The ASUS Zenbook S 13, while more affordable, excels in portability and has a commendable battery life, making it suited for general use and travel. It features a high-resolution OLED touchscreen, which offers vibrant colors for media consumption but might not be as high-performing for demanding engineering tasks or intensive gaming. The Razer Blade 17, in contrast, has powerful components for 3D work, machine learning, and gaming, but it comes at a higher price and is bulkier, with a shorter battery life. If portability and price are a priority, the ASUS is suitable, but for high-end performance tasks, the Razer is superior. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the ASUS Zenbook S 13
Best in class portability
Very good battery life
Advantages of the Razer Blade 17
Excellent for engineering and design
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good overall build quality
Excellent speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.5/10
8.6/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
2880 x 1800
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.2/10
The Razer Blade 17 is very good for gaming and AI, while the ASUS Zenbook S 13 is only fair.
The Razer Blade 17 offers superior gaming and 3D performance mainly due to its powerful Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti graphics unit and a higher screen refresh rate, which is crucial for smooth visuals in fast-paced scenarios. While the ASUS Zenbook S 13 features an integrated GPU and a standard refresh rate, making it suitable for less demanding gaming and 3D applications.
Engineering and Design
8.2/10
9.1/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
3.7/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.2/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
The Razer Blade 17 is excellent for engineering and design, while the ASUS Zenbook S 13 is very good.
The ASUS Zenbook S 13, with its OLED screen and lightweight design, offers a balance of portability and performance with its capable CPU and integrated GPU, making it suitable for engineering tasks on the go. In contrast, the Razer Blade 17 provides more power for demanding engineering and design work with its higher-end CPU and dedicated GPU, as well as a larger, high-resolution IPS display, at the expense of being heavier and having a shorter battery life.
Screen Quality
8.1/10
8.6/10
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2880 x 1800
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
365.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
486.0 nits
The Razer Blade 17 has a better screen than the ASUS Zenbook S 13 for gaming and AI.
For general use, the ASUS Zenbook S 13 and the Razer Blade 17 both offer high-resolution displays with great brightness and panel types that provide sharp, clear visuals, which is critical for tasks like browsing, video streaming, and document editing. When it comes to engineering and design, both laptops have displays that cover a wide range of colors within professional color gamuts such as DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB, ensuring accurate color reproduction needed for detailed graphic work. However, for gaming and 3D applications, neither laptop excels since they lack high refresh rates, which are pivotal for smooth motion and a responsive experience during fast-paced games or intensive 3D modeling.
Battery
11.0 Hours
5.5 Hours
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 has 11 hours of battery life. The Razer Blade 17 has 5.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Best in Class
Fair
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2.2 lbs
WEIGHT
6.0 lbs
0.4in
THICKNESS
0.7in
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 has best in class portability, while the Razer Blade 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.6/10
8.5/10
The Razer Blade 17 has very good build quality, while the ASUS Zenbook S 13 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,400
$4,300
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 has a price of $1,400 and the Razer Blade 17 costs $4,300.
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 and Razer Blade 17 are both very good for general use.
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 stands out for general use due to its balance of a strong CPU, substantial RAM, high-quality OLED screen, and excellent portability with long battery life. In contrast, the Razer Blade 17, while possessing a powerful CPU and ample RAM for demanding tasks, is bulkier and sports a larger, high-resolution screen, catering to those who prioritize performance and screen real estate over battery life and portability.
Content Creation
8.5/10
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
2880 x 1800
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Razer Blade 17 and ASUS Zenbook S 13 are both very good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
8.3/10
8.5/10
7.4/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.2/10
32.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
2880 x 1800
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2160
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Razer Blade 17 and ASUS Zenbook S 13 are both very good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
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How the ASUS Zenbook S 13 and the Razer Blade 17 compare to other laptops
"The Asus Zenbook S 13 is the slimmest OLED ultrabook worldwide struggles with annoying fans. The new Zenbook S 13 leaves us with mixed feelings, particularly since last year's model was so good. Asus has completely reworked the device, making the laptop noticeably slimmer. The result also looks good and the case makes a great impression, particularly also in terms of the stability. The new plasma ceramic surface feels great, and there are no problems with fingerprints. In addition, it now includes some of the known connections such as an HDMI port and a regular USB-A connection, which is a good achievement in such a slim device."
"Our test configuration of the Blade 17 targets gamers and creative professionals. A Core i9-12900H processor, GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU (175 watts TGP after the BIOS update, 16 GB of VRAM), and 32 GB of working memory equip the laptop for video processing, rending, and 4k gaming at the highest level. In addition, a fast PCIe-4 SSD (1 TB) ensures short load and storage times. With the Blade 17 (Early 2022), Razer delivers a successful and powerful work device for creative professionals. But this also has its price."
Get a great deal on the ASUS Zenbook S 13 or the Razer Blade 17
About ASUS
ASUS, a Taiwanese electronics brand, is one of the largest personal computer vendor by market share. The majority of their laptops are targeted towards personal use or gaming. Their most popular product lines include the budget-friendly VivoBook, more premium ZenBook, and their TUF and ROG gaming laptops, the latter of which has a reputation for excellent gaming performance.
About Razer
Razer is an American-Singaporean technology company. Razer is best known for their Blade series laptops, well known for their strong performance and sleek design. Although Razer charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a stealthy laptop with clean fit and finish and strong performance. All of their models offer great portability and build quality compared to other gaming laptops.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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