Razer's Blade 18 might be my favorite gaming laptop of 2025 — and it's not even out yet

We're still early in 2025 and the latest gaming laptops aren't even out yet, because we're still waiting on the Nvidia RTX 50-series laptop launch which is expected sometime next month.

And yet, I may have already found my favorite gaming laptop of the year. Yes, I raved about the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 at CES because I do love a laptop with self-repair features. And by no means is the Strix Scar 18 out of the running. But for all the Strix's AnimeVision LEDs and RGB lightbars, there's a new gaming laptop out there that's grabbed my attention.

Yesterday, Razer announced the new Blade 18 gaming laptop. This isn't just a hardware refresh, though the Blade 18 (2025) chassis is very similar to the Blade 18 from last year.

Razer has packed some incredible tech into the Blade 18 that makes it a serious contender for Best Gaming Laptop already.

Razer Blade 18 (2025) Specs

Slick performance and a World's First display

This new Razer desktop replacement features the world's first 18-inch dual-mode display, powerful Nvidia RTX 50-series GPUs, desktop-grade Intel Core Ultra 200HX processors, up to 280 watts of total package power, a revamped vapor chamber, THX Enhanced Audio, and an all-new redesigned keyboard.

While Intel's upcoming Arrow Lake HX processors have yet to hit the streets, we do have some early information from Intel that hints at some impressive gaming power. Based on Intel's testing, Arrow Lake HX processors should see a 20% increase in multithreaded performance compared to the 14th gen HX CPUs. Intel's Robert Hallock told the audience at CES that with Arrow Lake HX, "you basically get a desktop in a laptop." This echos what Hallock told Laptop Mag in interviews ahead of the keynote and at CES.

Of course, we always do our own testing to confirm claims like this from makers. However, Intel has had a good track record of reporting real-world benchmark results for mobile CPUs. Our independent testing actually saw higher results on Arrow Lake H than Intel's initial claims. Our experience gaming on Lunar Lake saw impressive integrated graphics performance that reflected Intel's claims.

So we can feel pretty confident that Arrow Lake HX will be a solid gen-over-gen improvement from last year's processors.

As for the GPU side, while Nvidia's RTX 50-series Laptop GPUs are still under wraps, recent leaked benchmarks have taken the RTX 5090 Laptop GPU to the top of the mobile graphics card benchmark lists. However, the Passmark benchmark only saw a 2.7% increase over the RTX 4090 Laptop GPU overall. But if you look a bit deeper into the benchmark results, you will notice a 57% increase in Direct X 12 gaming performance gen over gen.

For the Blade 18, all of this power meant a new vapor chamber cooling system. The Blade 18 has Razer's "biggest vapor chamber ever" with a new thermal hood design, a 3-fan cooler, and improved thermal gel.

Alongside a dual-mode display and revamped keyboard, the Blade 18 (2025) feels like a whole new laptop compared to the previous gen, even if the outside of the chassis hasn't changed much in the last year.

Some expensive drawbacks

The biggest issue with all Razer laptops is price. The Razer tax is real, and the Blade 18 (2025) is no exception.

Starting at $3,199 the new Blade 18 will cost more than half of the average monthly salary in the United States. The starting model comes with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, Nvidia RTX 5070 TI Laptop GPU, 32GB of memory, 1TB of SSD storage, and an 18-inch dual-mode display.

Upgrading to an RTX 5080 costs an additional $500, while opting for the RTX 5090 also upgrades you to a 2TB SSD for a total price increase of $1,600. So the lowest price for a Blade 18 with a 5090 is $4,499. If you want to upgrade your RAM to 64GB that's also an additional $400.

The Blade 18 is also heavier than its predecessor. The 2024 Blade 18 weighed 6.8 pounds while the Blade 18 (2025) is 7.06. While that's just .26 pounds difference, it's not nothing if you plan to haul the Blade 18 to a LAN party or two.

The Blade 18 is also thicker, as the Blade 18 (2025) ranges in thickness from 0.86 inches to 1.1 inches while the Blade 18 (2024) is 0.86 inches regardless of configuration. So the portability of the Blade 18 has gone down a bit in this new generation.

Bottom line

While I've gotten hands-on time with some of the other high-end gaming laptop contenders like the Strix Scar 18, MSI Raider 18, and Acer Predator Helios 18 AI, the Blade 18 offers a powerful gaming experience with a dual-mode display, a revamped keyboard, the classic Blade minimalist design, and Razer's solid build quality.

Sure, the other RTX 50-series desktop replacement gaming laptops have opted for extra RGB and gamer aesthetics. But I'll admit, when it comes to my own personal gaming laptops, I often opt for thinner, more stripped-down looks. It just blends better with my personal aesthetic.

Of course, I'll need to wait until we've tested and reviewed all of these flagship gaming laptops to make a final call. But for now, the Blade 18 (2025) is at the top of my list.

You can pre-order the Blade 18 (2025) now on the Razer website, as the laptop is expected to ship on April 30th, 2025.

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