Razor Blade Stealth - 12.5", i7-6500U, $999

So this one should work: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-XP941-512GB-AHCI-80mm/dp/B00JOSM3TK

"Samsung XP941 512GB AHCI M.2 80mm PCIe 2.0 x4 SSD - MZHPU512HCGL - OEM"

or the 950 pro: http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Series-512GB-PCIe-NVMe/dp/B01639694M

 

Yeah. I'd wait till someone confirms the innards first though.

 

The 950 Pro is the only one available in Canada, so I'll have to get that one. Gonna have to wait a bit to pick it up, though. Good news, though, FedEx says the laptop is out for delivery right now. Hoping it shows up soon!

 

thats very good! cant wait! take picture or even better an unboxing video!

 

Me too

 

I kept getting payment Authorization Failed error message while trying to place an order for QHD 256gb model
anyone else is having the same problem?

 

It showed up! Been messing around with it and liking it so far. Gonna install a couple games and see what is playable! If you have any questions, feel free to ask.

 

Battery test, por favor


edit: https://www.reddit.com/r/razer/comments/431oou/razer_blade_stealth_does_have_a_removable_drive/

so: drive is confirmed upgradable, and it's not enforceable for them to void your warranty for doing it unless that action itself breaks the computer. Great news!

 

Awesome news! In the email, he states M.2 sata... Maybe I should attempt an upgrade before I return the SSD I got. I will do a battery test ASAP.

 

It's nvme

 

are you sure? i doubt it!

 

People are saying 5-6 hours for battery life with the Stealth. I really want to know how well the 6500u performs.

 

It is, I just checked

 

Anyone do any benchmarks yet? I'm only getting 2500 for pcmark 8. I should be getting close to 3000. My conventional scores are also low. What's weird is the fan is barely on at all so I'm wondering if it's throttling due to heat

 

Download HWInfo and it should tell you if you're throttling.

 

Yeah, it's pretty messed up how it's throttling. But I just found out it's only when I'm plugged in! I reran the benchmark unplugged and got the results I expected. I initially thought it was heat causing the issue but it's actually software or something related to the charging circuit or something. During the directx test when the sprite is moving through the forest I can see my CPU throttle to about 600Mhz but when I unplug it it jumps to 3.1Ghz. Cinebench scores are also crippled when plugged in. Can someone else please repeat these tests so I can see if it's just me or not. I have DirectX 12 installed so that's not it and I did all my Windows updates.

 

Did you check your power plans? Are you on high performance? Check Throttlestop-- it will tell you what is causing your throttling as well.

:/ I'm getting less and less interested in notebooks these days since Dell ****ed up the XPS 13/15 launches and fewer and fewer laptops run at their rated speeds.

 

I found it ridiculous how thousands of people ran out and preordered the Stealth a week or two after it was just announced at CES. I'm glad I waited and now I can research up.

 

Xentar712, I tried to replicate the problem you are having with the AC plug lowering performance and I was able to replicate something similar. Unplugged, the laptop was able to get around 60 fps with the settings I had. As soon as I plugged the laptop in, the fps dropped to around 20-30. I wonder what's happening.

 

That's why it's a tiered launch, so they can work out the issues. Notice how Razer is the only one selling it and they only had a handful of units ship last week. I doubt i was thousands though. Besides, someone has to review these things, right?

 

Did all that. Throttlestop is saying it's getting hot but the CPU temps are in the 70's and the fan is barely audible so I don't know what to think. I'm hoping it's just firmware but the fact it's happening only while plugged in isn't reassuring. Sucks because minus this issue, my opinion on this laptop is very favorable.

 

The throttling issue while plugged in is real messed up! Usually it's the opposite and some laptops throttle back while unplugged.
How the hell are people supposed to use the CORE if it throttles when pluuged in?
Hopefully it can be fixed with some sort of update.
@Xentar
Have you checked the Intel control panel?
There are power plans/profiles you can change there also.

 

Yeah, I set them all to max performance. In my experience, those settings do little or nothing. I'm trying other intel drivers now. I think I got it a little better but it's still a big drop from being unplugged. I'm just using Cinebench now since it's faster to test. On the first test unplugged I get 40fps. Plugged in I get 29fps.

 

I have been in contact with Razer and they are attempting to replicate the problem. I'll keep you guys posted with what they say. The issue I had didn't seem to be a heat or power issue. When the laptop was on battery power, I was getting 60 fps. As soon as I plugged it in, the fps in Dota 2 dropped to 30-25 fps. Changing power settings didn't seem to change anything.

 

Called them as well and they told me the same. Hopefully there's good news but I have my doubts it will be something simple.

It's definitely not heat related. There's something preventing the CPU from reaching full power while on the charger only. The battery benchmark results I was getting are still slightly lower than what's expected from this CPU but that's expected since it's on battery. It seems like whatever portion of the CPU that utilizes OpenGL just shuts off when plugged in. I can visibly see the CPU package wattage jump 10+watts when unplugging it. I wish I had another charger so I could rule that out.

 

I appreciate you guys bringing it to Razer's attention. I also have a Razer Stealth. This needs to be fixed before the Core launches.....

 

Here's a more in-depth review of the stealth:


It's a pretty good quality video and he doesn't have many subs, so I'm sharing.

Interesting: The stealth ended up averaging 95C at full load.

Now you know why it isn't a quad core processor.

 

Owners, please check a wobble issue for me. With the lid open and at normal viewing angle, press the front left corner of the palm rest(to the left of the trackpad). Try this on a table or something with ta flat surface. I get a small wobble with the lid open but when the lid is 45 degrees from being closed the wobble goes away. The weight of the screen is just enough to lift that corner for some reason. I'd like to know if this is just mine or if it's a design issue. Thanks in advance

 

Razer Blade Stealth (2016) Review - An Ultrabook for Gaming?

 

The reviewer ends the video with "I am already looking forward to next years version (Razer Blade Stealth)", ouch (08:22). Code for, pass on this one...

 

I wouldn't say that. Minus the major issue I'm dealing with (which I'm sure they'll have a solution to), this is one of the best ultrabooks I've seen in a while, especially for the price. Sure there are some negatives but considering it's legitimately .5" thin, it's understandable. I think a lot of people will be doing some soul searching deciding between this and the XPS 13.

I should have my review done tomorrow.

 

If you listen carefully to his review. He mentions the drawbacks. The screen reflectivity is a show stopper for him. The heat, the lack of performance in games, etc.

He gave as positive a review as he could, but ended it with that coded finale, "looking forward to next year's version". That's pretty clear.

 

I agree about the reflections to a point. He mentions comparing to a Macbook Air which I think is brighter and touchscreens can't be matte so there's not much they can do there. The max brightness is just 275 nits and is 25 lower than my threshold so that's probably what he's meaning to say. Personally, I'm used to glossy screens so it's nothing new to me. I could use it just fine in my office, which has lights everywhere but I do notice reflections and am just trained to ignore them. In my house, I don't notice anything at all. The only way to combat glare on glossy panels is through screen brightness. But the higher the brightness, the worse the battery. Never ending debate on that one...

I didn't hear the part about the heat though. I thought he said it stayed tolerable while playing games. As for games, I don't know what people are expecting but they need to realize that this is an ultrabook and not a gaming laptop. This is no different than buying an XPS 13 or a Spectre x360. If you expect similar performance, I think it's really nice. If you're expecting the Razer Blade 14 in a smaller package, prepare to be disappointed. No good gaming reviews are going to come of this thing until the Core is released and tested. And I still think that Core is going to be cross compatible with other laptops. Just a hunch.

 

Something, no idea what. Is causing the core clock to sit at 400mhz while plugged in while running cinebench openGL. When unplugged it sits at its 3.1 ghz. See attached screen shots...anyone have a clue as to why? it's effecting watching simple things like youtube videos as well.



vs unplugged

 

Yeah, a few of us have been having the same issue. It's only while charging. Razer says their engineers are working on it. I'll report back as soon as they tell me.

In the meantime, do you happen to have another usb-c charger? I would love to rule that out but I don't have one.

 

It's hard to believe this made it out of qa.

Sent from a 128th Legion Stormtrooper 6P

 

I have a retina macbook usb-c charger i guess i could try when I get home from business this weekend.

 

Try playing Europa Universalis IV...

 

Please do! Thanks

 

Here's my review on the Razer Blade Stealth: http://www.ultrabookreview.com/9777-razer-blade-stealth-review/

 

WARNING: DON'T BUY THE Razer Blade Stealth UNTIL THE THROTTLING WHEN PLUGGED IN TO AC PROBLEM IS FIXED.

Nice review, but how can you review it when it is throttling when plugged in?

None of the tests or measurements are relevant to the Stealth as is, and will all need to be redone when the problem is resolved

I would have had a 2 paragraph review, explaining the problem, to hold off on ordering, and maybe a 3rd paragraph to not give up on it yet, as it seems to hold promise.

You do intend to completely rewrite it after the throttling problem is resolved?

And, you do mention the Throttling problem a number of times, but I think it needs to be set off in a 22pt Warning heading somewhere in the beginning and at the end:

WARNING: DON'T BUY THE Razer Blade Stealth UNTIL THE THROTTLING WHEN PLUGGED IN TO AC PROBLEM IS FIXED.

 

No, I don't plan on completely rewriting it. I'll redo the benchmarks, which I mentioned in the Hardware performance section, but that's about it. Other than that, nothing else changes. My opinions on the build quality, keyboard, screen, etc are not related to throttling when plugged in. Besides, this is a laptop. It's meant to be used unplugged - that's the whole purpose.

The issue is clear as day in the bad section, right at the top. I think that's enough to alert people. That's more than Razer has and they know about it.

 

If someone held off on writing a review for bugs to be fixed on any device, then people will only be writing reviews on pocket calculators

 

OK.

 

Throttling - disabling full performance - while "PLUGGED IN TO AC" isn't a bug, it's a failure to function.

That's a basic failure after which no other measurement is valid.

The cosmetic review is irrelevant if the product isn't functioning.

There is a real danger that this can't get fixed by a BIOS / EC update.

I have seen design / development units pass tests, and then in production the resulting first units are non-functional.

Some part or spec was changed to accomodate production and the test mules weren't upgraded properly - or at all - and passed the QA pre-production testing sign-off.

Some gap in process or communication caused the failure to be missed in QA before shipping.

It's possible the power circuit won't both power for full performance and charge a battery at the same time, even with an upgraded power adapter.

Usually that is what the problem is with these symptoms the power adapter doesn't provide enough wattage to both run at 100% and charge the battery.

You aren't doing readers any kind of service by going on and saying how pretty it is, if purchasing it is a waste of time because it won't function correctly when plugged in to AC power.

 

You're entitled to your opinion. I think that if I wrote what you suggested though, I would get 20 questions on what I thought about the build quality, battery life, screen, etc anyways.

Besides, I think I did the readers more of a service by pointing out the issue rather than just not writing about it, or worse, missing it completely. The video reviews I've seen so far never mentioned it.

 

Your pages long review redirects the readers focus from the fact that the production units aren't functioning to other currently irrelevant points.

Many people are so enthused they will ignore the functional issue and fixate on the rest, because that's what they want to hear.

It's an incovenient fact that Razer Blade Stealth production units aren't functional on AC power.

You likely had a planned schedule to roll out that review / article, but the fact is the current production units are failing basic function.

That should be the headline, and nothing else, at least until the problem has been fixed in production so buyers will get fully functioning laptops.

 

I can talk to the editor about highlighting the issue more but I think your efforts would be better spent focusing on the reviews that missed the issue rather than the one that reported it in the first paragraph. Fact is, people who read the article will be able to get all the information and make an informed decision on whether to purchase or not. There are people who are still going to preorder it under the assumption that Razer will fix it soon, especially since there's a 3 week backorder. Some are even going to buy it just to try it out because now there's a free excuse to return it(yes, those people are everywhere).

We're definitely not going to agree on this though so I'm going to just drop it.

 

You had the problem with the review unit, right?

You've seen corroborated reports right here, people you can contact and confirm the problem exists?

Did you report it to Razer support so they can gather data to fix it? What did they say about stopping the sale and shipment of malfunctioning Razer Blade Stealth units?

Has Razer stopped shipment until the problem is found and fixed?

These all seem like important news worthy facts that you should be excited to follow up on and report.

The video reviewers you know that did video reviews and didn't mention the AC plugged in non-function problem, did you try to contact them to find out if their review units had the problem?

It's possible their units are pre-production units and don't have the problem. Or, even worse, they didn't notice the problem during their review time. I am sure they would want to be alerted.

You did alert them to the non-functioning of the Razer Blade Stealth on AC power so they can check for the malfunction in their units, and get the word out to update their reviews so consumers know about the problem?

It seems to me you aren't interested in helping solve the problem, or even stop readers from buying the known to be non-functioning product.

You've caught the problem, scooped the video reviews, and aren't going to follow up on the related threads to track the problem resolution of the problem with Razer.

Why is that?

 

What are you talking about? Are you trolling or something? I've been trying to solve the problem since day one and still am. If you don't believe me, read the past three pages of this thread and the one on Razerzone.

Razer followed up with me today and said they are still working on it. Other than that, I'll continue to try stuff on my own and hopefully Sean or someone else reports back on trying a different charger.