Gaming hardware brand Razer improved on what it called the world's most powerful ultrabook in April with the release of the Blade Stealth 13. For its latest 13-inch portable powerhouse though, the company has stepped outside of the gaming arena for the first time to focus on the "go-getters, side-hustlers, and spirited entrepreneurs of today’s mobile world."
"Since the launch of the first Razer Blade in 2011, Razer has built a legacy on delivering the highest performing gaming laptops to the delight of our fans worldwide," said Razer's Brad Wildes. "We are excited to announce Razer is breaking into the productivity space the same way we broke into laptop gaming: with a bang!
"The new Razer Book 13 is the culmination of a decade’s worth of experience in developing and crafting high-end gaming machines. Sleek, powerful, and compact, the Razer Book 13 breaks out from the boring crowd and delivers prosumers an experience not yet realized in a work laptop."
Two of the configuration options for the 13.4-inch, 60-Hz matte display offer Full HD screen resolution (one touch-enabled, the other not), while the top tier touchscreen model goes up to Ultra High Definition. Whichever model you plump for, you're looking at a 16:10 aspect ratio, support for 100 percent of the SRGB color space and "the world's thinnest bezels on any 13.4-inch panel."
Razer points out that the two touchscreen models feature durable Gorilla Glass 6 and come with Intel Evo platform verification – "Intel Evo-verified laptops are an elite class of mobile devices that feature instant wake technology to quickly resume work in less than a second, consistent responsiveness on battery, no less than 9 hours of real-world battery life on designs with FHD displays to make it through the day, and 4 or more hours of battery life in a 30-minute charge."
Processor options fly up to 11th generation Intel Core i7-1165G7, which will offer clock speeds of 4.7 GHz with Turbo Boost engaged, and Razer has treated the processor to a vapor chamber cooling solution to keep ambient heat and noise emissions low. Iris XE integrated graphics serve up the visuals, up to 16 GB of RAM should support the heavy grunt work, and SSD storage options range from 256 to 512 GB.
Razer hasn't totally abandoned its gaming legacy though, the keyboard coming with Chroma RGB backlighting that can be customized to highlight hotkeys or just to add some personal flair. Speakers with THX Spatial Audio have been installed to the sides of the keying area, and THX's immersive sound can also be experienced via the 3.5-mm headphone jack. Connectivity shapes up elsewhere as two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB 3.1 port, a full-sized HDMI 2.0 port, microSD card slot, and Bluetooth 5.1 and Wi-Fi 6. And finally, there's a HD webcam with a four-microphone array.
All configurations measure 11.6 x 7.8 x 0.6 in (295.6 x 198.5 x 15.15 mm), but differ slightly in weight – tipping the scales at 2.95 or 3.09 lb (1.34 or 1.4 kg), depending on which variant is selected.
From the spec sheet and accompanying images, and without trying one out for ourselves, it certainly looks like Razer has achieved its objective of hitting the mobile productivity space with a bang. The Book 13 goes on sale this month for a starting price of US$1,199.99.
Product page: Razer Book 13