Gaming

ASUS ROG Strix GL702VM Review: Portable gaming powerhouse

Published

August 16, 2017

Daniel Morial

ASUS’ ROG line of gaming laptops has an updated entry to the fast-growing gaming market. Let’s a take a look at the ROG Strix GL702VM with its NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics unit.

We recently reviewed the ROG Zephyrus, and it set the bar for a true portable gaming laptop. It doesn’t cut corners with its high-end specs, but it has a ridiculously high price tag at the same time. The laptop we have now wants to set the right balance.

At first glance, the laptop already shows its gaming characteristics. Let’s first have a tour of the laptop’s body.

It’s no doubt an ROG laptop with its design and colors

The lid lights up!

Like most gaming laptops, it has striking red accents

It’s gray overall with red accents

We have red backlit chiclet keys with a relatively small trackpad

No mechanical keys here

There is a plethora of I/O ports for your convenience

USB 3.0, USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, Ethernet, SD card reader, and DisplayPort

Even its bottom bestows its gaming characteristics

Modern patterns on the bottom plate

Great gaming performance on the go

The 17.3-inch display of the ROG Strix GL702VM doesn’t make it a portable PC, but by gaming laptop standards, its size packs in a lot of power. For one, the display is a 4K anti-glare panel which has great saturation levels and wide viewing angles. It makes all kinds of content pop, from high-resolution videos to colorful gaming titles. The processor inside is a quad-core Intel Core i7-7700HQ with 16GB of DDR4 memory. As for storage, it gets a combo drive: 1TB HDD and 128GB SSD.

To pump up its gaming prowess, ASUS put in an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 chip with 6GB memory as its dedicated graphics processing unit — the lightweight member of the NVIDIA 10-series graphics card. Both the latest and future titles will be playable on the laptop, plus it has support for virtual reality. During the course of our time with it, we were able to enjoy Grand Theft Auto V with smooth frame rates of around 80fps on high settings and 1080p resolution. Bumping things to 4K consumed a lot of power and memory, but it’s still manageable when you tone down some of the graphics settings like shadows and anti-aliasing.

It also doubles as an everyday multimedia laptop

Gaming aside, the laptop is a beast for everyday tasks. It would be overkill to turn it into an everyday work laptop, but it can handle processing really well, thanks to its compelling specs. Multimedia consumption is also something you can enjoy with its 4K display and powerful speakers.

Without mechanical keys, hitting the keyboard (whether for typing or gaming) didn’t feel as tactile as I’d want. ASUS promotes 1.6mm travel on the laptop, which I found a bit mushy during actual usage. What I enjoyed about the keyboard is the space between each key. The trackpad is a different story, as it’s kinda small but very responsive.

Not exactly super portable, but it’s not that bulky

The king of portable gaming laptops is still the ROG Zephyrus, but the ROG Strix GL702VM could be a good runner-up. It may not have the slim waistline of an Ultrabook (thin but definitely not for gaming) or the average size of an everyday 14-inch laptop, yet it has the power of a dedicated gaming machine. The term “laptop” is still applicable.

Keep in mind that it doesn’t have an optical disc drive. That shouldn’t pose a problem, since we download our games online nowadays. Too bad, though, since you’ll need to find a spare external DVD drive if you want to play the classic games you already purchased.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

It won’t be an easy choice to go for a 17.3-inch laptop when you’re just looking for a laptop that can do more. The ROG Strix GL702VM is targeted at those who want a gaming laptop that isn’t ridiculously heavy. For wallets, however, it’s quite hefty.

This gaming machine retails in the Philippines for PhP 119,995 (US$ 2,335) with the configuration we reviewed. With this amount of cash, you can already build a good desktop rig with even more power, but it won’t give the portability a laptop like this can offer. The 4K display is also a good selling point; however, it’s not necessary for gaming, since we stick to 1080p most of the time.

[irp posts=”16053″ name=”ASUS ROG Zephyrus Review: So thin, so powerful”]

Entertainment

LE SSERAFIM to perform at BlizzCon 2026

BlizzCon’s closing act.

Published

June 26, 2026

GadgetMatch

Global K-pop sensation LE SSERAFIM is returning to BlizzCon.

Blizzard Entertainment has announced that the five-member girl group will perform as the closing musical act at BlizzCon 2026. LE SSERAFIM will take the Main Stage on Sunday, September 13 (PT), bringing fans another live performance after its BlizzCon debut in 2023.

The appearance also comes ahead of the group’s upcoming U.S. tour. Blizzard teased that the performance will make it a “Perfect Night” for fans attending the convention at the Anaheim Convention Center.

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A post shared by Blizzard Entertainment (@blizzard)

LE SSERAFIM returns to Blizzard

LE SSERAFIM debuted in 2022 under SOURCE MUSIC, a label of HYBE. The group is composed of Sakura Miyawaki, Kim Chaewon, Huh Yunjin, Kazuha Nakamura, and Hong Eunchae.

The group’s name is an anagram of “I’m Fearless,” reflecting the confidence that has defined its music since debut.

This won’t be LE SSERAFIM’s first crossover with Blizzard. The group previously collaborated with Overwatch 2, bringing themed cosmetics and a special event to the hero shooter.

BlizzCon 2026 is sold out

BlizzCon is Blizzard Entertainment’s annual community celebration. It brings together fans of World of Warcraft, Diablo IV, Overwatch 2, and other Blizzard franchises for game announcements, developer panels, esports, cosplay, and hands-on experiences.

Passes for BlizzCon 2026 have already sold out. However, Blizzard says tickets may still become available through the Tixr public resale marketplace.

Fans can learn more about LE SSERAFIM’s appearance on Blizzard’s official blog.

Gaming

AMD FSR Upscaling 4.1 now available for Radeon RX 7000 Series

Update drops earlier than expected, powering more than 300 supported games

Published

June 24, 2026

GadgetMatch

PC and handheld gamers can officially skip the wait, as AMD has launched its FSR 4.1 upscaling technology for Radeon RX 7000 series (RDNA 3) GPUs.

Computing and Graphics Group Senior Vice President and GM Jack Huynh made the announcement on X (formerly Twitter). This development brings machine learning powered gaming to millions of players across more than 300 games.

By downloading the latest AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.6.2 driver, users can unlock the new AI upscaling suite on existing RX 7000 series desktop graphics cards.

(The driver can be downloaded here.)

The update drastically sharpens image reconstruction, delivers far superior temporal stability, and keeps motion ghosting to an absolute minimum. That’s across a massive library of supported titles.

Beyond optimized frame rates out of the gate for those two blockbusters, the release packs vital architecture stability improvements and bug fixes for the broader Radeon ecosystem.

Huynh added that AMD is actively engineering lightweight machine learning models to expand FSR 4.1 optimizations to a wider base of gamers. More details are to come.

Moreover, the driver for the FSR 4.1 upscaling technology will deliver day-one support for two highly anticipated releases: Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced and DOOM: The Dark Ages | Revelations.

if you are wielding an RDNA 3 desktop rig or an RDNA 3-powered handheld, like the ROG Ally X or Lenovo Legion GO, simply open up the AMD Software suite, get the update, and test the new AI tech.

Gaming

GTA VI: New images unveiled as pre-order details, price finally announced

Highly-anticipated title to launch on November 19 for PS5, Xbox Series X|S

Published

June 24, 2026

GadgetMatch

Grand Theft Auto VI finally has a price. The highly-anticipated upcoming installment in the series is set to launch on November 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Pre-orders will begin on midnight, June 25. Available versions are the Standard Edition at US$ 79.99 and the Ultimate Edition at US$ 99.99.

The Ultimate Edition amplifies the single player experience with an exclusive collection of premium vehicles, weapons, apparel, and action threaded across all aspects of Jason and Lucia’s story.

Here are some newly-released exclusive images:

Alongside the Standard and Ultimate Editions, all Grand Theft Auto VI pre-orders and purchases before November 20 will also get the Vintage Vice City Pack.

This is a collection of items that flash back to when the neon burned brightest:

Players who pre-order digital versions of GTA VI will be able to begin pre-loading on November 12. This is to ensure they are able to play at launch on November 19.

The physical version, which contains a download code inside the box, will be available starting November 12 as well to support pre-loading.