Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501 - Review

Up till now, there were  lessons of gaming laptops: massive and effective or skinny and portable. by no means the twain shall meet and overlook approximately both of them being quiet whilst you’re gaming.

Well, now we’re coming into a brand new era of max-q laptops that nvidia guarantees could be 3-instances thinner and faster. the asus rog zephyrus gx501 stands at the leading edge of this new magnificence of gaming machine that offers the power of a laptop replacement in an extremely-portable bundle a bit thicker than your average ultrabook.

As loopy as a idea that might sound, asus pulled it off in mind-blowing fashion with the asus rog zephyrus gx501. save for battery lifestyles, this gaming computer comes second to none with a pointy and progressive layout, sufficient gaming overall performance, a color-wealthy display and amazing audio system.

SPEC SHEET

Here is the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501 configuration sent to Android Century for review:

CPU: 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ (quad-core, 6MB cache, up to 3.8GHz)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 (8GB GDDR5X VRAM); Intel HD Graphics 630
RAM: 16GB DDR4 (2,400MHz)
Screen: 15.6-inch, Full HD (1,920x1,080) anti-glare, wide-view panel (120Hz refresh rate with Nvidia G-Sync)
Storage: 512GB M.2 PCIe x4 SSD
Ports: 1 x Thunderbolt 3 (USB Type-C), 4 x USB 3.0, 1 x HDMI 2.0, headset jack
Connectivity: 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Camera: HD webcam
Weight: 4.85 pounds (2.2kg)
Size: 14.9 x 10.3 x 0.66-0.7 inches (37.9 x 26.2 x 1.69-1.79cm; W x D x H)

Price and availability

The asus rog zephyrus is expensive – virtually pricey. priced at $2,699 or au$three,659 (about £2,105), the configuration we’ve reviewed is highest-stop model of the zephyrus you could get.

It’s a long way more than we’ve ever conscionably taken into consideration spending on a 15-inch gaming laptop, especially thinking about more and more cheap fashions like the $1,399 (£1,499, au$2,249) gigabyte sabrepro 15 and $1,399 (about £1,a hundred, au$1,840) acer predator helios 300 – even though, these two options come with lesser nvidia gtx 1060 pictures.

Of route, a huge part of that price factor comes right down to the pc rocking an nvidia gtx 1080 and quad-core intel core i7 processor. in this regard, it’s some hundred greenbacks less expensive than the similarly succesful $2,999 (£2,999, au$four,029) acer predator triton 700.

As compared to a ways larger gaming laptops that have been once required to achieve the same stage of overall performance, the zephyrus additionally proves itself to be a bargain over the $3,999 (£3,799, au$5,899) razer blade pro and $2,899 or £2,599 (approximately au$three,770) msi gt73vr titan pro. that said, those monster machines nonetheless have their region inside the computing world, if you want an overclockable cpu.

Later this august, asus plans on freeing a lower-give up zephyrus with half of as lots storage and an nvidia gtx 1070 for $2,299 or au$three,119 (approximately £1,790). this model would more without delay compete with the $2,074 (£1,999, au$three,499) alienware 15 r3 and max-q designed msi gs63 stealth seasoned – the latter of which has but to be priced.

Design

We by no means thought it might be viable, but the asus rog zephyrus gx501 definitely stuffs an nvidia gtx 1080 right into a 1.79cm-thick (0.7-inch) pc. that’s now not best stunningly thin for a gaming notebook, it’s slimmer than maximum traditional laptops, consisting of the compact dell xps 15.

To correctly cool this kind of svelte package deal, asus got here up with an innovative layout, which sees the lowest panel drop down like a ramp for better airflow. the mechanism engages automatically as you open the zephyrus, developing a 6mm hole.

That won't sound like a really excellent contribution to airflow, however asus has engineered a excessive-air chamber to provide this extremely-thin gaming computer the cooling houses of a far thicker machine.

One drawback to this expandable panel is it ends up feeling flimsy. the underside extension bends to touch and there’s a slightly springy step to the pc when your region it on a desk. that said, you received’t genuinely be aware the difficulty outside of sporting across the gx501 from under whilst the screen is open.

Gimmicks and accolades apart, the zephyrus is a damn splendid piece of machinery. asus has long past for a rather squared-off design for the metal chassis. then, the all-black outside with copper trim adds as much as a pointy, futuristic aesthetic. the display lid of the gx501 draws your eyes in with a uniquely geometric layout coupled with a brushed aluminum end that fans out in  directions.

Branding on gaming laptops is typically some thing we generally tend to simply ignore, however the use of the outstanding rog logos over textual content on the exterior and indoors of the pc are high-quality touches, too.

Among the general aesthetics of the computer and its reworking layout, the zephyrus seems like a gaming laptop pulled from the destiny, and we like the way it appears.

Business in front, party in the back

As a part of the zephyrus layout, asus opted to move all of the components and cooling machine to the rear of the laptop while migrating all of the inputs to the front. it’s an association we’ve visible at the msi gt83vr titan and razer blade pro, and like the ones preceding systems, it works properly sufficient however now not without a few compromises.

The keyboard feels roomy with huge keys notwithstanding having to proportion space with the side-orientated trackpad. there’s a first rate amount of travel when hitting the keys, and a soft, mechanical be aware to go together with it. however, the zephyrus lacks the mechanical chunk we’ve skilled typing on the acer predator triton 700.

On the grounds that there isn’t any room for a palm relaxation, asus consists of a rubber wrist rest that sits right up against the laptop’s front lip. unfortunately, this extra accessory gets dirty very quickly – even after only a few mins of usage.

The more palm relaxation also doesn’t make it any more secure to kind with the pc on your lap. due to how near the keyboard is to the quit of the notebook, you’ll have orient your arms in a t-rex-like fashion to kind anything.

The right-facet touchpad also takes a touch bit of having used to. we still seize ourselves by chance stumbling over the keyboard instead of the pointing tool we intended to use. the touchpad itself is likewise a bit too small for our liking and calls for a couple of swipes to move the cursor throughout the display screen.

It’s correct news, then, that asus went with a tumbler-lined microsoft precision touchpad that tracks flawlessly and handles multi-touch gestures properly no matter accommodating no extra than  three palms.

We also an awful lot prefer this to the acer predator triton 700’s touchpad, that's planted without delay within the center and at the back of the keyboard. the pointing tool at the zephyrus also comes with the available characteristic of converting into a virtual range pad with the click of a button.

BENCHMARKS

Here’s how the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Sky Diver: 29,816; Fire Strike: 13,892; Time Spy: 5,474
Cinebench CPU: 737 points; Graphics: 100 fps
GeekBench: 4,577 (single-core); 14,713 (multi-core)
PCMark 8 (Home Test): 4,031 points
PCMark 8 Battery Life: 1 hours and 57 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 2 hours and 14 minutes
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (1080p, Ultra): 18 fps; (1080p, Low): 118 fps
GTA V (1080p, Ultra): 68 fps; (1080p, Low): 166 fps

You might be thinking that there’s no way this light-weight gaming laptop may want to slug it out with the large hitters – but this plucky 15-inch gadget honestly trounces the most effective systems we’ve ever examined.

The asus rog zephyrus fully dominates the razer blade seasoned in each take a look at with scores hundreds of factors beforehand in each processor and snap shots benchmarks. conversely, even though, the extensively larger and thicker msi gt73vr titan pulls beforehand of the gx501 with better 3dmark scores, but we additionally see in real games it hits an average frame rate that’s a few ticks lower.

Although all of the systems we’ve compared have an nvidia gtx 1080 with 8gb of gddr5x video reminiscence, the zephyrus’ max-q designed gpu differs barely in that it’s runs at a lower wattage and clock pace. a traditional nvidia gtx 1080 supplies 150w of pics strength with a base block pace of one,556mhz, in the meantime, the max-q variant runs between 90-110w with clock speeds among 1,101mhz and 1,290mhz.

On paper, the max-q designed zephyrus have to theoretically perform worse than a traditional gaming computer, but asus has controlled to track its thinnest 15-inch gaming laptop run just as well, if no longer higher.

What’s even extra brilliant is how much more quietly gx501 runs than most gaming laptops this amazing. rather than sounding like a jet, the zephyrus simplest receives as loud as a mild breeze, quieter than the fan or ac vent cooling your room proper now. with simpler responsibilities, like internet surfing and streaming media, this 15-inch gaming computer is likewise nearly silent.

Loud and clear

With this sort of quietly jogging gaming laptop, you could fully respect the strong speakers asus has incorporated into the zephyrus. two speakers sit on the sides of the keyboard, turning in loud and balanced sound first-rate for paying attention to anything from music and movies to explosions in games.

The display screen merits lots of be aware, too. even though it’s best complete hd, you’ll be able to make full usage of all the zephyrus’ overwhelming electricity to run games at a doubly clean frame price of 120fps. each in games and out, we like the vibrant colorings and rich evaluation the gx501’s display renders.

Battery life

The only thing that’s now not wonderful about the asus rog zephyrus is its maximum battery life of 2 hours. no matter but few applications we ran on the equal time, or turning off the keyboard backlight, we weren’t capable of squeeze any extra battery lifestyles out of the gx501. satisfactory of success with getting greater than an hour even as gaming, maintaining a video name or doing something strenuous whilst the pc is unplugged.

Just two hours of battery lifestyles is terribly quick for any form of laptop, however genuinely, it doesn’t come as an awful lot of a marvel. the pc functions  of the very best-end, most energy-demanding mobile components you may fit into a 15-inch chassis. with the entirety pushed into the rear chamber, that means the simplest room for batteries at all is simply beneath the keyboard and trackpad, only in addition constrained with the aid of the thinness of the pocket book.

We liked

The asus rog zephyrus is a beautiful engineering feat, unequivocally powerful, dramatically quieter and a splendid gaming pc. way to its innovative design, asus has controlled to make an ultra-skinny machine that operates better than machines twice to even three instances its size. then, to returned up its performance, the gx501 functions an splendid display screen and audio system.

It's far, in a phrase, the ‘top’ of asus' already superb line of rog gaming laptops and truely the culmination of years of layout and hardware innovation.

We disliked

As an awful lot as we adore the zephyrus, asus additionally made a few unforgivable concessions, with a keyboard that almost requires you to hold round a wrist pad that is unusable to your lap. then, the short battery existence also approach this extremely transportable gaming pc desires almost consistent electricity connection.

Final verdict

The asus rog zephyrus units a excessive bar for what a max-q designed gaming laptop must and could be. our expectations of a 15-inch gaming notebook had been dramatically widened by way of the overall performance, splendor and sound profile of the gx501.

Nevertheless, $2,699 or au$3,659 (approximately £2,105) is unquestionably a ton of cash to drop on a gaming computer, but if you’re searching out this plenty overall performance in a transportable bundle, you need to be equipped to spend this tons anyway. because of this, the asus rog zephyrus shouldn’t be predicted to be your only computer for both work and gaming that can be used anywhere.

Obviously, the zephyrus makes quite a few sense for those searching out a computer alternative, since it’s simply as succesful at the same time as being dramatically lighter, smaller and thinner.

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