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ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II Laptop Review

Final Thoughts

Price

Although there are various variants of the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II available, you can expect this to cost something in the region of £1400-£1500. Or in the US, around $1699. The pricing generally tends to fall into 3 primary categories. Screen size, graphics card and storage options. For this price, while it clearly isn’t cheap, in terms of gaming laptops, it’s hardly outside of the usual remit either.

Performance

Despite some of the tests not coming out as well as I might have expected, I’m absolutely convinced that this laptop is a powerhouse performer. Being a review sample, this has been passed around quite a lot and, as such, I suspect that somewhere along the line a tiny gremlin might have snuck into the system somewhere.

That being said, however, the performance figures were entirely within the expected remit of a laptop of this type and in terms of gaming performance, this laptop clearly has a lot to offer.

We would, therefore, suggest that you take some of the more disappointing benchmarking results with a pinch of salt. We are absolutely convinced that a brand new laptop would’ve given us a much stronger performance.

Design & Aesthetics

I’ve said it many times throughout this review, but the design and aesthetics of the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR II are absolutely fantastic. In pure aesthetic terms, while there isn’t masses to steal your attention, there is more than enough to make it pleasing on the eye. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, it gets your attention without demanding it. Additionally, the closer you look, the more subtle design choices you find.

In addition to this, it would be remiss of us not to point out the fantastic temperature and noise performance results this provided. All in all, it speaks of a very solid practical design. One which they have also managed to balance out with an exceptionally strong aesthetic.

Should I Buy One?

If we were to overlook the entirety of options available for those looking for a gaming laptop and just concentrated on the ASUS ROG branding the question you have to ask is does this stand out from the pack?

The short answer to that is yes. It would be entirely fair to say that any boost in performance comes entirely from the upgrade to the 20XX series of Nvidia graphics cards, but our testing shows that the ‘upgrade’ is clearly evident.

Pros

Top drawer design and aesthetics
Strong gaming performance
The graphical upgrade to the Nvidia 20XX series has clearly given the range a ‘leg-up’ over many of its competitors
Bulletproof sound and temperature control
Suitable for eSports, gaming enthusiasts or even general working