The ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX502GW is marketed as ultraportable gaming laptop bundled with the full fat version of the RTX 2070 GPU. Usually, you’ll only the RTX 2070 on thicker gaming laptops, like the Asus ROG SCAR series. Power and slimness does sound great does it? Let’s find out how good it is. The ROG Zephyrus S GX502 GW retails at S$3,998.
Unboxing
Unboxing the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 GW, you will get:
- ROG Zephyrus S GX502 GW laptop
- ROG Strix Impact gaming mouse
- Charging brick
- GC21 external webcam + stand
Build quality and design
The ROG Zephyrus S GX502 has a magnesium-alloy chassis that has a honeycomb structure beneath the palm rest to reinforce stability and reduce any flexing. The lid has a nice brushed metal finish similar to the one on the ROG STRIX Scar III, which you can lift with one hand.
As for the interior, the palm rest area is matte black and has a somewhat rubberised texture. It is smooth to touch, and rejects fingerprints quite effectively. There is also a slight sparkle added to the finish of this texture surface.
Overall, the build quality of the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 is great – sturdy and robust. And it is quite impressive that the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 with a 15.6-inch screen can be of a smaller form factor than the competition. Also, it is only weighs about 2.0kg.
Specifications
- Screen: 15.6-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel 144Hz IPS panel
- Processor: Intel Core i7-9750H (6-core)
- RAM: 16GB DDR4-2666 RAM
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB
- SSD: 1TB PCIe SSD
- Battery: 76Wh battery
- Dimensions: 360 x 252 x 18.9 mm
- Weight: 2.0 kg
Display
The 15.6-inch screen is a 1080p 144Hz IPS panel that has a 3ms response time and support for NVIDIA G-Sync. ASUS says it also has a Pantone-validated screen. The screen was bright and sharp, while the colors produced are vivid and accurate.
As you can see, the laptop has extremely thin bezels on the sides, with a 81% screen-to-body ratio due to a larger chin. And as you can already see, there is no webcam, just like on the ROG STRIX Scar III. As such, ASUS throws in the GC21 external webcam.
To get that 3ms response time, you have to go into the Armoury Crate software and enable the ‘Panel Overdrive’, and be plugged into AC power.
Performance
Playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1920 x 1080, I’m getting an average fps of 85 on the standard setting. As the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 comes packed with top end specs such as the i7-9750H, size RTX 2070, 16 GB of RAM, you can feel confident that this laptop can handle any game you load. And with the 144Hz refresh rate, you can experience smooth gameplays on games that is able to push through higher frame rates. There are hot keys at the top for volume, mute and Amoury Crate, with the fan control key at the usual F5 making it really easy to switch between the presets (Silent, Performance, Turbo) whenever you need it.
And if you’re into benchmarks, here are some 3DMark ones on stock settings:
- 3DMark (Fire Strike): 16,648
- 3DMark (Fire Strike – Graphics): 19,563
- 3DMark (Port Royal): 4,328
Apart of gaming, if you ever do video editing, the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 will definitely be able to handle Premiere Pro or After Effects with little to no problem.
As for thermals, the base of the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 is designed to be pushed up slightly to allow for more airflow. Despite that, the laptop still runs hot. Palm rest can get warm to touch, but with such a thin design, it is expected. Fans also run loud at max load, and still has some presence even on Silent mode. So, if a dead silent room, you can definitely feel the fan running.
Laptop is pushed up slightly to allow for more airflow Air vents
Keyboard and trackpad
The keyboard is alright for typing with decent key travel and feedback, making it comfortable to game and type with. It does feel like the keys have a slightly higher actuation force compared to its ZenBook counterparts. Similar to the ROG STRIX Scar III, there are also dedicated hot keys for quick access to volume, microphone, fan control and the Armoury Crate software. The ‘W” key has a small extrusion, allowing you to locate the key just by touch, a pretty neat feature. The keyboard also supports per-key RGB lighting.
The Armoury Crate software allows you to customise many things such as RGB lighting, set customised performance presets, etc.
The trackpad is Windows Precision, it is smooth to the touch and felt accurate.
Ports selection
The ports on the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 is pretty decent, giving you:
- USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-C x1
- USB 3.1 (Gen 2) Type-A x1
- USB 3.1 (Gen 1) Type-A x2
- HDMI 2.0b port x1
- Gigabit Ethernet port x1
- 3.5mm audio jack
- Kensington lock x1
The USB-C port also supports video output over DisplayPort 1.4 and charging using a 65W Type-C adapter which ASUS sells separately. It is a pity that the USB-C is not Thunderbolt 3 supported.
Battery and speakers
Battery life on the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 isn’t its strong suit. This is probably due to the power consuming internals. Average regular use time was about 5 hours before needing to charge it. And while gaming, the laptop lasted slightly over an hour before performance started dipping.
As for the speakers, they are located in the frontal left and right corners of the laptop, and fire downwards. They sounded above average for a laptop.
Conclusion
Overall, the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 is a good performing gaming laptop. It is one of the thinnest laptop packed with the full size RTX 2070. Being a thin device, you should be well ready for sacrifices in areas such as battery life and fan noise.
If you are okay with the poor battery life and loud fan noise, it may be worth the plentiful gaming performance in a light yet sturdy package. The G-Sync support and 144 Hz refresh rate should make games look buttery smooth as well, so gaming is no doubt a delight without any performance sacrifice. For S$3,998, it is expensive so it is important to know what you’re getting and what you will be lacking with this laptop.