Why You Can Trust CNET Razer's new Blade Pro is the world's first THX-certified gaming laptop
This super-thin 17-inch gaming PC also gets a new CPU and faster RAM.
Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications.
"Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
- Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
2 min read
The updated Razer Blade Pro keeps the same body as the late 2016 version, seen here.
It's not the highly buzzed about triple-screen Project Valerie, but there is a new Razer gaming laptop coming soon. Razer's flagship 17-inch gaming laptop is getting a handful of 2017 upgrades. Most notable among them is a move to new seventh-gen Intel Core i7 processors; specifically the one used here is an overclocked Core i7-7820HK. The 32GB of RAM gets a small speed boost, from 2,133MHz to 2,667MHz.
Razer is also claiming this is the world's first THX-certified laptop, which means it gets a stamp of approval from the audio/video standards company. Founded in 1983 by "Star Wars" creator George Lucas, THX has been owned since 2016 by Razer, so it's no surprise that the two brands are collaborating.
Shop for Razer Blade Pro (2017)
See all pricesTo become THX certified, which means it meets THX standards for excellent audio and video quality, Razer says, "the Razer Blade Pro screen is calibrated and tested for resolution, color accuracy and video playback performance ... [and] the audio jack on the new Razer Blade Pro met THX requirements for voltage output, frequency response, distortion, signal-to- noise ratio, and crosstalk that guarantees clear sound through headphones."
The Blade Pro is the slimmest laptop with an Nvidia 1080 graphics card.
Razer tells me the current Razer Blade Pro panel hardware is unchanged from the previous model, and met the THX standards, while there have been some physical changes to the audio output hardware.
Like the previous Blade Pro, the 4K, 17-inch display support Nvidia's G-Sync technology for less screen-tearing and runs the same Nvidia GeForce 1080 graphics card. You also get the same low-profile mechanical keyboard and extremely customizable backlit keyboard. And yes, the touchpad is still off to the side, which is one of the most unusual things about this very thin gaming laptop.
The new 2017 version of the Razer Blade Pro will be available in April, starting at $3,999 in the US and £3,799 in the UK. Australia isn't on the initial launch list, but that UK price works out to roughly AU$6,250.