Razer introduced they had been lastly leaping headfirst into the world of gaming displays at this yr’s CES, and man alive does this 27in show get quite a lot of issues proper. Dubbed the Razer Raptor, this 2560×1440 IPS display remains to be within the early levels of improvement in the intervening time, however even now there’s lots to admire right here.
Indeed, the factor I’m most enthusiastic about isn’t even something to do with its picture high quality. Instead, it’s the 90 diploma hinge that permits you to tilt the monitor all the best way again till its horizontal for straightforward entry to these all vital ports. And the again of the stand… hoo boy. The again of the stand is magnificent.
In true Razer style, boring outdated black show cables merely received’t do for his or her new Raptor display, so that you’ll get 5 particular inexperienced ones bundled within the field as a substitute. Each one will get its personal little groove down the again of its large, height-adjustable stand, too, protecting these 5 snaking cables good and tidy as they disappear down the again of your desk.
Just have a look at how tidy these cables are!
It all seems fairly elegant if you happen to ask me, and I want extra displays put this degree of care and a spotlight to element into their respective cable tidies. Admittedly, my Razer handler did, in truth, have a little bit of hassle eradicating the little CNC-milled channel plates that assist preserve every cable in place, so it’s clear there’s nonetheless a little bit of design work to be accomplished right here to make it a bit extra user-friendly. In idea, although, I’m very a lot on board with this concept, even when the general width of the stand isn’t fairly to my tastes.
Other good touches are the Raptor’s cast aluminium base and fabric-wrapped again, giving it an much more premium appear and feel than your typical plastic gaming monitor. And, in fact, no Razer product can be full with out a sprint of Chroma lighting across the edge.
All proper, I’ll cease yabbering about cables and whatnot now. You most likely need some precise specs, don’t you? Well, as talked about above, it is a 1440p IPS show with a beautiful excessive 144Hz refresh fee that Razer claims will be capable to hit 95% of the HDR-grade DCI-P3 color gamut. Naturally, which means the Raptor additionally helps HDR, however proper now they haven’t stated whether or not it should meet a specific normal or not, reminiscent of VESA’s more and more widespread DisplayHDR specification.
JUST LOOK AT IT.
It’s a FreeSync monitor, although, so it’s doable it could properly find yourself being a correct FreeSync 2 HDR monitor by the point it comes out – particularly when Razer declare its most brightness degree is 420cd/m2, which appears to be fairly frequent amongst different FreeSync 2 displays I’ve examined thus far.
There’s additionally an opportunity it might find yourself as one in every of Nvidia’s new G-Sync Compatible monitors, too, as soon as Nvidia get spherical to placing it by means of their rigorous testing course of. We simply don’t know but. What Razer did inform me, although, was that they had been additionally engaged on a separate, correct G-Sync model of the Raptor, which they’re additionally hoping will launch later this yr. Either manner, it is best to get all of your variable refresh fee wants coated no matter what sort of graphics card you could have.
As for ports, you’ll get one HDMI 2.0, one DisplayPort 1.4, one USB-C (which may additionally cost your cellphone, I would add) and two common USB 3.1 ports for any peripherals you may need to plug in.
It might be some time earlier than I can check one myself, nonetheless, as Razer are solely planning to launch the Raptor within the US and Canada in the intervening time, with a imprecise launch date at the moment pegged for someday between April and June later this yr. When I questioned Razer about whether or not it would finally come to different nations just like the UK, they stated, “We’ll look at how we can deploy it to other regions, but we don’t have any definitive plans right now.” Booo.
That could also be a blessing in disguise for some, although, because it’s at the moment going to value a whopping $700. That’s fairly costly for a FreeSync monitor, so who is aware of how a lot the G-Sync model will finally value, however from my transient demo session with the Raptor, I’d say it’s undoubtedly up there with different high-end displays of this worth – particularly while you take into consideration that nifty little bit of cable administration and wonderful, 90-degree hinge. Only time will inform, in fact, however for the time being I’ll be hoping in opposition to all hope that it does certainly arrive within the UK someday quickly.
For extra information and palms on previews from this yr’s CES, try our CES 2019 tag.
