Asus ROG Zephyrus S15 GX502 (15.6-inch, 2018)

Excellent gaming performance ; Lightweight and compact ; Clever design ; Plenty of ports ; Subtle, subdued RGB lights

Noisy, even in ‘silent’ mode ; Display doesn’t give you the promised sRGB coverage

The Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX502 is a portable powerhouse, boasting great gaming chops and incredible overall for non-gaming applications. In both style and performance, the GX502 straddles the gaming and productivity worlds nicely, while not necessarily...

Much more palatable design ; Excellent performance ; Fast display refresh and response

No integrated webcam ; Could use more USB-C ports

Asus’s new, back-to-basics design for its flagship gaming laptop is much appreciated, rising in power level without compromising much on thinness and weight. However, cutting the integrated webcam is sure to annoy many fans, us included. All told, the...

Solid keyboard ; Stellar performance ; Hi-res audio quality

Lacks webcam ; Fairly short battery life

So has Asus done enough to usurp Razer? In many ways, yes. It’s bigger than the Blade, but not by so much that it makes a huge difference day to day. Its performance is equally stellar and it’s cheaper, too. The only downside is that it isn’t as sleek,...

Excellent portability for a 15-inch gaming notebook ; Slim and relatively light for its form factor ; Innovative Active Aerodynamic System ; One of the best Full-HD display around

That price tag ; Could do with an additional USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port ; Poor battery life

Thin design ; Clean durable build ; Great gaming performance

Loud fans ; RAM soldered down ; No webcam

The ROG Zephyrus S GX502 packs tons of power in as tight of a 15.6” package as possible, but at the detriment of cooling efficiency.

Thinner and lighter than your typical 15-inch gaming notebook ; Glacial Blue color is fire ; Incredibly powerful internals ; Full power RTX 2070 GPU

Expensive ; 240Hz display is overkill ; Fans are loud

GeForce RTX 2070 Max-P in the body of a Max-Q notebook ; Slim, compact and modern design ; Great build quality ; 144Hz display with G-Sync support

Single-channel memory results in huge performance deficits while gaming ; Fans can get quite noisy ; Average battery life ; No Thunderbolt 3

Great 1080p gaming performance, complemented by extreme high-refresh panel ; Impressive battery life ; Elegant styling ; Colorful keyboard

No webcam ; No SD or microSD card slot

Gamers with deep pockets will adore the eight-core horsepower, 300Hz display, and Vegas-neon keyboard of Asus' ROG Zephyrus S15.

Slim design with full-throttle GeForce RTX graphics. Optimus graphics mode greatly increases versatility. 240Hz G-Sync display. Narrow screen bezels. Keyboard back where it belongs. Per-key RGB keyboard backlighting.

Cooling fans get loud under load. Real-world gaming performance mostly in Max-Q range. No webcam.

Bottom Line: The Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX502 is one of the slimmest, most versatile gaming laptops you can buy. With support for both G-Sync and Optimus, it's a high-power rig for play and a decent-battery one for productivity tasks.

Slim design with full-throttle GeForce RTX graphics. Optimus graphics mode greatly increases versatility. 240Hz G-Sync display. Narrow screen bezels. Keyboard back where it belongs. Per-key RGB keyboard backlighting.

Cooling fans get loud under load. Real-world gaming performance mostly in Max-Q range. No webcam.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus S GX502 is one of the slimmest, most versatile gaming laptops you can buy. With support for both G-Sync and Optimus, it's a high-power rig for play and a decent-battery one for productivity tasks.