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

Box office: Brand New Day set to surpass US$ 2 billion, drives Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 resurgence

Sony Pictures’ fourth Tom Holland feature film sets records

Published

August 13, 2026

GadgetMatch

The box office performance of Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been nothing short of spectacular.

Sony Pictures’ fourth feature film featuring Tom Holland as the titular protagonist broke the domestic opening day record.

This feat narrowly beat the previous record set by another Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film in Avengers Endgame.

That strong opening continued in the next few weeks as Brand New Day became became the fastest to reach the US$ 500 million mark, breaching the milestone in just seven days, per LA Times.

The movie is already the highest grossing film of 2026, beating Toy Story 5.

Which such massive success so far, Spider-Man: Brand New Day is on pace to beat Avengers: Infinity War for worldwide total gross.

With over US$ 1.7 billion grossed in just two weeks, the film is projected to surpass any point between the US$ 2.1 billion to US$ 2.3 billion mark.

It will become only the eighth ever film to surpass that mark once it reaches at least US$ 2 billion.

The others are: Avatar (2009), Endgame (2019), Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), Ne Zha (2025), Titanic (1997), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and Infinity War (2018).

However, Endgame still holds an advantage, thanks to its international launch in major markets. The epic conclusion to the MCU’s Infinity Saga grossed US$ 2.79 billion during its 2019 run. And you will have to adjust that value slightly due to inflation.

In the Philippines, a strong market, Brand New Day has just eclipsed the PhP 1 billion mark, which is roughly about US$ 17.2 billion.

For comparison, it will definitely surpass Infinity War at some point, while Endgame grossed PhP 1.8 billion total or about US$ 34.56 billion at the time.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 experiences resurgence

Moreover, the film’s success also triggered a transmedia halo effect with Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 also experiencing a resurgence in sales and player engagement.

Per IGN citing Alinea Analytics, since the film’s release, the game sold over 300,000 more copies across PlayStation 5 and Steam within a two-week span.

This is the equivalent to over US$ 11 million in revenue for Sony and Insomniac Games.

Plus, for the first time since the title’s launch in 2023, it experienced more than one million daily active users.

A combination of movie hype plus some timely discounts contributed to the game’s resurgence, also proving that the Spider-Man franchise has always been one of the biggest and most relevant IPs of all time.

Gaming

Ghost of Yotei gets a story expansion in October

The Complete Edition comes with the expansion and a roguelike mode.

Published

August 13, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Ghost of Yotei is a classic RPG experience set in the same universe as its predecessor, Ghost of Tsushima. In my opinion, Atsu’s journey of revenge feels a lot more fun than Jin’s battle to save his homeland. If you’re in the same boat, Ghost of Yotei is coming back on October 1 with brand-new content.

Without delving too much into spoiler territory, Ghost of Yotei has a conclusive ending. Rather than shoehorning a forced epilogue, Echoes of Sekigahara, the title of the upcoming story expansion, explores Atsu’s past.

As with Tsushima’s expansion, Echoes of Sekigahara features a new map with new enemies, weapons, and collectibles. It will be set in two different time periods.

Besides the story expansion, the upcoming update also has a new mode called Most Wanted, which Sucker Punch Production describes as their “spin on a roguelike.” The mode explores Atsu’s experience as a headhunter, feeding her with bounties and earnable perks.

The two new content expansions will come with in the upcoming Ghost of Yotei Complete Edition. The new edition, coming on October 1, will also come with the co-op Legends mode. It also has a few perks and customization options. The edition will sell for US$ 70.

If you already have the base edition, you can grab an upgrade for only US$ 15. If you don’t want to pay for the upgrade, the game is still getting a few minor tweaks.

Gaming

Marvel Wolverine Limited Edition PS5 bundle SEA pricing

Available in Battle Yellow and Adamantium Limited Editions

Published

August 12, 2026

GadgetMatch

The first look for the Marvel Wolverine Limited Edition PlayStation 5 Console bundle and accessories have just released.

The console inspired by the raw power of Wolverine and Insomniac’s Battle Reborn suit (Battle Yellow) and claws (Adamantium).

Along with its preview, here are the suggested retail price (SRP) details for markets in Southeast Asia:

PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – Marvel’s Wolverine Battle Yellow Limited Edition Bundle

SG$ 849
MYR 2,799
IDR 11,399,000
THB 20,990

DualSense Wireless Controller – Marvel’s Wolverine Battle Yellow Limited Edition and Adamantium Limited Edition

SG$ 115
MYR 419
IDR 1,549,000
THB 2,890
PhP 5,411
VND 2,399,000

PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 5 Pro Console Covers – Battle Yellow Limited Edition and Adamantium Limited Edition

SG$ 101
MYR 369
IDR 1,359,000
THB 2,590
PhP 4,767 (Battle Yellow only)
VND 2,099,000 (Battle Yellow only)

The bundle and accessories will be available beginning September 15 in limited quantities. Pre-order will start from August 19 in local retailers, save for the PS5 and PS5 Pro console covers.

In Singapore, DualSense Wireless Controller – Marvel’s Wolverine Adamantium Limited Edition will be available exclusively through select retailer channels in limited quantity.

Marvel’s Wolverine releases on September 15 for PlayStation 5 consoles.