system demands, hmm weird...since it’s low power gpu, it was known on Blade Pro with full gtx 1080 with small 250 Watt AC adapter considering other 1080 gaming laptops use around 300 watt power brick. About gaming experience is it framedrop that made not smooth or screen tearing?
It’s actually 59,xxHz so it’s similar refresh rate with 60 Hz value.
Is it online games btw? Internet connection may also become the culprit when you play on decent fps but still feel not smooth, if frame timings are inconsistent in the game you play, you can get micro stutter.

T

autoKenyanCopperbuzz155
So I have correct the speaker crackle issue, I changed the driver to R2.73, it seems to be an issue with the most upto date driver.

R2.73 is an old driver but seems to work.

In regards to the battery drain, I updated the battery management driver and this seemed to help a bit

This fixed my snap-crackle-pop sounds coming from my speakers when they are not being used.

I am starting to lean towards returning my stealth, base model after having used it for a couple weeks now because the trackpad is still finicky. There is still a coil-whine coming from the lite-on SSD which is rampant and the super mediocre palm detection on the trackpad in addition to other random and frequent trackpad issues (jumping cursor regardless of the presence of the palm, intermittent but not frequent periods where it freezes for about 3 seconds causes me real consternation. The size of the right shift has also been a huge learning curve. If I press the up arrow one more time...

It seems I'm getting around 8:30 hours of real-world usage out of the battery. Nowhere near 12-13 and that's with simple web browsing and multitasking. No gaming or stress application usage (adobe products, etc.). I do realize now that looking at my battery-report it does drain significantly on suspend mode overnight, 10-15%. Here is my battery report for comparison:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qrtb797hmhhhslj/battery-report.html?dl=0

BaffTech
I was all sold out again but getting in here is holding me back...
Is that possible that there are some razer systems with no issue?
I previously got a Stealth 1st gen; I read so many drawbacks but told myself I would give it a try though. But the unit I received had dead pixels so I returned it and convince myself I would wait for better stability and if possible mate screen.

I was really hoping this could be now.

Anyone happy with his?

Like I mentioned in my post a few pages back I liked my unit. If it wasn't for the coil whine I would've kept it. Battery life was good, performance was good, it ran very cool under load, and was pretty close to everything I wanted in a small laptop. I plan on getting another and hope it doesn't have coil whine after I see what CES has to offer. I'm going to buy it from someone else other than Razer directly because they're still taking there time refunding me for my returned unit.

Also remember happy users don't come to forums and post about it. Even though we are a load minority you're only ever gonna hear our end of the story. My blade 14 is a few years old now and still works perfectly. And the only issue I have with it is I want something new and with better battery life. It's served me well and I'll be sad to see it go when I sell it. :wink_:

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Joikansai
Community Ranger
1975 replies
5 years ago
31 December 2018

TK-1987
Really sad to hear there are so many uses cropping up. I'm still waiting for the refund on my unit. I do plan on getting another eventually. Besides the coil whine mine was pretty good. It kept very cool when doing auto cad work and light gaming. Surprisingly so. But, that's what you get with low powered U class cpu's and a MX150 with two fans.

But, CES is just around the corner so I'm going to wait and see what's on the horizon. If there is nothing I like I'll give the New Stealth another go.

Actually previous stealth has already dual fans, so it’s really designed for huge cpu usage. From reviews it’s actually the best thermal on MX150 laptops. Yes unfortunately there’s seemly still issues this early batch. Btw I had before MX150 ultrabook with single fan, it was a nightmare laptop all running hot literally I can’t gaming on it, not a year it shows already defective parts.

BaffTech
I was all sold out again but getting in here is holding me back...
Is that possible that there are some razer systems with no issue?
I previously got a Stealth 1st gen; I read so many drawbacks but told myself I would give it a try though. But the unit I received had dead pixels so I returned it and convince myself I would wait for better stability and if possible mate screen.

I was really hoping this could be now.

Anyone happy with his?

I saw on Razer subreddit there’s also user who received perfect unit, he said has no of possibility issues that notebookcheck reviewer mentioned. I had only one issue with Razer Blade I bought, it was late 2016 so I rejected that and got 2017 model, it was great without hardware issue for 14 months gaming usage before I sold it for Blade 15, and Blade 15 works also like a champ in this 6 months usage. My current stealth v2 works still fine as well almost 2 years, waiting for its lifespan but seemly have to wait longer, still considering if I’ve to sell it for stealth MX150 or keeping it.

Thanks for your replies.

And, yes, sure, there is a majority of unhappy guys who post on forums but I don't see that kind of frequency of unhapiness with every brand... The unit I had was fine but the poor battery life and the below average confidence I had in the products given all bad advices I had read were questioning me even before I see those dead pixels...
I then remember thought that with a mate screen this had much less chance to occur.
And there is this new Stealth. But now I can see that the coiled wine that was finally fixed is back... Not very encouraging to be honest :/

Well, I might wait for some other reviews before I decide to give another try through Amazon. Knowing that I have nothing wrong with my Dell XPS 13 except it's beginning to getting old and for sure I can't play much with it, even in low specs...

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Joikansai
Community Ranger
1975 replies
5 years ago
31 December 2018

TK-1987
I was referring more to competing laptops like hp x360, think pad, and even apple. Now I know xps 13 has two fans. But razers seem to have bigger fans and definitely more heatpipes. So t just surprised me how nice it was to use and it actually stayed cool. Most of these small laptops have small noisy fans.Was that the huawai laptop with the mx150 you had?

You should join me and @Joikansai over on Notebookreview.com. Msi, Alienware, Clevo, Gigabyte. . .all the brands on one forum. Trust me they all have complaints and issues. Some more than others, but overall it seems they all are about the same and have terrible customer support. That's just the reality of it all.

To be fair I've heard the xps 13 is plagued with coil whine too ever since the first model. So it's unforunetly common. Even my blade 14 has it. But, it was very faint. So it never bothered me.

If you can wait until after CES, like I said I will be getting something for sure. If it's another Blade Stealth I will share my experience here on the forums for sure.

Second gen xiaomi mi Air 13, it was nice having MX150 in an ultrabook, could gaming on go but unfortunately it was too hot to me, and lack of TB3 port is huge trade off even though the price is right, especially for someone like me that has Razer Core, even my old MacBook Pro 2012 with tb1 can be paired with it even with super limited 1/4 Blade bandwidth. It was similar price with stealth v2 refurbished, I was right sold it for stealth, better cpu 7200U vs 7500U on stealth plus TB3 feature. I could play around even with a 2080ti;)
I saw also Mate Pro has also similar issue bad cooling design and cpu throttle a lot on egpu setting.

M

Still baffles me how they can make this sort of tech and performance and keep it relatively cool!
Think I will be investing in one of these when it arrives in the UK.

S

I would take this anytime over my asus chromebook flip, but I'd still rather go with the lowest end Blade 15 which is the same price.

I'm looking at picking one of these up in the next few days to replace my Blade 14. I hardly ever game on the go and my work is comprised mostly of word processing, so battery life is more important to me than power. My Blade 14 is decent for intense workloads on-the-go, but it routinely lasts between 2 and 3 hours.

Right now I am looking at the baseline model of the Stealth (256gb/8gb/integrated) versus the next model up (256gb/16gb/mx150). I'd rather stick with the laptop that will deliver the most battery life, which is the former, but I don't want to hamstring myself with 8gb of ram. Money isn't really a factor here, so the price difference is not a concern.

Is there anyone with experience that can comment on the realistic battery life/performance differences between these two models?

D

Spoonablehippo
Just ordered my new Stealth from Amazon!
Will be my first Razor product, hopefully it will be ok as its my dream laptop :)

One question I have, is will I be able to game with the same level of performance on battery as I would when its plugged in???

My last gaming laptop throttled down when unplugged, and I could never solve the issue.

Thanks for your help!

I was definetly not able to. But I have had quite a few issues with mine aswell, so you might be good to go.

Userlevel 7

Joikansai
Community Ranger
1975 replies
5 years ago
10 January 2019

KeppelLAPISLAZULIhead224
Did anyone else buy the 13" sleeve for the 2019 Stealth? Mine doesn't fit.

Also, I've noticed WiFi drops and 50/50 performance on if the USB-C charger is actually charging.

Protective sleeve seemly too tight, it’s made for previous stealth cassis, 2019 one is a bit thicker.

D

I have returned mine for a refund because it had all the problems mentioned here. I hope that razer will release a new version quickly.

S

i love it. I wish i had the money for it, but life is life

L

rglasser
I just chatted with a support person and they told me the slow discharge when plugged in and gaming is not normal (4K graphics model). Does anyone NOT have this issue? It is very slow as in the reviews I’ve read, but it seems like this is unavoidable given the 65W charger. Is this something it should be returned for? Thanks!!

I'm having the same problems with the 4k model, after some gaming time plugged i need to stop because performances drops because the charges is not enough for the consumption.

Can't they just release a new better charger?

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