ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 GA503QR Unboxing and Review

[Techstorm970]

At CES 2021, ASUS made a lot of noise with the intent to impress the tech industry with their new laptop models.  One of the models that perhaps took center stage was the Zephyrus G15 GA503, an enlarged, updated version of the popular and well-received Zephyrus G14 gaming laptop.  ASUS made some remarkable claims about this new machine.  1440p, 165Hz, 100% color-accurate display.  High-performance gaming and workstation capabilities.  Metal chassis.  And a whopping 14 hours of battery life!  Does this laptop live up to the hype?  Only one way to find out!

 

First, the Unboxing…

 

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 GA503 comes in a sleek, decorative box design.  A silvery dot pattern giving off rainbow reflections runs diagonally across the box with the recognizable Republic of Gamers logo on the front.  These dots are a nod to the design on the laptop’s lid, which I will cover later.  The logo also bears this silvery design with rainbow reflectivity.

 

(Ignore the stickers.  This was an open box from Best Buy.)

As you open the box’s lid, the laptop is lifted out of the box.  Sick entrance, bro!

 

 

 

 

The laptop comes with the following booklets and flyers: Warranty Card, Safety Info, Reward flyer, Short setup booklet, and a Customer Support flyer

I have posted a TL;DR of this review on Best Buy to see what the heck this ROG Elite Rewards flyer thing will get me.  (Best Buy hasn’t approved it yet, so we’ll have to wait…)

Underneath the cardboard insert on the right-hand side is the 200W power brick, and under the one on the left is the power cord to plug into the wall.  The power brick has a smooth little ROG logo on it, and the connector for the laptop is graciously angled at 90 degrees so that it is always out of your way.

   

Alright, unboxing over!  Let’s get to the fun stuff!

Spec Sheet - ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 GA503QR

 

• ·         AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS 8-core/16-thread APU

o   AMD Radeon Vega 8 iGPU

o   3.3 GHz base, 4.5 GHz turbo

o   35W TDP, 45W max power draw

• ·         NVIDIA RTX 3070 Laptop GPU

o   8GB GDDR6

o   75-80W TGP

o   Overclockable!!!  (Will run at 80W TGP)

• ·         16GB DDR4 3200MHz RAM

o   8GB is soldered onto the motherboard.

o   Other 8GB is a Samsung SODIMM stick.

• ·         15.6” 1440p 165Hz IPS LED screen

o   Freesync

o   Pantone Validated color accuracy

o   4ms response time

o   360 nits brightness

• ·         SK Hynix 1TB PCIe 3.0 x4 NVMe M.2 SSD

o   3500MB/s read

o   3000MB/s write

• ·         Gigabit Ethernet and a dual-band 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 + Bluetooth 5.1 card
• ·           90Wh battery
• ·         4.2 lbs (1.9kg)
   

Exterior Design

 

Many people probably remember seeing the “Moonlight White” design of the G15 at CES.  Unfortunately for us, this is exclusive to the top-spec GA503QS model of the laptop that features an RTX 3080 and has 32GB of RAM.  So, you’re going to need to shell out $2500USD or more to buy the white Zephyrus.

(Moonlight White model below)

Spoiler

The one I bought is the midrange GA503QR Eclipse Grey model that Best Buy has been selling for about a month now.  The aesthetic not only looks like an enlarged Zephyrus G14, but also shows heavy influence from Apple’s Space Gray MacBook Pro.

The lid is made of a magnesium-aluminum alloy, while the rest of the chassis is some sort of plastic.  Although I was hoping for an all-metal chassis design, I need to give ASUS credit for what they’ve achieved.  The entire laptop exterior is the same color despite the two different materials, and the tactile difference between the two materials is impressively minor.  Also, the plastic is thick and very sturdy; I observed little to no keyboard flex whatsoever.

The Zephyrus measures 13.97 in. x 9.57 in. x 0.78 in. (35.5cm x 24.3cm x 1.99cm).  These dimensions are fairly typical…for an ultrabook.  But this is no ultrabook; it’s a high-end gaming laptop!
(Dell G7 vs Zephyrus G15 size comparison below)

 

Spoiler

On the lid is a dot matrix design covering roughly half of the surface, which is quite similar to the Zephyrus G14. Underneath these little holes is a reflective film that will change colors depending on the direction of the light hitting it.  From what I have seen, the reflection will either be white streaks or rainbow spectrum streaks.  Going in, I was worried that the rainbow reflection would be flashy and overwhelming, but that is not the case.  It is quite understated, serving a role as an accent rather than a standout, which I believe was the right move.  It adds a little flair without hurting the sleekness of the laptop’s design.

 

    

A mirror strip at the back (or bottom, if you have it open) of the lid provides a great design accent, as well!  In the lower corner is a Republic of Gamers 15^th Anniversary mirror plate, which I greatly prefer over the often bold and flashy ROG logo.

      

The Zephyrus is a gaming laptop that legitimately looks cool without screaming “GAMER!!!” like a banshee.  The Zephyrus G15 could just as easily pass as a professional, business-focused design similar to a MacBook Pro or a Dell XPS.

Upon flipping over the laptop, we find that the underside of the laptop features plenty of ventilation and clearly visible fans.  Two rubber strips (“feet”) ensure that the laptop stands slightly above the tabletop surface to allow air to stream in through these intake vents.  The back foot is slightly taller, raising the laptop in the back.  This makes for a better typing experience, but also increases the vertical height of the laptop when its sitting on a desk.

 

Spoiler

Although the front edge is thinner than my old Dell G7 7588, the elevated back end approaches the same thickness.

 

Ports and LED Indicators

 

ASUS provided a good mix of I/O ports on this year’s Zephyrus G15.  On the left side, we have…

Spoiler

• ·         An exhaust vent
• ·         Power port
• ·         HDMI 2.0b
• ·         RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet
• ·         1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A (10Gbps)
• ·         2 USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports with DisplayPort 1.4 functionality (10Gbps)

o   No Thunderbolt, so no eGPUs

o   100W Power Delivery

• ·         3.5mm audio combo jack

I really wish ASUS had included a USB-C PD charging cord in addition to the regular power brick.  This is an absolutely amazing feature that we won’t get to use without shelling out some extra money on a USB-C PD charger ourselves.  I (and many others) have already paid $1800 for this, ASUS!  C’mon!

Anyway…

On the right side, we have…

Spoiler

• USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A (10Gbps)
• ·      MicroSD card slot (312MB/s)
• ·      Another vent
•        Kensington lock

“312MB/s for a microSD card slot?!  That’s insane!”  Yes, it is.  It’s so insane that presently, not a single microSD card exists that can take advantage of those speeds.  Still, it’s a nice-to-have, no doubt!

On the back, we have two more exhaust vents and, in the middle, three LED indicators.

Spoiler

What this means is that I need to stand over the damn thing, crane my neck, and/or pick it up and tilt it just to see if it’s done charging, which is annoying.

Spoiler

Meanwhile, my Dell G7 7588 has its battery charging LED in the front where it’s easy to see:

Spoiler

I will come back to the Zephyrus's LEDs later on in the review.

If I had to wish for any more ports on this laptop, it would be a third USB Type-A port.  There is undoubtedly room for it, and it would give me a Type-A port to just have free for miscellaneous stuff.  As it is, one of the ports will constantly be occupied by my mouse, and the other will often be occupied by my headset, leaving just the Type-C ports.  I have remedied this issue by buying a USB-C hub that adds 3 USB 3.0 ports, but still.  That’s an extra external device to buy!

Spoiler

 

Interior Design

 

The lid can easily be opened with one finger, which is awesome.  This embarrasses my Dell G7 because it can’t be opened like that despite the fact that it is 2 lbs (1 kg) heavier!

 

Looking at the interior of the Zephyrus G15 is where you REALLY see the resemblance to the MacBook Pro.  Black bezels.  Black keys.  Space gray keyboard deck.  Upward-facing speakers on either side of the keyboard.  Large trackpad.  Clearly, Apple still has a powerful, innovative influence on the rest of the industry.

From here on out, the Zephyrus G15 GA503 is really going to shine.

The trackpad, in addition to looking like an Apple trackpad, both feels and functions a lot like one, too.  The trackpad is comfortable to use with a glass surface and buttons that sound similar to those on the MacBook Pro’s trackpad.  It is extremely smooth and responsive, and is honestly the first trackpad that I have ever enjoyed using!  10/10, ASUS!  10/10!

The keyboard, by appearance, is fairly standard.  The keys are slightly larger than the Dell G7’s, which will be helpful when typing.  Unfortunately, they copied Dell’s notoriously annoying arrow key design, so that is a disappointment.  The speakers are included at the expense of a numpad, so the Dell G7 retains that advantage.

But the function keys?  Hooooooo boy!  ASUS knows what they’re doing!

The function keys are noticeably larger than the Dell G7’s, and their secondary functions are more powerful:

The Dell G7 7588 has:

F1	Mute speaker
F2	Decrease speaker volume
F3	Increase speaker volume
F4	Reverse music/video
F5	Play/pause
F6	Fast-forward
F7	*nothing*
F8	Stream to external display
F9	Search
F10	Keyboard backlight toggle
F11	Dim screen
F12	Brighten screen
Print Screen
Insert
Delete

 

The Zephyrus G15 GA503 has:

F1	Mute speaker
F2	Dim keyboard backlight
F3	Brighten keyboard backlight
F4	Keyboard backlight effect toggle (Aura Sync)
F5	Performance setting toggle
F6	Screenshot
F7	Dim screen
F8	Brighten screen
F9	Stream to external display
F10	Trackpad on/off
F11	Sleep mode toggle
F12	Airplane Mode toggle
Delete

Furthermore, the Escape key is separated from the others, which is greatly appreciated!

Moving further back, we have four hotkeys and the power button.  The four hotkeys are: Decrease speaker volume, Increase speaker volume, Mute mic, and Launch ARMOURY CRATE software (will describe in “Software” section)

The power button has Windows Hello fingerprint technology, so you can unlock the Zephyrus with your fingerprint!  The sensor is not perfect, but I would consider it reliable since it works most of the time.

At the very back are the LED indicator lights.  The one on the left is a power indicator, the one in the middle is a battery charging indicator, and the one on the right is a disk usage indicator.  The disk usage indicator has never been static for me, blinking or flickering with ongoing downloads.  The battery indicator is white when the battery is fully charged, and orange while the battery is charging.

Onto the panel!  A very subtle “ROG Zephyrus” emblem is etched into the bottom of the bezel.  I like the design of it; once again, ASUS is staying true to this laptop’s sleek aesthetic.  They include a sticker on the left-hand bottom corner that advertises the 1440p, 165Hz, 100% color accurate display; this can of course be taken off.  This laptop boasts an 85% screen-to-body ratio, which is appreciated and continues to follow the minimalistic trends of the industry.

   

Unfortunately, there is no webcam on any of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus models.  This continues a trend that ASUS has latched onto for years, but is quite inconvenient in our present COVID time.  However, there are two microphones at the top of the bezel, which I will cover in the “Audio” section of this review.

Typing

 

The typing experience I had on the Zephyrus G15 was remarkable!  I needed to write a 4-page paper for a university assignment, so I used that assignment as an opportunity to test out the keyboard.

Each of the keys is bent ever so slightly inwards towards the middle, providing you with enough tactile feedback to know if your keystroke landed as you hoped it would.  They are also quite smooth to the touch with a little bit of mushiness to them, and key presses feel seamless.  The keyboard switches are not so sensitive that you think a feather could trigger a key press, but also aren’t so rigid that you feel like they’re resisting your fingers.

Between the Zephyrus and my Dell G7 7588, which has rougher, flatter keys that are 7% smaller on average, I enjoyed typing on the Zephyrus more.  This is actually quite a high bar for the Zephyrus to clear.  To elaborate, let me tell you a brief story...

I was flattered at college when one of my groupmates during a project started typing on my Dell and was like, “Ooooh, nice keyboard dude!  Clicky…”  His computer was a MacBook Pro, which is generally known for its keyboard.  And yet, he liked the G7’s better!

 

And now I will say that the Zephyrus’s keyboard feels better yet!  The biggest difference is that the keys feel more welcoming to my fingers; that is, I don’t feel like I need to hit them hard.  My fingers’ typing endurance was definitely higher when using the Zephyrus than it was when using my Dell G7.
 

Keyboard Backlight

 

The Eclipse Grey Zephyrus models include a single-zone RGB keyboard backlight that you can customize using ASUS Aura Sync through the ARMOURY CRATE software.  Personally, I chose to make the keyboard backlight a solid Ryzen Orange color to reflect the CPU inside.

There are four brightness settings for the backlight: Off/33%/67%/Max.  “Off” works best in bright environments where the contrast between the black keys and translucent grey lettering is good enough.  Max brightness will hurt your eyes in the dark, but is great for slightly dimmer environments where the black/grey contrast isn’t as pronounced.  Most often, I find myself using the 33% and 67% brightness settings; 33% is best for dark environments, and 67% is sort of an all-around backlight setting.

The Moonlight White Zephyrus design is limited to a plain white backlight.  Sounds awesome, right?  It’s not.  The customizability goes way down as a result, and you will find yourself only using the backlight in the dark.  Otherwise, the letters will blend in with the white keys, and you may no longer know what the hell you’re typing anymore!  So, there is an advantage here to buying the Eclipse Grey model.

(Moonlight White model at Max keyboard backlight brightness below)

Spoiler

 

Audio

 

Slight spoiler: “WOW!”

Let’s begin with the microphone array.  Yes, I said microphone ARRAY.  The two microphones on the top bezel are just the two microphones you can see; the rest are placed all over the computer in locations that are not clearly visible to the user.  Furthermore, the two visible microphones are also the worst microphones in the array, arguably.  By themselves, they sound horrible.  However, if you bring in the other microphones from around the chassis, prepare to be amazed!  When various YouTubers I watched tested out the microphone array, there was never a substantial difference between the Zephyrus G15’s mic array and their PROFESSIONAL-GRADE microphones.  My jaw dropped!

(Disclaimer: The microphone array is one of the very few features I did not test myself.  Don’t worry, I tested the speakers!)

The speakers are a similar story.  They can get fairly loud, and they are SO crisp!  There are two 2W woofers on the front underside corners of the laptop and two more on the keyboard deck.  These combine with the two 2W tweeters further back on the keyboard deck to provide undoubtedly high-quality sound!  The design of this sound setup is quite similar to that of the MacBook Pro, and competes with the MacBook Pro’s sound quality, as well.  Supposedly, the current-gen MacBook Pro has slightly better speakers, but the impression I’m getting is that the speakers on the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 are some of the best laptop speakers out there!

The microphone and speakers are software-accelerated through the ARMOURY CRATE and Dolby Access apps that come with the Zephyrus.  I will cover these in the “Software” section.
 

Display

The ROG Zephyrus GA503 ushers in a new era, one of 1440p laptops hitting the mainstream at a large scale.  Indeed, this WQHD display makes for a crystal-clear picture, but I would be selling the display short if I stopped my review of it here.

The screen has a 165Hz refresh rate great for FPS and eSports titles.  Personally, I noticed a huge difference during typical use between this display and the 1080p 60Hz one on the Dell G7.  The cursor travels across the screen in such buttery-smooth fashion!  Less of a flipbook and more of a steady stream.  Lovely!

OS and GUI animations are also buttery-smooth on the Zephyrus’s display and make for a very satisfying user experience.  I fell in love with laptops with high-refresh rate displays as soon as I played around with one at Micro Center in 2019, and the Zephyrus’s display only enforces this.

Now, onto the color accuracy.  From day one, ASUS has been flaunting the Pantone-Verified 100% DCI-P3 color accuracy rating of this display.  From the tests that I’ve seen, it usually runs closer to 96% DCI-P3, which is very close to 100%.  The display also has 100% sRGB and 85% AdobeRGB, making for truly high-quality color accuracy!

According to various reviews, the display’s brightness is rated well above the 300-nit industry standard.  360 nits, approximately.  This comes with a splendid 1028:1 contrast ratio.

Based on my observations, all of these traits are clearly present.  The screen is bright with vibrant colors, quite simply putting my Dell G7’s display to shame!  The Dell’s display has a muted, depresso look in comparison to the Zephyrus G15.  The Dell is also limited to a max brightness of 250 nits and a 700:1 contrast ratio; abysmal, even for its time.

(Dell G7 on left, Zephyrus G15 on right.  Both are at max brightness and displaying the same window on-screen.  Only the window banners up top and the taskbars on the bottom of the screens are different colors.)

Spoiler

(For reference, the Dell G7’s color gamut is 59% sRGB, 44% AdobeRGB.  Again, garbage, but better than the Acer Aspire I had before it.)

Now, the one way that my Dell G7’s display is better than the Zephyrus’s is that it has less backlight bleed.  The Dell G7 has little to no backlight bleed whatsoever; Dell took quality control very seriously with it, and it shows!  Meanwhile, the ROG Zephurys G15 doesn’t have much backlight bleed, either, but it can be noticeable around the edges when the brightness is set to maximum and the color being displayed in that region is black or very dark.  Overall, the backlight bleed on the Zephyrus is minor, but the Dell G7 has virtually none.

(Dell G7 on left, Zephyrus G15 on right)

Spoiler

By default, the display is in Overdrive mode, accelerating its response time to 4ms.  Although I haven’t seen it for myself, Overdrive mode can supposedly cause a little bit of ghosting.  With Overdrive mode off, the response time reduces to 7ms, but there’s no ghosting.

1 s = 1000 ms

1000 / 4 = 250.

4ms is clearly fast enough for the 165Hz refresh rate of the display.

1000 / 7 ≈ 143.

7ms is still quite good, but will bottleneck the laptop’s refresh rate.

From what I’ve heard, Overdrive mode being set to default is the best option, with the ghosting problems being minor.

Among 1080p and 1440p gaming laptop displays, these tests and statistics place the Zephyrus G15’s display as one of the best gaming laptop displays out there, and with the WQHD resolution, high contrast ratio, and high color accuracy, it should be very good for artistic work and video editing, as well!

 

 

Miscellaneous Design Features

 

Just like the Zephyrus G14 before it, the Zephyrus G15’s lid lifts up the rest of the laptop when opened more than 95 degrees.  Furthermore, the lid can actually open up to 190 degrees, although I see no reason why you would need it to open that far.  The fact it can lay flat on a surface is really cool, though, and I imagine it could be useful in conference environments.

You may worry that the hinge will be strained severely by the constant load of lifting up the back of the laptop.  Do not fear; ASUS has thought this through!  The hinges found on the Zephyrus G15 are supposed to be the best in the industry, and I believe it; they’re either made of steel or reinforced by steel!

When the laptop stands partially supported by the lid, it rests on little rubber feet located on the back edge of the lid.  These feet seem durable and prevent the laptop from sliding around fairly well.  They also lift the back of the laptop up, which will noticeably improve the laptop’s cooling capabilities.

Spoiler

 

The laptop’s airflow is as follows: Air is sucked up from underneath, then leaves through the four vents on the sides.

The two exhaust vents on the back end of the machine will blow air directly onto the bottom of the bezel, much like the MacBook Pro.  This will not reduce airflow or damage the display; the display won’t receive much heat.

Over the week I’ve had it, the Zephyrus as a whole has been easy to clean.  A few lens cleaners (rubbing alcohol wipes) should do the trick!

When closed, the Zephyrus’s lid is kept shut by a magnet, so the lid won’t ever be shaken around in your backpack.  (This was a problem with my Dell G7 7588.)  Despite this, it is still easy to open, as I have already mentioned.  Ingenious!
 

Software

My Zephyrus came with Windows 10 Home installed, but you can opt for a Windows 10 Pro installation, as well.  As usual, Windows put ads and bloatware on there for me to remove at the beginning.

Spoiler

Mini-rant

 

So, I buy this HIGH-END, current-gen gaming laptop and what does Microsoft give me?  Candy Crush and Roblox.

 

 

 

Talk about insulting the product!

      In addition to the Nvidia and AMD graphics software applications, there are three others you should keep:

Dolby Access

This is a simple application used for one thing and one thing only; improving sound quality via software.  I could not use it for my Logitech G533 headset, but it makes all the difference in the world for the built-in speakers.

With Dolby Atmos disabled, the speakers are quiet and hard to hear over whirring fans when the laptop is under heavy load (e.g. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey).  However, once enabled through Dolby Access, the speakers sound noticeably better and are much louder.  Dolby Access is a simple, but important software for this laptop that legitimately improves it!

MyASUS

 

This one was an unexpected gem.

It is very similar in functionality to Dell Support Assist, but in my opinion, it executes the concept far better.  It provides direct links to ASUS support (which is admittedly not great but whatever), as well as user manuals and troubleshooting guides.  It includes system diagnostic features that allow you to run hardware tests and investigate various basic problems with the laptop (driver errors, failing battery, slow boot times, etc.)  It also checks for driver updates; neat!

The best feature of this software, though, are its battery charging settings.  You can use MyASUS to choose to charge it up to 60%, 80%, or 100% when you plug it in.  Why?  To extend the battery’s life cycle!  If you don’t charge it fully every time, then it will last longer.  60% is meant for people who usually have their laptop plugged in.  80% is a “balanced mode” charge for people who use it a lot both plugged in and on battery.  100% is for users who need the longest battery life possible and use the laptop on battery frequently.  The lower modes preserve the battery’s longevity so you won’t need to replace it as soon as usual.  (100% is standard; what else would it be?)

 

 

ARMOURY CRATE

 

Ah yes, the software so useful and powerful that is has its own dedicated hotkey on the keyboard!

This software is like Intel XTU but better.  On the first page, you will see:

• CPU frequency, usage, voltage, and thermal data
• Memory frequency and usage data
• GPU frequency, usage, VRAM frequency, thermals, and voltage data
• CPU and GPU fan speeds, along with fan noise data

ARMOURY CRATE gives you access to five power/performance settings:

• Windows
• Silent (Better battery)
• Performance (Balanced)
• Turbo (Better performance)
• Manual (a.k.a. “extreme” or “custom”)

First, should you use the Windows power setting?

 

(Seriously, it’s awful in every way.  Don’t use it.)

Silent mode works best when the laptop is on battery.  The CPU is sent into an energy-efficient state, dropping to a speed that fluctuates between 1.7 – 2.3 GHz at idle.  The GPU is also sent into a low-power state.  The laptop runs very cool when in this mode, hence the name.

Performance mode is the default setting for battery.  It works OK for running the laptop on battery, but not anything close to Silent mode.  It is roughly equivalent to “Balanced” mode.

Turbo mode is the default setting for when the laptop is plugged in.  It prioritizes performance, and certainly does the job!  It is unavailable when the laptop is on battery power.  But what if we want to go further?

Manual mode gives you access to a ton of settings, and is not available when the laptop is on battery power.  You can set the CPU TDP and customize the CPU and GPU fan profiles to your liking.  (Yes, you can program the fans independently from each other.)  Better yet, you can overclock the RTX 3070!!!

(Below is my custom fan profile that I used for both the CPU and GPU during this review.)

Spoiler

Sometimes the Zephyrus will activate Manual mode for you, sometimes you need to activate it yourself.  Might be a bug, but I’m not sure…

You will discover that the GPU comes overclocked out of the box.  ASUS overclocks the GPU by 100MHz and the GDDR6 VRAM by 120 MHz by default in Manual mode.  I took it to the very limit, overclocking the GPU by 200MHz and the GDDR6 memory by 300MHz for my testing and personal use.

ARMOURY CRATE allows you to toggle several features from its home screen:

• Windows Key (Enable/disable)
• ROG ARMOURY CRATE Hotkey (Enable/disable)
• Touch Pad (Enable/disable; you can also do this with Fn+F10)
• Boot Up Sound (Enable/disable)

o   Laptop makes a “Shhhhhhhiiinnnnnnngg!” sound on boot when enabled, resembling a sword being drawn from a sheath.  (The sound effect is literally called "ROG Claymore")

• Panel Overdrive (Enable/disable; disabled when on battery power.)
• Panel Power Saver (Display runs at 60Hz when enabled, 165Hz when disabled.)
• iGPU mode (On/off/auto)

o   “On” will disable the RTX 3070, using the Vega 8 iGPU only.

o   “Off” will disable the Vega 8 iGPU, using the RTX 3070 only.

o   “Auto” uses the Vega 8 iGPU on battery and uses the RTX 3070 when when the system is under graphical load and plugged in.

To be clear, the Vega 8 iGPU and the RTX 3070 will never run simultaneously on the Zephyrus.  Personally, I love this!

In the ARMOURY CRATE window, you will see a left-hand sidebar with the following tabs:

• Home (just went over this)
• Device > System

o   “Memory” page allows you to disable background processes to your liking while gaming.

o   “GPU Power Saving” allows you to switch between iGPU modes, describing each mode in more detail.

o   “Lighting” allows you to change your keyboard backlight settings (would not recommend doing that from here)

o   (“Audio” tab I will cover in more detail below)

o   “Resource Monitor” is basically ASUS’s version of Task Manager’s Performance monitor.

• AURA Sync

o   Where you should change your keyboard backlight settings from.

o   Allows you to sync your AURA settings across all of your ASUS ROG devices. (Underwhelming if you have only one ROG device, but is where your backlight settings are saved, so make sure it’s on.)

o   Allows you to toggle AURA Performance Mode.  (When on, it will optimize your lighting effects for maximum smoothness at the expense of CPU performance.  Useless for any solid lighting effects, and not recommended if you want maximum battery life and/or maximum performance.)

o   In the “Aura Effects” tab, you can customize your keyboard backlight colors and effects.  You can even create new effects!  (Remember that the keyboard has only one RGB zone, so no simultaneous colors, unfortunately.)

• GameVisual

o   Allows you to optimize the color settings of your display for various game genres and tasks.

• Game Library

o   Allows you to access all of your games from ARMOURY CRATE, if you feel like it.  (I don’t use it.)

• Scenario Profiles

o   Allows you to create setting/performance profiles for specific applications.  Includes options for all of the toggle-able settings on the “Home” screen and some basic keyboard backlight settings.

• Featured

o   ASUS ROG game store (ugh…)

• News

o   ASUS ROG news center (lame…)

• User Center

o   Allows you to back up your scenario profiles to the cloud.

• Settings

o   Allows you to switch between the ROG, TUF GAMING, and ASUS design themes for ARMOURY CRATE.

o   Allows you to choose your landing page.  (“What page does ARMOURY CRATE open up to when you run it?”)

o   “Update Center” allows you to update drivers and firmware, and check for these updates.

o   Includes an “About” section that gives you ARMOURY CRATE version info and lets you choose whether to send app diagnostic data to ASUS.

Spotlight: Device > System > Audio

This is where all of your mic settings are for the Zephyrus.  You can:

• Turn background noise-cancelling on/off for the mic array.
• Turn the built-in mic-array on and off.
• Switch between microphone modes.

o   Remember when I said that the two mics just above the display sound awful by themselves?  Yeah, that’s “Cardioid Mode.”  It is directional, which is the only thing it’s good for.  It sounds awful.

o   “Stereo Mode” turns most of the mics in the array on, picking up sound from everywhere except behind the laptop.  In my opinion, this mode sounds the best and rivals professional microphone setups.

o   “Omnidirectional Mode” picks up sound from all directions at the expense of a little bit of sound quality.  Still sounds good, though.

The noise-cancelling feature makes the mic array sound like a microphone on a gaming headset.  It serves its purpose well, but reduces the sound quality noticeably.  (“Cardioid Mode” + Noise Cancellation “On” = Cancer!  Don’t even try it!)
 

 

Thermals and Fan Noise

 

CPU

 

35 C idle (Silent)

85 C max load (Cinebench R23 loop all cores: Silent mode)

45 C idle (Manual)
96 C max load (Cinebench R23 loop all cores: Manual, custom fan profile)
89 C max load (Cinebench R23 loop all cores: Manual, both fans at 100%)

Thermal throttling?  Yes.

• ·          Throttles to 3.8 GHz when above 90 C
• ·          Throttles to 3.9 GHz above 80 C

Disclaimer: Idle temps for CPU are highly unstable in Manual mode.  They can vary from 45-60C.

 

GPU

 

50 C idle (Silent)

75 C Sniper Elite 4 benchmark (Silent)

55 C idle (Manual, overclocked)

82 C Sniper Elite 4 benchmark (Manual, overclocked)

Thermal throttling?  No.
 

Fan stats

 

Max noise: 53 dB (relatively quiet for max fan noise)

Max speed: 6400 RPM
 

CPU Performance

 

Ah, the REALLY fun stuff is upon us!

I used Cinebench R23 to benchmark the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS processor.  I also benchmarked my Dell’s i7-8750H, and took 10 other Cinebench R23 benchmarks from the CGDirector website and the Cinebench app itself.  Here is the link to the CGDirector site:

https://www.cgdirector.com/cinebench-r23-scores-updated-results/

By the way, most of the CPUs I included in the graphs I’m about to show you are desktop processors.  Yes, it’s that fast!

And here are the results!  First, single-core…

 

Clearly, my i7-8750H isn’t what it used to be; it got its butt kicked!  However, the Ryzen 9 has a very different story.  Excluding the Intel Rocket Lake processors, which are only just now beginning to be reviewed, there is not a single desktop Intel processor that matches the 5900HS’s single-core performance.  Holy cow!

Among mobile parts, it’s second only to the new i7-1165G7 in single core performance.  That i7 has lower power draw, but also only four cores vs the eight on the 5900HS.

How do these processors fare in multi-core, though?

 

Hold on.  I need to console the Dell G7.  I think it’s having a midlife crisis…

Jokes aside, the i7-8750H gets destroyed again, while once again, the Ryzen 9 in the Zephyrus fares far better.  Unexpectedly, the single-core performance of the 5900HS was a little more impressive than the multi-core result.

Predictably, the i9-10900K had the best multi-core score, as it is the only 10-core processor on this list.  You reach the 8-core processors, and the competition gets far tighter.  The Zephyrus is comfortably beaten out by the 5800X and 3800X, while the i7-10700K is a closer call.  The 10700K is certainly faster, but not by much.  The Ryzen 5 5600X had an incredible single-core score, but this wasn’t enough to tip the multi-core scales in its favor.  I think it’s fair to say that all of the processors below the 5600X were always expected to be beaten by the Ryzen 9 5900HS.

 

Gaming Performance (GPU benchmarking)

 

I did not want to pay big money on GPU benchmarking software (e.g. 3DMark), and I wanted to ensure consistency across my testing.  This limited my options to a relatively small sample size of games I owned with built-in benchmarks, unfortunately.  Still, my small sample size is 5 games, so it could be worse.

Like the Ryzen 9 5900HS, I compared the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU against desktop parts.  Desktop graphics cards are usually what developers use for their system requirements, so I thought this would be a wise thing to do.

For the other GPUs, I took my data straight from TechPowerUp, my favorite GPU benchmarking website.  This means that 1% minimums were not tested, which I admit is not ideal.  However, I matched TechPowerUp’s benchmark settings in each of these games; their tests are relatively easy to reproduce.  Most of these GPUs are NVIDIA graphics cards (not my fault), but I made sure to include a couple of AMD Radeon chips for good measure.

Do not worry about the CPU bottlenecking the GPU!  TechPowerUp has tested each of these graphics cards (excluding mine) with an i9-9900K, i7-8700K, or i7-6700K processor, depending on the GPU’s generation.  The Ryzen 9 5900HS beats all of these CPUs in every way.

Now, let the games begin!

Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

 

 

Early results look promising!  The Zephyrus’s RTX 3070 has nestled itself in between the RTX 2060 Super and RTX 2070.

HITMAN 2

 

 

Results are already shifting around significantly!  HITMAN 2 appears to be optimized better for NVIDIA than for AMD; the Navi GPUs performed underwhelmingly in this benchmark.  In this test, the Zephyrus’s RTX 3070 beats the RTX 2070 by a few frames!

Civilization VI

 

 

Some patterns are beginning to show up.  The RTX 3060 Ti and RTX 2080 consistently show up at the top, while the GTX 1080 and RTX 2060 are consistently towards the bottom of this crowd.  In Civ VI, the Zephyrus’s RTX 3070 edges out the RTX 2070.

These next two games were not tested as extensively by TechPowerUp, so fewer results are shown here.  These games were tested by TechPowerUp before the RTX 3000 series, RX 5000 series, and SUPER graphics were a thing, so I apologize.  (By the way, the Vega and RX 500 series GPUs kept getting beaten by this entire group, so while they were tested by TechPowerUp, I decided not to include them.)

Sniper Elite 4

 

 

Fun fact: the Sniper Elite 4 in-game benchmark is literally the main menu screen!  Thankfully, the results in this benchmark are consistent with my previous benchmarks, so it appears the smaller group shouldn’t be a problem.  In this game, the Zephyrus’s RTX 3070 excelled!  It beat the RTX 2070 easily while still being outperformed by the GTX 1080 Ti.  My educated guess is that the RTX 2070 Super would have beat the RTX 3070 Laptop GPU, as well.  Patterns are still in place, with the RTX 2080 at the top, and the RTX 2060 and GTX 1080 at the bottom.

Assassin’s Creed: Origins

 

 

This was by far the worst showing by the Zephyrus’s RTX 3070.  Since AC Origins is a little older now, this could be an optimization issue, but it’s hard to know for sure.  Still, most of the patterns were preserved.  The GTX 1080 Ti and RTX 2080 still beat the Zephyrus’s RTX 3070, and the GTX 1080 and RTX 2060 still perform worse than it does.  An RTX 2060 Super would likely beat the Zephyrus’s RTX 3070 in this test, though, which is unique to this game out of the 5 games I’ve tested.

Overall Score

 

I averaged out the FPS for each of these cards to get an overall average graphics “score” for each.  Nothing here seems out-of-place compared to my test results, so these scores are probably accurate despite the last two games only testing some of the GPUs.

Here are my conclusions:

• ·         The RTX 3060 Ti is kickass!  Go buy it after the COVID shortages are over!
• ·         The only reason to upgrade from a GTX 1080 Ti is to experience ray tracing.  It’s still an excellent card.
• ·         The RTX 3070 Laptop GPU at 80W TGP trades blows with a desktop RTX 2070.  Honestly, this is pretty impressive, as it demonstrates about a 125% increase in performance-per-watt after just one generation!
• ·         The RTX 3060 is a rip-off!  It provides a 10% improvement over the RTX 2060, but so does a less-expensive, used RTX 2060 Super.  Rubbish!

Personally, I am very happy with these results!  Despite the fact that it’s a laptop, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G15 GA503QR can clearly pass as an upper-midrange or high-end gaming machine among desktop computers!

To provide some background info, the GTX 1060 Max-Q in my Dell G7 7588 performs better than a desktop GTX 1650, but worse than a desktop GTX 1060 3GB or GTX 970.
A GTX 1650 Super destroys the GTX 1060 Max-Q!  So, the Zephyrus G15 is a HUGE upgrade for me, if that wasn’t already clear based on previous tests.

 

Some Info About the Vega 8 iGPU

 

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS is an APU that includes a Vega 8 iGPU.  I was surprised to find that ASUS equipped the Vega 8 with its own dedicated VRAM.  For the record, they gave it 512MB of relatively slow DDR4 1600MHz RAM, and most of this memory is needed just to run the 1440p 165Hz display.  Simply watching YouTube videos almost maxes out this 512MB of VRAM.  (LOL!!!)  The Vega 8 has access to another 7.7GB of shared memory for when its dedicated memory gets full.  This of course will be the DDR4-3200MHz system memory, which is faster than the Vega 8’s dedicated memory and should theoretically improve its performance when under heavy load as a result.

It has 8 GPU cores clocked to 2000MHz, suggesting an improvement over the Vega graphics in the Ryzen 4000 series mobile processors.  The Vega 8 has a max power draw of 20W.

It was difficult to find good benchmarks on it, and I certainly won’t be using it for games!  However, based on CS:GO benchmarks I’ve found (and CS:GO benchmarks alone), this Vega 8 iGPU is roughly on par with a desktop Radeon RX 550 or Radeon R7 370.  Impressive for an iGPU!
 

 

Battery Life

 

I saved the best for last!

No…seriously…I did…

Oh, you thought the Ryzen 9 was the coolest?  Or the RTX 3070?  Or even the display?  I may not change your mind, but sit tight for just a little longer, my friend!

I found it legitimately hard to drain the Zephyrus G15’s 90Wh, 4-cell lithium-ion battery because I could never get it to die in a timely manner.  (Playing PC games at 30 fps is torture for me, so I wasn’t going to do that.)  Thankfully, I was able to test it enough to get a good idea of its battery life.

You can run the Zephyrus in Silent Mode, Performance Mode, or *gag* Windows Mode on battery.  (If you choose Windows Mode out of these three, we need to talk…)

Silent mode (iGPU mode ON):

 

Idle – 15 hours

Typical use – 11.5 hours

Watching YouTube videos – 9.5 hours

Downloading games continuously – 7 hours

 

Performance mode (iGPU mode ON):

 

Idle – 14 hours

Typical use – 10 hours

Watching YouTube videos – 7 hours

Downloading games continuously – 5 hours

I tested each of these with the screen at 50% brightness and only 4-5 background apps running.  “Typical use” for me is web browsing and Microsoft Office stuff.  Interestingly, keyboard backlight brightness impacted battery life minimally, although I usually kept it off or at 33% during these tests.

For reference, my Dell G7 7588’s “Typical use” battery life is 5 hours.  The Zephyrus more than doubles this during typical use!   Furthermore, the i7-8750H downclocks to 0.8 GHz on battery and largely stays there, making for a sluggish experience regardless of what I’m doing.  Contrastingly, the Ryzen 9 5900HS doesn’t ever fall below 1.7 GHz, so during most tasks, the Zephyrus still feels zippy as ever on battery power!

OVER 10 HOURS OF BATTERY LIFE.  IN A HIGH-END GAMING LAPTOP…
 

 

 

Pros and Cons (TL;DR)

 

Pros:

Cons:

+ Best laptop CPU in existence (as of March 2021) + Impressive GPU performance + Impressive iGPU performance + Sturdy build quality + Sleek, sexy design + Great touchpad & keyboard + A bright, high resolution, high refresh rate, high color accuracy display + Compact and light + Excellent speakers and microphones! + Highly customizable via included software + Super-fast PCIe drive(s) + USB-C PD charging + Fingerprint sensor + Easy to clean + Incredible battery life!

x CPU can run kinda hot, despite having liquid metal x Only two USB Type-A ports x No Thunderbolt capabilities x Half of the RAM is soldered onto the motherboard, so there’s no point in upgrading the memory. x No SATA III or SATA M.2 support x No Numpad x No webcam x Does not come with USB-C charger x Battery charging LED indicator is on the back of the laptop.

Verdict: 2021 Laptop of the Year Candidate

 

[sub68]

Very nice review had me going even tho it was big also change your signature

[logggin24]

I just placed an order for the exact unit you reviewed! I'm curious though, how was the actual performance on WiFi? I had a GA502DU that came with some garbage Realtek card and replaced it with an AX200 card from Intel. I wasn't impressed with the performance uplift, as my speeds over WiFi went from 150Mbps to about 220Mbps, whereas my wife's HP thin and light has the same card, but manages about 550Mbps down on our 600Mbps service. I won't rule out user error; I wonder if the antennas were not connected fully.

[Techstorm970]

5 hours ago, logggin24 said:

I just placed an order for the exact unit you reviewed! I'm curious though, how was the actual performance on WiFi? I had a GA502DU that came with some garbage Realtek card and replaced it with an AX200 card from Intel. I wasn't impressed with the performance uplift, as my speeds over WiFi went from 150Mbps to about 220Mbps, whereas my wife's HP thin and light has the same card, but manages about 550Mbps down on our 600Mbps service. I won't rule out user error; I wonder if the antennas were not connected fully.

I just ran an Ookla Speedtest.  I got 338Mbps.  The WiFi router is in the basement and I'm on the 2nd floor, so I can imagine it could be faster if you're closer to your router.

 

This thing will not disappoint you!  I love it!

[humerouspearman]

So, i recently bought this laptop and have read this review and is there a known problem why the cpu runs so hot? Especially when idle it ranges form 50c to 75c so would a reapplication of liquid metal help with thermals or best to leave it alone.

thank you

[Techstorm970]

3 hours ago, humerouspearman said:

So, i recently bought this laptop and have read this review and is there a known problem why the cpu runs so hot? Especially when idle it ranges form 50c to 75c so would a reapplication of liquid metal help with thermals or best to leave it alone.

thank you

It's a characteristic of the Ryzen 5000 H-series processors.  They are wonderfully efficient (performance-per-watt) at the expense of running hot.  Fortunately, AMD and TSMC are not stupid, so they designed the chips to withstand this heat.  Plus, the high-quality heatsink makes sure the Nvidia GPU stays considerably cooler, because it needs to.

 

If you just bought it then I doubt a liquid metal reapplication would help much, but I suppose you could try it.  Just know that it will be a pain in the drain to do.