ASUS ROG Zephyrus S Ultra Slim Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz IPS Type FHD, GeForce RTX 2070, Intel Core i7-8750H, 16GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD, Aura Sync RGB, Windows 10 64-bit, GX531GW-AS76 .62” Thin

Comment

Updated: 10/28/18 I really wanted to give this laptop five stars. It has just about everything you could every want in a light, thin, and powerful package. If you check the review sites for gaming laptops, this one is in or near the top three (with MSI, Razer, and Dell all vying for top spots) for performance, features, and size. The advantage to ASUS is price...this is a good $500 less than the top three with configuration and performance that is pretty darn close and with the brightest screen of them all. It has an innovative, redesigned cooling system that helps set it apart from its competitors. Its definitely a step up from their ROG systems a year ago and keeps the system cooler and operating at peak performance. However; with better cooling comes a penalty: fan volume. THIS IS LOUD. Equivalent of a vacuum cleaner loud (between 72-74db) from 3 feet away. Its loud enough that I cant set it for Turbo (max FPS) when sitting on the couch next to my spouse. If you turn down the performance to Balanced (noise drops down to about 66-69db) or Silent (40db), it limits the framerate (90 and 60FPS respectively) and fan speeds; but heat becomes a problem again. Its loud enough on Turbo that I need to use headphones because white noise from the fans (there are two) drowns out the audio from the connected soundbar. Youll also hear a lot of gripes about the keyboard. Personally, I love it...especially moving the track pad to the right (I always accidentally hit the trackpad when it bottom middle). If you are resting your wrists on the laptop itself or the surface below, then you are setting yourself up for an RSI. The Zephyrus forces you to float your wrists and move the laptop forward more than normal...which is ergonomically better for you; but it will take some time to get used to. The one area where the keyboard is a pain is on airplanes. You dont have much room to begin with and then forcing the keyboard into your stomach makes it darn near impossible to type on. If you travel a lot, then you may want to consider a different laptop. Battery life. Well...its a gaming laptop: if you are looking for economical power savings then perhaps something that consumes a bit less power might be more attuned to your needs. I get about 2hrs max when playing games (max performance is limited to 90FPS "balanced" while on battery). I had issues with framerates while on the battery; but that may be my own custom settings. The screen is gorgeous at 1920x1080 (1080p) native. Itll output up to 3840x1600 (4k/HDR) through the external Nvidia USB-C port Note: the laptop screen uses an integrated Intel UHD driver, not the Nvidia...you get the same functionality; but its a bit strange and it also means you cant use Nvidias tools while running directly on the laptop screen. Audio is also fantastic; great sound for such a small system. There is a full array of ports for all your needs; but if you want external 4k/HDR, then youll need to use USB-C. Great product and well worth the money!

Show more

Comment

At the moment, I mostly use this for Guild Wars 2. It can handle max/ultra settings. Pros: -Screen is awesome. -The position of the keyboard is great (one of the main reasons why I bought this laptop). It takes a minute to get used to though. I kept thinking the track pad was still in the middle so I was sliding my finger across the space bar. However, the keyboard feels like a normal desktop keyboard. With traditional laptops, it felt like a reach to the keyboard. The lighting is also great on the keyboard. -The trackpad/NUM pad combo is pretty cool. I like the position because the purpose is for gaming and I am going to use a mouse. -Cooling is great. -The built in speakers are good for a laptop. -Plenty of inputs and they seem to be in the perfect position. -Durable. Feels solid. -Its thin and light weight. Easy to travel with. Cons -Fans can be a little loud when under load but they calm down and you get used to the noise. Headphones block out the noise anyway. -The front lid can get finger prints but it can be easily cleaned with a cloth. Not a major deal. -The battery. I get between 2-3 hours. However, this is expected for portability. When you game on a laptop, you will need to plug in power anyway. i would sacrifice the battery for thin, lower weight, and portability. -Price is a little high but the product is worth it. Overall, an amazing laptop!

Show more

Comment

Updated 11/21/2018: after updating all of the drivers (which wasnt 100% straight forward, as you cant run the NVidia drivers until you update everything else manually, things are running very smoothly). Also, instead of modifying Power Options under your control panel, use the ASUS app (armoury crate) instead of adjusting settings manually. After all is said and done, Im now seeing over 100 FPS on ultra. I almost sent the laptop back, because as delivered it was struggling to push 30 FPS on Medium graphics settings. (Both references are to Overwatch, which isnt very GPU intensive compared to more modern games. Executive summary: once you update everything, its a wonderful laptop. Further updates as time goes on. Hoping it will be reliable. Probably needs some better thermal paste, as Im seeing 90 degrees Celcius, despite running on a six fan cooler.

Show more

Comment

The laptop is a beast no question, can play any game high/ultra and easily push over 60+ fps. The cooling system on turbo is very loud, sounds like pouring rain but its not a bad thing for what you getting. Upgraded the ram to 24gb, literally best thing ive ever owned. Screen is 144hz 3ms games look great little to no reflection on screen. Bring it wherever I want, and have a top tier gaming experience... its worth it for me

Show more

Comment

Very nice looking laptop. On visuals 5 out of 5 stars, but when it came to gaming for 2 plus hours the game would just freeze while playing blackops. I would have to task manager close the game and reopen it. If I am paying 2k for a laptop I would want it to work as it suppose to. Returned mine

Show more

Comment

Pros: Laptop truly does rock as advertised. It destroys games with very reasonable thermals all while being super thin... also, WICKED SCREEN. Not really cons cons: To keep the laptop cool the fans will get loud - but then again what laptop anywhere near this thin wouldnt get loud? Comes with the territory. Also, I actually dont mind the keyboard trackpad placement, but perhaps many will dislike it. Cons: Battery life is not great, but I dont really run into that problem too much. The biggest problem with this laptop is the backlight bleed! Apparently its very hit or miss. Mine came with bleed on all four corners, but is only distracting during nearly black screens. And many have reported similar issues. It sounds as if you have a 50/50 chance of it, which is VERY FRUSTRATING if youre trying to replace it. So, while I would say the build quality is superb, its quite inexcusable to have so many defective screens...

Show more

Comment

I got this computer in October, and til now I had only minor complaints. My game of choice is DotA2, and the computer *does* overheat while playing it, but I am fine turning down the graphics a bit to avoid glitches, even though my friends similar laptop with a 1070 was able to perform fine, without the odd cooling architecture of this computer. I also noticed the speaker buzz mentioned in other reviews, which has me exclusively using external speakers as the problem happens entirely in the range of human voices, making watching almost anything or listening to music annoying. Laptop speakers arent great, and I was always careful to keep them well away from full volume, but such is life. Now though, i would give this computer a one star. Something appears to have gone wrong with either the charger or the charging port. I sent the laptop in under warranty, and I am now being informed that a small piece of plastic inside of the DC power jack has broken off. But apparently this part failure is not covered by warranty, and they claim it costs $170 to place, despite the fact that the part is $20 online. Pretty disappointed, and I would not recommend purchasing based on this level of customer service. Refusal to take responsibility for poor parts, and then overcharging for what is a simple part insertion + solder, is practically insulting on a computer at this price point.

Show more

Comment

Have not put the computer through its paces. Its great build quality. I love the style. I took a star off because the hassle of getting the COD code. If you have issues follow these steps. skip a call to asus and amazon. Neither were any help. Open window store download MyAsus It will intall asus promotion. Restart. Open asus promotio, not sure why but it took a while before it would actually open. Once it did I got a notification. The process sucks. You have to enter and take picture. I screenshot my invoice and used the laptop to take a picture of the box. Finally got the code

Show more

Comment

For starters I researched which gaming laptop I should buy for several weeks, factoring in the newer RTX cards as well, in the end all of my research favored this one. Excellent performance, fans get a bit loud while running games at over 60hz but if you cap them at 60 FPS they are hardly noticeable. Great build quality, feels sturdy despite the slimness, the hinge design looked weak on the pictures but feels sturdy closing and opening. Keyboard and Trackpad placement are very comfortable and easy to get used to despite the unusual placement. Battery life isn’t great but I knew that going in so no surprises, I’m not a student so it’s not a dealbreaker, I game at work and at home and both places have outlets virtually everywhere. Overall the best gaming laptop I’ve owned (I’ve owned 3, Dell, Alienware, and MSI). Thermals are incredible, I can game for hours without fear of cooking the internals, something I couldn’t have done with other gaming laptops. The 8750h paired with the 1070 max q can run 97% of 6,000 most popular titles at high settings. 512gb ssd is a surprisingly adequate amount of memory, I have 8 AAA title games installed with 100gb memory left to spare. My only complaint is that the ROG logo on the back appears to be pink instead of red, which isn’t a huge deal but it’s a note for those who care about that.

Show more

Comment

.................. Ive had my Zephyrus S for about a week now and Ive put it through the paces with various games (Overwatch, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Destiny 2 and Black Desert) and it doesnt flinch at the ultra settings. Its super fast and the 144hz 3ms screen is delicious. However I do have some IPS glow in the top left corner and it bugs me a little. For a $2000 machine I feel like I should expect more in QA. The keyboard moved down is actually perfectly fine for me. I have no issues typing on it and it feels good to type on it too. The RGB is customizable so youre not relegated to the gross gamer red that dominated gaming devices for way too long. Now I can have a lovely rainbow glow happening. However the RGB is subtle so dont expect a Razer style rainbow under your fingers. But I like it. The battery is small and therefore I can squeeze 2-3 hours with the screen brightness on low as I do just internet work or writing. However if youre running a game on the battery, you might get an hour on it. Bring the AC adapter with you and sit by an outlet on the train or bus - youll need it. Overall its a gorgeous machine with innovative design and engineering and its sooooo thin!! Its amazing. And despite it being so thin, its actually got great thermals and you can STILL overclock the gpu so you can get very close to a "normal" gtx 1070 performance despite it being a max q. If you can stomach some IPS glow and dont mind dragging your ac adapter everywhere, its a fantastic laptop that can take whatever you throw at it. The Zephyrus S is definitely the laptop you want if youre looking for a desktop replacement solution.

Show more