The goal of Razer’s 2025 Blade 16 (which retails for $2,399.99 and tested for $4,499.99) is to boost power. This year’s model features Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 50-series graphics and AMD’s latest Ryzen AI CPUs on its motherboard. The laptop’s design is identical to that of the previous year’s model, but our ultra-pricey review model’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU and RTX 5090 GPU provide lightning-fast processing and dazzling frame rates to its high-resolution 240Hz screen, especially when DLSS upscaling and frame creation are enabled. This high-end device is reserved for the most affluent consumers and enthusiasts who desire a stylish laptop with gaming capabilities, and it meets their needs.
Configurations
Starting at $2,399.99, the new Blade 16 comes with a 1TB SSD, an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, 16GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 GPU. Although purchasing an RTX 5060 laptop in this manner is pricey, a large portion of the cost is covered by the laptop’s upscale features and finishes—more on those later. You’ll need to defend both the system’s performance and the higher price.
Both the cost and power have increased due to our review arrangement. For $4,499.99, it comes with a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, 32GB of RAM, an RTX 5090 GPU, and a 2TB SSD. This is rarefied air if you think the beginning model is too expensive. Extremely powerful, the 24GB mobile RTX 5090 was the first RTX 50 series laptop GPU I had the opportunity to evaluate (see that separate testing item).
Between our test model and the base model, you will discover several GPU alternatives (RTX 5070, RTX 5070 Ti, and RTX 5080), but only the two AMD CPU options stated above. With a maximum memory of 64GB and a maximum storage capacity of 4TB, our product is not the most costly option available. Razer’s step-up options make the laptop more appealing and surprisingly competitive when you add them, even though the base model doesn’t seem like a great deal for the price, because nothing about the notebook design changes between configurations.
Design
When a Blade machine comes across our test bench, we know what to expect until Razer undertakes one of its few full redesigns. That’s not a terrible thing because these are some of the best gaming laptops available, and nobody expects Apple, for example, to redesign the MacBook Pro every year. I recently tested a number of Razer systems that looked identical.
The machine feels as sleek and opulent as ever because of its recognizable thin aluminum construction, all-black design, and green lid emblem. If you’re looking for precise dimensions, this slim design weighs about 5.4 pounds in higher-end setups like ours and measures 0.87 by 14.0 by 9.6 inches (HWD). (4.7 pounds is the lightest.) These measurements match those of the Blade 16 in 2024.
PerformanceÂ
I tested this high-end laptop using our benchmark test suite to determine its relative performance. Then, to compare the outcomes, I compiled the following set of possibilities.
The prior Blade 16 model ($4,199 as tested) is a clear inclusion, but the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 ($2,299.99 as tested) demonstrates the capabilities of another slim but less costly 16-inch alternative. Last but not least, the two 18-inch laptops, the Razer Blade 18 ($4,499 as tested) and the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 ($3,899.99 as tested), are high-end devices with similar GPUs from previous generations.
Graphics and Gaming
We use four animations or game simulations from UL’s 3DMark test suite to test the graphics on all computers. The Vulkan graphics API is used by Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Extreme (4K) to gauge GPU performance. To evaluate gaming geometry and particle effects, Steel Nomad’s regular and Light subtests concentrate on APIs that are more frequently used for game development, such as Metal and DirectX 12. To assess ray tracing performance in a simulated setting, we also use 3DMark’s Solar Bay. Using native APIs, this benchmark puts 3D scenes through progressively demanding ray-traced workloads at 1440p.
In-game benchmarks from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Formula One 2024 serve as the basis for our real-world gaming testing. These three titles represent competitive shooter, open-world, and simulation games, respectively, and are all benchmarked at the system’s full HD (1080p or 1200p native) resolution. The tests are performed at the QHD equivalent of 1440p or 1600p if the screen can support a higher resolution. Every game has a maximum of four runs and can be played at two different graphical settings per resolution.
We run the Call of Duty benchmark once at the Extreme graphics preset and once at the Minimum graphics preset, which maximizes frame rates to measure monitor refresh rates. We run Cyberpunk 2077 on the Ultra graphics preset and again at the full-on Ray Tracing Overdrive preset without DLSS or FSR because our test settings are designed to push PCs to their limits. Lastly, F1 shows the ability of a GPU to use frame-boosting upscaling algorithms in our DLSS efficacy test (or FSR, on AMD systems).
Battery Life
In order to test the battery life of each laptop, we play a locally stored 720p video clip (the open-source Blender film Tears of Steel) with the audio level at 100% and the display brightness at 50%. Before the test, we shut off the keyboard illumination and Wi-Fi and made sure the battery was completely charged.
The color saturation of a laptop screen, or the percentage of sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the screen can display, as well as its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter), are also measured using a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software.
Conclusion
For better or worse, Razer’s new Blade 16—especially our customized RTX 5090-based model—offers the exact experience you would anticipate. The Blade boasts a cutting-edge display that is ideal for gaming, a top-tier GPU from the most recent generation, and an opulent appearance and feel. The laptop is only a reasonable choice for the wealthiest customers, though, as it is also rather pricey in all configurations. This is like getting an Apple computer with all the bells and whistles, even for people who look at, say, the more expensive MacBook Pro versions.
Some consumers will consider this price range, but most won’t; for those who do, the
e Blade offers that upscale performance and experience. Gaming laptops with greater performance ceilings—bigger, thicker machines that prioritize power—are available if you’re willing to spend this much, but the Blade 16 combines all of that with a distinct, unrivaled cool factor among laptop PCs.