Remember the ROG Zephyrus? yes. It’s that beastly gaming laptop from ASUS Republic of Gamers which at its time, was named as the slimmest in the world. Well, that changes today, as the crown is now worn by the newest member of its Zephyrus lineup.
Say hello to the new ROG Zephyrus S. At just 14.95~15.75mm thin, this masterpiece is 12% slimmer than the original Zephyrus and utilizes an all-metal chassis made from a mix of aluminum and magnesium alloy. This ensures the perfect balance between durability and weight. In fact, it takes nearly 72 minutes just to carve out the intricate details, which results in a lid that is remarkably rigid, yet slim. Its engineering samples have also met military-grade durability standards for jolts and vibration.
The lid design is composed of a stealthy surface, accentuated with copper highlights, plus a surgical slash that separates competing textures. Similar line also cut across the area above the keyboard, giving the Zephyrus S its own distinctive style. Its scissor door hinges allow the laptop to maintain a low profile when closed. And when opened, exposes the display and opens the unique air intake.
Talk about cooling, the Zephyrus S uses the innovative and upgraded Aerodynamic System, which involves opening a special vent underneath the chassis when the laptop is opened. Only now, the intake measures 5mm, and stretches across the entire back of the body. This results to 22% improved airflow.
The laptop also uses five heatpipes to pull heat away from the CPU, the GPU, and the VRM Circuitry that feeds them power. The CPU and the GPU connect to shared and dedicated heatsinks to ensure optimal cooling in any workload. It’s also equipped with self-cleaning fans that eject particles from the system through anti-dust tunnels, preventing accumulation on the fins.
Integrated RGB lighting allows gamers to customize the Zephyrus S to their liking. There are 4 independent zones illuminate the keyboard, while additional LEDs provide a subtle glow inside the AAS vent. With Aura Sync, gamers can also synchronize the lighting effects with compatible peripherals.
The new Armoury Crate serves as a control center, in which gamers can access the most essential functions, such as system settings and Aura Sync lighting.
Overstroke technology improves the keyboard’s responsiveness, by triggering earlier in the key travel, while the longer post-actuation distance maximizes the 1.2mm of travel, improving the overall typing feel. Switches are rated at 20 million key presses, and are specifically designed for heavy use. The N-Key rollover feature also ensures that each press registers precisely as intended, regardless of how many keys are mashed at once.
To improve immersion, the Zephyrus S has been fitted with dual front-facing speakers embedded in the hinge, and are powered by the smart amplifier technology that prevents distortion even in high volume. There’s also Sonic Studio III, which adds virtual surround sound with stereo headsets, and features APO injection, allowing the speaker virtualization to work on a wider range of gears, including standard analog headphones, USB headsets, external DACs, and VR devices.
The Zephyrus S has a 100% sRGB 15.6-inch IPS display with 144Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time. It runs on the 6 core 12 thread Intel Core i7-8750H with 16GB of 2666MHz DDR4 RAM. For storage, there’s an ultra fast PCIe NVMe 512GB M.2 SSD.
Availability
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus S (GX531) will be available in all ROG stores nationwide this October 2018.
Specifications
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Emman has been writing technical and feature articles since 2010. Prior to this, he became one of the instructors at Asia Pacific College in 2008, and eventually landed a job as Business Analyst and Technical Writer at Integrated Open Source Solutions for almost 3 years.
