Features:

  • 15.6” Full HD 144Hz IPS Type Display | 3ms response time with slim 6.5mm Bezel
  • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 *(with Max Q technology) | Base: 1101MHz, Boost: 1265MHz, TDP: 90W
  • 8Th-generation Intel Core i7-8750H (up to 3.9GHz) processor
  • 0.62” thin, 4.6 lbs | ultraportable military-grade magnesium alloy body gaming laptop with premium cover CNC-milled from Solid aluminum
  • 16GB 2666Hz DDR4 | 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD | Windows 10 Home
  • Rog active Aerodynamic System (AAs) | Upgraded 12V fans and anti-dust tunnels to preserve cooling performance and system stability
  • Customizable 4-zone ASUS Aura RGB Gaming Keyboard
A LOUD and ANGRY BEAST of a machine!!

A loud and angry beast indeed, that eats up graphic intensive games and spits them out asking for more! So I am coming from a 17" G series Asus RoG, which was a great machine for the genre of gaming I was most interested in. However, my interest started getting peaked in the 15.3" smaller/thinner laptops from Asus, but I was really concerned with the heating issues that they seemed to experience in the early stages of development as they sought to go smaller/thinner. Asus hit the mark with the Zephyrus S! Gaming is a whole new experience with the GTX 1070 matched up to the amazing screen. The smaller bezel really does give the appearance of a much larger screen and my initial concerns of losing game experience due to screen size is not an issue at all. Not seeing the light bleed that I have seen other reviewers experience so I think that really could be accounted to a bad run on QC. Did I say loud and angry? Well this thing is a beast and a beast needs to breathe. It does run loud on turbo settings and above because you are pushing the laptop to play a graphic intensive game. However, I had no problem web surfing or watching videos while in balanced, silent, or even windows mode with no temp issues. You ask for something to push hard in a small package, you need to expect it need to breathe heavy, period. Can't hear it with headphones on and most people will have them on for gaming anyway. This is an Ultra Slim laptop, not a cordless one. Just because it is very portable and easy to move around with does not mean that you still do not need power. The many reviewers that complain about battery life seem to forget this when using this laptop as if they can use this machine without it being plugged in and expect massive battery life. People need to stop acting as if there isn't outlets all over this world when they absolutely need to game on the run, and just plug it in. Seriously, you can't complain about battery life when trying to run this type of graphic card/cooling system/screen/SDD/etc/etc while not being plugged in. A few weeks in now and this Asus is making me just as happy with the purchase of my old Asus RoG brick that I replaced with this purchase. Can't wait to wear this one out and see what Asus offers in the future.

Best laptop I've ever owned

The keyboard could be a little better. Also, battery life is 3-4 hours at best. Besides this, it's the best laptop I've ever owned. I even returned a Surface Book 2 to get this and love it. It handles thermals well and it OVERCLOCKS! It's almost as fast in terms of responsiveness as my 8700k desktop system. FPS in games is extremely good, 120-145fps in PubG. Extremely good productivity computer as long as you're near an outlet. I can run multiple apps at once, including vmware in background without slowdown at all. Durability is impressive. I almost went with the MSI Stealth Thin because of a bigger battery, but the screen on that thing was so flimsy I didn't think it was going to last.

Great portable gaming laptop

At the moment, I mostly use this for Guild Wars 2. It can handle max/ultra settings. Pros: -Screen is awesome. -The position of the keyboard is great (one of the main reasons why I bought this laptop). It takes a minute to get used to though. I kept thinking the track pad was still in the middle so I was sliding my finger across the space bar. However, the keyboard feels like a normal desktop keyboard. With traditional laptops, it felt like a reach to the keyboard. The lighting is also great on the keyboard. -The trackpad/NUM pad combo is pretty cool. I like the position because the purpose is for gaming and I am going to use a mouse. -Cooling is great. -The built in speakers are good for a laptop. -Plenty of inputs and they seem to be in the perfect position. -Durable. Feels solid. -It's thin and light weight. Easy to travel with. Cons -Fans can be a little loud when under load but they calm down and you get used to the noise. Headphones block out the noise anyway. -The front lid can get finger prints but it can be easily cleaned with a cloth. Not a major deal. -The battery. I get between 2-3 hours. However, this is expected for portability. When you game on a laptop, you will need to plug in power anyway. i would sacrifice the battery for thin, lower weight, and portability. -Price is a little high but the product is worth it. Overall, an amazing laptop!

Excellent Work+Gaming Laptop, definitely an 8/10, possibly 9/10

Long Story short, would I buy again? - Yes. Do I regret buying this laptop over others? - Not at all. Pretty much well rounded, great material quality, great performance balance between work and play. For reference, I use Visual Studio 2017, Adobe CC Photoshop/Illustrator, Autodesk Maya 2018.4, and Mudbox 2018.2 to do different types of development, mainly Game Development with my own tools and software. It handles each of the applications I've listed very well, so transitioning from my Desktop to this Laptop with work is a good experience. I only play games occasionally, but the hardware specs suit my development and gaming use very well. After some setup it's proven to be a wonderful laptop, it's definitely not ready right out of the box, or even charged for that matter, that was the case for mine at least. For my programming, the text by default is scaled 125%, so setting it to 100% for me made it much better, because at the 125% scale, text is noticeably blurry. In hindsight, the only things I would want different with the hardware is there to be 2 RAM slots, and I'm fine with having a single M.2 SSD, although having two M.2 SSD's would be prefect. Also maybe a higher capacity battery, although I don't know where they'd be able to fit it, would be cool if there was a matching external battery pack for this laptop. Pros: - CPU is fantastic, it's a great balance between work and gaming on a laptop. - GPU, well it's a 1070 under-clocked with some less features than a regular 1070, but it handles gaming quite well. - Display is beautiful, even though it's only 100% sRGB. I haven't tested the refresh rate yet, so all I can say is it's good so far, haven't noticed any screen tearing in games yet. - Keyboard is smooth and silent, the keys do require a bit of a heavy typing hand to function. I also like the keyboard layout along with the space between the F4 and F5 keys, since I use the function keys quite a bit with development. The Print Screen button is in an unusual position next to the right Alt key. - The Touchpad + Numpad I was at first skeptical about, but it's not a bad experience actually. - RGB Lighting looks pretty nice, gives it that extra quality appearance, haven't played around with the lighting too much, mainly just wanted it so I could see the keyboard if I'm not in a well lit environment. - Very solid materials, gotta give ASUS props on the materials used for this laptop. - Webcam is actually comparable to a Logitech C920 Webcam. I have only tested in the Skype video settings preview and not full screen yet, but I've seen much worse image quality on other laptops in the same Skype video settings preview. I have not tested the Microphone yet either, so we'll see how that turns out. - Wireless Adapter works very well, on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz it's been steady, stable, and strong. I haven't noticed any defects or issues with the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. So even though there's not an RJ-45 Ethernet port, I don't see it having any stability issues with online gaming or even with streaming, although I'd trust using a USB Ethernet Adapter more than Wi-Fi for streaming anyway. I ran a speed test which gave me the maximum up/downstream of my internet service subscription. (attached image) - 25 GB's of Dropbox storage, not really a benefit for me since I don't use Dropbox, but whatever, free GB's I guess. Cons: - Runs a bit hot and loud under medium-high load. - Kingston SSD, would be nice if they put a 1 TB in since they're going with a cheaper brand SSD, it's decent though, and I'll probably end up replacing it later on since that's not enough space for having multiple games installed and doing work. The actual size of the drive ends up being 476 GB, not very close to the 512 GB it's labeled as, I believe that's due to the drive reserving space for performance and durability purposes. - Not really that bad, but the light bleed is noticeable if the video output is all black. Although, it's not anything noticeable with normal scenarios. - Battery Life can range from 5 Hours to an hour or less, depending on what you're running and your power settings. - Gets Dirty very easily, like most laptops, but this one if you're OCD like myself, you'll spend a lot of time cleaning it up after each use. - On-Board 8 GB RAM, instead of having two slots so we can upgrade to 32GB of RAM, there's just one slot which you can put a 16 GB stick in to get 24 GB's, unsure if it supports a 32 GB stick in the one slot though, my guess would be no, but I haven't seen or read anything that says any higher than 16 GB's for the one slot. - Claiming the Call of Duty - Black Ops 4 game made me lose a bit of respect for ASUS on this one, they made it such a painful experience, it was almost not even worth it. To obtain the code for obtaining the serial key to obtain the game, you have to run the MyAsus App and run the Update to get the ASUS Promotion App, which gives you the code to register and obtain the serial key, where you have to post a picture of the packaging and your invoice, that just seemed a bit too over the top for my liking, but whatever, finally got the game after waiting about 10-20 minutes for a response email after submitting the form and pictures. - Candy Crush, and other bad promo stuff preloaded without a straight-forward way of removing, I'm actually not even sure how I removed mine, I ran the Powershell in Administrator mode with "Get-AppxPackage -Name king.com.*" (without the double quotation marks) and it turned up with nothing, now I don't see Candy Crush Saga and Candy Crush whatever it was in the start menu anymore, doesn't make any sense, but whatever, as long as there isn't candy crush. - Windows 10 Home, for this price and compared to other laptops with Windows 10 Pro in the same price range and specs as this laptop. Notes for the Attached Images, - The game screenshot is Call of Duty - Black Ops 4 with whatever optimal settings GeForce Experience set by default. - The spreadsheet is the output of getting the Physical Device Limits from Vulkan 1.1.85.0, between the GTX-1070 with Max-Q Design and Intel HD 630 that are part of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX531GS. I've got a GTX-1060/1070/1080 that I haven't ran the code on yet, I may update this review later and add another spreadsheet image with those values added in comparison. - CPU-Z windows stacked next to each other for reference, on the benchmark - I had two instances of Visual Studio, Adobe Photoshop, and Discord+Skype running during the benchmark. - Task Manager Screenshot is just because I like seeing all those logical processor graphs. - Speedtest results on 5GHz, on 2.4GHz I got around 130 Mbps Download, and 12 Mbps Upload, Although this is a Speedtest.net result, I tried testmy.net and the test was just taking forever, possibly because the ISP throttling those test servers or the servers themselves, who knows.. (Internet service package tested is rated at 250 Mbps). **UPDATE DEC 5, 2018** I found out that the typical Alt+NumPad [Key Code] shortcut doesn't work, from testing different combinations I found that to do this, you use Alt+PgUp+NumPad [Key Code]. So just remember to press the Alt Key then PgUp or PgDn (both work) before typing the key code. (e.g. Alt+PgUp+NumPad [0169] = © "copyright symbol") (e.g. Alt+PgUp+NumPad [0153] = ™ "trademark symbol")

Awesome laptop

I want a thin and light but very powerful gaming laptop. So I compared this with Razor Blade and MSI GS65 Stealth. I heard Blade runs too hot and will throttle. GS65 just simply doesn't have the right configuration I want on Amazon. So I end up settled with Zephyrus. Pretty happy with the decision. The placement of the keyboard and wired lifting mechanism all worked out for me. I mainly use it on desk with power plugged in. It's a replacement for desktop but extremely portable; about same weight and dimension as my 2 in 1 Thinkpad. Here are some pros after couple days of using. Very good cooling as the metal frame and fans with the increased air intake all contribute to the cooling. When I play game, I pleasently found out it OC the 2070 maxq all the way above 1600mhz as the spec only stated 1200mhz from Nvidia. The ROG tax does pay off itself and awards me an awesome product. I also like the speaker that's placed on the bazel right below screen firing towards user's face. It really makes the audio a lot louder and more crisp compared to some other designs with speakers on the bottom facing downwards. I'm used to higher resolution such as 14'' 2k and 27'' 4k from my other devises, but the 15.6'' FHD screen here still looks very clear with great color and the thin bazel is quite gorgeous. Now about the cons I found out. Nothing is a dealbreaker tho. It gets quite loud under full load, so does any other brand so it's really not something to criticize about. I just pop in my earphone and it's all good (Yes, it has headphone jack unlike some fancy brand that doesn't LOL). Keyboard could take some time to get used to but works out pretty well if used on a desk. I fell great typing on it and it never gets too warm because it's away from hot components. I do prefer a full fat mechanical keyboard tho. I wish there is thunderbolt 3, but I really don't need (nor afford) an external graphics card that's stronger than 2070. I really want some kind of biomatric authentification for login (either face or fingerprint). This is one thing I feel really lacked in this laptop. (Yes I'm spoiled by my phone and thinkpad that both have fingerprint unlock). Overall performance of this gaming laptop is everything I expected and more. Very happy with the build quality. My friends are so jealous too.

Great purchase, recommended.

RTX 2070 Max Q 15" inch version The design of this laptop is outstanding, a beautiful piece to look at indeed. Display: The first thing i have checked is the display, sadly it does have light bleed but it is very minimal and not noticable at all. Only when you look for it. Performance & Temps: I was easily getting above 144 fps on Fortnite, with the balanced gaming mode with temps reaching at 80C max. From 80 to 120 fps in dota ( high settings ) which reached max temp of 83 to 85 C. Overall this laptop can tackle any game if you will accept the turbo mode fan noise. This laptop have never throttled and the temps were always below 90C, the fan noise is quieter than what I have expected, and if you will wear a gaming headset with closed ear you wont hear it at all. However sometimes you will get some fps fluctuations which can be fixed/minimised with GPU driver updates and using Vulkan support in Dota 2, if you prefer to avoid all that go for the 17 inch version which has G-Sync support. Sound: The sound quality is ok id give it 7/10 its not bad seeing how thin the laptop is. Keyboard: This keyboard is much better than any keyboard i have tried, so comfortable to type on and no spelling mistakes unlike desktop keyboards. And you wont feel any heat which is the best thing about this laptop design. Ports: Sad that there is no thunderbolt 3 port, RJ45, however the laptop wifi card is so good that you don't need a RJ45 port, the connection is tested and theres no packet loss or stutter at all. Battery life: It can be extended easily with power saving mode up to 3 to 4 hours on browsing and normal use. However you will need to carry a charging brick with you everywhere or a 65W power adapter to charge it with USB C. Overall id give this laptop 8.5 out of 10. However If you have the money i recommend buying the 17 inch version just for that G sync panel, other than that this laptop is great and i have no regrets at all. I will post photos later and include further details incase i notice anything. Edit: temps mentioned above are for CPU, GPU temps were mostly below 65 C which is amazing.

Its a top tier laptop

The laptop is a beast no question, can play any game high/ultra and easily push over 60+ fps. The cooling system on turbo is very loud, sounds like pouring rain but its not a bad thing for what you getting. Upgraded the ram to 24gb, literally best thing ive ever owned. Screen is 144hz 3ms games look great little to no reflection on screen. Bring it wherever I want, and have a top tier gaming experience... its worth it for me

This thing is a MONSTER

I'm in love with this. I've had it for a few months now and I couldn't be happier with it. It's a super thin METAL gaming laptop that doesn't have the super edgy/aggressive, gawdy "gaming" styling that's on most gaming laptops. It feels sturdy. Games look buttery-smooth on the high refresh rate display. Built in speakers sound better and louder than any laptop I've used. Nvme SSD is replaceable! I can also add a little more RAM. Performance is incredible. This thing chews through anything I throw at it. A few things to consider: I'm not taking stars off because they aren't a big deal to me but might be to you: keyboard and trackpad are in a very weird place. Mostly the trackpad. Fan can get a little loud under load. Charger has a pretty big and heavy brick. No touchscreen. It's a little too snug for my taste in one of my backpacks. It also chews through battery if you aren't careful. All in all, the drawbacks are very slight considering the performance and super slim design. Performance alone is worth the trade-off, IMO. Definitely recommend if you want a want a high performance gaming laptop

Impressive

Design (5/5): Mechanically, this laptop is beautiful and elegantly designed. The bottom air vent that opens when the screen lid opens which was a pleasant surprise! Something so simple, yet useful. The RGB/AURA lighting works as intended and is a nice, non-ostentatious touch. EXTREMELY thin and light for such a huge powerhouse. Screen (5/5): The screen is bright, crisp, and quick. The 144 Hz. refresh rate and deep black level makes everything look beautiful. GPU (5/5): The RTX 2080 handles everything I can throw at it and just keeps churning, but that's to be expected. Cooling (5/5): Under full load, bench, and stress tests, the LT increases RPM fan speed as needed. Very quiet considering the amount of power it is using Usefulness (5/5) : Both my GF and I travel and frequently work from home. This LT, in combination with my desktop, allows us to never miss out on productivity and fun. Whether it is gaming, rendering 3D images or any other CAD, it's a seamless transition. I highly recommend! Worthwhile mentions: All of the included ASUS software is extremely easy for the end user to navigate. Giving you as much control as you can handle.

Love at first sight

Have had my eye on this PC for a long time and picked it up yesterday and ran some tests. I previously had a MSI GT80 Titan with two 970m SLI, this PC performs about 10 percent better than my old PC, but pretty much 1/5 the size. Laptop, although much lighter than my old PC, is actually surprisingly heavier than it looks (which is a plus for me, I like a PC with a little heft). My main concern was cooling, and I can say this PC has it in SPADES. I ran a RE6 Benchmark Test (it's what I had on me at the time) on High Settings as well as two 60 fps youtube channels and the temperature never spiked past 82 C, it usually kept to a general 75-78 C temperature range. You can quickly bring up Armoury Crate Software with the Asus Logo Button (located on the upper right hand corner of the keyboard, above the trackpad) and set Fan profiles based on the game, or let it automatically set it's own fan speed depending on bearing load. I'm still performing some tests so things can be subject to change, but so far, this PC has turned out to be the real deal. A bit of caution for anyone looking to buy though, remember this PC does NOT came with a Thunderbolt Plug, I knew this going in and it didn't effect me but it may matter to you. Also remember, naturally, if you plan to use this for heavy use this version of the Zephyrus S (1070 Max Q Version) ONLY has SSD, there is no extended hard drive so you will need an external one. Also keep in mind, much like the Razer Blade 15, this laptop has NO Ethernet Port. If you're going to buy this and you're a serious no holds barred gamer, then you can pretty much consider buying a USB Type C Hub (the ones with the Ethernet Port) pretty much part of the deal as well. Pros: + Arguably the Strongest Contender for the best thermals and cooling of any current super thin gaming laptop on the market. You can clearly tell the main thing that keeps this puppy cooled is nothing but good old fashioned mechanical ingenuity. + Extremely Light and Powerful for it's size, using Armoury Crate Software you can overclock the GPU and reach pretty much full GTX 1070 level performance. + Very reasonably Priced for what you get. + Slim and Sleek Design. The Zephyrus S is designed elegantly, but at the same time it's not ostentatious. You could most likely bring this into a business meeting or a library and you wouldn't draw unneeded attention. Cons: - No Ethernet Port or Thunderbolt Connection - The side by side trackpad and keyboard is considered unconventional by some (I consider this a pro though, I LOVE the setup, it's so fancy) - SSD ONLY (for the 1070 Max Q Version) be prepared to pick up an External HD or be ready to carefully manage the games you download - RGB lighting is kind of soft on the keyboard. You can increase the lighting intensity, but by most modern day standards it's still going to have more of a soft glow then an in your face level of intensity. - Fans are SURPRISINGLY LOUD when they are at their maximum setting, especially for something so small. Again, I also like this because I respect a machine with a little kick and can flex it's cooling muscles when it needs to. But this could be considered a con for some. Remember that you can always manually adjust fan settings using a button or set an automated profile in Armoury Crate depending on what game you play. Admittedly, I gave this 5 stars because just about all the cons, at least to ME, weren't really cons save for the Ethernet Port and Thunderbolt connection, but I already had a USB Type C hub when I bought this so I was good to go. But I wanted to list those warnings out there for people who are considering this laptop. Before buying, KNOW what you are getting before purchasing this, READ THE FINE SPEC PRINTS, if you can keep that in mind, this PC is a real beauty.

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