What is worth waiting for? About five months ago, AMD presented the CES 2023 Phoenix christened series of mobile processors, but since then it has remained quiet about the current APU generation, apart from a few benchmark leaks.
But the topic is slowly picking up speed again: After the first notebooks in the form of the Asus G14 series, the Razer Blade 14 (2023), another laptop designed for gaming with AMD’s new processors, is now being launched on the market. Check out the official introductory video above.
Acer had also previously started with two series, but the chip manufacturer itself held back with the marketing machine. At Razer, on the other hand, AMD advertises the full power of its Phoenix APUs. We’ll find out what’s behind it.
Razer as a flagship for AMD
AMD uses the presentation of the Razer Blade 14 to address the advantages of the Phoenix APU. Although the number of cores of the built-in Ryzen 9 7940HS remains the same at eight, it clocks a little higher at up to 5.2 gigahertz.
It wouldn’t be a new launch in 2023 if it wasn’t for the term somewhere AI would fall. This is also the case with the new AMD chips, which have their own AI accelerator with XDNA.
According to Razer’s press release, a increased productivity and improved efficiency be guaranteed. Independent benchmarks are still pending, AMD itself advertises that it is ahead of competing chips such as the Intel Core i9-13900H or Apple M2 Pro in terms of performance.
Magnificent equipment, mighty price
In addition to the Ryzen 9 7940HS, the motto for the latest Razer Blade 14 is: Big, don’t mess. This is already reflected in the 14-inch monitor that is true to the name, which relies on QHD resolution and a refresh rate of 240 Hertz.
However, no AMD GPU is used as a dedicated graphics card in the entry-level version, Nvidia’s RTX 4060 is installed instead. This variant is joined by 16 gigabytes of DDR5 RAM. The Razer Blade 14 is yours for a whopping €2,800 RRP.
But more is always possible in the computer, which is why Razer also offers two upgrades: You can get the model with the RTX 4070 for 3,200 euros; with another 100 euros more, there is finally twice the working memory.
Razer puts the SSD capacity in the new Blade 14 at one terabyte. On the connection side, all current standards should be covered with two USB 4 ports – which are also compatible with DisplayPort 1.4 – and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports. An HDMI 2.1 port is also on board.
All variations of the Razer Blade 14 can be pre-ordered via the official website, and there are two color variants available in black and white. Deliveries are scheduled to begin on June 20th.
