Almost immediately, last year’s Razer Blade 14 catapulted to the top of our best gaming laptops ranking. Razer could have phoned it in on a follow-up, bumping the specs while keeping everything else the same, but it didn’t. The 2023 Razer Blade 14 significantly improves the previous design with user-upgradeable components, a nicer screen, and a sizable jump in specs.

That comes at the cost of value, though. The Blade 14 we saw last year hit a surprising sweet spot for the usually premium laptop range, while the 2023 Blade 14 is more of what I’d expect out of Razer. It’s not egregiously expensive, and I’ll tell you upfront that it’s worth the price. But the higher barrier to entry knocks the 2023 Blade 14 down just a peg.