Razer Shows Off New Laptop, Monitor, Cases, and HyperSense Haptics at CES 2019

Guest_Jim_* · January 8, 2019

It is a new day so we have more CES 2019 announcements to get through. Razer brought a number of new products to the show, including an update to its Blade 15 gaming laptop. This update packs a GeForce RTX 20-series GPU inside the 0.7 in thick body to drive either a 1920x1080, 144 Hz display or 3840x2160 touchscreen display. The RTX 2060, RTX 2070, and RTX 2080 are your GPU options, with the top two configurations employing a Max-Q design. All of the models feature the Core i7 8750H CPU and 16 GB of dual-channel RAM, but you can upgrade this with XMP compatible memory with speeds of up to 3200 MHz. The laptops also can be configured with up to 512 GB of SSD storage but support as much as 2 TB. If you do not need the power of an RTX GPU, but dual-storage would be useful, Razer is also keeping a Blade 15 with a GTX 1060 in the family. The RTX 20-series equipped Blade 15 laptops will be available starting on January 29 for $2299.99 to $2999.99, depending on the model. The base model with the GTX 1060 is currently available starting at $1599.99.

Though only under consideration for future Blade 15 designs, Razer is also showing off a pair of new display technologies for the laptop family at CES. One is a 1920x1080 display with a 240 Hz refresh rate and the other a 4k OLED touch screen.

Continuing on with displays, but this time not for laptops, Razer announced its new 27 in gaming monitor, the Razer Raptor. Though what is being shown off is still in its early-design phase, production units are expected later this year. It features a 2560x1440 IPS panel that will stretch from edge to edge with bezels just 2.3 mm thick. It will also feature AMD FreeSync to tear free gaming and a 1 ms response time to reduce motion blur. The display will cover 95% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is enough to support HDR content, though the brightness will only get up to 420 nits. For connections it has one HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, and one USB Type-C port along with two USB 3 Type-A ports. The USB Type-C port supports power delivery so some connected devices can be charged while connected. There will be physical channels for routing cables and the display can be tilted backwards 90º for easy access to them. With picture-in-picture capabilities, it is possible for multiple inputs to be displayed at the same time. The Raptor is scheduled to be released later this year with a $699.99 MSRP.

Also shown off were some new cases, including a Lian Li O11 Dynamic Designed by Razer, the latest entry in the Designed by Razer Case program. This case has all the features of the original Lian Li case but will also feature Chroma lighting users can control via Razer Synapse 3. The company's triple-headed snake logo is also present in the front glass and illuminated by the reflections from the light strips on the side. Razer is also showing off its two in-house designed cases, the Tomahawk and Tomahawk Elite. Both of these have a minimalist aesthetic to them and support ATX motherboards. The Tomahawk has Chroma lighting as well. The Tomahawk Elite has some interesting design elements to it, including a vertical wing design for the side panel hinges, which means they will open upward when you want to access your components. The mounting for ATX motherboards is also reversed, putting the expansion slots at the top of the case. The idea here is to have the hot air from the GPU closer to the top panel which can open up to improve ventilation.

The Lian Li O11 Dynamic Designed by Razer will be coming this quarter at an MSRP of $169.99 while the Tomahawk line will be coming in either Q2 or Q3, with pricing to be shared shortly.

Lastly, Razer has announced HyperSense, an ecosystem of connected haptic-powered devices to provide physical feedback as you play. When using it a game will be able to trigger tactile devices to provide tactile feedback in different locations, such as at your back when an explosion goes off behind you. The Razer Nari Ultimate headset already supports haptic feedback and Razer is also demonstrating the system with a mouse and wrist wrest with haptics by Lofelt and a chair using SUBPAC haptics.