Earlier this year Razer co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan announced that Razer is planning better laptop support on Linux. He noted that more customers are requesting Linux support and they formed a goal of figuring out how to make 'the best notebook in the world that supports Linux.' Razer doesn't have any Linux laptop announcement to make yet, but for seeing the current state of affairs, they sent over the Razer Stealth laptop so we could put it through our Linux testing paces at Phoronix. Here is a look at the Razer Stealth ultrabook on Linux as well as a variety of interesting performance metrics, including some power metrics compared to Windows.
The New Razer Blade Stealth 13. Enter the next evolution of ultra-mobility and extreme performance. Earn Razer Gift Cards at Razerstore. Receive a Razer Gift Card worth up to $150 when you purchase any of these selected Razer gear. The Razer Blade. Writng this on my new Razer Blade 2018, with Ubuntu 18, day two. Things that worked on first Ubuntu boot from USB drive: - wifi - bluetooth - touchpad - audio - multimedia keys (volume, backlight. Razer Blade Stealth Linux. Razer Blade Stealth (late 2016, Intel 7500U, UHD / HiDPI) Linux Ubuntu & Arch setup, including Razer Core with discrete NVIDIA GPU setup connected via thunderbolt. This page is available as Github Page. Contact me at twitter @rolandguelle for questions or open an issue. My current setup is Ubuntu 20.10 (Ubuntu, Gnome.
Since the announcement earlier this year, I have been in contact about their Linux interest and intentions. They continue to evaluate options for improving Linux support on their Razer laptops and are aware of the current shortcomings as well when trying to use (and configure) Razer gaming mice/keyboards/peripherals under Linux. It's too early to tell how things will play out, but I am very optimistic about Razer's possibilities for advancing their Linux support across their product lines. It could make for an interesting 2018 if Razer decides to go ahead with better Linux support and finally having a go-to Linux laptop from a major vendor besides the Dell XPS from the Sputnik project or the rebranded/smaller-volume vendors like System76, ZaReason, and Purism.
The first Linux laptop I decided to look at today is the Razer Blade Stealth, given its focus on low-power/long battery life and what could be a good MacBook Air equivalent for Linux users. The Stealth laptop I received for testing is equipped with an Intel Core i5 7500U (Kabylake) processor with HD Graphics 620, 16GB of RAM, 256GB Samsung SSD, and 2560x1440 display.
I haven't been able to find the exact configuration of this laptop from the major Internet retailers available. But for $1399, the Razer Blade Stealth is available with a Core i7 Kabylake CPU, 13.3-inch display, 256GB SSD, and a 3200x1800 display. There's also a similar Stealth model with 4K touchscreen display for $1559. Unfortunately, at least in the US, the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition with Linux is no longer available from Dell.com for a price comparison on that side. From System76 they do offer a Galago Pro 7500U + 16GB RAM + 250GB NVMe + 1 year warranty model for about $1394 USD. Granted, System76 isn't yet on to designing their own complete laptops yet. From Purism, their Librem 13 with 16GB RAM, 250GB SSD, and an older Skylake Core i5 CPU would cost $1856 USD.
The Razer Stealth 13.3-inch laptop weighs just 2.93 lbs (1.32 kg) and at with their QHD+ display under Windows at least advertises a nine hour battery life while it can be extended to 15 hours with the Razer Power Bank.
This Razer Stealth laptop simply features a USB-C / Thunderbolt power also used for charging, two USB 3.0 ports, an audio jack, and an HDMI 2.0 port. There isn't any card reader slots, etc.
I have been testing out the Razer Blade Stealth for about the past two weeks and overall am happy with it as a lightweight laptop that aside from a few issues was working out fine under Linux on popular distributions.
tl;dr: Don’t buy hardware from Razer and expect firmware updates to fix security problems on Linux.
Razer Blade Stealth 2018 Specs
Razer is a vendor that makes high-end gaming hardware, including laptops, keyboards and mice. I opened a ticket with Razor a few days ago asking them if they wanted to support the LVFS project by uploading firmware and sharing the firmware update protocol used. I offered to upstream any example code they could share under a free license, or to write the code from scratch given enough specifications to do so. This is something I’ve done for other vendors, and doesn’t take long as most vendor firmware updaters all do the same kind of thing; there are only so many ways to send a few kb of data to USB devices. The fwupd project provides high-level code for accessing USB devices, so yet-another-update-protocol is no big deal. I explained all about the LVFS, and the benefits it provided to a userbase that is normally happy to vote using their wallet to get hardware that’s supported on the OS of their choice.
Razer Blade Stealth Linux 2018 2
I just received this note on the ticket, which was escalated appropriately:
The CEO of Razer Min-Liang Tan said recently“We’re inviting all Linux enthusiasts to weigh in at the new Linux Corner on Insider to post feedback, suggestions and ideas on how we can make it the best notebook in the world that supports Linux.” If this is true, and more than just a sound-bite, supporting the LVFS for firmware updates on the Razer Blade to solve security problems like Meltdown and Spectre ought to be a priority?
Certainly if peripheral updates or system firmware UpdateCapsule are not supportable on Linux, it would be good to correct well read articles as those makes it sound like Razor is interested in Linux users, of which the reality seems somewhat less optimistic. I’ve updated the vendor list with this information to avoid other people asking or filing tickets. Disappointing, but I’ll hopefully have some happier news soon about a different vendor.