Asus has long been renowned for its expansive selection of gaming laptops, and the Asus ROG Strix G15 G513 is no exception.
This cutting-edge 2021 model merges Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics with a top-tier AMD Ryzen processor so you know that it’s designed to deliver maximum performance!
The Asus Strix G15 Advantage Edition is one of their pricier gaming laptops, ranging from $1,549.99 to $1,699.99.
My particular configuration boasts an impressive suite of specs, including an eight-core Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, and a 300Hz 1080p screen all powered by a dedicated Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU all of which can be found on a regular Strix G15 at $2,499.
It is probable, then, that my system would cost closer to the upper bound of the Advantage Edition’s price range.
The Asus ROG Strix is an excellent laptop that offers tremendous value for its price tag of $1,867.
With its top-notch performance and long-lasting battery life, it is a steal of a laptop compared to other gaming laptops with much higher price tags.
Even though the Strix boasts a flashy and eye-catching aesthetic, it may not provide the best value for people looking for a more restrained gaming laptop.
However, if you are looking for a gaming laptop with a bold and vibrant design that offers performance and battery life beyond its price range, then the Asus ROG Strix is an outstanding choice.
If you have the budget and need a laptop with serious gaming performance, then the Strix is definitely worth considering. You won’t be disappointed in its performance, quality, or overall value.
Asus ROG Strix G15 Review And Break Down: Design & Build
Boasting a sleek, sophisticated aesthetic, the G15 seamlessly merges grey plastic with more luxurious accents.
Stunning patterns formed from ROG letters cover large portions of the device while per-key RGB LED lighting on its keyboard is complemented by additional illumination around the base.
With no surprises in sight, you can rest assured that this machine will make an impressive addition to your tech arsenal.
The ROG G15 laptop features a striking hinge with a bold black ROG logo and depending upon the version you buy, you can get grey or red panels instead.
When it comes to the build quality of this laptop, it’s certainly up to par and can handle daily use and frequent transport with ease.
Of course, a laptop made mostly of plastic doesn’t offer too much means of avoiding flexing in certain areas, such as the base of the display and the area beneath the keys.
However, that doesn’t mean that the flexing is so severe as to make the laptop uncomfortable or unreliable.
The Lenovo Legion G15 may be great for gamers on a budget but in some other areas, it’s a bit lackluster. It may be relatively lightweight at 2.3kg and is 20mm thick, but there are currently more lightweight and slimmer laptops on the market.
Additionally, the laptop does have three USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports, however, their 5Gbps speed lags behind other laptops in the same price range which offers faster speeds.
Ultimately, the Legion G15 is great in terms of gaming performance but lacks in terms of features that add to its functionality.
On the other hand, the G15’s USB-C connection runs at a rate of 10Gbps, which allows it to provide support for DisplayPort and power delivery.
While this setup does not include Thunderbolt, it has an HDMI output that may prove useful in certain scenarios.
Although you won’t find any card reader or webcam here either – thus making this device less than ideal for work as well as play – many people will still be able to get excellent use out of it.
Keyboard And Trackpad
The G15s keyboard is one of the most impressive gaming peripherals out there, with an absolutely superb layout.
For starters, the keyboard has a wide range of extra media, fan, and software keys that you simply won’t find on other 15.6-inch gaming machines.
On top of that, it also has isolated cursor keys, making it easier to control your in-game character, and its other large keys give you plenty of durability and accuracy.
Not only is the quality excellent, but the keys boast exceptional speed and travel. Moreover, they have a remarkable balance between firmness and softness for an enjoyable experience that surpasses expectations.
This keyboard is a great choice for long-term use as it will keep your hands happy and relaxed.
If you want to make an incredible improvement, investing in the Alienware CherryMX upgrade with its optomechanical keys is highly recommended this level of quality won’t disappoint!
The trackpad is extensive and accurate, but the buttons are merely okay for casual gaming. To truly get an incredible experience, however, a USB gaming mouse is essential.
Specs And Performance
The Asus GeForce RTX 3060 is fully equipped with its expected 6GB of RAM and 5,120 stream processors. Additionally, the maximum power level for this model reaches 130W the peak limit defined by Nvidia’s specs!
The Strix G15 is an awe-inspiring beast, featuring the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H eight-core processor that runs at extraordinary speeds of 3.2GHz and 4.4GHz, as well as 16GB of memory, a 1TB SSD drive for large storage capacity, dual-band Wi-Fi 6 for superior speed and consistency in your connection to the internet, plus Gigabit Ethernet ports giving you more options when it comes to connecting to networks.
The Asus RTX 2080 Ti is a powerhouse of a graphics card that gives gamers the perfect combination of responsiveness and graphical quality.
In Far Cry New Dawn running at 1080p and Ultra settings, the Asus averaged an impressive 81fps and returned similarly impressive speeds in other demanding games such as Horizon Zero Dawn and Borderlands 3.
This means that gamers equipped with this card will be able to experience all the latest games running at optimal graphical settings and framerates beyond 60fps, delivering a smooth and responsive gaming experience.
The new G15 graphics core is designed to handle even the most demanding eSports titles out there with ease, enabling extremely high framerates of up to 200 fps for a more immersive and vibrant gaming experience.
Plus, an exclusive Turbo mode is also included in the G15, giving players an even better performance boost when gaming on a 300Hz display.
Benchmark results show just how powerful the G15 really is, making it one of the most efficient and powerful graphics cores available on the market today.
The AMD Ryzen 7 processor is simply outstanding. Boasting a Geekbench multi-core score of an impressive 7,086, it easily surpasses the Intel Core i7-10750H used in budget gaming laptops such as the Dell G5 15 Gaming (5500) by a staggering margin of almost 1,000 points.
It even rivals the i7-10875H that is found in more premium gaming machines such as the Dell XPS 17 9700, showcasing the potential of Ryzen 7 series processors.
Asus ROG Strix G15 Benchmarks
The Asus ROG Strix G15 is a powerful gaming laptop, and this is reflected in its benchmark scores. It scored an impressive 81 Fps when we ran Far cry 5 on ultra settings at 1080p and a staggering 200 FPS when playing the latest eSport titles.
This is expected from such a beastly machine and it will easily exceed the demands of even the most powerful gaming laptops out there.
The AMD Ryzen 7 processor also scored a very impressive 7,086 on the Geekbench multi-core score, outperforming the Intel Core i7-10750H found in budget gaming laptops by a staggering margin of almost 1,000 points.
Its Pc mark 10 score of 6,406 also indicates that it is more than capable of handling daily tasks such as web browsing, office work, and light image editing with ease.
The AMD Ryzen 7 processor inside this computer will breeze through workloads like photo-editing, video work, content-creation applications, and heavy multi-tasking with ease. You won’t experience any gaming lags or slowdowns.
Performance-wise, the same Ryzen 7 chip inside the Alienware was slightly faster than the one installed here, yet its superb speed should still meet most people’s requirements.
Holding true to its promise, the G15 is a whisper-quiet powerhouse of a gaming laptop. When running in Normal and Turbo modes, the laptop’s fan noise was consistently quieter than most laptops with the same amount of hardware.
Even more impressive is that it was quieter than the RTZ 3060-based Alienware. The exterior also stayed cool to the touch throughout, making it a rare laptop that you could literally enjoy gaming with on your lap.
During operational tests, the G15 ran surprisingly quiet and maintained its turbo speed with no signs of slowing. Although bulkier than other machines, it performs remarkably well when handling contemporary games” thermal demands.
Not only is it equipped with practical battery life, but gaming on the notebook will offer you 90 minutes of playtime which matches other laptops created for gaming.
When you opt to the game while powered by your battery, the GPU power decreases so if you want access to today’s trending titles be sure to stay plugged in!
Screen
The ROG Strix G15 is a formidable gaming machine equipped with a 15.6in IPS display, boasting an incredible 300Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time, ensuring high-speed and ultra-smooth visuals without the need for Nvidia G-Sync.
The fantastic specs make it an ideal choice for fast-paced, competitive gaming, as well as immersive single-player titles.
The combination of powerful performance, ultra-quick response, and high-resolution display make the Strix G15 the perfect companion for any avid gamer.
The Razer Blade Pro 17 surpasses the Alienware m15 in terms of display specs, offering 1080p screens with an impressive refresh rate up to 165Hz and options for 1440p displays that can reach a refresh rate as high as 240Hz.
The backlight level of 312 nits is only suitable for indoor use, and the black point of 0.27 nits is acceptable but could be improved.
Ultimately, the resulting contrast ratio of 1,155:1 produces good but relatively muted imagery and while this is solid, many comparable IPS displays offer greater contrast performance, such as the panel in Alienware.
Fortunately, the color accuracy of the display is pleasing, ensuring that color and brightness are accurately displayed across a wide range of scenarios.
The Asus G15’s display is a real winner, with a superb delta E rating of 1.09, a solid colour temperature of 6,799K, and excellent uniformity.
This makes for consistently even, accurate colors across the display, with a remarkably high 96.7% of the sRGB gamut being rendered. While it may be suitable for mainstream gaming, for those needing accurate Adobe RGB work it won’t be the best choice, only offering 67.5% coverage.
Heat And Speakers Quality
With a number of cooling profiles available, the fans can become quite loud on the Turbo profile during gaming and productivity.
If you’re looking for a real thrill, you can set a manual profile with your machine’s full potential, cranking the fans and power limits to the max.
The noise it creates can be loud and impactful, admittedly it won’t yield any serious performance improvements, but it’s a fun experiment nonetheless.
On the flip side, the silent profile was anything but, literal. The fan noise was non-existent, even when my ear was closer to the base (a rarity these days).
Where I did notice a change was in the heat, the bottom of the laptop became noticeably warm when on my lap so bear that in mind if you demand peace and quiet.
The G15’s speakers are loud enough that you won’t have difficulty hearing your game audio over all the fans. I was pleasantly surprised to hear bass and percussion stand out, since it is not usually that way with gaming laptop speakers.
The Strix comes preloaded with powerful Dolby Access software that allows you to customize your soundscape depending on the type of activity you’re engaging in.
With specialized Dolby Access profiles specifically designed for gaming, movies, music, and voice, you are guaranteed to enjoy an immersive sound experience based on your preferences.
I personally decided to swap between the Game and Movie profiles when playing my Spotify repertoire as they bring out the bass a lot better than the Music profile does.
Battery Life
The G15’s battery life is average, lasting five hours and forty-four minutes when using the Balanced power profile. This isn’t that impressive, considering the same laptop under normal usage without gaming can last seven hours and fifteen minutes.
It’s worth noting that this laptop has a 65W USB-C port, so if you’re looking to extend your battery life, you can purchase an external battery pack and attach it to the laptop.
This will allow you to play while unplugged for extended periods of time, although you may want to make sure it is a compatible device with the G15’s USB-C port before making the purchase.
Final Words
To sum up, the Strix G15 is an attractive choice. Of course, there are minor quibbles that can be made but at its price point, it’s difficult to find anything truly significant enough to deter one from making a purchase.
The question is whether you’re in the target demographic for the ASUS ROG Strix G15 or the Alienware M15 R4. If you’re after a flashy laptop with the best performance, then you should opt for the Strix Scar 15.
But if subtle RGB lighting and a bigger range of ports are your things, then the Alienware M15 R4 is ideal for you. Alternatively, if you’re an AMD user who needs power but also wants great battery life, then the ASUS ROG Strix G15 is a perfect choice.
The Strix G15 is the go-to laptop for anyone looking for a bold design, an all-AMD system, and a competitive price point. This laptop is a niche purchase and lacks some modern ports and a webcam, but still outperforms similarly priced laptops in terms of performance.
While the sleek and lighter Zephyrus may be preferred by many, as with any laptop, it comes with a host of compromises. The G15 makes very few, making it an impressive mid-range gaming laptop.
No matter what you decide, the ASUS ROG Strix G15 is a fantastic all-around gaming machine that offers great value. With its powerful hardware and efficient cooling system, this is sure to impress any hardcore gamer.
The G15 is an excellent option for those who are interested in a high-performance portable gaming laptop that won’t break the bank. So if you’re looking for one, then this is definitely worth considering.
