ASUS ROG GX501 Zephyrus: Big gaming, small space

I  was nonplussed. This notebook looked like a gaming laptop by virtue of its bold design, yet, in terms of heft and weight, it was closer to an ultrabook. Then again, the ASUS ROG GX501 Zephyrus (Rs 2.99 lakh onwards) is a new generation of thin and light gaming laptops.

The keyboard on the GX501 was at the forward extremity. Thus, using the GX501 on your lap is quite uncomfortable, if not impossible. But on the desk, with the supplied palm rest, I could log a lot of gaming hours without much sweat. Also, don’t worry if the back panel drops away while you’re opening the lid; it’s a unique way of cooling the laptop.

Rise of the Tomb Raider started up at blazing speed and I could play the game at the highest possible settings without a glitch. The notebook didn’t heat up too much either. A caveat: the 15.6-inch screen supports only full HD.

 

Over the next few days, I played a lot of Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Mortal Kombat X, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Microsoft Flight Simulator X with the settings maxed out. Never was the GX501 lacking and it stayed silent all through. But I did notice a couple of things. One, the trackpad on the right is a pain to use and you’re better off with a gaming mouse or controller. Second, despite being light, I could, at most, get two hours of gaming on the battery.

The ASUS ROG GX501 Zephyrus is for those gamers who have limited space but can’t compromise on performance in a laptop and don’t mind being connected to a power source most of the time. But this certainly isn’t a replacement for your ultraportable work laptop.