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Asus Zephyrus GM 501 Review: Beast of Gaming Laptops

Asus has been launching great laptops in its ROG series. The laptop ranges from entry level to full gaming rig. Recently I received the Asus rog Zephyrus gm 501 for review. The laptops perform well and look great. It’s actually the best of both worlds, Beauty with brains. The laptop features one of the best and unique cooling system. It has the company’s fancy Active Aerodynamic System (AAS) cooling mechanism whereby the bottom of the laptop opens up when the lid is swung open, allowing air to flow into the chassis. It’s a clever design, so I’m glad they stuck with it. The main upgrade to the hardware is Intel’s new “Coffee Lake” six-core CPU, and other than that it’s still packed with a laundry list of high-end components. Let’s take a closer look.

The version I am reviewing has the following Tech Specs.

  • Model: GM501G-XS74
  • Display: 15.6-inch FHD (1920×1080) 144Hz IPS
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-8750H at 2.2GHz (9M Cache, up to 4.10 GHz)
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 1070 (8GB GDDR5)
  • Memory: 16GB DDR4
  • OS: Windows 10 Pro
  • OS Drive: 256GB NVMe SSD
  • Storage: 1TB FireCuda SSHD
  • Webcam: 720p
  • Ports: 1 x 3.5 mm audio jack, 4 x USB 3.1 port, 1 x HDMI, 1 x USB Type C with Thunderbolt
  • Connectivity: 802.11ac 2×2 WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0
  • Dimensions: 15.1 x 10.3 x 0.8-inches (WxDxH)
  • Weight: 5.51 pounds

Design and Features

Asus ROG GM 501 has all black with a brushed metal chassis. The laptop has Rose gold color band running around the perimeter. The laptop has hinges that perfectly holds the screen in place and provide great stability to the screen. When the top is open the bottom of the laptop separates to create a gap for air to flow into, helping to keep the CPU and GPU cool. In addition to better airflow, it lifts the keyboard up into a more ergonomically satisfying position.

The Zephyrus M has a full-size RGB backlit keyboard with four lighting zones, with four shortcut keys just above it the left. The four extra keys provide volume control, a mute button for the mic, and a button to launch the ROG Gaming Center program. The WASD keys have a white border, adding a subtle effect when combined with the RBG lighting. A relatively small touchpad is below the keyboard.

This laptop isn’t what I would call a portable laptop because it weighs over 5.5 pounds. It isn’t to carry it around with you. The laptop does have the power inside which in case you wouldn’t be able to move around. The screen has a refresh rate of 144mhz and its powered by Nvidia 1070 GPU and 16gb of ram which can be further increases if you are willing to open few screws done the laptop.

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Zephyrus M has great connectivity options. Not all gaming laptop offers you enough ports on it to save space but that isn’t the case with the Asus Zephyrus M. This laptop has seven expansion ports: four USB 3.1 ports, a single USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3 support for adding an external monitor or connecting a hard drive, an HDMI port, and 3.5mm audio jack. Most of the ports are on the left side of the housing, with only the USB-C port and a single USB 3.1 port on the right side.

Performance and Gaming

Most of the gaming laptops that have been launched this year, most of them packed the 8th generation Intel core processors. In the real gaming scenario, the colors look great. Performance is smooth and the system could handle every game that I tried to play which includes – Call of Duty WW2, Farcry 5 and Pub G. I regularly experienced frame rates over 100 frames per second (FPS) at high or ultra settings. Rapid movement is smooth, with no frame drops or stuttering. The scenery in the new PUBG map Sanhook was impressively sharp and, at times, felt eerily lifelike. I found myself staring at a tree on the map at one point, admiring the texture of its bark.

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The Keyboard is one of the attractions of this laptop because of its color changing led’s beneath the keyboard. The color changing effects add to the mood of gaming. The keys take a bit of a time to get adjusted to them. It would take a few gaming sessions to get accustomed to keys. I enjoy typing on keyboards like the one on the Zephyrus M overall, but I’m used to keys with a more tactile feeling. Also, the keyboard is placed at an ever-so-slight angle thanks to the cooling system, and the tilted design felt more comfortable on my wrists than with a more traditional flat orientation.

The speakers on this laptop are loud enough and have a perfect balance and without headphones, I was well able to make judgments of where the bullets were coming from or if someone is walking nearby. The speakers are only loud until the cooling fans start in overboost mode. The fans aren’t the loudest but they do interfere with the sound experience. This is pretty common with super-thin-and-powerful laptops, so a headset is always recommended for gaming.

Battery life

Since this is a gaming laptop and thin one as compared to other gaming laptops in the same price range, some things should be compromised and Asus has trimmed down the battery back up for this laptop since very rarely anyone would unplug the beast from the power outlet. The battery life on the Zephyrus M is decent, as it was about the same as what I got from the MSI GS65. Running through our video rundown benchmark, the battery powered through 177 minutes. That’s good enough for a movie and then some on a cross-country flight, and better than the two hours or so we’re used to seeing with high-powered gaming laptops.

Pricing and Availability

Asus Zephrus M is priced At Rs. 1,99,990 in India, the laptop is available through Asus partnered outlets all over India and Online via Amazon.in .

Asus Zephyrus M GM 501 Review
  • Design
  • Performance
  • Features
  • Price
  • Battery
3.3

Summary

Asus Zephyrus has all the ticks in its place to make it a top-tier gaming system. Asus redesigned the things about the laptop that might have made it a hard sell to all but bleeding-edge gamers – repositioning the keyboard, improving the audio quality and extending the battery life (a bit). The company also found a way to add a full-fledged Pascal GPU and an 8th Gen Intel CPU, putting it on a par with some of the larger systems in its class. I would recommend it a go ahead if you are looking for a beast laptop for gaming that can run any game you throw at it and without any lags or screen freezes.

Sachin Agarwal
Sachin Agarwalhttps://www.indiantechguys.com
Meet Sachin Agarwal, a passionate social media enthusiast and a self-proclaimed geek with an unbreakable bond with technology. Currently serving as a Senior Manager in On-Demand Delivery at Reliance Jiobp, Sachin's fascination with technology remains unwavering while others his age may have experienced numerous breakups. Throughout his journey, Sachin has earned countless treats from friends who sought his expertise in resolving laptop and computer issues. Technology runs in his veins, making him the go-to Tech Advisor for everyone fortunate enough to know him. Now, with Indian Tech Guys as his platform, Sachin aims to share his vast knowledge and insightful reviews with the world, establishing himself as the "Sachin of Technology." Join him on this exciting venture as he explores and embraces all things tech.
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