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

Synclide
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!

Hello Synclide,
Glad to hear you are keeping your pre-order. In my opinion it is definitely worth the wait. In my case, the question I had to ask is whether or not I would be disappointed once the GeForce GTX 1170 (or 2070 depending on the nomenclature Nvidia decides to go with) comes out. In my case the 1070 max-q hits my requirements, so the decision made sense for me as this computer should be sufficient for the next 2-3 years for my needs.
To answer your questions:
- Yes, I believe that the 100% colour range on this laptop makes for a vastly improved viewing experience. I'm only an amateur digital photographer, and dabble very limitedly with video production, but from my "pro-sumer" vantage point, this is probably the 2nd best display I have used on a laptop (and very well calibrated to boot.) The only more visually stunning display I've used was the OLED display on my 13" Alienware which was unbelievable in the way it could make colour "pop" (but in my opinion the size trade off vastly trumps the slight increase in visual fidelity (of course this is purely subjective and not a quantified opinion.)
- In regards to your second question, E-Sports games fly on this machine at 1080p, and it barely breaks a sweat. 60 fps at 1080p are constant and fans whirl at a hair above whisper quiet (once again purely a non-scientific assessment.) 4K is definitely achievable at 60 fps with some minor tweaking of settings. If hard core e-sports are the main use, then the 144hz might be some gamers preference, but at the cost of muddy drab display and fuzzy text in anything other than frantic game play use (the 4K in my opinion is the clear winner, as games can always be scaled to 1080p and 60hz is more than sufficient and not worth the 144hz trade-offs.)
I must reiterate that for general office computing, the fans turn completely off which is a nice feature.
In summation, I think you will be very pleased with your pre-order once it ships to you. I am very glad I waited, as I almost cancelled my pre-order too (in order to buy the 144hz variant.) As pre-orders are shipping to Canada (and the US now), I'm sure the UK won't be far behind.) Happy gaming!

pielover7434
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/

Hi pielover7434,
I'm only trying to give my honest impressions of the 4K Blade as I've experienced them, and I can easily believe that your experiences have varied. Although people are free to take my opinions at face value or disagree that's fine, but please do not muddy the waters by saying I'm "falsifying" my battery life. Please note that my stated 7~8 hour battery life is doing office tasks and not gaming (that's the last I'll engage on this topic as I have no desire to start a flame war.)
Sorry to hear of your power adapter troubles, I'm hoping CS has a replacement out very soon to you.
My fans do not come on during normal office type tasks, nor do they cycle after I updated to 1803. Perhaps I won the "processor chip / pasting lottery", and YMMV depending on who assembled the unit, and which bin the chips were taken out of.
One thing I will mention is that my vapour chamber is copper coloured and does not appear to be painted or enameled in any sort of black paint or coating. Perhaps this is a change Razer is making on new units to improve thermals? My SSD also came with a thermal silicon pad which touches both the top of the drive as well as the bottom shell which seems to be new as I haven't read anything else online about others finding this under the hood.

My 4k laptop was fulfilled by Amazon last week. It took 5 months but I have to admit I am very pleased with it now.

PeachPuffpulsefocus099
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?

Fuelhandler
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.

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/

Synclide
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 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

Synclide
hi thats great news! is this amazon uk? because for me it still shows up as available for preorder lol?

misterg36
Brilliant, 2 quick questions, like Synclide said is that Amazon UK?
and do you know when you ordered in June (I was on 16th so I just wondered if they are doing it in date order).?

Thanks again for letting us know.. it's been a long wait and it's great to see Amazon fuldilling orders :)

Yes UK. Came this morning. However I think it might have come earlier but I'd changed my card since ordering, but failed to update my order to my new card number - they first attempted to invoice me on Wednesday but it bounced on the old card number. When I called to update and ask why they didn't just use the card that I'd already updated and used on other orders they gave me £5 which was nice.

8th June order

misterg36
Well I gave up waiting for Amazon UK in the end. I called them and they told me they never had any 4k models in stock (clearly not true) and had no eta

I ordered direct from Razer as I was watching their store and saw one for sale.. So it looks like it should be this week and fingers crossed their support is as good as it has been so far (As I've only had a good experience with them)

The sensible part of me says I should have waited for Amazon, but my heart went with Razer direct :)

Don’t wait Amazon restocking on popular/limited items they’re super slow, last week I got delivery confirmation on Evga gpu...that I ordered last December, forgot canceling that;)

misterg36
Well I ordered from Razor on Friday, tracked it all the way from Hong Kong Friday to Oxford UK and it arrived a few mins ago :)

Well done. A bit ridiculous the idea that Amazon think they never received any because I have one, and they sent it.
Glad you've had a positive experience so far.

Chris

misterg36

I also saw 45fps in 4k with Destiny 2 (none gaming mode) - so am really happy you can choose full performance with heat, or usable performance with no heat issues.

And wow is it a beautiful laptop :)

45 Fps 4K isn’t bad, 15 FPS better than PS4 Pro, and only 15FPS lower than core v2 1080ti that costs €1300.

misterg36
I had to constantly check the UK Razer store. If it says "notify me" they are available (as far as I know).

I was checking every few hours, and one moment I just got lucky. Although Amazon UK have shipped a some (despite telling me they haven't)

So you may be in luck :)

That’s the problem there is no notify me button

crypticc
I find it amazing that they're still not shipping 4k in Amazon and even on the razer store they're not regularly in stock.

What do you think is the limitation - screen, cpu, gpu stock issues?

Cheers

I'm pretty sure it's the 4k screen holding it back - though intel are having a cpu shortage at the moment so are probably prioritising Dell etc.

Mostly though I would guess at manufacturing. Razer had to guess how many 144hz screens and how many 4k ones would need to be built and my guess is they thought "gamers" would go for the 144hz every time.

Forgetting that most gamers buying Razer laptops probably plan to use an external monitor most of the time, so 4k gives better options when "just using it like a laptop" - and with 4k scaling 1080p perfectly gaming on the screen is fine.

So with such low volumes, Razer is only giving a few at a time to Amazon so they still haven't fulfilled their back orders so can't open the stock page (all other 3rd party sites seem to be the same).

Some people may not be as obsessive as us, checking all the different sites and knowing they are available.

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

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.

Vapor(chamber)ware, I tell ya