Preface and remarks
This article is compiled with permission from notebookcheck
Allen Ngo is the chief editor of NBC North America, majoring in environmental fluid mechanics at the University of California, succeeding Reactor Physics, and obtained a nuclear reactor operating license issued by the US National Commission. Mainly responsible for the daily management, evaluation editing and content distribution of NBCUs North America. ）
Original publication date: 2023/2/21
The graphic part has been abridged, and some of the author has strengthened, explained and supplemented;
Some of the tables and pictures have been reprocessed by the author.
Razer Blade 18 laptop review: Smaller than many 17-inch gaming laptops
The current subtitle "Love its body, hate its problems" comes from the final evaluation of the original article.
Razer Spirit Blade 18
The Razer Blade 18 (hereinafter referred to as the "Blade 18") as an alternative to the desktop computer has a large 18-inch screen---- but its value seems to be a large screen---- because its performance and functionality are almost the same as the smaller and more portable Blade 16.
Unveiled at CES 2023, the Spirit Blade 18 is Razer's largest screen to date, maintaining the traditional Razer body design. Like the Spirit Blade 16, it has Intel's 13th-generation Core mobile CPU and Nvidia's latest GeForce 40 series display.
CPU optional Core i9-13950HX to i9-13980HX;
GPU options from 140W RTX 4060 to 175W RTX 4090;
There is only one screen, and both are 16:10 QHD+ 240Hz IPS panels.
NBC's review machine is equipped with a 140-watt RTX 4070, which is a mid-range configuration and retails for about $3200.
18-inch laptops were very rare before, and the more famous one was the GT83 Titan produced by MSI 6 years ago.
This time, Asus and Dell also launched the ROG Strix Scar 18 (that is, Gun God 7 Plus) and Alienware M18, which are obviously direct opponents of the Spirit Blade 18.
The official optional configuration of Spirit Blade 18 2023 is as follows
The main configurations of the Razer Blade 18 reviewed are as follows:
The Razer Blade 18 reviewed this time, and the comparison of the rating, time to market, body size, body weight, screen size, screen resolution and sales price of the relevant comparison models are as follows:
Body design: slightly larger than the Spirit Blade 17
The Spirit Blade 18 has a new screen size, but its body is nothing new, and it looks almost the same as the Spirit Blade 17 from top to bottom.
Compared to the Spirit Blade 17, the Spirit Blade 18 has a narrower screen lower border and a higher screen-to-body ratio, which is the only difference between the two at a glance.
The 18-inch screen is larger, but the Spirit Blade 18 maintains the same good body rigidity, and the base and top cover are as strong as the Spirit Blade 17, which is the same as the popular MacBook Pro body.
Despite the large screen, the hinge is particularly strong, although its maximum unfolding angle still does not reach 180 degrees.
The weakest point of the laptop cover is generally its center, where the surface is more likely to warp when squeezed hard.
Razer officials proudly claim that despite the larger screen, the Spirit Blade 18 is only 18% larger than the previous generation Spirit Blade 17, and the weight is only 7% more.
In fact, even some 17.3-inch game books are larger and heavier than the Spirit Blade 18, such as the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 SE, Alienware m17 R5, etc.
Familiar aluminum alloy one-piece design body
Finger marks are left around the smooth black metal body surface
The maximum unfolding angle of the screen cover is about 140 degrees
A ventilation grill hidden under the hinge
It is only 2mm thicker than the Spirit Blade 17
The camera is not physically privately guarded
Port connection: Same as before
All ports of the Spirit Blade 18 are the same as above, with more practical port connections.
It's just that it's a little disappointing---- Lingjian 18 doesn't increase ports with a larger size, no different from other smaller models--- for example: if you add an HDMI input port, its 18-inch large screen can make the most of it.
A hint: Only one of the two USB-C ports supports Thunderbolt.
Front: No port
Right: SD card reader, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (supports Thunderbolt 4 + PD charging + DP1.4), USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, Kensington security lock hole.
Rear: No port
Left: External power connector, 2.5 Gbps Ethernet RJ-45 port, 2 USB-A 3.2 Gen.2, USB-C (supports PD charging + DiP1.4), 3.5mm headphones
SD card reader
NBC's FlexBlade 18's SD card reader is capable of moving 1GB of images from the SD card to the desktop in 5 seconds when inserted into the UHS-II SD card, while the MSI Titan GT77 takes 13 seconds to perform the same test.
The SD card reader slot uses a pop-up design that protrudes slightly after inserting the SD card.
Network connectivity
The Blade 18 is equipped with Intel AX211 Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.3 as standard, and the Killer AX1690i used in the previous generation Blade 17. In fact, the Killer AX1690i is also a gaming version of the Intel AX211, so users should not be able to experience the performance difference between the two.
Camera: Upgraded to 5 million pixels
Razer has upgraded the camera pixels from 2 million in the previous generation Blade 17 to 5 million in the current Blade 18.
The 5-megapixel sensor brings sharper images, but there is basically no difference in color.
At the same time, the whole line is equipped with IR infrared camera as standard, and supports Windows Hello face recognition function.
However, it is a little strange that while the smaller Spirit Blade 16 camera has a physical privacy switch, the larger Spirit Blade 18 does not, nor does it have the software or hotkeys to turn off the camera.
Camera performance test results
ColorChecker 12.92
Delta E minimum: 1.53
Delta E maximum: 21.18∆E
Disassembly and maintenance
The bottom cover of the Spirit Blade 18 is locked by ten T5 Phillips screws for easy access.
After removing the bottom cover, users can perform maintenance on two M.2 2280 SSD slots, two SODIMM slots (up to 32 GB DDR5-5600 or 64 GB DDR5-5200), and wireless card modules.
A hint: the Spirit Blade 18 and the previous generation Spirit Blade 17 have a similar design, with a small fan directly below the touchpad.
The previous generation Lingjian 17 had two small fans directly below the touchpad:
Accessories and Warranty
The retail version of Lingjian 18 has no extra accessories inside the box.
The whole machine only comes with a one-year limited warranty;
But in versions sold in the United States, the battery comes with a separate two-year warranty.
Input Device: Same as Spirit Blade 16
Keyboard and touchpad
Although the size difference between Blade 18 and Blade 16 is huge, there is no difference between the keyboard and trackpad of the two: the size of the touchpad is 17 x 9.7 cm, and the size of the keyboard is exactly the same, so NBC's keyboard operation experience for Blade 16 can be applied to Blade 18.
So it's a shame that the Blade 18 didn't take advantage of its larger size to adopt a more comprehensive keyboard, such as better arrow keys and even a numeric keypad.
It is still the familiar Razer Blade keyboard, supporting key-by-key RGB backlight
The Spirit Blade 18 is larger in size, just enlarging the speaker instead of adding a numeric keypad.
The touchpad on the glass surface is half as large as the Spirit Blade 17
The key travel is still shallow, and the key feed is average.
Screen: It's big
There is only one screen in the Spirit Blade 18, presumably because of upstream supply problems.
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18, which is also an 18-inch screen, is the same panel used in the Spirit Blade 18, and it is both AU Optronics' B180QAN01.0 IPS panel.
While the only option, there's no denying that this is a high-quality screen that meets the usual qualities of a high-end gaming book, including a high frame-rate 240 Hz refresh rate, a low latency 3ms response time, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 500 nits high brightness, and factory color calibration.
Independent measurements by NBC using X-Rite colorimeters and oscilloscopes confirmed these parameters.
However, the screen of the Razer 18 tested by NBC occasionally flashes at different brightnesses, and the cause is unknown.
The flicker phenomenon is not related to PWM because this panel does not use PWM for brightness control.
It's possible that this is a screen failure, but NBC has not been able to confirm whether it is a software or hardware issue.
Moreover, some users who purchased Spirit Blade 18 also complained of experiencing the same flickering problem.
If NBC receives an official response from Razer to this question, it will be updated as soon as possible.
The screen uses full-laminated glass, OLED, and no touch screen is optional
The official propaganda screen has narrow bezels on both sides, and the measured width is only 4.66 mm
At the minimum brightness, measure whether the backlight is uniform and whether there is light leakage
RGB subpixels under macro cameras
Because the screen is factory calibrated according to P3, its average grayscale and color Delta E values are only 2.0 and 3.32, respectively.
NBC has tried to perform further calibration, but the improvement has been limited, and a bluish cast has been found.
When used outdoors, the visibility of the screen is similar to that of Spirit Blade 17, as both have a maximum brightness of 500 nits.
However, in order to ensure accurate color display and prevent glare, it is recommended not to use it in direct sunlight.
Effect of outdoor use on cloudy days
Use effect in the shade outside
The screen is an IPS panel, so the measured viewing angle is wide, and only when viewed from extreme angles, the color and contrast will change.
Performance: Latest Intel CPU plus NVIDIA Ada graphics card
Test the settings
Windows is set to the optimal performance mode;
In the Razer Synapse software, set the CPU and GPU to Boost and High, respectively, as shown in the image below.
Razer Synapse is the official pre-installed setup software that manages and sets up RGB-LED lighting effects, performance profiles, macros, and other auxiliary functions.
However, there are problems with the reliability of this software, and when there is no network connection, it sometimes becomes unresponsive or does not start at all.
Unlike the Blade 16, the Razer 18's graphics card doesn't support MUX or Advanced Optimus.
NBC's actual results are not yet supported by G-Sync, but Razer officially vows to do.
NBC has contacted Razer to explain that G-Sync is not supported, and will update this content if there is a message.
CPU
Compared with the Core i9-13950HX Spirit Blade 16 or GT77, the performance gap is only a few percentage points.
So, the CPU performance of this Razer 18 seems to be working fine.
Multi-threaded performance is about 45% faster than the previous generation Core i9-12950HX, and similar to the desktop version of Core i9-12900K.
NBC's commonly used CineBeach R15 round-robin test scores are not listed because the scores are so low that they don't seem to be representative of CPU performance. Running CineBeach R15 uses both the CPU and the discrete graphics card, so the performance of the CPU is sometimes affected by the power consumption of the discrete graphics card. This phenomenon also occurs on other laptops.
While the CineBeach R23 is a CPU-only benchmark, it doesn't activate discrete graphics cards.
Comprehensive performance
Spirit Blade 18 measured its PCMark 10 score, which is always higher than the 2022 Spirit Blade 17, although the gap is small.
But the Spirit Blade 16 and MSI GT77 do better, as they have better graphics cards, RTX 4080lp and RTX 4090lp respectively.
DPC delay
After opening multiple browser pages, LatencyMon detected a slight DPC delay.
When CPU and GPU usage is low, 4K@60fps video playback does not have any DPC lag issues.
Storage devices: Only two SSDs can be installed
NBC tested the Lingjian 18 with a 1 TB PCIe4 x4 NVMe SSD model SSSTC CA6-8D1024.
The measured transmission rate is similar to that of Samsung PM9A1, and the sequential read and write rates are stable, 6900 MB/s and 4300 MB/s, respectively. Each of the two SSD slots is equipped with a cooling pad that transfers heat to the metal bottom cover for heat dissipation.
Graphics performance: Similar to desktop RTX 3070
In theory, the performance of an RTX 4070lp with a TGP of 140 W is between the RTX 3080lp and RTX 3080 Tilp;
However, the measured performance is only 10% to 20% higher than the RTX 3070lp, and the RTX 4070lp performance is disappointing compared to the RTX 4080lp performance is about 40% to 50% higher than the RTX 3080lp.
This also means that the performance gap between RTX 4070lp and RTX 4080lp can be as high as about 40% to 60%.
Compared to desktop graphics cards, the RTX 4070lp is 5% to 10% lower than the desktop RTX 3070, which was released three years ago.
One of the big selling points of NVIDIA's latest 40-series graphics cards is support for interpolated frames or DLSS 3.
Unfortunately, when this Spirit Blade 18 is used with HDMI or USB-C external 4K monitor, after enabling DLSS 3, NBC measured that this Spirit Blade 18 will be abnormal when running games that confirm that DLSS3 support are available.
In all tests, the frame rate dropped below 30 FPS, which is understandable, and NBC's previous test Spirit Blade 16 RTX 4080 did not have this anomaly.
But strangely, this Lingjian 18 turned on DLSS 3 when using its native screen, and it performed completely normally.
NBC has contacted Razer officials for a solution, and will update this at that time.
The Witcher 3 ran for one hour at a stable frame rate with no performance degradation.
List of measured frame rates for some games:
Environmental emissions
System noise: Quiet when not playing games
The cooling fan of this Lingjian 18 is relatively quiet at low loads such as video playback or Internet browsing, and the fan noise is generally around 27 dB(B) or below, which is basically inaudible in most cases. Considering its enormous size and performance, this quiet is unexpected.
When under high load (e.g. playing games), the fan slowly but steadily increases the speed, and finally the noise stabilizes at 48 dB(A). If 100% full load is reached, fan noise can reach up to 54 dB(A).
The noise of most game books is generally not higher than 50dB(A), such as the MSI GT77 and Razer Blade 17 previously measured by NBC. This Blade 18 makes similar noise when playing games to its brother, the Razer Blade 16.
The cooling system consists of 3 fans (2 x 60 mm plus 1 x 35 mm), vapor chambers, graphite and PET
Unlike Alienware, MSI or Asus, Razer does not use liquid metals, phase transitions, or other special thermal media substances
Spirit Blade 18 is one of the gamepads that uses more than two fans for heat dissipation
2 DDR5 SODIMM memory slots
Fan noise analysis diagram
White: Background noise
Red: When the system is idle;
Blue: When running the 3DMark 06 test;
Orange: When The Witcher 3 is running;
Green: When the double-stress test is run (Prime95+FurMark).
Operating temperature
The surface temperature of the body of this Lingjian 18 is relatively low, which should be the result of its 18-inch large-size body, three-fan vapor chamber cooling system, and its graphics card TGP of only 140 watts.
The operating temperature of the higher-performance RTX 4080lp or 4090lp Lingjian 18 should be higher, as the TGP of the two new cards is higher at 175 watts.
At the time of running The Witcher 3, NBC's previously measured surface temperature of the Alienware m17 R5 was 50°C to 57°C, compared to the maximum temperature of the C surface of this Spirit Blade 18 of only 36°C and the maximum temperature of the bottom of the Spirit Blade 18 was only 33°C.
As a result, the Spirit Blade 18 with RTX 4070lp graphics card is one of the coolest gaming laptops NBC has tested to date, and it is clear that the 18-inch chassis design with RTX 4070lo is a waste.
The surface temperature at no load (idle) is slightly higher than expected because its cooling fan tends to be idle at low load. Overall, as long as the rear of the body is well ventilated, Spirit Blade 18 will not cause discomfort to human skin.
Rear heat dissipation exhaust air temperature
After an hour of gaming, the power surface temperature reached 43 degrees Celsius.
No-load C-surface temperature:
No-load bottom temperature:
C-surface temperature when running The Witcher 3:
Bottom temperature when running The Witcher 3:
C surface temperature during double pressure test:
Bottom temperature during double pressure test:
Temperature comparison with comparison models:
Stress testing
When the system is not loaded:
When stress-testing the CPU with Prime95, the CPU frequency rises to 3.8GHz and the power consumption rises to 140 W;
It then drops to 3.1 GHz and 110~120 W after about 70 seconds.
The CPU core temperature finally stabilized at 87°C, while the Spirit Blade 16 with the same CPU was 82°C.
When running the game The Witcher 3, the GPU clock rate, temperature and board power consumption will be stable at 2265 MHz, 64 degrees Celsius and 80~90 W, respectively.
Its GPU theoretical TGP is 140 watts, even if it is not set to performance mode, the measured only about 80W is still too low.
When running a more demanding game like Cyberpunk 2077, the GPU can only peak power consumption of 100W.
In comparison, the Spirit Blade 16's RTX 4080lp is stable at around 160 W when running The Witcher 3, which is still some distance from its TGP 175W.
Prime95+FurMark double stress test:
Summary of test results in four states:
When the external power supply is disconnected and only the battery is running, performance is limited.
At this time, running 3DMark 11 for testing, the physics and graphics scores of the graphics card were only 10336 and 18043 points, respectively, far lower than the 25874 and 39733 points when using external power supply.
Audio quality
The larger Spirit Blade 18 has only 6 speakers, which is actually two less than the Spirit Blade 17.
Its speakers are pronounced on the left and right sides of the front of the fuselage and on both sides of the keyboard, respectively, super below and above.
Pink noise test at maximum volume.
The sound quality of the speakers is relatively excellent, with good bass reproduction and balance.
Power management: large screen high power consumption
Power consumption of the whole machine
At different brightness and performance settings, the Lingjian 18 consumes between 24 W and 48 W in the no-load (idle standby) state.
It is measured that the difference between the minimum brightness and the maximum brightness of the screen is as high as 10 W.
When running The Witcher 3, the average power consumption of the whole machine is 202 W, for comparison, the average power consumption of the Spirit Blade 17 and Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 SE equipped with RTX 3080 Ti is 229 W and 225 W, respectively.
Therefore, this Lingjian 18 with RTX 4070lp graphics card has a power consumption of about 10% lower than the whole machine, while providing almost the same graphics performance as the previous generation RTX 3080 Ti lp.
If the graphics card is replaced with RTX 4080lp or RTX 4090lp, it is estimated that the power consumption of the whole machine will be about 40W to 50W higher than the Spirit Blade 16 previously tested by NBC.
When running the Prime95 and FurMark simultaneously for a double-stress test, NBC measured a peak power consumption of 261 W on its 280 watt GaN power supply (approximately 16.3x7x2.5cm in size).
Tip: The Spirit Blade 18 is available in two power supplies, the RTX 4060lp or 4070lp model, the smaller 280W power supply comes standard, and the RTX 4080lp or 4090lp model comes standard with the larger 330 W power supply.
Power consumption comparison table with other models:
Battery life
The largest size Lingjian 18 also has the largest built-in main battery capacity, reaching a capacity of 91.7Wh, which seems normal.
However, its battery life is not the longest, and it may be even shorter in many states.
280 watt GaN power supply:
NBC measured that browsing the Internet in a balanced state of performance, when the Spirit Blade 18 appeared to prompt that it needed to be charged, the time only passed 4 hours, which was almost a full hour from last year's Spirit Blade 15.
If you reduce its screen refresh rate from 240Hz to 60Hz, you can extend battery life a little.
Battery life comparison table with comparison models:
It takes about 90 minutes for the battery to go from 0% to 100% full.
Supports PD charging through the USB-C port, but at a slower speed.
Final evaluation: Love its organism, hate its problems
The RTX 4070 version of Razer Blade 18 reviewed is officially provided by Razer.
NBC is reluctant to rely on the previous review of Spirit Blade 16, but this time Spirit Blade 18 is different.
The problems of this NBC test of this Spirit Blade 18 are undeniable, such as DLSS 3 anomalies when external monitors are connected, claims to support G-Sync but does not support the lack of measured support, and unpredictable screen flicker.
Originally considering that these problems have not been officially resolved, NBC will not evaluate them for the time being, but considering that the official Spirit Blade 18 has been sold to a large number of users, NBC believes that these problems are correct to publish in time.
Once NBC obtains an effective solution from the official, this article will be updated as soon as possible and give a final evaluation.
When the above problems are abandoned, the Spirit Blade 18 shows its potential to become another great product for Razer.
Although the size is larger and heavier, in exchange for a gorgeous 18-inch screen--- the width and high quality of the screen and the screen-to-body ratio are unforgettable.
And, in fact, the Spirit Blade 18 is not much heavier than the Spirit Blade 17, which is very attractive to users who plan to buy a 17-inch game book.
In addition, the relatively small GaN power supply also enhances the portability of the Lingjian 18 while maintaining the hybrid characteristics of DTR. (Translator's note: TDR is the abbreviation of notebook instead of desktop model)
merit
- The size and weight control are good, very close to the previous generation 17 model;
- As a game book, its surface temperature is very cool;
- The 18-inch screen is extremely large and has a wide field of view;
- GaN power supplies are relatively small;
- The ports are basically complete and well laid out.
shortcoming
- High power consumption at no load;
- MUX does not support advanced Optimus;
- No better liquid metal is used as a thermal medium;
- The battery life performance is average;
- The camera does not have a privacy switch.
Commenting on Spirit Blade 18 in one sentence, it is as follows:
Spirit Blade 18 will feel big, but it is actually not much bigger than Spirit Blade 17, and its huge screen and high screen-to-body ratio are unforgettable.
As for the graphics RTX 4070lp configured with it, its performance may vary depending on the game:
If it's a DLSS 3-enabled game, running on the mobile RTX 4070 should be as smooth as butter;
If the game does not support DLSS3, it will run similarly to the mobile RTX 3080 or desktop RTX 3070.
Fortunately, there will be more and more games that support DLSS 3.
For Spirit Blade 18, this should be a preemptive start!
But many problems encountered in NBC's above tests seem to be unfavorable...
If the official does not solve these problems soon, competitors such as the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (aka Gun God 7 Plus) and the Dell Alienware m18 may bring sales pressure to the Spirit Blade 18 that is difficult to ignore.
Price and availability
Spirit Blade 18 is currently available on major channels such as Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy. There are more optional configurations to buy directly from the official. NBC's configuration price for this review is $3200.
(Translator's note: the sales price of domestic e-commerce platforms is ¥27999)
Review position statement
- The prototype of this evaluation is borrowed by the manufacturer or merchant for the evaluation purpose;
- The manufacturer or merchant providing the Loan Test has no influence on this Review, and will not review the copies provided by this Review prior to its release;
- NBC has no obligation to publish this review.