I was lucky enough to test out the Zephyrus S15 GX502 before its official release in Singapore. The Zephyrus S15 GX502 is an update of the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 that was released back in 2019. ROG brings about spec bumps together with improvements in the screen in IO department.
Unboxing
Inside the box, you will receive the following
- ROG Zephyrus S15 GX502 laptop (GX502LXS)
- 240W AC adapter
- 65W USB-C power adapter
- GC21 external webcam + stand (not pictured)
Build quality and design
The ROG Zephyrus S15 GX502 is an update of the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 that was released back in 2019. So design wise, the chassis is still the same which means that the Zephyrus S15 is still a ultraportable 15-inch gaming laptop.
The exterior of the Zephyrus S15 has modern looking brushed aluminium lid which somehow picks up a lot of fingerprints. There is a minor change to the updated model which is the ROG logo no longer lights up, it has a glossy black finish which I prefer. You can still lift the lid with one hand, and the hinge feels sturdy. There is minimal flex on the keyboard deck. Overall, the build quality is as sturdy and robust as its predecessor.
Do note that there is no webcam on the laptop, so ASUS throws in a GC21 external webcam if you ever need to use a one.
Tech specs
Display
The screen gets a major update from its predecessor. It now has a 300Hz 3ms IPS 1080p (Full HD) panel. This panel is an absolute joy when it comes to gaming due to its super fast refresh rate and response time. The screen also has GSync support which can help to reduce tearing, stuttering, or input lag.
As for colours and general quality, ASUS says the panel is Pantone calibrated. Brightness is decent, it gets bright enough for indoor use but may struggle when you’re using it outdoors.
Performance
The GX502LXS model I have is the fully spec-ed up version of the Zephyrus S15. Headline specs for this variant includes a NVIDIA RTX 2080 SUPER with Max-Q, powered by an 8-core Intel i7-10875H processor, supported by 32GB of DDR4 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.
The are four power profiles to choose from namely – Silent, Performance, Turbo, and Manual, listed the ascending order of power. On battery, only Silent and Performance profiles are available.
Here are some benchmarks done in Turbo Mode for your reference:
- Geekbench 5: Single-core = 974, Multi-core = 6878
- 3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 14478
- 3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 7568
- PCMark 10: 5539
Performance in games in very good. Most of the games I run can achieve over 120fps on Turbo mode. The Zephyrus S15 GX502 is really made for first person shooter gamers where the high refresh rate and response time will really give you and edge over other people. Here are the average fps I got in the following games at maximum settings.
- Apex Legends: 138fps
- CS GO: 240fps
- GTA V: 102fps
- Hitman Absolution: 97fps
- Valorant: 221fps
When it comes to thermals, the follows same suit of its predecessor where the bottom lid is designed to be pushed up slightly to allow for more airflow. But as expected from a slim form factor, the laptop still runs hot and the palm rest can feel warm to the touch. Fans can get quite noisy on Turbo settings or when pushed a max load.
Keyboard and trackpad
The keyboard feels largely the same as the previous version, where the keys is have a slightly higher actuation force than keyboards on ZenBooks for example. Personally, I tend to type a little heavier so this keyboard is fine for me. Having said that that, the keyboard has decent key travel and feedback making it comfortable and fast to type on.
There are 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.
Moving on to the trackpad, it is decently sized and has a smooth glass surface which is Windows precision. It’s quite a clicky trackpad, and a bit too clicky for my liking. You do not get a NumPad like you would with ZenBooks.
Ports selection
The ports on the Zephyrus S15 GX502 has improved over the previous version, now including support for Thunderbolt 3. The full list of ports are as follows:
- 2 x Type A USB 3.2 Gen 1
- 1 x Type A USB 3.2 Gen 2
- 1 x Type C USB 3.2 Gen 2 with Power Delivery, Display Port and G-Sync (Thunderbolt 3)
- 1 x RJ45 Jack
- 1 x HDMI 2.0b
- 2 x Audio Jack: Mic-in & Headphone
- 1 x Kensington Lock
As for connectivity, the Zephyrus S15 GX502 comes with Intel Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0, and GigaBit LAN to ensure your laptop is future proof.
Battery life and speakers
The battery is the Zephyrus S15 GX502 is a 76Wh one so do not expect it to power this laptop for long hours especially with power hungry internals. For general day-to-day use of surfing the net, watching some videos in YouTube/Netflix, and composing this review in Silent Mode at 50% brightness, the battery lasted me around 5 hours.
Do note that if you are not plugged in, the screen’s refresh rate will lower to 60Hz to save battery, and will revert back to 300Hz once you’re plugged back in. As the Zephyrus S15 GX502 comes with two types of charging brick, you can charge the laptop up in two ways. The big fat AC adapter of 240W is one you will need to get the full power of the laptop. if you don’t want to lug around that heavy charging brick, you can also use the USB-C charging brick which supplies 65W via the ThunderBolt 3 USB-C port at the left side.
As for speakers, they fire off at the underside of the speaker so do not expect them to sound very good. The sound profile of these lacks bass and are tuned to higher frequencies. Fortunately, the speakers do not distort on high volumes.
Conclusion
The Zephyrus S15 GX502 introduced improvements to a rather capable ROG Zephyrus S GX502 back in 2019. They kept what was working well and dished out better features in terms of Thunderbolt 3 support, a 300Hz refresh rate screen, and gave it a spec bump. The two options of choice both only come with a 32GB RAM which makes the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 more expensive than last year’s model.
If you’re looking for a 15-inch ultraportable gaming laptop that packs all the best internals and performance, then the ROG Zephyrus S GX502 should be on your shortlist. But these dreamy combination comes at a steep price, especially if you’re gunning for the spec-ed out model in this review that costs a whopping S$4,999.