One of my favorite things about getting to try many new gadgets is that I learn more about myself and my preferences. The ROG Zephyrus G15 (2022) GA503 – which henceforth will just be referred to as just Zephyrus G15 – did just that for me and what I want in gaming laptops. 

For context, I have been sparingly using my ROG Flow X13 for most of my general Windows and PC gaming needs. It’s a great device, don’t get me wrong. But having to prop up the laptop itself along with the XG Mobile to reach its full potential can be quite cumbersome.

It’s a huge contrast to the Zephyrus G15 where I simply fire it up and it just works in a jiffy. And all the ports I normally use are right there, ready to use. I’m a big fan of convenience so I absolutely love it when gadgets just work without much friction. 

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Based on this introduction, I’m sure you already have some idea on what I generally think about the Zephyrus G15. But allow me to discuss it further. 

Tale of the tape

Specs and benchmarks never tell the whole story. But specs are a good place to start. Here’s what our review unit is packing: 

• AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
• 15″ WQHD (2560 x 1440) 16:9 240hz Pantone Validated 100% DCI-P
• RTX 3070 TI 8GB GDDR6
• 16GB DDR5 on board  + 16GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM
• 1TB M.2 NVM PCIe 4.0 SSD
• Moonlight White

Some standout stuff from the information provided above are the new processor, the Pantone Validated display as well as the RAM available. This isn’t even its highest configuration. There’s a variant that runs RTX 3080. You can upgrade your RAM up to 48GB and there’s another SSD slot so you can expand your storage. 

That means there’s plenty of room to up the ante down the line should you choose to do so. That’s not something that you can say for every gaming laptop. 

Immaculate look and design

I love that ROG sent over the Moonlight White version for us to try. Black is great, don’t get me wrong. But it’s refreshing to see gaming laptops brimming with power come in other colorways that could appeal to people that are kind of just over with black. 

The magnesium-aluminum lid and chassis also maintain the Zephyrus look giving it a sleek and tough exterior, while keeping the ROG Zephyrus identity. And you don’t have to worry too much about it picking up dust and dirt. In the few weeks I spent with it, it stayed pristine looking despite little to no wiping maintenance. That’s thanks largely to the wear-resistant coating which works exactly as advertised. 

Adding to the overall functional design is the ErgoLift Hinge. This is one of my favorite things about ASUS laptops. The ergolift hinge not only allows a 180° for more flexibility, it’s also just ultra satisfying to move and look at. 

It looks fresh, feels tough, and is relatively compact making it easy to carry around. It’s a looker with some bells and whistles in the right places.

Ports, keyboard, and trackpad

Speaking of those bells and whistles, the Zephyrus G15 is packed with possibly all the ports you’ll need. Whether that’s for a remote setup or one that’s neatly tucked into a home office desk. 

Here’s everything it has to offer: 

• USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-A (2x)
• USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-C(supports DP 1.4 & 100W PD Charger), (2x)
• LAN RJ-45 jack (1x)
• HDMI 2.0b (1x)
• Micro SD Card Reader (UHS-II), (1x)
• 3.5mm Audio combo jack (1x)
• Kensington Lock (1x)

The Stealth Type keyboard was a curious choice but one that I welcome. I was of the impression that the gaming demographic skews more towards the clickity clack of mechanical keyboards. But the one equipped on the Zephyrus G15 is about as quiet as they come. No complaints here though, as it didn’t distract my at-the-moment entanglement in slumber as I toiled away over late night labor. 

One of the best trackpad experiences on a Windows Gaming laptop.

The trackpad, too, was such a pleasant surprise. Perhaps it’s also in conjunction with Windows 11 but using a trackpad on Windows now doesn’t feel as laggy as it used to. On days that I only worked using the Zephyrus G15, I never felt the need to connect a mouse. That feels like a breakthrough as I have never been able to say that for any of the Windows laptops I’ve reviewed in the past. 

Plays like a console

Yes, I paired a DualSense controller with the Zephyrus G15

Alright, before any PC gaming enthusiasts come at my throat, what I mean here is mostly the quality of life things. When I got the Zephyrus G15, I didn’t tweak it very much. Heck, I even opened Armoury Crate less than five times during my time with it. Despite this, it had no trouble running the games I attempted to play. Some of which are even very demanding AAA titles. 

I’m a big fan of tech that just works. Especially with my current workload, the less time I have to figure something out, the better. And that’s the case with this gaming laptop. I simply fired up Steam, downloaded the games, and played to my heart’s content. 

Teen Gohan vs Cell is a classic.

Naturally, I checked the settings on some of the first few games I tried like Control, Genshin Impact, and Dragon Ball FighterZ. Everything was consistently on the highest settings right off the bat. Lags and stutters? I don’t know them. Not with the Zephyrus G15 in tow. 

To better understand where I’m coming from, I own an ROG Flow X13. The one that comes with the ROG XG Mobile. It’s a great machine, no doubt. But to get the most out of it, I still have to hook up the XG Mobile to the Flow X13. Whereas with the Zephyrus G15, I simply have to turn the laptop on. That’s an underrated level of convenience that may or may not mean much for some of you. 

You still have Armoury Crate but I didn’t feel the need to touch it as much.

It’s seriously making me consider trading up for the Zephyrus G15. And that’s just with the raw performance of games. I haven’t even talked about how good the display and speakers are. 

Eyes and ears candy 

Its high-level performance is of course complemented by a stellar audio-visual experience. As indicated in the specs section earlier, this laptop sports a 15” WQHD 16:9 display with a 240Hz refresh rate. It’s also Pantone Validated which is great for color accuracy if you’re working on anything that involves visual media.

But all you really need to know is that it’s an absolute treat to the eyes. The 240Hz refresh rate on the panel is great for first-person shooters. Unfortunately, I am not great at first person shooters. I’d like to take this opportunity to whoever I played Valorant with because I totally dragged the team down. 

This is a “Tomboy” fancam but listen to her album “MY” too!

It is a visual treat, no doubt. But like (G)-IDLE’s Miyeon, the Zephyrus G15 isn’t just a treat for the eyes. It also sounds hella good. I spent a good chunk of time watching Miyeon’s fancams on this thing and it’s just a fantastic overall experience. 

I also watched a few episodes of Netflix’s Business Proposal at the time of writing. Really, whatever type of content you consume, it’s bound to look and sound great on this thing. 

Kim SeJeong is just adorable

One thing we did learn is that the display struggles a bit under really bright environments. When taking photos of the device, we opted to step out for natural light. But if you’re using this to work or play remotely, I recommend you find some place that isn’t too bright. 

Is this your GadgetMatch?

The ROG Zephyrus G15 (2022) GA503 is easily one of my personal favorite devices that I’ve reviewed so far in 2022. It’s about as close as it can get to a plug and play PC gaming experience. And that’s not something you can say for many laptops and/or PCs. 

The Zephyrus G15 (2022) brings with it a distinct look, top-notch gaming performance, and a really solid audio-visual experience. As a gaming laptop, this is about as perfect as it gets and is something I can easily recommend especially if you’re willing to splurge for it.

Official pricing will be announced soon. We’ll update this space when it’s out.

Acer announced the newest models in its professional line of ConceptD creator PCs and SpatialLabs standalone displays.

The three new computers — ConceptD 5, ConceptD 500, and ConceptD 100 — are now updated with the latest specs and features to support creative professionals’ usually intensive tasks.

These include:

• Up to 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processors
• Up to NVIDIA RTX A4000 or GeForce RTX 3070 GPUs
• 128GB DDR4 of memory, 4TB Gen 4 SSD storage, and 4TB HDD

A pair of new 15.6-inch 4K displays have also been released. These are the  the SpatialLabs View and SpatialLabs View Pro.

ConceptD 5 laptop: Mobile powerhouse

On top of their reliable processors and GPUs, the ConceptD 5 and ConceptD 5 Pro creator laptops have a sound cooling system and advanced thermal design to keep them running.

Strategically placed air intake and exhaust vents generate an aerodynamic “Vortex Flow” within the device. Meanwhile, three efficient cooling fans reduce noise levels to less than 40 dBA.

As NVIDIA Studio-validated laptops, they include software optimizations and pre-installed NVIDIA Studio Drivers.

And as laptops for creative professionals, the ConceptD 5 series feature the following:

• WQUXGA (3840 x 2400) 400-nit OLED display backed by several color technologies
• 99.98-Wh lithium-polymer battery
• HDMI 2.1 and full-size SD 7.0 card reader, Thunderbolt 4 and USB Type-C connectors
• 27 percent larger Corning Gorilla Glass trackpad (vs predecessor)

Creating without limits

The Concept D500 desktop comes with the most powerful capabilities for intensive creator tasks such as 3D animation, videos, and complex design projects.

Aside from up to a 12th Gen Intel Core i9 processor and corresponding GPU, the mini workstation boasts of transfer speeds of up to 10 Gbps via its USB Type C port.

On the other hand, the ConceptD 100 desktop is powered up to an i5 or i7 processor and an NVIDIA T400 or T1000 GPU.

Individual 2D and 3D content creators as well as small-to-medium sized design studios was developed for space-saving desktop.

It features components suitable for graphic design, light-duty 3D modeling, CAD, and BIM workloads.

View Series 3D displays

Complementing the release of the new ConceptD computers are the latest additions to Acer’s stereoscopic 3D products — the SpatialLabs View and SpatialLabs View Pro.

Powered by Acer’s AI-backed SpatialLabs Go which turns just about anything into 3D, the couple of 15.6-inch, 4K displays are beneficial for both creators and gamers.

Specifically, the View Pro may make creators’ and developers’ lives easier. They may use the display for 3D design software, including:

• Revit
• Solidworks
• Cinema 4D

This is made possible by installing Datasmith export plugins to import projects into the SpatialLabs Model Viewer.

Several add-ons are also available for a more efficient and productive workflow for 3D creators.

Maya and Blender users can even connect on a 2D screen while observing changes rendered into stereoscopic 3D with the display in real-time.

Casual users may use the displays for gaming or as a standard 4K monitor for various purposes.

During their For Those Who Dare: Boundless event, ASUS ROG announced the launch of their latest gaming laptops, accessories, and SCAR Runner for the ROG Citadel Game on Steam.

The launch covers the following:

• ROG Strix SCAR 17 Special Edition
• ROG Flow X16
• SCAR Runner first-person parkour game
• Expanded ROG Slash Fashion Line
• Team ROG partnerships

Pricing and availability of the models announced during the event are yet to be known.

ROG Strix SCAR 17 Special Edition

With more powerful specs than its predecessor, the Strix SCAR 17 SE is poised to be a class-leading gaming laptop.

It is powered by the new Intel Core i9-12950HX processor and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU, on top of advanced features such as:

• Maximum GPU TGP of 175W with Dynamic Boost
• Maximum CPU TDP of 65W
• Boost frequency of 5.2GHz
• Up to 64GB DDR5 memory and PCIe Gen 4 storage
• ROG’s Conductonaut Extreme liquid metal

SCAR Runner: Vault to new heights

Available as an expansion of the ROG Citadel XV game, SCAR Runner is a first-person parkour game set in the world of ROG SAGA.

The protagonist, X, is in a race against time in Goemon City and needs to recover critical information while solving puzzles and challenges.

It’s no coincidence that the new Strix SCAR laptop and new game have same name, as they were released as a tandem.

Gamers can in fact find clues hidden on the laptop chassis itself, that will allow them to solve in-game puzzles.

SCAR Runner is launching with a giveaway campaign with over US$ 20,000 worth of prizes to be won from May 17 to June 30, 2022.

ROG Flow X16

In addition to the Strix SCAR 17 SE, the Flow X16 has been added to the ROG Flow series, the most powerful yet from the line.

It has a Ryzen 9 6900HS processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU. It likewise supports up to 64GB of memory and up to 2TB of SSD storage.

The Flow X16 features ROG’s Nebula HDR Display, a 165Hz Mini LED panel with 1100 nits peak brightness and 100 percent DCI-P3 gamut.

These are all complemented by Frost Force Technology and Pulsar Heatsink to ensure high performance but low temperatures.

ROG Slash accessories

Aside from the two new gaming laptops, ROG also introduced new apparels:

• Crossbody Bag
• Backpack
• Hip Bag
• Protective Laptop Bag
• Cobra Buckle Cap
• Bucket Hat

All these items are built with durable quality and have features like adjustable straps, multiple compartments, and water-repellent TPU materials.

Some of these items are also included in the SCAR Runner giveaway campaign.

The Team ROG initiative

Lastly, Team ROG is expanding its 2022 roster, pairing high-end ROG products with influencers, professional gamers, content creators, and athletes around the world.

A new partnership with ReKT Gaming has been announced while the current partnership with esports team Misfits Gaming has likewise been extended.