Key takeaways of zdnet
- Razor Blade 14 (2025) is now on sale which is now starting at $ 2,000.
- It is a grand laptop that re -defines portability for gaming machines.
- However, when it comes to performance and upgrades, the ultraPortable form factor is the result in the trade-off.
Blade has been a razor’s flagship gaming laptop for 16 years, but thinner, sleaker design on 2025 blade 14 (The thinnest blade model yet) does not give less than a stunning first impression.
The new model is 11% thin and 11% lighter than its predecessor, which weighs just 3.5 pounds and 0.6 inches thick, with a clever, matte black finish that looks and feels premium. This form challenges its aesthetics of the brand with a tool that looks like Dell XPS 14 or MacBook Pro compared to gaming laptops.
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Physical construction is definitely one of the best characteristics of this laptop. Regardless of its thin and light frames, it seems clearly durable, with minimal flexing or screen walbal. I also like large rubber posts on the bottom of the device that prevent it from slipping around and allows for more airflows.
By highlighting this new and better form factor, the razor is aiming to compete with the 14-inch gaming laptop, especially Asus Rog Zephyrus G14, which rule the supreme as one of the highest 14-inch gaming laptops (one of our favorite, as well).
There are some handful of differences between these two laptops, however, the blade with 14 makes a little trading of that power for its Svelte Form Factor, opening a use case as a tool that is equally capable on the steam dashboard as it is in the office.
3K, 120Hz OLED display is gorgeous, going to the very edge with ultrathin bezels, which is millimeter thick. Similarly, the trackpad is large (but not ridiculous this), on the edges as far as it can be possible, an accurate, expert can exclude physical aesthetics prepared.
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However, there are businesses for this design. Thinner form means less strong cooling and hardware, which is in exchange for the blade 14 additional portability. You have received an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor, with the new Blackwell architecture of Nvidia in the GeForce RTX 50 series, which up to 5070, and up to 32GB solder Ram.
Sure, it is not a powerful loadout that you can get on a gaming laptop, but it is not really a point here. Razor scaled things back with Blade 14 for a competent machine, which makes a mistake in favor of battery efficiency, instead to try a strong performance with heavy hardware.
For example, Blade 14 supports 100W of total graphics power, which is going up to 115W with dynamic boost, so technically this laptop has sufficient power to support high-end GPUs such as RTX 5080. However, Razor opted 5070 for the possibility of regulating the heat and power consumption.
To compare, the 14-inch Asus Zephyrus G14 has 5080, and it becomes hot. Even cranking with fans (which are not calm), the reality of gaming at 14 inches means accounting for these factors, of which the blade 14 decreases with this hardware.
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“Elder Scroll IV: Oblavian Remastard”, “Diablo IV”, and “Cyberpank 2077” have gaming performance with smooth, leg-free visual. The latter at 3K resolution, pushes things to the top end, with about 40 fps and some light view stuttering, but nothing that seems to be problematic. Swapping improved significantly for more manageable 1200p resolution.
In terms of benchmarking, Blade 14 this year has tested a two powerful 16-inch gaming laptop, which we have tested this year, MSI Stealth 16AI, and Lenovo Legion Pro 7 came, but those (very large) systems show the hardware in raw power in raw power.
Blade 14 has good I/O coverage, as well as. You have two USB4 Type-C port with display port 2.1 and power delivery support on both sides, two USB-A ports on both sides, HDMI port (on the right), and a microSD card reader.
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On the left, you also have an ownership charging port for 200w power brick. This is the most efficient form of power distribution, but it will charge via USB-C until you have the appropriate watts. If you are gaming on it with 65W charger, just don’t expect a plug-in performance.
The RGB light effect on the keyboard does not disappoint. The razor performs a great job in maximizing the intensity of each individual key and the punch, with minimal light leakage from the corners of the key for a dramatic effect.
If you prefer per-cozyt adaptation, here the keyboard has all the effects that you can ask together Razor Croma Application. If you want to wear things down with more subtle, office-taiyar beauty, you can easily do it.
The keyboard feels good until you are really going away. However, I can not see some gamers completely satisfied with the journey distance, as it seems to be a premium, it is more wrong towards a Macbook or Business Laptop than a clear gaming board. Conversely, the speaker is fine. They are better than average, but there is a slight decrease in bass or prosperity.
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The razor serpes serves as the dashboard of the app device, which controls everything from performing mode to operating temps and CPUs such as AT-A-Glance Matrix to overclocking. However, the app seems a bit incomplete in itself, and it became unanswered a few times during my test. It is useful enough to manage settings, though.
Just note that when you are on the battery, the laptop forces you to a balanced mode – there is no option to switch out of it. Obviously, this is the favorite setting when you are immoral from the outlet, but it is not my favorite thing to eliminate the option for small sprints of performance on battery power.
Hopping battery in balanced mode set a long way towards maximizing life. Changing the refresh rate down to 60 Hz and reduced brightness to half to half of our battery testing increased slightly from nine hours of runtime – great for a gaming laptop.
For continuous gaming on the battery, you can expect two to three hours, which is more or less standard, although low -demanding games will undoubtedly push the past from four to five. The tech here is that the blade can survive in 14 low-mang sessions or while most gaming may be inactive than laptops, which are very thirsty.
ZDNET purchase advice
Razor Blade 14 There is a gaming laptop, but it is not limited to the case of that use. You can take it to the office or pack it in a travel bag as you can get those headshots in the latest top-tier gaming title on the steam.
It is a grand laptop, and it individually resonated with me as a “mature” gamer, whose all-day gaming session (mostly) is a matter of the past, but still enjoy a regular portfolio of the game to log in.
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I suggest this laptop to anyone in search of a competent gaming laptop, but who is not interested in the 16- or 18-inch Bim on a large scale. In that sense, the blade talks to 14 consumers who are comfortable with the discussed trade-off and appreciate the factor of light form.
Blade 14 comes in many different configurations, 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB soldered RAM and either with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 or 5070 GPU. The most high-end loadout retals regularly for $ 2,999, which is not cheap at all and requires commitment to its top use case. However, now, it is on sale for $ 2,599 – a price that is very tasty.
