Gaming Notebook ASUS GL502VT Review

For gaming laptops the reputation of heavy and bulky devices is firmly entrenched. This is partly true, because powerful iron requires good cooling, which always turns out to be more massive. But even among gaming laptops there are devices compact enough for their class. One of them is the new ASUS GL502VT.

Specifications

Processor :
Intel Core i7 6700HQ
Intel Core i5 6300HQ
OS :
Windows 10 Home
Windows 10 Pro
Chipset : Intel HM170
Memory : 8 GB / 16 GB DDR4 2133 MHz SDRAM
Display :
15.6 "(16: 9) UHD (3840x2160), IPS, LED backlight, anti-reflective coating, 72% NTSC
15.6 "(16: 9) FHD (1920x1080), IPS, LED-backlit, anti-reflective coating, 72% NTSC
15.6 "(16: 9) FHD (1920x1080), IPS, LED backlighting, anti-reflective coating, 94% NTSC
Video card : NVIDIA GTX 970M, 3 GB / 6 GB GDDR5 VRAM
Drives :
HDD:
1 TB 5400RPM SATA
1 TB 7200RPM SATA
2 TB 5400RPM SATA
SSD:
128 GB / 256 GB / 512 GB SATA3 SSD
256 GB / 512 GB PCIE Gen3X4 SSD
Card reader : SD
Wireless :
Integrated 802.11b / g / n
Integrated 802.11 AC (WIDI Support)
Bluetooth V4.0
Connectors :
1 x combo audio jack
3 x USB 3.0
1 x USB-C Gen 1 (up to 5 Gbps)
1 x RJ45
1 x HDMI
1 x mini Display Port
Battery : 4-cell
Power supply :
Output:
19.5 V DC, 9.23 A, 180 W
Entrance:
100 -240 V AC, 50/60 Hz
Dimensions : 390 x 266 x 23.5 mm (W x D x H)
Weight : 2.2 kg

Appearance

When you see a laptop for the first time, bright inserts on the lid, the color of "orange electrician" immediately catch your eye. Unfortunately, the photos are very difficult to convey this color, the human eye and the matrix of the camera perceive the dye in different ways. In reality, it is more saturated, like a glowing neon.







A similar design solution - inserts with a logo in the middle - was found in ASUS laptops and earlier, for example, in the GX700VO . But now even without interior lighting - and there it is - these decorative elements immediately attract attention to themselves, beautifully standing out on a black matte surface. The cover is made of aluminum, a plastic insert with a width of about 12 mm passes along the leading edge.



The lower part of the body is made of rough, finely textured plastic. Silicone legs seem to glow with neon. The big hatch is actually not a hatch, but just a decorative element.



On the right side are the audio jack, two USB 3.0 (also orange), a card reader and a Kensington lock.



On the left side is a folding RJ45, mini Display Port, HDMI, USB 3.0 and USB Type C.



At the front end there are ventilation ventilation slots. Also here there are three tiny LED power, charging and drive operation.





Plates of radiators also did not forget to paint in a radical orange color.





The display is bordered by a rather wide matte plastic frame with five rubber buffers.





On the keyboard panel - a riot of orange, even the speaker grids are painted in this color.





Buttons WASD now immediately find lateral vision. By the way, even in the dark with the lights off, they stand out quite well.



The touchpad is significantly recessed into the case. Pressing hardness is average.



The power button is indicated by an additional LED.



Again this is the mysterious outline of b.



But the control arrows are not very convenient. To touch, they do not stand out, every time you have to look for a look.



The keyboard is equipped with a backlight with three levels of brightness

Display

ASUS GL502VT is equipped with a 15.6-inch display. IPS-matrix with a resolution of 1920x1080, anti-reflective coating. There are two types of matrices: with NTSC color gamut of 72% and 94%. You can also buy a model with a resolution of 3840x2160 and NTSC 72%. In all cases, the use of LED RGB-lights.

I didn’t have the equipment for measuring the monitor's color span, so I can only give a subjective assessment. I have no complaints about the quality of the color rendition, the image looks balanced, the colors are moderately saturated, I did not find any noticeable color distortions. The laptop has large viewing angles, and even at an angle of 150 degrees, the picture almost does not lose in brightness and saturation.

Performance and work experience

The laptop is based on the sixth generation Intel Core i7-6700HQ quad-core processor. The maximum clock frequency is 3.5 GHz, the base clock is 2.6 GHz. The amount of RAM - 16 GB, for sale is an option with 8 GB.


There are two graphics cards: integrated Intel HD Graphics 530 and discrete Nvidia GeForce GTX 970M with 6 GB of memory. Accordingly, the first is used at low load levels - during surfing, in office applications, etc. A 970M is involved in games and other applications demanding graphics.



There are two drives: a 1 TB hard drive and a 256 GB SSD connected via NVMe interface. Winchester used quite slow, at 5200 revolutions / min. But, thanks to the high-speed SSD, the system loads very quickly.



In games, the laptop showed its best. Battlefield 4, Mass Effect 3, Tom Clancy's The Division - in all three cases, I did not have the slightest lack of FPS. Everything was loaded very quickly, since the size of the SSD made it possible to install games on a high-speed drive. So, it was always possible to occupy the equipment on the respawns one of the first.

The GL502VT uses independent cooling for the processor and video card. This made it possible to slightly improve the efficiency and reduce the noise level: the manufacturer claims that it is easier to cool two separate circuits than one common. At high load, the cooling system is quite noisy. It is understandable - its dimensions are relatively small, the laptop turned out to be rather thin for a gaming machine, only 23 mm. The noise is dominated by mids, rather than high, so it is perceived more comfortable. And if you wear a good headset, so little is heard at all.

The battery capacity is 62 Wh. Not too much, especially considering the powerful stuffing. Probably, developers had to reduce the size of the battery to fit it in a relatively compact case with a powerful cooling system. In games and benchmarks, the laptop lasted about 2.5 hours, in surfing mode it lasted about 7 hours.

Conclusion

Despite the “gaming” status, the GL502VT looks more like a universal laptop: the screen diagonal is 15.6 inches, not too thick and quite lifting. Although 2.2 kg of live weight on the background of modern ultrabooks will seem transcendent to someone, but let these people drive their battles on their ultrabooks, for example. Or they will hack into the novelty of the season - Doom 4. Although I did not try to install it, but with a certain degree of confidence I will assume that the GL502VT will draw quite decently, since it confidently handles the aforementioned games.

This laptop can be recommended to gamers who are not too fond of carrying 17-inch devices weighing 5 kg. The GL502VT will also be convenient for those who need just a high-performance laptop, albeit somewhat larger and heavier than “regular” models, because if you wish, you can use a video processor for computing. And at leisure, you can escape for half an hour to the "contra", or to DOOM over the solution of some problem.

The laptop will be available approximately at the beginning of July.
Recommended retail price: 98,990 rub.