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While there are many gaming laptop choices out there to suit your needs, we can't help but be very attracted by the design of this one. The ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 doesn't only look good but has climbed the ranks to be one of the best gaming laptops you can own today, even if the new Nvidia RTX 3080 is now out.
Today, we'll be taking a quick look at the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 - how it is worth your money and why you should get it.
Check out our video team's review here!
Specifications
This beast of a laptop will supercharge your gaming needs, as it features some top-of-the-line specs including a high-end 10th-generation Intel i7 processor, 240Hz IPS screen and 3ms response time. The machine is perfectly made for competitive gaming as well as dealing with heavy-duty applications, so you can do some casual video editing or graphic works.
Even if you don't have a big budget for the higher tier, the entry combination of 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD is quite enough for your typical gamer. That amount of RAM will offer a seamless multitasking experience as well as sufficient storage space for your gaming library and other applications. And as this laptop is equipped with a performance-driven Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 GPU, it'll run most demanding AAA game titles of today.
Below were the specifications for our unit:
| Processor |
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| Display |
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| Memory |
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| Storage |
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| Graphics |
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| VR ready |
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| Keyboard |
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| Audio |
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| Software |
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| I/O Ports |
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| Operating System |
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| Power |
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| Connectivity |
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| Weight |
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Built
The ROG Strix Scar 15 sports a matte finish that is smooth to the touch and has a premium look to it. At the sides and below the hinge are X3 fan grills for the ventilation system. Speaking of which, the hinges are quite sturdy but take note that there's a gap between the screen and the laptop. For this part, it might be prone to dust so do watch out for that.
As we move towards a wireless future, gone are the days when most laptops come with sufficient connectivity ports. But luckily, the Strix Scar 15 has plenty to offer. This fact is a thumbs up for productivity work that involves countless sessions of data transfer between gadgets and devices.
But, what makes the Strix Scar 15 so attractive is definitely its LED strip that's just below the RGB keyboard. The former's LED colour and flash animation is customisable just like the latter.
To top it all off, there's also a matching RGB logo at the cover of the laptop. Talk about looking flashy yet simple.
Gameplay
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 (G532L) provided our tech video editor, Umar, a buttery-smooth and immersive gameplay experience. Tests were done for about one and a half month, playing action-oriented game titles. And for the most part, our editor stuck to playing with turbo-mode on.
The 240Hz screen is definitely the biggest appeal to the ROG Strix Scar 15. Throughout Umar's gaming experience with the ROG Scar Strix 15, there was never any big framerate drops. Even if everything was set to high settings in-game (Call of Duty: Warzone), the refresh rates constantly sat at about 90 to 100fps. When playing very fast-paced games (Fortnite), refresh rates were constantly hitting 240 fps in full resolution with little to no obvious ghosting.
In this screenshot taken from our tests, it showcases how on 240 fps, it produces almost no duplication (ghosting).
Graphics were also quite smooth and clear on the FHD display in 1080p resolution. Keep in mind that the graphics card used is the regular RTX 2070 and not the Max-Q version - impressive enough in our books.
Cooling
The laptop’s cooling system a.k.a. ROG Intelligent Cooling is just as efficient. Even though the fan's speed was not exactly quiet, the temperature stayed warm to the touch all the way. It never went hot, and the processor was never noisy when churning up the quality on demanding titles. This is all thanks to the laptop's internal liquid-metal thermal compound together with the ventilated exterior on the rear sides to keep everything under controlled.
More on the ROG Intelligent Cooling technology in this machine; there are actually customizable profiles to suit different types of gaming and use. So even if you don't know how to set or aren't particular with precise temperature settings, there are presets for you to choose from.
Keyboard
The keyboard performs just as good as it looks, thankfully. It has well-spaced keys that feel good to the touch and has nice tactile feedback with each press.
On to the trackpad. While it feels good but the movement is decent at best when compared to other laptops with above-average trackpads. ROG Strix Scar 15's trackpad is also a little small if compared to the average. A nice feature to the trackpad is Asus' own proprietary built-in numeric keypad system that can be easily enabled.
Battery
Here's where you shouldn't expect much (as it is a gaming laptop after all). In our tests, we got about 5 hours top for activities that are not done in turbo-mode. With that said, you'll need to be plugged in otherwise for intense gaming sessions on turbo.
While the laptop itself isn't a heavy piece of a machine, take note that the 230W battery is like a brick, so do think about if you want to travel with this laptop often.
Conclusion
All in all, the laptop excels in gaming, offering a boost in performance especially for fast-paced games. Even if one were to play graphics-based games, the laptop will hit quite a high frame rate on full resolution.
Some other things to note include the built-in speakers which sound decent enough for a gaming laptop. We do think the overall 2.57 kg weight is alright but it may be too heavy for some, given that there's added bulk of a hump at the back near the cooling module.
So, who is this laptop for? The performance is actually similar to a PC, so if you don't fancy building one and would like the portability, the ROG Strix Scar 15 is definitely for you. In our tests, it did not really have any big drawbacks to give this laptop a miss. Yes, the fan speeds are towards the louder side, battery life is decent and weight is average. But, they're not big enough of a problem to dismiss the Strix Scar 15's user experience overall.
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