THE WORLDS BEST AFFORDABLE GAMING LAPTOP

Asus ROG GL552VW laptop review

NEW DELHI: Asus has stirred the PC gaming market ever since it unleashed the ROG or Republic of Gamers laptop series. These powerful gaming machines over the years have not only witnessed improvement under-the-hood but have also been enhanced overall to deliver top-notch experience for gamers as well as non-gaming heavy users.

The Taiwanese-based tech company recently launched its ROG GL552VW gaming laptop priced at Rs 82,490. Being one of the newest in the line up, the laptop packs all the possible features one can expect from a high-end laptop. We spent few days with the Asus ROG GL552VW, playing some graphic-intensive video games along with some heavy software and endless hours of content streaming.
So, does the new gaming laptop makes the cut and is worthy enough for the gaming PC market? Read our review to find out.




Design and display

If you are familiar with gaming laptops, then Asus ROG GL552VW's 15.6-inch display and a spread-out full-size keyboard is something you would've already expected. It measures 385 x 255 x 32.4 mm and is available in two different finishes -- grey metal and black coloured model with plastic chassis. Our review unit was the one with metallic finish, which mixed well with the company's iconic Red and Black colour combination seen on the keyboard, exhaust grilles and the glowing company logo at the back.

Just like any other gaming laptop in the price segment, the ROG GL552VW too is heavy as it weighs almost 2.5kg. This makes it difficult to carry around. The display is tightly fitted with the rest of the body via two hinges. This definitely marks a plus point given that most large-screen laptops these days have displays that wobble even while typing.

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The keyboard is a complete delight to use. The keys look amazing in Red backlit colour and are clickable just like any other regular keyboard. You can also control the intensity of the keyboard's backlight. Asus claims the model to feature 'perfect-response 1.8mm travel distance'. The arrow keys are big and are spaced out perfectly. Catering to the needs of gamers, Asus has also especially highlighted the WASD keys. The touchpad is large and is responsive.

There are two front-firing speakers placed above the keyboard area resulting in a more immersive experience while watching videos or playing video games. They are powered by the company's native SonicMaster technology.
On the sides, users get 2 USB 3.0 and a USB 2.0 ports, LAN port, HDMI, and audio/mic inputs. While there is an optical disk drive on one side, the other side includes heat vents. One of the pros of the Asus ROG GL552VW is that the battery is not enclosed inside the laptop as it can be unlocked using the spring heads. Asus has made it easy for gamers to upgrade the laptop by letting them easily access the RAM and harddrive as well.



There is a HD webcam, a 3-in-1 SD card reader and a USB Type-C (USB 3.1) too. The webcam was just about average. It can shoot images in HD resolution and can record HD videos in 15fps and 30fps options.

The ROG GL552VW's 15.6-inch full HD display is crisp and offers impressive 178 degree viewing angles. The colour shift on the display is also minimal while viewing it from sides. The matte screen manages to prevent reflection. However, for some reason when we got our review unit, the display unnaturally showed a warm yellowish tint. But a bit of screen calibration did the trick. We personally liked the inclusion of full HD resolution display because not only is it easy on the laptop's battery but also we don't really see a need for a UHD resolution display on a 15.6-inch display just yet. Both full HD and UHD resolution on a 15.6-inch screen hardly appear different. Of course on larger screens like TV sets it would make a big difference.

Performance

Asus ROG GL552VW stays on top of the game when it comes to performance. The laptops packs a powerful Intel Core i7 (6th Gen.) processor under-the-hood clubbed with 16GB of DDR4 SDRAM. Although our review unit features 16GB RAM, it can be expanded up to 32GB via dedicated RAM sockets. There is an 8GB RAM variant as well, but who would want that?

We played games like Assassin's Creed Syndicate, Mortal Kombat X (in multiplayer mode) among few others and as expected there was not a single glitch or lag. In some rare cases, playing few titles on 'Ultra' mode resulted in screen stutter but that is negligible. We saw some frames stuttering even when the ROG GL552VW was running on battery.



Gaming, both singleplayer and multiplayer via LAN was smooth. According to Asus, the laptop boasts Gamefirst III technology to enhance gameplay. Talking about graphics, the particular department is run by Intel's HD Graphics 530 GPU in tandem with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M, which although is not the latest in the market but does give you a decent performance. The Nvidia GPU comes with 4GB GDDR5 VRAM.

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As for the storage, our Asus ROG GL552VW unit came with 1TB of inbuilt space, of which almost 900GB is user accessible. The laptop comes in two storage options -- 1TB with 7200RPM and 1TB with 128 GB SSD. The wireless connectivity reception was powerful and worked just fine. The gaming device supports Wi-Fi, Wi-Fi Direct, and Bluetooth v4.0 connectivity.

The software prowess of the Asus ROG GL552VW lies with Microsoft's latest Windows operating system, the Windows 10 (Windows 10 Home version). As one would expect, the OS comes with its own share of goodies such as the new start button, Cortana virtual reality assistant, Microsoft Edge, new Photos app and more.

Of course Asus has bundled other softwares too like Steam application, ROG Gaming Centre, Asus Web Storage, WPS Office and more. AudioWizard for customizing sound profiles, McAfee LiveSafe, Microsoft Office 365 (1-month trial pack), and Dropbox are also present.
Such processing power with massive display, backlit keys and a superior lag free performance costs a good amount of battery life. Asus claims its ROG GL552VW is backed by a 4Cell 48Whrs battery. In our tests, the laptop performed below average as it managed to stay alive for almost 3 hours on regular usage. The company can work on the particular department for sure.

Another factor that we couldn't help ignoring and what gamers might like was that the powerhouse laptop despite running multiple applications and browser tabs, stays cooler than some other gaming laptops out there. Not only does it stay cooler but also quieter than others.



Verdict

Clearly, Asus ROG GL552VW seems to be an upgrade for the company's previous gaming laptop models, specifically the Asus ROG GL552JX. It has all the power an average gamer can ask for in a PC laptop. It also is one of the options that users might want to consider given the Rs 82,490 price tag. Similar specifications can be found on the Dell's new Alienware 15 laptops as well but they are likely to cost you an arm and a leg.

When it comes to factors like cooling system and looks/design, the laptop leaves no stone unturned to impress users. Performance-wise there is a little difference on the surface as compared to competitors. The display is decent, Windows 10 brings more productivity power, and Asus' own set of technology enhances the overall gaming experience. However, the device is not for on-the-go users taking into account its below average battery life, size and a bulky weight.