Previously, we released a first impressions article on the ASUS ROG Strix GL503 Gaming Laptop. After doing that, we took some time to really look into it for review purposes.
However, this isn’t going to be your usual review. No, sir. We’ll be looking at how this lovely piece of tech stands up to your every day Geek lifestyle needs. So without further ado, let’s begin!
Geek-sthetic – 9/10
Let’s be honest. A Gaming Laptop ain’t cheap. And BECAUSE they’re not cheap, we want our Gaming Laptop to look as bad ass and as cool as possible. The ASUS ROG Strix GL503 sports a nice brushed gunmetal gray outer cover design with an ROG logo that lights up red. When open and powered on, the RGB keyboard is what will catch your attention. It’s just amazingly beautiful and will definitely draw the attention of any onlookers. There’s also a per-key customization option via the ROG Aura Core. Overall, the look of the laptop is sleek AF.
Binge Watching Factor – 9/10
PURE PLEASURE – That’s how I’d describe viewing / watching things with the ASUS ROG Strix GL503. The screen is a nice 15.6 inches with a 1080p FHD IPS display that has a good level of brightness and color to it. It also lets you view it from various angles without darkening meaning you can set your laptop, lie down in bed, and continue your anime / series / movie binge watch at your comfort. When used for gaming, your eyes are in for a treat as the various colors just pop out nicely!
Sound Trip – 8/10
The sound of the ASUS ROG GL503 is also quite satisfying. The built-in Stereo 3.5 W Speakers gave a really clear sound. I watched Dragonball Super and I had no complaints with the sound quality. I’m usually an earphones kind of guy to get the FULL AUDIO FEEL of what I’m watching but I didn’t mind doing my anime binge with just the use of the speakers. The ASUS Sonic Studio, of course, is also there if you wanna make some adjustments of your own to suit your needs
Pro-Gaming Controls – 6/10
The keyboard and touchpad was a bit so-so for me. Maybe I wasn’t just really used to it but, for the time I had it, I personally mispressed buttons a lot of times, especially with the right side of the keyboard (the Numpad area) being a bit scrunched up together with the main keys. I’m SUPER happy that the ASUS ROG GL503 came with a mouse because I didn’t like using the touchpad. The off-center design of the touchpad kind of made me operate it on a weird angle and pressing on it to click just didn’t feel as good. The good news is that it IS a gaming laptop so they do have some tactile aids to help with your gaming. The W key has a dot on it so its easy for you to keep track of your usually gaming-relevant WASD keys. The F and J keys have their usual dashes on the key just so you can feel around for your typing as well.
The mouse looks pretty as it does have an RGB ASUS ROG logo on it and an RGB mouse wheel. Aside from that, it’s pretty basic and feels good. 2 buttons on the left side and 2 buttons right below the wheel for binding purposes.
Gaming Prowess – 7/10
This baby is packing a GTX 1050 GPU. While it’s not the best vid card you can have, it IS strong enough to run majority of the games right now at roughly medium settings. What does that mean? Well, it means you’ll be able to games from last gen and earlier (and a lot of indie games) with no problems. I played Cuphead and it ran pretty damn smooth and the play experience felt just right. No issues with as well when I played DOTA 2 with it. However, if you wanna play games like Overwatch and other Triple A titles of the current generation, you’ll probably have to put your settings at around low to medium. You MAY want to upgrade that RAM though from 8GB to 16GB for a smoother gaming experience overall.
Everyday Reliability – 7/10
Well, we did say this was a geek lifestyle review and the harsh reality is… most of us won’t be using this machine to game and geek out all the time. We have to do normal everyday stuff too. So how does the ASUS ROG Strix GL503 fit with that? The good news is that it IS indeed pretty reliable. Everyday tasks and social networking will be a breeze with this machine as it DOES sport an Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU (2.80GHz). The 128GB SATA3 SSD will also help immensely with start-up times. In terms of storage, it has a 1TB SATA HDD so it should be sufficient.
With normal usage, the GL503 has decent staying power with roughly 9 hours of battery life. It does have a bit of weight on it but not too bad (at 5.6lbs) so consider that when you plan to lug it around.
Final Geek Lifestyle Verdict – 8/10
The ASUS ROG Strix GL503 prime strengths come from overall look and design as well as its display. It’s a handsome piece of tech and is just all forms of eye candy both from how the laptop looks and what you can see through the laptop’s screen. It’s an affordable gaming laptop but you just need to be aware of the limitations of a 1050 GPU. If you’re okay with the playing current gen games at low to medium settings then this laptop will suit you just fine. You may just need to upgrade the laptop since the 8GB RAM may pose some limits. Controls may take some getting use to but DEFINITELY use the mouse!
TLDR – For its price, it’s a good buy if you’re really looking for a gaming laptop with GREAT aesthetic and display AND if you’re okay with the vid card’s “medium setting” limitations.
Specs Summary
- Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7700HQ CPU @ 2.80GHz
- Installed Memory: 8GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM
- Operating System: Windows 10 Home
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
- Storage: 1TB SATA HDD and 128GB SATA3 SSD
- Dimensions: 15.1 x 10.3 x 0.9 inches
- Power: 150W power adaptor
- Battery Life: ~9-hours
- Ports
- Ethernet
- Mini-display
- HDMI
- Two (3) USB 3.0 ports
- SD card slot
- One (1) USB 3.1 Gen.1 Type-C port
- One (1) USB 2.0 port
- Price: (GL503VD) PHP 69,995