Asus ROG’s 2021 line includes its first convertible gaming laptop (ish)

Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) has unveiled its varied, eclectic and cool-looking line of new gaming laptops for 2021. The highlight, and the product I’m very excited and confused about, is the ROG Flow X13. It is the company’s first 2-in-1 convertible gaming laptop.

That’s right – a 2-in-1 gaming laptop. You don’t see it every day. Furthermore, as you may have deduced from the name, the X13 is a 13 inches convertible gaming laptop.

As you can probably see in the image above, the X13 does not look like typical gaming equipment. It’s the kind of thing that I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone running out of in a class or meeting. Portability is a topic here: Asus says you will have up to 10 hours of video playback on one charge and that the 100-watt USB-C charger provides 50 percent in 30 minutes. You can choose between a 120 Hz FHD touch screen or a 3840 x 2400 touch screen. Either way, you get a 16:10 aspect ratio with extra vertical space for multitasking.

It all sounds good, but it is inside that things get messy. The Flow X13 includes up to Ryzen 9 5980HS from AMD, one of the flagships of its new mobile series Ryzen 5000. That makes sense for a gaming laptop. You would think it should be paired with a very powerful GPU – but instead, Asus opted for the entry-level GeForce GTX 1650, which looks like a waste of energy from the 5980HS. Similar combinations have been tried before: take a look at Border the analysis of writer Cameron Faulkner on Lenovo’s IdeaPad Gaming 3, which also tried to pair the GTX 1650 with an H series processor with disappointing results.

Now, for a normal work laptop that can occasionally be used to edit some photos, this combination makes a lot of sense. But if you are buying the X13 expecting incredible frame rates, you may be disappointed. (Of course, I will need to run games on the device before making a recommendation anyway.)

The way Asus is trying to get around this is to bundle the Flow X13 with an external GPU called ROG XG Mobile. This may include graphics up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, and Asus says it will provide desktop gaming performance for the X13. It also acts as a power adapter. Fair. But with the X13 and XG Mobile package, you’re looking at a price of $ 2,999.99. Yes.

You can order Flow X13 and XG Mobile now at the Asus store.

Image: Asus

Another highlight (which may be a little more practical) is the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE. This is an update for the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15, which has two screens – the normal one (a 15.6-inch, 4K, 120 Hz panel or a 300 Hz FHD panel) and the ScreenPad Plus (a touch screen of 14.1 inches that is built into the upper half of the keyboard platform – choose 3840 x 1100 or 1920 x 550 resolution).

The form factor means that, in theory, you could run a game on the top screen with a Spotify playlist or Discord chat on the bottom screen, although my experience with the previous Zephyrus Duo 15 is that your mileage varies from according to the game. Perhaps more promising is that Asus says it is working with game developers and companies like Adobe to customize the content for the two-screen setup.

Image: Asus

The main update is that the new Duo 15 comes with an eight-core AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU. There is a new “Arc Flow” fan design, which Asus says can help to dissipate “up to 165W of combined processor power ”. You will also have up to 2 TB of storage and up to 32 GB of integrated memory and SO-DIMM combined.

You can order the Zephyrus Duo 15 SE now at the Asus store for $ 2,899.99. (Yes, it is cheaper than the Flow X13 package.)

Finally, there are two major additions alongside sports: the Strix Scar 15 and the Strix Scar 17. Both models have an optical-mechanical keyboard, the first to appear in a Scar model. They also achieved a higher screen-to-body ratio (up to 85 percent), a larger battery, an updated cooling system, support for Type C charging and quad speakers with Dolby Atmos technology. Scar 17 now offers a 360 Hz panel option, the fastest screen you can get on a laptop. And both models include the new Ryzen and Nvidia chips, up to a Ryzen 9 5900HX and a GeForce RTX 3080.

Image: Asus

Strix Scar 15 and Strix Scar 17 will arrive in North America in the first quarter of 2021.

Asus also announced the Strix G15 and Strix 17, more discreet Strix models for players who are not serious e-sports players. They can also come with a Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, but at most with a GeForce RTX 3070 and a 300Hz screen. The G15 will arrive in North America in the first quarter of 2021; the G17 is pre-sold now for $ 1,799.99.

These models join a big wave of gaming laptops that were announced today, following the launch of their Ryzen 5000 processors by AMD and the launch of their RTX 3000 GPUs by Nvidia. Razer, Gigabyte, Acer and many others introduced new models.