Asus ROG Zephyrus S

amazon Asus ROG Zephyrus S reviews

Thinner, thinner, thinner!

Right from the moment I held the device in my hand, I felt quite clearly the “small now even smaller” size of this Zephyrus S model, specifically when comparing a few measurements of the device with the first version, the Zephyrus GX501: The chassis is smaller, thinner (thickness when opening the lid: 15.7 mm vs 17.9 mm), and lighter in weight (2.1 kg vs 2.3 kg). This is probably also the reason why Asus named the model Zephyrus S (Slim: thin and light).

Overall, the appearance of the Asus ROG Zephyrus S is somewhat familiar, not too different from the two previously released Zephyrus versions. However, the machine still has some new features to create attraction, the first point is the lid, which is still a solid metal plate design, with a large bevel in the middle with the glossy chrome ROG logo, Can light up when the machine is working (red monochromatic LED). But the 2 split areas are finished differently, 1 is a shiny metal scratch pattern, and the other is a rough texture. The feeling of touching the lid of this device is quite good, but the familiar drawback is still fingerprints, and quite a lot of sweat, especially the rough area.

The second is the hinge frame that is separated from the lid, protruding from the back, similar to some Dell Alienware models, or Lenovo Y530, Y730, ..2 the hinge bar is still a double form but looks modern and the opening and closing mechanism are made more firmly, the screen of the Zephyrus S is less shaken when I open and close the lid or accidentally touch this cover. The hinge also gives a fairly large screen opening angle, about 125 degrees.

The next difference is still in the lid, that is, Asus no longer cuts the bottom edge of the lid, personally, this change makes Zephyrus The S no longer as fashionable as its predecessors, but the machine looks more seamless, full of gaming, not to mention we can still see the location of the Led lights to notify status.

Looking more closely, I also see that the 2 external speaker strips have now been arranged in a new position, in the area close to the hinge frame and the space of the heat sink. I don’t care much about the speakers on the laptop, so I don’t give a deep assessment, but it must be said that the speakers on the Zephyrus S, although designed quite small, give the sound output when listening to music, playing games, watching movies loud and clear.

Besides some differences, the GX531 still carries the familiar features of the Zephyrus series, not to mention the raised joint in the design of the cooling system on the bottom of the machine. When we open the lid of the machine, this joint will automatically raise the machine slightly, creating a gap at the bottom of the machine to increase space for air circulation, and help dissipate heat better during operation machine.

One more upgrade point is that this gap is fitted with an RGB Led bulb that can change colors to look more beautiful, not just monochrome red, and this slot I see seems to be pushed up lower than the world. The previous system should be able to limit the entry of large particles of dirt and insects. In addition, the underside has been made of metal (magnesium alloy), instead of plastic like the Zephyrus M version.

But complementing it, the design of the lifting joint on the Zephyrus S still creates a feeling of uncertainty when holding the device when it is open like monolithic laptops, as well as the metal plate on the bottom, which seems a bit thin. This is also the problem with the lid, I think it should be made thicker, harder to keep the screen from being slightly curved.

Screen

Looking at the interior of the Zephyrus S, we will see the most obvious change, which can also be considered the most special of this generation, that is, the screen border of the machine has been greatly reduced. In my opinion, this is an inevitable trend, so that Zephyrus S can compete with “thin” competitors such as MSI GS65, Lenovo Legion Y730, HP Omen 15 2018, and Dell XPS 15 9570,.…

This is also the first Zephyrus model to apply this ultra-thin screen border, most recently, Asus has only invested in the ROG Strix Scar II GL504 model.

The screen on Zephyrus S (GX531) has a size of 15.6 inches, Full HD resolution, using IPS panels for wide viewing angles, and bright colors. The color coverage indexes I measured through Spyder are close to 100% sRGB (99.5%), Adobe RGB is 70%, the color coverage is quite high, and the screen border is still thin, so the visual experience Feels when watching movies, clips on youtube is very good.

Along with that is a high refresh rate of 144Hz, and a response rate of 3ms (similar to Zephyrus M, and the first Zephyrus is 120Hz), and the feeling when playing games is also more pleasing to the eyes, much more. Unfortunately, this Zephyrus S model does not support NVidia’s G-Sync technology.

Going to the bottom, the Zephyrus S is almost completely arranged by Asus with the original Zephyrus layout, with the internal division into two areas: The keyboard and touch touchpad are pushed down, giving a decent space large for the heatsink at the top.

And to make this space less empty, as well as to increase the personality, more prominent for the Zephyrus S, Asus has created this surface with diagonal lines, instead of tiny holes with simple parts the same tone as on the Zephyrus GX501. In addition, the ROG logo is quite cool and hot, located in the center as a highlight. The power button is separate from the keyboard area, located near the hinge, feels good to press, and has LED lights for easy operation in the dark.

The minus point is that when you buy a new machine and open the lid, you will see the warranty card is very ungainly in this area. According to my research, users can peel off this stamp and still receive warranty support and repair as usual!

In addition, the surface of the heatsink area is made of metal, but the thickness is a bit thin, so although the user has never touched this area, it still feels a bit fragile, feels solid.

Keyboard

The keyboard has a fairly large distance between the keys, the surface of the keys is slightly curved to help hug the fingertips when typing, but due to the short keystroke of about 1.2mm, typing has little bounce, so the If you are used to using mechanical keys or popular laptops, it will take some time to get used to. When you get used to it, the typing speed will increase significantly, and when playing games, the keyboard also supports the N-Key Rollover feature, so playing games that need to use many key combinations will not be a problem.

Zephyrus S has a thin and light design, but the finish of the machine is good with most of the details made of metal. I type strongly on the keyboard, or put some pressure on the chassis but rarely see creaking or flex. One small difference compared to the first Zephyrus is that Asus only has a transparent border that is not too prominent with the 4 W A S D keys on the Zephyrus S, not the 7 Q W E R A S D keys. Of course, the background RGB Led effects are indispensable to make the keyboard more eye-catching.

The touchpad of the device is similar in size to the old version, and it will also take a bit of time to get used to because it is placed vertically, it will be a bit difficult for you to hover the entire width of the screen in 1 move. In addition, the Touchpad feels good to use, has good swipe, and good multi-point operation, and nothing to complain about. 2 left and right mouse keys are separated and click with bounce.

Zephyrus S does not have a Numpad number pad area, in return, the Touchpad can turn into a touch Numpad with a quick and easy switch. This is an interesting detail, although I see that gamers rarely use Numpad, and office users are not the main customers of this machine. The small limitation is that when the Numpad is turned on, the user cannot use the Touchpad as usual.

Connector

The machine is fully equipped with common connection ports, on the left edge, in addition to a heat sink and power port, we will have 1 USB 3.1 gen 1 type C port without Thunderbolt 3, 2 USB type A 2.0 port, and 1 headphone port with 3.5 mics.

On the other side is fewer, only 1 USB type A 3.1 gen 2 port, 1 USB 3.1 gen 2 type C port, and also Display Port 1.4, for the ability to output images to an external high-resolution screen, simultaneously This port is also integrated by Asus with Power Delivery charging technology that allows fast charging of mobile devices.

In addition to the USB type C port without integrated Thunderbolt 3, there is no SD or microSD card slot on the Zephyrus S. The back of the machine also has an additional HDMI port, a lock port, and 2 large heat sinks.

where can you get a Asus ROG Zephyrus S online

ASUS ROG Zephyrus S Ultra Slim Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz IPS-Type Full HD, GeForce RTX 2080, Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, 16GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe Nvme SSD, Aura Sync RGB, Windows 10 Pro – GX531GX-XS74: Buy it now

(Free 2nd Year Warranty) ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX701 Gaming Laptop Bundle, 17.3” 144Hz Pantone Validated FHD IPS, RTX 2080, Intel Core i7-9750H, 32GB DDR4, 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD, Win10 Pro, GX701GX-XB78: Buy it now

Asus ROG Zephyrus S Ultra Slim Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz IPS Type FHD, GeForce RTX 2070, Intel Core i7-9750H, 16GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe Nvme SSD, Aura Sync RGB, Windows 10, GX531GW-AB76: Buy it now

ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX701 Gaming Laptop, 17.3” 144Hz Pantone Validated Full HD IPS, GeForce RTX 2080, Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, 16GB DDR4, 1TB PCIe Nvme SSD Hyper Drive, Windows 10 Pro – GX701GX-XS76: Buy it now

Asus ROG Zephyrus S Ultra Slim Gaming Laptop, 15.6” 144Hz IPS Type FHD, GeForce RTX 2070, Intel Core i7-8750H, 16GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe Nvme SSD, Aura Sync RGB, Windows 10 64-bit, GX531GW-AS76 .62” Thin: Buy it now

ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX701 (2019) Gaming Laptop, 17.3” 144Hz Pantone Validated Full HD IPS, GeForce RTX 2070, Intel Core i7-9750H, 16GB DDR4, 1TB PCIe Nvme SSD Hyper Drive, Windows 10 Home: Buy it now

Internal configuration and some changes

Asus equips the Zephyrus S (GX531) with a powerful configuration, although it is not much different from the Zephyrus M model or the Strix Scar II GL504 model. Still, i7-8750H, GTX 1060 6GB graphics card, some differences such as 8GB Ram soldered on the mainboard, 1 more Ram slot so users can upgrade to up to 24GB, 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD.

In addition, Zephyrus S also has the option of a GTX 1070 8GB Max-Q card, and Asus also introduced a new management tool called ROG Armory Crate, replacing ROG Gaming Center, in general, I see the interface. New look modern, intuitive, features are divided for users to learn and set up.

Gaming

With such a good configuration as above, plus a thin border screen, 144Hz, and 3ms, playing current games is not a problem for Zephyrus S. With shooting games like CS: GO or PUBG, you are comfortable. Just fight, don’t have to think about it.

When switching to playing hardcore games like Far Cry 5 or Rise of Tomb Raider, you can play at the highest setting, with an FPS of about 50 (Far Cry 5’s Ultra, and Tomb Raider’s Very High), However, to experience the game smoothly, you should only leave it to High, then the FPS will stay stable at 65-80, even 90 FPS with Rise of Tomb Raider.

Even I tried playing the new game that was released not too long ago in 2018, which is Shadow of Tomb Raider, at High, the recorded FPS is not too bad: 35-45, you can reduce some Set effects, then play to feel the plot quite well!

Radiators

Zephyrus S uses the same cooling system as Zephyrus M, called AAS (Aerodynamic System), including 2 fans and 5 copper heat pipes. 2 large-sized radiator fans, help to improve internal air: more cooling air enters as well as hot air is pushed out faster. Large fan capacity of 12V, higher than the usual standard of 5V, so it helps to cool faster.

The shape of the fan is also adjusted to reduce noise, and comes with 3 modes: Silent, Balance, and Turbo, for users to adjust depending on the needs of use and work. The fan system still comes with a dust-proof design, taking advantage of centrifugal force to push the dust out of the pipes, ensuring the cleanliness of the internal cooling system, and above all, increasing durability.

As mentioned at the beginning of the article, when you open the lid, the bottom area of the machine will be raised to create a gap, helping to increase air circulation space, and taking in more air to support the heat dissipation system. This is also the factor that makes the difference, the identifying characteristics of the Zephyrus gaming laptop line compared to other products on the market today.

According to the manufacturer’s advertisement, the cooling system will increase the airflow by this %, reduce the heat by that %, etc., but the experience through playing games for a long time and stress tests will be how?

The battery

With a 55Whr battery, it is clear that battery life is not the strong point of the Zephyrus S in particular, as well as on gaming laptops in general. The experience, the battery life (4 cells, 50Wh) when doing light tasks such as office work, listening to music, watching movies, surfing the web, playing light games … is about 2 hours 30 minutes to nearly 4 hours, and playing heavy games is about 1 hour or so.

So if you take the device out for a day to work, you may not need to bring a charger / or in case you forget to charge it, you can use the Power Delivery function to charge the Zephyrus S with a power bank or a charger. USB type C cable to extend the time of using the device a little more. But when playing games, I recommend that you still need to bring a charger, and this charger is not very light.

Conclusion

In general, the design, finishing quality, configuration, performance, ability to handle work and play games, heat dissipation, .. on Asus ROG Zephyrus S (GX531GM) I appreciate good, complementary elements each other, bringing a good experience for gamers. However, I feel that Asus seems to be making it difficult for itself and users when to be honest, Zephyrus S is almost equivalent, not much different from Zephyrus M or Strix Scar II GL504, and has a higher price. This makes users will have to wonder, consider, refer, and consider more carefully, it’s hard to think !!

In my opinion, the Zephyrus S will be suitable if you need a gaming laptop model, with a beautiful slim appearance, good heat dissipation, attracts a lot of eyes when taken out to use, and can be brought to work because it’s not overdone! On the contrary, if you do not care about form, but prioritize processing ability, as well as need better battery life, then Zephyrus S will hardly be the first choice because its power is still limited anyway due to the thinness of the machine.