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In the old days of gaming laptops, OEMs would sacrifice everything they could in the interest of a higher refresh rate. That meant you got washed-out colors and low resolutions just for a few extra frames. With the Razer Blade 15 OLED, you don't have to choose anymore.

The Razer Blade 15 packs a 15.6-inch, 240Hz OLED display, and it is absolutely gorgeous. Your games look great, but even just regular animations are smoother. There's even a full-size SD card reader here, so your creative work will look outstanding as well.

The biggest downside, of course, is battery life. That's a guarantee with a high refresh rate screen, a 45W Core i9, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. I also had some annoying power management issues where the battery would drain while the laptop was closed.

But still, this is a great laptop thanks to all of this power, Razer's premium-feeling chassis, and a relatively small 4.4-pound package. It's on the pricey side for sure, but it's worth it.

About this review: Razer sent us a unit for review and did not see the contents of this article before publishing.

Render of the Razer Blade 15 (2022)
Razer Blade 15 OLED
The Best

The Razer Blade 15 (2022) is not only a great laptop for gaming thanks to its 240Hz refresh rate, but it can be excellent for watching movies or editing videos, too. 

Brand
Razer
Storage
1TB SSD
CPU
1.8GHz 14-core Intel i9-12900H processor, Turbo Boost up to 5GHz, with 24MB of Cache
Memory
16GB DDR5
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Battery
80WHr
Ports
1 Thunderbolt 4, 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 3 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, Full-size SD card reader, HDMI 2.1
Display (Size, Resolution)
15.6" QHD 240Hz OLED, 100% DCI-P3, 1.0ms, individually factory calibrated
Weight
4.40 pounds (2.1kg)
GPU
Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti (8GB GDDR6 VRAM)
Network
Killer Wireless Wi-Fi 6E AX1690 (IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax/az), Bluetooth 5.2
Speakers
THX Spatial Audio
Price
$3,299.99
Finish
T6 CNC Aluminum, Anodized, Black with illuminated Razer Logo

Pros

Cons

The OLED display is beautiful for any type of task

Battery life is not great

Premium build, as you'd expect from Razer

Some power management issues

Excellent performance while coming in a thin and light chassis

It's expensive

Razer Blade 15 (2022) pricing and availability

  • The Razer Blade 15 (2022) is available now, starting at $2,499.99

The latest Razer Blade 15 is available to purchase now, and it comes in a variety of configurations. The base model packs an Intel Core i7-12800H, a 15.6-inch 240Hz QHD display, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, 16GB DDR5, and a 1TB SSD, and it comes in at $2,499.99.

As you can see, Razer doesn't make low-end SKUs. When it says, "For gamers, by gamers," it does so with an understanding that people aren't coming to the company for a Core i5, 8GB RAM, and 256GB of storage to hit an $800 price point. If you buy a Razer, even the base model, you get a certain level of quality that brand loyalists expect.

The model that Razer sent me for review is a bit pricier, coming in at $3,299.99. This one has a 240Hz QHD OLED display, and it's the only configuration that has it. It also has a Core i6-12900H, an RTX 3070 Ti, 16GB DDR5, and a 1TB SSD.

Design: It's too light to have this kind of power

  • The Razer Blade 15 (2022) weighs "just" 4.4 pounds
  • The Razer logo on the lid lights up
  • It's made of aluminum and comes in black

Razer makes a lot of laptops in a lot of colors, but black is the iconic look. Indeed, you'd know a Razer by its clean design and solid build, and this aluminum laptop is no different. I played games on this, but even just working on the Razer Blade 15 felt great. It's a delightful laptop.

Razer Blade 15 showing lit up logo on the lid

To add a nice touch, the lid actually lights up. You can set different kinds of animations, but the color is only green. It's a really nice touch, and it gives you some flexibility on how flashy you want this device to be when you're out in public.

Even just working on the Razer Blade 15 felt great.

Another great thing about this design is that it weighs just 4.4 pounds, and comes in at just two-thirds of an inch thin. That's really thin and light for a gaming laptop, especially when that laptop has internals that are as powerful as this. The Razer Blade 15 is just a great all-around laptop.

Angled view of USB ports on black laptop

There's also no shortage of ports. On the left side, you'll find two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, a USB Type-C port, the charging port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. On the right side, there's another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, another USB Type-C port, and HDMI 2.1. The USB ports have a bit of a twist too, with the inside coming in Razer green.

Angled view of ports on black laptop

One thing I appreciate is that Razer didn't use any last-gen ports, a rarity in the PC market. OEMs are still using USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports in the bulk of their products, and there are still a lot of HDMI 2.0 ports. Those little changes increase costs for the manufacturer, as do things like putting USB Type-C ports on both sides of the chassis.

I do have one complaint. According to the spec sheet, one of these USB Type-C ports is Thunderbolt 4 and one is USB 3.2 Gen 2, but there's no label on the Razer Blade 15 to indicate which is which.

Otherwise, I love this design. Razer always knocks it out of the park when it comes to making a great product, and this year's Razer Blade 15 is no exception.

Display and keyboard: 240Hz OLED is all you need to know

  • The Razer Blade 15 (2022) comes with a 15.6-inch 240Hz OLED display
  • The webcam is FHD
  • The keyboard has Razer Chroma lighting

As mentioned above, the Razer Blade 15 (2022) actually comes in seven configurations, which includes several display options. The one on the unit that Razer sent for review is the only configuration that comes with a QHD 240Hz OLED display. Other options include 4K UHD and FHD at 360Hz.

Angled view of OLED display on black laptop

As you can imagine based off those specs, I love this display. OLED laptops have become popular over the last few years, and I am here for it. It makes for more vibrant colors and true blacks, and it just elevates your experience. Add to that the high refresh rate and things feel a lot smoother, too.

Historically, a lot of gaming laptops have had poor displays, although that's gotten better in recent years. Companies have sacrificed everything else in the name of a higher refresh rate, so you'll get screens that are great for gaming but not great for streaming movies thanks to washed-out colors. With this 240Hz OLED display, you can definitely do both.

Razer Blade 15 OLED display test

In my testing, the Razer Blade 15 (2022) supports 100% sRGB, 95% NTSC, 97% Adobe RGB, and 100% P3. Those are excellent scores, which you'll really only get from an OLED display.

Razer Blade 15 OLED display test

Brightness maxed out at 393.3 nits, which isn't fantastic, although I didn't have a problem using it on my hotel balcony in Hawaii. The contrast ratio maxed out at 14,030:1 because somehow the black level rose to 0.03 when brightness to 100%.

Angled view of laptop webcam on black bezel

The webcam is FHD, which is a must in 2022 where streaming and video calls are a reality for everyone. The camera itself is fine.

Top down view of laptop keyboard on the Razer Blade 15

The keyboard feels delightful to type on, which is neat for a gaming laptop. A lot of gaming laptops focus more on responsiveness than keyboard quality, making them better for gaming and subpar for regular typing. I found the Razer Blade 15 to be delightful when writing my everyday articles. The keys are comfortable and accurate, which is all I can ask for.

Those keys also come with Razer Chroma lighting, which is the firm's RGB system. Razer Chroma is one of the more extensive (and extensible) RGB systems out there, and you can actually have it sync up with a bunch of other items you own.

Performance: It has Intel 12th-gen and Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti

  • It comes with an Intel Core i9-12900H and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
  • There are some strange power management issues
  • Battery life isn't good, nor should it be for a product like this

The Razer Blade 15 (2022)'s base model comes with an Intel Core i7-12800H and an RTX 3060, while the review unit has a Core i9-12900H and an RTX 3070 Ti. If you're gaming, I'd go for at least an RTX 3070 on a laptop, so this thing is specced pretty well.

I mostly played my usual Forza Horizon 5 and Halo: The Master Chief Collection, and as you'd expect, the default for Forza was extreme graphics.

Personally, I'm a big fan of kicking that down one notch. Running games at maximum graphics on any laptop is asking for trouble. Doing it on a 4.4-pound laptop that's two-thirds of an inch thick is double trouble. I'm warning you right now; this thing will get hot, and that is totally normal for something in this form factor.

Front view of Razer Blade 15

What's cool is that this doesn't just have to be a gaming laptop. There's a full-size SD card on here, too, so this can be a phenomenal video editing laptop. It's certainly got the power and the display to make it happen. That's what's so neat. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a laptop so good at being both a gaming laptop and a creator laptop as the Razer Blade 15.

I'm not sure if I've ever seen a laptop so good at being both a gaming laptop and a creator laptop as the Razer Blade 15.

For benchmarks, I used PCMark 10, 3DMark, Geekbench, Cinebench, and VRMark. The scores are what you'd expect them to be when compared with other hardware.

Razer Blade 15 Core i9-12900H, RTX 3070 Ti

MSI GT77 Core i9-12900HX, RTX 3080 Ti

Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Ryzen 7 5800H, RTX 3070

PCMark 10

6,845

6,929

6,800

3DMark (Time Spy / Time Spy Extreme)

9,258 / 4,416

13,401 / 6,753

9,963

Geekbench (single / multi)

1,834 / 9,548

1,877 / 16,084

1,475 / 7,377

Cinebench (single / multi)

1,799 / 10,153

1,928 / 21,669

1,423 / 11,729

VRMark (Orange / Cyan / Blue)

9,043 / 7,861 / 2,731

13,304 / 12,336 / 4,196

12,249 / 9,093 / 3,027

However, not all was perfect. For one thing, battery life isn't good, nor should it be with these types of components. The Core i9-12900H is a powerful CPU and the RTX 3070 Ti is a powerful GPU, and you're running them on an 80WHr battery. As usual, I tested the battery by using it to work on medium brightness (I set it to about 200 nits) and with the power slider on balanced. Every result was between three and four hours, with the most being right around the three-hour-12-minute mark. The best was three hours and 52 minutes, which was the best by a bit.

One other issue I ran into was poor power management. If you don't shut down this laptop when you store it, it will wake up and drain the battery. You'll reach in your bag, feel the warmth, and find that the Razer Blade 15 has been powered on for way too long. This happened to me as I was on my way to the airport, so I had no time to charge it before I boarded my plane. It was a real pain point.

Should you buy the Razer Blade 15 (2022)?

You should buy the Razer Blade 15 (2022) if:

  • You want the most beautiful gaming experience without compromising on refresh rate
  • You frequently edit photos or videos or do any other kind of creative work
  • You just want power in a great product

You should NOT buy the Razer Blade 15 (2022) if:

  • You're on the go a lot and need great battery life
  • You focus more on productivity than tasks that require power

Here's the bottom line. The Razer Blade (2022) is a phenomenal product. I love all of Razer's wares, as they're always just so well-built and well thought out. If you're in the target market for this, it's worth getting. On the other hand, if you need better battery life or if you're simply doing productivity work, you can get something thinner, lighter, and better suited to your needs.

Render of the Razer Blade 15 (2022)
Razer Blade 15 OLED
The best

The Razer Blade 15 (2022) is not only a great laptop for gaming thanks to its 240Hz refresh rate, but it can be excellent for watching movies or editing videos, too.