A Closer Look - Outside

What a looker! The black chassis of the Razer Blade 16 is made of CNC-milled aluminium with a dark anodized anti-fingerprint finish. Well, the coating doesn't fully live up to its name since some smudges are still noticeable. Still, the thin metal body feels well crafted and not too gamer-centric. The illuminated Razer logo at the center of the lid reminds you that this isn't an ordinary machine.


You can open the Blade 16 with just one finger. A generous cutout in front of the touchpad lets you slip your finger under the lid and lift it. The lid is super thin for such a device, it feels a bit more flexible than usual in the center. While you can twist it slightly, that's pretty standard for such a slim laptop. However, the base is solid, and while the laptop is closed in it's traveling posture, any potential lid flexing should be a non-issue.


Razer states a 1.5 mm travel for the per-key RGB Razer Chroma compatible keyboard. This means each key can have its function and lighting customized, and it doesn't feel bad at all. Sure, I've felt better—especially from desktop mechanical keyboards or desktop replacement laptops with twice the weight and thickness—but the slim chassis Razer crafted is the limiting factor here, and the results are still good enough for accurate typing and gaming. The keycaps are big, and they are accompanied by an AI shortcut and not-so-large arrow keys (the "Up" and "Down" ones are on the smaller side). The keyboard with eleven preprogrammed lighting effects—custom lighting configurations can be created by the user or downloaded through the Synapse software—is described as a Dual LED unit. If you are hesitating about what the meaning behind this branding is, well, you press and hold the Shift or Function key, and those secondary LEDs will light up the keys that have layered second functions. The five macro keys on the far right side of the board are a bit awkwardly placed; I found myself too often hitting "M3" or "M2" instead of "Enter."


Tall speaker grilles are on each side of the keyboard. That's why you don't get a dedicated numpad, though of course Synapse allows programming of layers to achieve a virtual one on existing keys. The laptop is of course compatible with external keyboards—whether wireless or wired—and fits neatly into the Razer ecosystem of peripherals, all controlled by Synapse.


The Microsoft Precision glass touchpad is huge, and it's placed in the center of the front side of the upper body. It works well, the surface is pleasantly smooth, clicking produces a minimal amount of noise, and palm rejection seems to function as intended.


The 1080p IR webcam on top of the screen is compatible with Windows Hello. However, it lacks a privacy shutter, something more and more common even on even low-end machines these days as privacy concerns become more mainstream. At least the resolution is decent, and those concerned about privacy can always apply some tape. The thin aesthetically optimized edge-to-edge display is likely to blame for this deficiency, though a solution could probably have been found with more engineering effort.


The bottom plate houses three feet, a generous amount of ventilation grilles, and two cutouts for the speakers. The fans are visible through the mesh that covers them.


The hot air is pushed outside through rear-positioned vents only. It's not something unusual for a thin laptop, but a fair amount of hot air warms up the display while you're playing games, something that could be concerning for those aware of the relationship between heat and longevity for OLED panels.