Buying a gaming laptop is like going on an adventure because you need to decide what kind of titles you are going to play on it and also match its capabilities to your needs without cleaning out your purse. Recently, we had a chance to review ROG Strix G18, which combines gaming horsepower with all the high-quality perks. Here’s what we think of the machine.
A panel like no other
The 18-inch display is where a lot of the experience lies. It’s the kind of display that will keep you hooked and immersed in a game for hours. Each time you open the laptop, you know you have a couple of hours to spare, playing your favourite titles. Of course, an 18-inch display comes with a certain weight and the entire thing weighs about 3kgs and you need add the power brick to the equation.
It’s a very sharp QHD+ IPS display (2,560 x1,600) refreshing at an insane 240Hz while brightness is at 500 nits, which is bright enough for a gaming laptop. One needs to remember that a machine like this won’t be seen too much in outdoor spaces, like a café.
The keyboard has all the hallmarks of a gaming machine
The 16-by-10 aspect ratio gives you more screen real estate that’s helpful if you are working on video- or photo-editing software and, of course, gaming. The response time is 3ms and it is G-Sync enabled. Further, this is an anti-glare display which is perfect for tackling reflections and it’s got Dolby Vision HDR.
Team ROG calls this ROG Nebula display. It’s obviously not an OLED screen, which can be very expensive at high refresh rates. How does that affect the level of black while playing horror titles? It’s still fantastic.
Extreme performance
Coming to performance, the machine is powered by 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13980HX processor with up to 140W of power draw in Turbo mode, 16GB of onboard DDR5 RAM (with support for up to 64GB) and 1TB SSD. Plus, RTX 4070 GPU.
Needless to say, the benchmarks are very good but, more importantly, it’s the gaming performance that matters. That’s exactly what the ROG Strix G 18 gets spot on. Intensive game like Cyberpunk 2077 has decent FPS ranging from 40 to 50 with the graphics preset set to Ray Tracing Ultra but I love the fact that you can set DLSS super resolution to Quality (turn on AI frame generation) and see the FPS jump drastically. Around 70 FPS is very good at such high settings. Or set the graphics to High instead of Ultra and get 90-100 FPS. The gameplay is really smooth and the game looks beautiful.
There will also be a crowd that will look at editing videos on the machine with Premiere Pro. For even complicated video editing, like 4K 10-bit footage, the machine will easily manage it, complete with transitions and effects. If you’re into casual video editing, like short form content, this is more than capable for that kind of usage and also for Adobe Photoshop or Lightroom.
Further, the machine has MUX Switch with Advanced Optimus. If required, it will connect directly to the GPU for increased performance and it would do that without requiring you to restart the machine.
The hinges are sturdy and there is almost no wobble on the screen
His brings us to heat management, which is important on a high-performance machine. The chassis is big, allowing efficient ventilation on all three sides and underneath. Also, ROG uses Conductonaut Extreme liquid metal for cooling the CPU. Heat is dissipated easily, allowing stable gaming sessions.
Should you buy it?
We haven’t spoken about the design. It looks and feels like a gaming laptop, right from the RGB keyboard to the wraparound RGB lighting, all of it is customisable. You’ve got ROG branding etched on the body that sort of is printed like a stamp across the keyboard in a classy way. The grilles under the bottom bezel on the sides and at the back give it a bold gaming look.
All the ports have moved to the sides and there’s none of it at the back. Some people prefer ports at the back because that keeps the setup tidy. Having it on the sides, makes it easily accessible but I prefer having it on the back. You’ve got two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports on the right and the rest are all on the left, like USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port, another Type-C port, HDMI, Ethernet, audio jack and power. The display is sturdy and doesn’t wobble. As for the speakers, it’s loud and there is good sound separation.
Battery life? The 90W battery will last for hours if you do only web browsing but while gaming, don’t expect too much there. The only drawback is the webcam which is still 720p but the microphones pick up one’s voice quite well. As always, from the Armoury Crate you can do all kinds of tweaking to the performance.
Overall, this is a fantastic gaming rig. Asus ROG Strix G18 is the top dog of the gaming world and once you start using it, you will find it difficult to move to any other gaming machine.
At a glance
Device: Asus ROG Strix G18
Price: Upwards of Rs 279,990
High notes
Powerful gaming machine
Screen real estate among the highest
Excellent heat management
Typing is comfortable
Muffled notes
720p webcam