The Zephyrus line of ASUS Republic of Gamers has gone a long way. From its introduction in COMPUTEX 2017, this series of high-end gaming laptops with thin profiles released a slew of new variants in 2019. One of those new variants announced was the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G. While there are more interesting new Zephyrus models, I had my sights on the Zephyrus G for being quite “different.” Let me share you why it’s different as well as my observations in my ROG Zephyrus G review.
ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS G GA502DU SPECS:
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 3750H |
|---|---|
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti, with 6GB GDDR6 VRAM |
| Storage | 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD |
| Display | 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080) 120Hz IPS-level Panel |
| Ports | 3 x USB 3.1 Type-A; 1 x USB 3.1 Type-C; 1x HDMI 2.0; 1x RJ-45; 1x 3.5mm headphone jack; 1x Kensington lock |
| Connectivity | Integrated 802.11a/c; Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Webcam | None |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| SRP | Php 84,995 |
THE UNBOXING – ROG ZEPHYRUS G REVIEW
I expected for the packaging to be big since buying a Zephyrus variant is considered premium. True enough, I received a big box.
The ROG Ranger backpack, the same backpack that came with the ROG Strix SCAR III we reviewed before, is included in the retail package.
Inside the second box are the Zephyrus G, ROG Gladius 2 Gaming Mouse, charger and user pamphlets.
THE LOOKS AND FEEL – ROG ZEPHYRUS G REVIEW
I am greeted by the Zephyrus G’s familiar brushed metal cover. The ROG logo lights up in RED, and not RGB like what the ROG Strix G has. In my opinion, that’s fine as the Zephyrus line is not all about RGB.
It won’t be called a Zephyrus if it doesn’t sport a slim profile. Its thickness is measured at 14.2mm when the lid is open and 15.2 when closed. It has the same weight of my current gaming laptop, an ROG Zephyrus S at 2.1kg which means the Zephyrus G is also very portable.
Vents are found at the back of the Zephyrus G. The question is, does it also have the Active Aerodynamic System (AAS)?
The answer is no, it doesn’t have AAS. I’m a bit disappointed with the absence of AAS since it’s always associated with the Zephyrus. I guess the reason why they didn’t include it is to drive the price down.
On the left side of the laptop are the charging port, 3.5mm headphone jack, LAN, HDMI, USB Type-A and Type-C ports, and a 3.5mm headphone jack.
On the right are the Kensington port and two more USB ports.
Since the AAS is absent in the Zephyrus G, ASUS placed the keyboard and touchpad back to their usual location. The keyboard, sadly, has no RGB. It has a white backlight though if that’s a consolation.
THE DISPLAY – ROG ZEPHYRUS G REVIEW
Similar to the previous Zephyrus models, the Zephyrus G sports a 15.6″ Full HD screen display with IPS-level quality. The thin bezels makes it possible for ASUS to fit a large screen display. However, they have to sacrifice the webcam to make that happen. While I understand that some gamers would use a better webcam, I prefer on having one in the laptop just in case I need to use it. Refresh rate is 120Hz, lower than what the Zephryus S was offering. Not that bad actually since I don’t see much difference between a display with 120Hz and 144Hz refresh rate.
THE PERFORMANCE – ROG ZEPHYRUS G REVIEW
I mentioned at the start of this article that I find this Zephyrus interesting, and let me tell you why. First, it is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 3750H processor paired with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti GPU. This pairing is not strange to me anymore as I’ve reviewed the TUF Gaming FX505DU with similar specs. Having said that, I kinda expected how the Zephyrus G would perform.
Benchmark scores of the Zephyrus G are slightly lower than the TUF Gaming FX505DU. I tested my usual games like Overwatch, PUBG and The Witcher 3 and they are capable of being played at their highest settings. I was able to get 55 fps on The Witcher 3 set to Ultra, while the highest video settings for PUBG produced an average of 32 fps. I still prefer to to adjust the video settings one step lower to get more fps on these games.
Now, I will mention the second reason why I found the Zephyrus G interesting. I mentioned earlier that the AAS is not included in this laptop so I was wondering how it would handle the heat. With the TUF Gaming FX505DU, my GPU temperature went as high as 85 degrees Celsius. The Zephyrus G was able to control that, limiting my GPU temperature to 80 degrees Celsius. I am not certain how this Zephyrus was able to manage the heat considering that it has Ryzen 7 with no AAS. It’s bizaare, in a good way.
Armoury Crate can let users change their gaming settings according to their preferences. What baffles me is the inclusion of Aura Sync even when the Zephyrus G’s keyboard doesn’t have RGB.
THE BATTERY LIFE – ROG ZEPHYRUS G REVIEW
Now this is what I really love about this Zephyrus. I normally get an average of 1.5 hours max on all the Zephyrus models (and other gaming laptops for that matter) when unplugged. With the Zephyrus G, I am able to use it for 3 straight hours. I know it’s nowhere near the other notebooks’ uptime of at least 6 hours, but I would rather have 3 hours to work on blog posts unplugged rather than an hour of not being able to finish any work. As always, don’t ask about playing games without using the power brick. You will need to plug your laptop to utilize its GPU whenever you need to play.
DR’S CONCLUSION
The last reason why I found the Zephyrus G interesting is its price. The Zephyrus product line normally costs P120,000 and above. The Zephyrus G is only priced at P84,995, meaning this is the most affordable ROG Zephyrus anyone could buy!
So if you’re looking for a slim premium gaming laptop that’s less than 90k, you can buy the ROG Zephyrus G at ROG Mall of Asia and other ROG Concept Stores.
PROS:
- Slim Design
- Aluminum Cover
- Adequate Performance
- Controlled Temperature
- Better Battery Life compared to other Gaming Laptops
CONS:
- No Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) usually found in a Zephyrus laptop
- No Webcam
- No RGB lighting on Keyboard
