Asus ROG Zephyrus is arguably the lightest, and most powerful gaming laptop now available. As the first laptop to ship with Nvidia's Max-Q technology (other Max-Q models are coming), it's an impressively thin PC that can offer a powerful performance.
The Asus ROG Zephyrus comes with two different variants, the GX501VI-XS74 and GX501VS-XS71. Both are powered by an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor with 16GB of DDR4-2400 memory on an Intel HM175 chipset motherboard. Both variants also feature the same 15.6" anti-glare FHD (1920 x 1080) display with a 120Hz refresh rate and Nvidia G-Sync onboard. The storage and GPU options are the only differences between the two Zephyrus models, with the GX501VI-XS74 sporting a 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, and the GX501VS-XS71 with a 256GB M.2 PCIe SSD and a GeForce GTX 1070.
To help keep everything cool, the topmost portion of the interior deck is made from a perforated black aluminum panel that houses the red backlit power button, several indicator status lights, and a centrally mounted silver ROG insignia. For connectivity options, it features a USB 3.1 (Gen2) Type-C port with Thunderbolt 3 support, four USB 3.1 (Type-A) ports, an HDMI 2.0 display output and a 3.5mm headphone/mic combo jack. The Zephyrus also comes with 802.11ac Wi-Fi with Bluetooth and a built-in HD camera and array microphone.
The keyboard has chiclet caps with a 1.4mm travel distance, in addition to a 30-key rollover. The Aura RGB backlighting illuminates the keyboard, and it can be controlled using Asus's software. The Asus Zephyrus has a 4-cell 50WH battery into the tiny chassis. On a battery test, the Zephyrus lasted 1 hour and 57 seconds consisting of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi as reported by Laptop Mag. It is the most powerful laptop of its size ever made, according to Gizmodo.
The Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501VI-XS74 (with a GTX 1080) is available on Amazon, Newegg, Asus' website, and other major online retailers with a price tag of $2,699 While the Zephyrus GX501VS-XS71 (GTX 1070) is set to hit the market in August at a pricetag of $2,299.
