The Asus ROG Strix GL703V is a good laptop computer for 1080p gaming. It’s not low-cost,  however is an effective selection if, like us, the considered spending £3000/$3000/AU$4000 on a rig makes you desire a week lengthy meditation retreat simply to recover from the stress of all of it.

Let’s get the dangerous half out of the way in which fast, although. The Asus ROG Strix GL703V’s battery life is dangerous. It should barely final a prepare journey from London to Paris, not to mention an extended haul flight.

However who’s taking a 17-inch laptop computer on a airplane anyway? It is a gaming laptop computer for the house, even whether it is considerably thinner and considerably lighter than a few of Asus’s fashions designed to deal with top-end GeForce graphics playing cards.

Value and availability

The Asus ROG Strix GL703V prices $1499/£1499 within the spec reviewed. That is the GL703VM.

It has a GeForce GTX 1060, probably the greatest choices for 1080p decision gaming, 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD. There’s a 1TB laborious drive too for all of your media recordsdata, miscellaneous junk and fewer performance-critical video games.

There’s additionally a GL703VD mannequin. This begins at $1099 however has a GTX 1050 graphics card, which is able to go away you juggling settings greater than the spec reviewed. The bottom mannequin additionally snips out the SSD. And when you’re spending this kind of cash on a laptop computer we all the time advise getting one with an SSD.

Whereas body charges in video games can nonetheless appear superb with a tough drive, load speeds will probably be a lot slower and Home windows 10 simply doesn’t run that properly off gradual storage.

Apparent rivals on the value embody the MSI GE73VR 7RE and HP Omen 17.

Design

The Asus ROG Strix GL703V’s design is typical of a mid-range, unashamed gaming laptop computer. Its lid is brushed aluminium however the remainder of the shell is plastic.

Nevertheless, there’s a soft-touch carbon fibre impact end on the keyboard encompass. This helps mitigate the opportunity of the GL703 being seen solely as a budget-conscious laptop computer.

Like different ROG fashions, you do must be keen to go “all-in” on the gamer look, although. The keyboard font and large, brash brand on the lid imply this isn’t a design for these quietly ashamed that they wish to unwind with a recreation or two.

The stiffness of the shell’s panels aren’t fairly as much as these of an Alienware 17, although. Push down on the realm under the keyboard and you may get it flex a few millimetres, however throughout common use we’re largely pleased with the way it feels.

It is a home-bound laptop computer, nonetheless, because the 17.Three-inch display screen offers it a big footprint. And whereas considerably thinner than some, this isn’t a part of the brand new breed of gaming laptop computer that secretly goals of being the kind of ultra-slim laptop a start-up’s advertising and marketing director would possibly purchase.

It’s 24mm thick and weighs slightly below 3kg. Carrying it between rooms isn’t any main chore, however we’ll persist with a MacBook Professional for working in espresso outlets, thanks.

The Asus ROG Strix GL703V has no optical drive, however does have a strong array of connectors. About its sides are 4 USB Three.zero ports and one USB-C. The USB-C will not be a Thunderbolt Three.zero connector, simply the slower USB Three.1 Gen 1 sort.

For video there’s a full-size HDMI and a mini Show Port. An RJ45 Ethernet port that permits you to plug into your router to keep away from any potential Wi-Fi points.

Half-hidden on the Asus ROG Strix GL703V’s proper edge there’s additionally an SD slot, now routinely omitted of costliest non-gaming laptops.

Display and audio system

Ours has the 120Hz show, letting you utilize V-sync at body charges greater than 60fps

The Asus ROG Strix GL703V’s display screen is considered one of its strongest elements. It’s a 17.Three-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel IPS LCD with a matt end. At this dimension you possibly can fairly simply discover pixellation in Home windows 10’s icons, however that is above all else a laptop computer made for 1080p gaming.

Shade saturation is superb. It fully covers the sRGB customary, and even exceeds it, and there’s even 92.eight per cent protection of the DCI P3 utilized by the movie business.

Video games and flicks look wealthy and daring. Distinction has a hand on this too. At 1238:1 the Asus ROG Strix GL703V has higher distinction than most IPS LCD laptops.

Prime brightness of 262cd/m isn’t going to make the display screen look so good when you take the laptop computer out to the seashore. But it surely’s simply one other reminder the GL703V can be a homebody.

Not each spec of this laptop computer might have fairly the identical efficiency, although. There are variants of the Asus ROG Strix GL703V with a 120Hz panel, and people with a 60Hz one.

Keyboard and trackpad

As you possibly can inform from a fast look, the buttons are constructed into the pad quite than sitting under, not like a top-end mannequin such because the Alienware 17. If we have been to sit down down for a correct gaming session, we’d use a laptop computer. However for common laptop computer duties, the trackpad is ok

Aside from its GeForce graphics card, the Asus ROG Strix GL703V’s keyboard is the component that screams “gamer” the loudest. It has a extremely customizable rainbow backlight, and the WSAD keys have translucent sides, letting the sunshine define them extra clearly than the others.

There are 4 LED zones, so that you select any breed of rainbow impact you want. ‘Breath’ and ‘colour cycle’ modes successfully animate the backlight too (it’s slightly distracting) and the ‘all keyboard’ mode simply enables you to decide a single colour for the whole backlight. Some colours look slightly off, and white appears blue, however plain purple, inexperienced or blue tones look spot-on.

The keys have 1.8mm of journey however really feel largely like these of an ordinary laptop computer. They’ve some resistance, nevertheless it’s gentle and intentionally mushy. These keys are comfy and comparatively quiet, however nothing too particular.

The trackpad is of the identical grade. Because the keyboard has a NUM pad it’s shifted to the left of the Asus ROG Strix GL703V, and its floor is plastic, quite than textured glass.