Skip the Razer Blade Stealth Ice Lake base model and just go for the older GeForce MX150 model instead

Razer has sort of trapped itself into a corner with Ice Lake. Its last generation Blade Stealth with Core i7-8565U and GeForce MX150 graphics was so good in terms of performance that its GPU proved to be faster than any other laptop equipped with the same MX150 graphics card. The latest Core i7-1065G7 Iris Plus option doesn't come close to the gaming performance of the older Blade Stealth MX150 based on our experience with the Dell XPS 13 7390 2-in-1, Lenovo Yoga C940-IIL, and the Blade Stealth Ice Lake. 3DMark alone doesn't tell an accurate story as the Iris Plus can range wildly in performance when under real-world gaming conditions.

Now, this wouldn't be an issue if the Blade Stealth Ice Lake configuration was cheaper than the MX150 configuration, but that is not the case; the official Razer Store currently lists the GeForce MX150 SKU for $1300 and Ice Lake SKU for $1500 USD. In other words, you'd be paying more money for a weaker gaming machine with nearly the same CPU performance. The Ice Lake model doesn't even offer any additional physical features or size advantages over the MX150 model since they share the exact same display, ports, and chassis. WLAN battery life is nearly identical between them as well at just over 9.5 hours each.

To Ice Lake's credit, the newer Blade Stealth system runs cooler and quieter than the MX150 system when gaming, but that is only because it's the slower and less capable gaming machine. Meanwhile, its integrated AI features have yet to become "must own" attributes to most consumers. Razer may have priced its Blade Stealth Ice Lake base model a bit too high when its last generation Whiskey Lake-U model is able to offer more for less.

We'll be rerunning some tests soon with the latest Ice Lake drivers as of October 18. We're not expecting any dramatic improvements across the board, but improvements are welcomed either way.