Razer is moving beyond gaming with the new Razer Book 13

The Razer Blade Stealth is a great premium gaming-focused laptop with a relatively light form factor, but no matter how well-designed it is, you can’t ignore the fact that gaming laptops have a terrible reputation for battery life.

That makes them a less-than-ideal option for the average joe that needs a laptop with all-day battery life, despite the temptation of high-end features on offer from Razer’s laptop range. The company decided it needed to address the issue with the new Razer Book 13, a premium productivity-focused laptop with Intel EVO certification.

You’ll likely notice that the Razer Book 13 is the first in the Razer laptop range not to sport the Blade branding, and that’s because Razer is keen to emphasise that this isn’t a gaming laptop. That is despite traditionally gaming-focused features like per-key RGB lighting and vapor chamber cooling being on offer – features not even present on many of the company’s gamer-focused options.

For the record, Razer claims that the per-key RGB lighting is to provide colour-coordinated shortcuts for apps like Photoshop or Adobe Premier, as with the Razer Blade Studio, but you’re free to use it as you see fit with full Synapse 3 integration.

So, if it’s not a gaming laptop, what is the Razer Book 13? It’s essentially a competitor to premium productivity-focused laptops like the MacBook Pro and Dell XPS, using Razer’s experience in laptop design to provide something lightweight yet capable. You’ll find Razer’s anodized finish on the silver CNC-milled shell of the Razer Book and a Razer logo on the rear, but that’s about as Razer-branded as the laptop gets.

Flip the lid and you’ll find a 13.4in edge-to-edge display sporting a slightly squarer 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s available in either FHD+ or 4K+ resolutions depending on the variant you opt for, and two of the three available models boast touchscreen technology too. Regardless of the variant you go for, the display is protected by Corning’s Gorilla Glass 6 and there’s an anti-reflective coating on offer too.

It’s what’s inside the Razer Book 13 that’s most important, and Razer hasn’t skimped. You’ll find Intel’s 11th-gen Tiger Lake chipset inside alongside either 8- or 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM, Intel Iris Xe graphics and vapor chamber cooling to keep it cool when using power-hungry apps like Photoshop or DaVinci Resolve. That’s paired with up to 512GB of SSD storage, which you can upgrade to a whopping 2TB if needed.

It’s Razer’s first Intel EVO-certified laptop, and that comes with certain criteria including 14+ hour battery life, instant-wake technology and fast recharging capabilities. That’s a world away from the limited battery life on Razer’s gaming laptops, enabling true all-day use for those that need something for work and play. It is worth pointing out that Evo certification isn’t available across the range – only the mid- and top-tier models offer it.

It may not be a gaming laptop, but that’s not to say that you can’t game on it – one of the perks of the integrated Intel Xe graphics is that it’s a huge boost on previous integrated graphics, offering what Razer calls ‘light’ gaming capabilities. That essentially means you’ll probably be able to run games like Fortnite comfortably, but don’t expect it to hit 60fps on ultra-quality on the latest AAA games.

Unfortunately, there isn’t an option with a dedicated GPU, but it is compatible with Razer’s eGPU if you really want to game on the Razer Book from the comfort of your own home.

There are also more ports than much of the competition – especially on the Apple front – with two USB-C ports, a USB-A port, a HDMI port, microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. When paired with Wi-Fi 6, Windows Hello support (via the HD webcam), Bluetooth connectivity, a 4-mic array and two upward-firing speakers, the Razer Book 13 seems to be ready for almost anything.

The Razer Book will start at £1,199/$1,199 when it ships later in November, but the price goes up depending on the specs you want. We break down the pricing and spec of the Razer Book range here:

Will you be getting a Razer Book 13 when it’s released? Or will you be sticking to your current laptop for work? Let us know on Twitter.