One Minute Review Version
Specs:
- 13-inch FHD (1080) Matte Display, 4K touch screen option available
- Intel Core i7 – 1065G7 10th Gen Ice Lake
- NVIDIA GTX 1650 Max Q 4GB GDDR5
- 16GB LPDDR4 3733 Mhz RAM (Not Upgradeable)
- 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD Samsung PM981 (Upgradeable)
- Ports: 1 USB-C, 1 Thunderbolt / USB-C, 2 USB 3.1 Type A
- Weight 3.26 lbs / 1.48 kg
Like:
- Excellent build quality
- Track Pad is on par with the Apple’s MacBook Pro
- Fast overall performance
- Runs cool and quiet
- Windows Hello face unlock works great
- USB A ports are always appreciated, this has 2!
- Can handle just about any AAA title in a 13-inch form factor – Shadow of Tomb Raider and Modern Warfare 2019? No problem!
- Good, bright and easy to read screen
- Good battery life for productivity
- Built in speakers sound good, although not as good as the MacBook Pro 13.
- Decent keyboard, except for the misplaced Right Shift Key
- Hard drive and WiFi card are upgradeable
- Great for plane rides, gaming on the go, and a good overall productivity / work laptop
- No ugly green glowing snake logo – great for working adults!
- Almost no compromise portable solution
Don’t Like:
- Screen is at 60hz – for a gaming laptop at this price it should at least be over 100hz
- Right Shift Key will infuriate you. May not seem like a big deal until you type out a question. Trust me, you will freak out. Thankfully you can re-assign the key in Synapse
- MSRP is $1799. Let that sink in.
- Not a negative but I would like to see a 32GB RAM option!
- Razer’s customer service is NOTORIOUS for being terrible, I recommend you buying this at a retailer with a good extended warranty
Recommend?
- Yes if you want a good looking laptop with excellent build quality that can play games in a 13 inch form factor
- Yes if you want a good overall laptop with a GTX 1650 graphics card and price is not an issue for you
- NO if you are looking at overall value! You can get a better laptop for less
- NO because you are happy playing with your Nintendo Switch on the go and can leave your PC games at home!
- NO because the next generation will have an RTX based graphics card and faster refresh rate
Quick Summary:
I’ve used this as my main laptop for about a month. Had it docked onto my 35-inch 100hz wide gaming display while working at home. I’ve also taken this on multiple business trips. When it’s not plugged in, performance is limited by the battery and obviously it will cut back to save on battery life. Battery life when it is running on the GTX 1650 GPU is about 2-3 hours when you are utilizing it, on games for example. However, if you are running productivity software such as Microsoft Office, Chrome, etc… you can get a good 7-9-ish hours depending on your power and screen brightness settings.
Usually when you are gaming, you will be tethered to a wall outlet anyway, which makes this great to take your Steam Library with you and play at your AirBNB or hotel room. Gaming performance overall is really good. It can handle just about any AAA title with ease when plugged in, such as Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Modern Warfare 2019.
Price for the FHD version is $1799 MSRP which is really steep, but there really aren’t any laptops that perform at this level in this form factor and with this build quality. Also, at the time of this writing, it is currently on sale for $1499 making the price a little more attractive. If you value having your game library in an ultra portable sized laptop, then this would definitely be worth it. Being able to charge USB-C comes in clutch, however you need to use the 100W power adapter to utilize the full performance without draining the battery when plugged in. Otherwise, you can get more for less if you look at the 14 or 15 inch models.
I appreciate where Razer is going with their Stealth series and a step in the right direction on thin and light laptops. Earlier this year they had an MX150 that was a slight improvement over the integrated graphics, however they made a really big leap with the late 2019 Stealth with the GTX 1650. I believe the next generation Stealth will have ray-tracing using NVIDIAs next line of RTX series GPUs for laptops and it will certainly be something to lookout for. However this current Stealth is definitely no slouch so if you can find one at a good deal, it is certainly something you can consider.