When it comes to Gaming Laptops, the Asus Rog series of laptops from the Company is pretty popular and successful so far. Well, the company has released one of the latest additions to the series. Yes, we are talking about the Asus ROG STRIX G G531. We already covered this device’s first look a few days back just in case if you want to check it out. Anyways, in this post, we would be reviewing the Asus ROG STRIX G G531 to find out if it is one of the best Gaming Laptop out there in the market.
The Laptop, since it is being built for gamers, has some really powerful internals. Well, let us start off this review, by taking a look at the Asus ROG STRIX G G531 Specifications. Should we?
Specifications
Here is a quick look at the specifications of the Asus ROG STRIX G G531:
- Intel Core i7-9750H and the Intel Core i5-9300H
- 8GB 2666MHz SDRAM
- 512GB PCIe Gen3x2 NVMe M.2 SSD
- NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 4GB GDDR6 VRAM GPU
- 15.6”, Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Display.
- Pre-loaded Windows 10 Home
- I/O Ports:
- 1 x Type C USB 3.2 (GEN2) support DP function
- 3 x Type A USB 3.2 (GEN1)
- 1 x HDMI 2.0b
- 1 x 3.5mm Audio Jack/ 1 x Audio Jack Mic-in (Combo Jack)
- 1 x RJ45 LAN Jack
As you might have already guessed by the above specifications, the laptop is gaming-oriented and has some real power under the hood to handle some heavy gaming titles. Needless to say, the laptop would be able to handle tasks like Video Editing as well. With that being said, let us now take a look at the Design and Build. Shall we?
Design and Build
The build quality of the ROG Strix G G531 feels very rigid. The entire body of this laptop is constructed out of hard polycarbonate. There are a brush matte finish and straight-up lines on the entire body of the laptop which makes it look and feel more premium. There is a glossy ROG logo on the lid which does not light up but still manages to catch attention. The hinge and the keyboard of the laptop feel pretty solid. There is minimal to no flex in the keyboard whatsoever.
The laptop can be opened to around 130 degree which is decent considering the fact that it is a gaming-oriented device. There are quite thin bezels around 15.6-inch display. One of the most eye-catching things about the laptop is a wraparound RGB light bar which illuminates the outer edge. The light bar gives this laptop a unique and cool look which most gamers would love to flaunt.
There are a 3 USB 3.2 genuine type-A ports on the left along with 3.5 mm audio jack. To the back, you can find power in, HDMI 2.0 and Gigabit Ethernet port. The laptop weighs around 2.4KG which is fair considering it is a gaming-oriented laptop.
Display
The display on the Asus Strix G G531 is a 120Hz IPS Display Panel with 3ms response time. The display is good enough to be used indoors in a well-lit room, but the brightness is not that high. We don’t expect good sunlight eligibility with this display when you using this laptop outdoors. There is a matte coating on the laptop which does help reducing glares. However, the colours on this IPS Panel looks pretty vivid and the blacks are good too.
There is a dedicated software which comes pre-installed with this laptop that allows you to play around with your display. There are adjustment options like white balance, colours and more. There are some predefined settings too for those of you who were wondering. That being said, the laptop lacks a webcam which might be a disappointment for some users.
Hardware – Processing & GPU Performance
The internals of the Asus ROG STRIX G G531 is really powerful. The laptop comes with an Intel Core i5-9300H or you can opt for Intel Core i7-9750H along with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM. That being said, the performance of this machine is really good.
Coming to the Graphics, the Asus ROG Strix G features an NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 4GB GDDR6 VRAM GPU. This is a new budget-oriented Graphics Card from NVIDIA. The gaming performance on this laptop was pretty great as well. We were able to get around 80-90fps in Fortnite in high settings and more than 90fps at 1080p with games like the Tomb Raider which is quite appreciable. So thumbs up to the Asus for it!
Storage & Memory (RAM)
The Asus ROG STRIX G G531 comes with a 512GB PCIe Gen3x2 NVMe M.2 SSD which as expected has some really great read and write speeds. There is a free slot present on the motherboard which can be used to add some RAM making it expandable up to 32 GB in the future. The M.2 SSD can also be replaced or upgraded in the future pretty easily. Alternatively, you can also insert a 2.5 inch SATA Drive.
Taling about the Memory, the ROG STRIX G G531 comes with 8GB 2666MHz SDRAM which as we already mentioned earlier is expandable in the future. All in all, we can say that the Asus has done a pretty good job here with the Storage and Memory and did keep the future upgradability in the mind when building this great machine.
Keyboard & Trackpad
The keyboard on the Asus ROG STRIX G is gamer-friendly and comes with a backlit. Which by the way can be customized as per your likings with the help of the Asus Aura software which comes pre-installed with this laptop. There are big and spacious keys on the keyboard. You can also find dedicated multimedia buttons along with fan speed and ROG memory clean button. The keys do feel tactile but at the same time is mushy at times.
There is minimal to no sound with the keyboard which might be preferred by some. There is a soft finish on the keys which helps in a nice fingertip grip and does not let your finger slide along the way. There are three brightness levels for the single-zone RGB Backlit which is placed under the keyboard.
Final Verdict
To conclude this review, we can say that the Asus ROG STRIX G G531 is a really good pick for those of you who are looking out for a gaming laptop on a budget and does not care about lack of webcam. The laptop comes in 2 different processor variants, G531 will retail at a starting price of Rs 59,990 and the G731 will retail at a starting price of Rs 79,990 in India. This is a great price for a laptop with powerful specifications and a unique RGB light bar.
Summary
The Asus ROG STRIX G G531 is a really good pick for those of you who are looking out for a gaming laptop on a budget and does not care about lack of webcam.
