It’s RTX on for ASUS’s entire ROG line-up as we get hands-on with the RTX 2080 Max-Q equipped model of the big daddy: The 17-inch Zephyrus S GX701. It’s not all big guns and rampaging horses with this gaming laptop because being a Zephyrus model, it’s impressively thin as well.
| GX701GV | GX701GX | |
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i7-8750H | Intel Core i7-8750H |
| Graphics | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q 8GB GDDR6 |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 2666MHz | 32GB DDR4 2666MHz |
| SSD | M.2 NVMe PCIE 512GB SSD | M.2 NVMe PCIE 1TB SSD |
| Display | 17.3-inch Non-glare FullHD (1920x1080) IPS-level TN panel, 144Hz, 3ms, 100% sRGB | 17.3-inch Non-glare FullHD (1920x1080) IPS-level TN panel, 144Hz, 3ms, 100% sRGB |
| Keyboard | Individually RGB backlit chiclet keyboard with 1.4mm travel distance Touchpad-integrated numpad | Individually RGB backlit chiclet keyboard with 1.4mm travel distance Touchpad-integrated numpad |
| Audio | 2x 2.5W speaker with Smart AMP technology Array Microphones | 2x 2.5W speaker with Smart AMP technology Array Microphones |
| Ports | 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-C) w/ DP 1.4 and Power Delivery 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Type-C) 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-A) 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Type-A) 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x 3.5mm combo jack 1x Kensington lock | 1 x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-C) w/ DP 1.4 and Power Delivery 1x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Type-C) 1x USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-A) 2x USB 3.1 Gen 1 (Type-A) 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x 3.5mm combo jack 1x Kensington lock |
| Wi-Fi/Bluetooth | Intel 802.11ac (2x2) Gigabit Wi-Fi Bluetooth 5.0 | Intel 802.11ac (2x2) Gigabit Wi-Fi Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Power | 230W Power Adaptor | 230W Power Adaptor |
| Weight & Dimensions | W: 39.9 cm D: 27.2 cm H: 1.87 cm Weight: 2.7kg | W: 39.9 cm D: 27.2 cm H: 1.87 cm Weight: 2.7kg |
| Price | P139,995 | P209,995 |
AESTHETIC AND BUILD QUALITY
One word: solid. ASUS has done a good job of making the recent Strix and Zephyruses (Zephyri?) feel like solid slabs of pure gaming metal. There’s no overly major change here from the previous Zephyrus models and it pretty much follows the latest ROG design language of brushed metal, squarish shape, a few ROG eyes here and there, and plenty of RGB.
As a 17-inch gaming laptop, it does have a large surface area, but not as much as you’d think. Thanks to the thin bezels of the display, less space is wasted and earns you a little more wiggle room in your bag.
KEYBOARD
The polarizing keyboard makes its return here. The keyboard itself feels good to use during gaming, but the placement makes it a bit awkward to use on your lap. The extra above the keyboard is dedicated to cooling the heavy-hitters that is the hexa-core Intel Core i7-8750H and the Nvidia RTX 2080 Max-Q.
The per-key backlit keyboard enables users to fully customize the look to their taste. There are presets in the Aura Core software if you just want to set it and forget it. One cool feature that the Zephyrus S shares with its ZenBook cousins is the numpad integrated into the right-side touchpad.
DISPLAY
As with the Strix GL704, the display is an IPS-level 1080p 144hz display. Note that ASUS calls this “IPS-level” but it’s still actually a TN panel. That honestly doesn’t bother us as much as it sounds, since color reproduction and viewing angles are great, for a TN panel.
For content creation, it’s not going to be the best. But for gaming, it felt very responsive and fluid enough that I couldn’t blame my noob performance in APEX: Legends on the Zephyrus S.
PERFORMANCE
Nor could I blame it on the overall game performance. Thanks to the RTX 2080 Max-Q and Core i7-8750H, the Zephyrus S can really stretch its legs in 1080p gaming. APEX: Legends was able to take advantage of the 144Hz display and average 123 fps during online gameplay on maximum settings.
| Setting | Minimum | Maximum | Average | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| APEX: Legends | Maximum | 85 fps | 146 fps | 123 fps |
| Resident Evil 2 (2019) | Graphics Priority | 86 fps | 205 fps | 120 fps |
| The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt | Ultra | 62 fps | 104 fps | 80 fps |
| High | 83 fps | 112 fps | 103 fps | |
| Rise of the Tomb Raider | Very High | 48 fps | 134 fps | 80 fps |
| High | 58 fps | 155 fps | 99 fps | |
| Ashes of the Singularity | Crazy | 41 fps | 101 fps | 62 fps |
| Extreme | 41 fps | 105 fps | 71 fps |
Above 60 fps performance in 1080p makes the GX701GX the perfect gaming laptop. For synthetic benchmarks, the Zephyrus S scored a healthy 7,638 on 3DMark Time Spy (7,812 on its best run) and 5,437 on PCMark 10. On 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra and Extreme, it achieved scores of 5,139 and 9,782 respectively
The cooling is also quite impressive. The dual 12V fans were audible during graphical intensive scenes, but not intolerable. More importantly, the GX701 didn’t exhibit and thermal throttling and sudden framerate drops no matter which game we threw at it.
REMOVE THE FAT, KEEP THE NECESSARY
It’s no secret that we love the Zephyrus models. The slim profile, but top-of-the-line specs gamers unprecedented levels of portability and performance. If there are compromises on the GX701, it’s what’s been deemed unnecessary. Starting with what’s not immediately obvious: the webcam, there is none. There’s a clip-on webcam available in other markets, but it’s not available here. But let’s face it, if you’re using an external webcam anyway, you’d want something pretty high end for your streaming needs anyway.
If the GX701 is a tad too big for you, there’s also the excellent 15.6-inch GX531 model and it even comes with a built-in webcam. But with the actual size and weight difference between them not being that far apart, the larger 17.3-inch display and better cooling capacity on the GX701 really makes the on-the-go gaming experience all the better.
