ASUS were showing off a number of interesting new gaming laptops at CES 2019 with Nvidia’s
latest RTX 20 series graphics, let’s take a look at these new models and find out what
we’re getting going into 2019.
First up we’ve got a new 17 inch version of the Zephyrus S, the GX701 at just 1.87cm
thin. This one is available with the Intel i7-8750H CPU, Nvidia 2080 Max-Q graphics,
up 24GB of memory, it’s still got 8gb soldered to the motherboard like the 15 inch version,
and a 17.3” 1080p IPS-level 144Hz 3ms response time display with G-Sync and 100% sRGB coverage.
There’s a G-Sync switch available as well which lets you swap to the Intel graphics
after a reboot to get more battery life.
It’s got per key RGB backlighting on the keyboard, an update over the zoned lighting
with the last generation 15 inch Zephyrus S. There are speakers on either sides of the
keyboards as it’s got extra space available to accommodate that, though despite it being
a 17” model it really didn’t seem that big due to the thin bezels. The speakers can
also be controlled with a physical volume wheel towards the left above the keyboard,
and the ASUS ROG logo in the center has RGB lighting too.
Rather than putting in a crappy 720p nose cam under the display due to the thin bezels
ASUS have taken a different approach here by including an external 1080p 60 FPS camera.
You can either rest it on its stand, or mount it above the display. It uses a Micro USB
cable, as apparently the USB Type-C connector was too long and would have made the camera
module larger. In terms of Availability ASUS said that it will be available in Q1 2019.
Something interesting ASUS have done is allowed the laptop to be powered over USB Type-C.
You’ll still need to use the regular adapter for full power, but it’s able to take up
to 65 watts in through the Type-C port allowing you to use a smaller adapter when not using
lots of power, and this also means that you can charge it using an external battery bank
as well. The Type-C port can also be used to deliver DisplayPort 1.4, combined with
the HDMI 2.0b output you can power dual 4K displays at 60Hz.
The 15 inch version of the Zephyrus S, the GX531, has also undergone some updates, taking
cues from the new GX701. It’s still available with the same 8th gen i7 CPU but the graphics
have been upgraded from the 1070 Max-Q to 2080 Max-Q, so I’m expecting this to run
hotter as it’s a more powerful component. ASUS did advise me that they have improved
the cooling here by increasing the fan blade count, so we’ll have to test it out and
see how this helps. Otherwise the new GX531 has also been updated with a per key RGB backlit
keyboard, as it used to have a 4 zone keyboard previously. It will also be available with
optional 4K HDR 400 panel with 16 zones of backlighting, so probably not really something
for most gamers but will be an option. This won’t be available in the larger GX701 as
apparently there are no 17 inch panels that offer this yet. Unfortunately the 15 inch
version doesn’t have the G-Sync switch like the GX701, I asked why and apparently it needs
too much physical space which is why it’s only present in the larger 17 inch model.
The ROG Mothership was also on display at the ASUS suite, but I’ve got a whole video
dedicated to that crazy thing, check out the card in the top right corner for more information.
Basically it’s sort of like a tablet, the heat generating components like the CPU and
graphics are behind the screen allowing the hardware to breathe for improved cooling and
performance while the keyboard can be removed and used wirelessly.
Aside from those larger changes to the ASUS gaming laptop lineup, we’ve also got refreshed
versions of the G703 laptop, with up to 8th gen i7 or i9 CPU with RTX 2080 graphics, Hero
II with RTX 2060, and Scar II with RTX 2070, and both the Scar and Hero are still available
with 8th gen Intel i5 or i7 options. I was told by ASUS that these laptops are all exactly
the same as the Nvidia 10 series versions, just with updated 20 series RTX graphics.
I still think it will be interesting to get these new models in for review so that I can
compare them with the 10 series models that I’ve already tested, both in terms of performance
and thermals, let me know which models you want to see covered first.
ASUS also mentioned that they’d be getting the 1080p 240Hz panel coming to a number of
their strix models later in the year, just like Razer, Dell, HP and many others will
be getting in 2019, and they also said there should be 160Hz and 185Hz options coming later
down the line too, so interesting times if you play esports titles on a laptop.
I asked about the original GX501 design with the touchpad down the bottom rather than to
the side, but unfortunately it sounds like that’s been discontinued.
There were also a couple of new FX505 gaming laptops featuring the new AMD Ryzen 5 3550H
CPU and Radeon RX 560X graphics with FreeSync in both 15 and 17 inch versions. ASUS’s
FX series of gaming laptops are more budget friendly compared to the others covered so
far in the video, and I’ve previously reviewed the Intel and Nvidia configuration on the
channel. The Ryzen 5 3550H is a new CPU based on AMD’s 12nm Zen+ architecture, has 4 cores
8 threads, a 2.1GHz base clock speed and 3.7GHz boost speed, I can’t wait to test it out
and see how it stacks up with the i5-8300H.
So what did you guys think about the new ASUS RTX gaming laptops and new AMD TUF option?
I think there are some nice small changes to already good machines, and in the case
of the new 17” GX701 it’s good to have more features available that are possible
with the larger 17 inch size, while the new ROG Mothership takes things to and beyond
the next level. Let me know what you guys thought down in the comments, I’ll also
be covering some more professional laptops such as the new ASUS StudioBook S in an upcoming
video, so get subscribed for the rest of my CES 2019 coverage.