ASUS Zephyrus Max Q Gaming Notebook Review

Peter Donnell / 6 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

One of the fastest, slimmest, quietest, and coolest laptops in the world right now. You know what that means? Bring lots of money to this party, as the ASUS Zephyrus clocks in at a wallet-busting £2900. That is obviously a lot of money, but you’re certainly getting what you pay for. You can pick a brand, and throw £3000 at them for any high-end model, but I think the Zephyrus offers more than enough to be competitive with anything else in this price range.

Overview

High-end gaming laptops are nothing new to us here at eTeknix, as we’ve seen many of them over the years. The often come with a few compromises, such as them being more expensive and less powerful than their desktop counterparts. That’s still true of the Zephyrus, but the performance gap is certainly less of an issue now than it was say five years ago.

Fitting a quad-core high-end CPU as well as an Nvidia GTX 1080 into such a slim body design is no easy task. You’re paying for a lot of engineering here, not just the hardware its self. For such a compact system such as the Zephyrus to deliver performance that is as impressive as this is no easy task. However, doing so while it’s so slim, and so freaking quiet, and running as cool as it does, is nothing short of a technical marvel.

Gaming

The Zephyrus trades off the use of a 1440 or even 2160p display is favour of a full-HD panel. For some, the higher resolution is what they really want. However, the addition of this display delivering 120 Hz refresh rates, as well as G-Sync technology mean that games look silky smooth and clear. It’s going to be great for fast-paced FPS type gaming. The GTX 1080 is no slouch and was able to deliver the frame rates this display requires with ease, making it a premium combination for any serious gamer.

Home and Office

A great gaming system is usually a jack of all trades. If you can run the latest games on a system, then it’s unlikely to have issues running Google Drive applications or a few dozen Skype windows. When it comes to doing some video rendering, and multi-tasking, it’s up there with the best laptops on the market.

The Stereo speakers powerful too, and since they’re placed towards the front of the laptop, they’re very direct and punchy in their delivery. Of course, they’re not much use for blasting music at party levels. However, for movies and gaming, they’ll do just nicely. You can always hook up a headset and enjoy your favourite media that way too.

Build Quality

The metal chassis design is gorgeous with its brush effect finish. However, it’s that bronze trim around the edges that really makes it pop. It’s got a stunning premium quality look and feel to it that’s sure to put a smile on your face. Plus, it’ll no doubt attract some envious looks while you’re using it. Add to that the RGB keyboard, anti-glare screen, and other little perks, and you’ve got a great package that’s as well made as it looks.

Everything Else

I am blown away by how fast the storage is on this system. When it comes to a cold start, you’re looking at the desktop in just a few seconds. Even the biggest games we tested booted in record times. You’ll be wasting very little time looking at loading screens. Throwing in a cool USB mouse, and a rubber wrist rest sweeten the deal too. As it make the overall user experience that little bit more enjoyable.

Pros

120 Hz G-Sync display
Powerful GTX 1080 graphics card
Class-leading storage performance
Fast WiFi
Incredibly cool and quiet
Lightweight design (for a gaming laptop)
RGB lighting
Stunning aesthetics

Cons

None

Neutral

Price

“Desktop is still King for PC gaming. However, if you need something light, slim, and portable, without compromising on performance, the ASUS Zephyrus is going to blow you away!”