I like to play video games for many reasons, and for all occasions. Whether as a stress reliever or as a weekend plan with friends, I always find time to game. Naturally, I would want a device that can keep up with my gaming demands, and that also includes great visuals while playing. Even if it’s overwhelmingly expensive, I’d still look for the “cream of the crop.”

Then I heard about this ROG Experience concept from ASUS, and I figured that I should definitely give it a shot. The company’s dedicated gaming brand introduced the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M GU502 back in April. The main selling point: a device that offers both high-quality performance for work and gaming. To me, it promises to be one monster package altogether.

But does it fully live up to its selling point? Let’s find out.

It comes in a slim form factor, unlike previous Zephyrus models

It has a 240Hz FHD display with a 3ms response rate

It comes with an NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti graphics card inside

It has an RGB-backlit keyboard with ASUS’ Aura Sync technology

All that power, all the productivity in the world

This device comes in a powerful yet visibly thinner package. It has a 9th-generation Intel Core i7-9750H processor inside, which delivers top tier productive performance. I ran several light and heavy applications all at once, and I felt like a god just multitasking through all of them.

It also helped that the device runs on 16GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive. All that memory, disk space, and disk read speed meant that applications quickly booted up. I found myself speeding through most of my day-to-day tasks because of how quick this device is.

It’s like I could watch YouTube videos, work on Excel spreadsheets, browse social media and Spotify all in one sitting. You can even add more windows for video editing, graphic design, and light gaming. This is one heavy-duty device for someone like me.

Playing harder at any rate without missing a moment

This device rocks an NVIDIA GTX 1660Ti, which to me feels like a tiny downgrade from the RTX 2070 option. Nonetheless, gaming performance on the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M was splendid. Heavy-duty, popular titles such as Fortnite, PUBG, and Apex Legends all reached a 60 FPS threshold at their highest possible settings.

Gameplay just feels smooth, with no visible lag spikes in between high-pressure moments. The 6GB of VRAM that comes with the graphics card just provides all the power you need to play harder. Just make sure your internet doesn’t occasionally disconnect when you’re about to win.

To achieve higher frame rates, you do need to keep the charger plugged. Keeping the device unplugged while gaming still allows you to reach 60 FPS. It’s just that you could go as low as 25 FPS on average, which makes these games barely playable.

The wonderful, colorful, and fast display

To supplement the raw processing and gaming power, you need the ideal display for the job. At least, that’s how I would describe the FHD near bezel-less display this device came with. It’s one of those Pantone certified displays so naturally, I expected great color accuracy for images and videos.

And true enough, that’s exactly what I got. I don’t know about you, but there’s something about a display with vibrant and accurate color grading that makes images much clearer. This is ideal for those who wish to use this device for creative pursuits, as well. Or, if you just want to watch Feel Special or Fake & True over and over, and bask in the glorious visuals.

Also, it comes with a whopping 240Hz refresh rate at a 3ms response time, ideal for gamers. I could literally play non-stop, and not miss a single frame to react to. Also, with these refresh rate elements on the screen just feels and looks extra smoother.

It tries to keep cool, but blasts a lot of heat out

With most gaming machines, you need proper cooling systems to keep the device running. ASUS takes no exception to this, as they decide to put two cooling fans underneath this bad boy. Of course, the goal is to blast heat out of the device while you’re doing heavy-duty workload.

In my experience, the laptop still feels relatively warm even if I turn the fans to its recommended performance setting. The fans do get noisy when they’re on full blast, but that’s something I already expected. It can be bothersome for some people, especially when you’re playing games and you want quiet surroundings.

You can do all of these for a fairly good amount of time

Naturally, I’d like to assume that battery life is a touchy subject for gaming laptops. Most gaming laptops typically boast short battery lives, ranging from two to three hours when strictly gaming. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus M is no different, as I was only able to use the device for strictly gaming purposes for three and a half hours.

However, when you’re not fully gaming, its battery life is pretty decent. I got about six and a half to seven hours on one full charge doing mostly work-related tasks, light gaming, and video streaming. Windows’ Battery Saver gave me an extra hour and a half, which is still pretty decent considering the workload.

Charging the device doesn’t take too long, either. I got the battery level to 60 percent within 45 minutes, with one full charge taking two and a half hours. Of course, when I was using the device while charging, it took close to three hours.

Is this your GadgetMatch?

At PhP 109,995, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M is one supreme machine. You get unrivaled performance for almost any way you want to use this device. Be it just for playing video games, video editing, or even simple productive workload, it covers all of those.

Of course, there are things you have to worry about with a device like this. From battery life to its intricate cooling system, some things will have to give way for you to experience nothing but the best. 

All that power compressed into one thin package, making this the ideal on-the-go gaming device. And quite honestly, the ROG Experience truly was worth having thanks to this device.