ASUS ROG Strix GL553VE Gaming Laptop Review: ASUS Continues to Impress

ASUS has recently unveiled new gaming laptops under its ROG (Republic of Gamers) lineup. These laptops sport latest Intel Kaby Lake processors and enhanced performance. ASUS ROG Strix GL553VE is one such exciting entry in the series which features an Intel Core i7 processor, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti graphics and 16GB RAM – a rather impressive set of hardware.

Design, Look and Feel

This latest gaming rig features a sleek design and ASUS’ signature ‘Strix’ black and orange styling. Its smooth metallic finish gives the laptop a versatile look and feel. Gamers will love to flaunt their new gaming laptop for sure.

To help gamers eliminate heat during their never-ending gaming sessions, ASUS has packed GL553VE laptop with an ‘intelligent’ thermal design. Its Cooling Overboost technology – a ‘ROG-exclusive’ – can help users adjust fan speeds as required.

Another exciting feature of ASUS ROG Strix GL553VE is its RGB Aura Keyboard with 4-zone customizable lighting. Besides attractive lighting, this keyboard boasts scissor-switch keys with 2.5mm of travel distance. Its keys are sturdy and accurate – much needed during exciting moments of gaming.

Tech Specs and Performance

Here comes the best part about this ROG gaming laptop. ASUS ROG Strix GL553VE features 7th-generation (Kaby Lake) Intel Core i7 7700HQ 2.8 GHz quad-core processor (with Turbo Boost up to 3.8 GHz). No wonder its processing power is top-notch thanks to this latest edition of Intel processor.

Besides an ultra-powerful processor, this ASUS laptop carries 16GB of DDR4 RAM – sufficient for probably any game available out there.

The most important hardware in any gaming laptop will be its graphics card. ASUS has taken care of this part by equipping its GL553VE laptop with a 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti dedicated graphics card. 1050Ti is one of the best graphics card available at this time and provides smooth and stunning visuals on this 15-inch matte display.

This 15-inch Wide View display provides 178° viewing angles and Full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It’s disappointing to see an IPS panel not there. ASUS calls its display ‘IPS-like’ thanks to its output – but it would have been better if it included an ‘actual’ IPS panel.

A 256 GB SSD and 1TB HDD are in place to provide you with sufficient storage. While both SSD and HDD provides decent speed, this ASUS laptop could use a 7200 RMP HDD instead of a standard 5400 RMP one.

To provides gamers with an enhanced audio experience, this ASUS laptop features inbuilt speakers powered by ICEpower. The audio output is ‘not that great’ but works pretty well. Gamers would be happy to stick with a headphone instead, anyway.

To power up everything in place, this ASUS gaming laptop carries a 48WHrs, 4-cell Li-ion non-removable battery – which provides a disappointing backup of 5 hours. While gamers are most certainly not going to use it without connecting the charger, other users will find 5 hours of backup a drawback.

Ports and Connectivity

ASUS ROG Strix GL553VE carries 1 x USB3.1-Type C (Gen 1), 2x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI ports, a headphone-out & audio-in combo jack and a multimedia card reader. It’s about time that USB 2.0 be eliminated in favor of a USB 3.0 or USB 3.1-Type C port. We will wait to see when that happens, though.

For wireless connectivity, it features Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac 2×2 WiFi. For wired network connectivity, a gigabit Ethernet port is present. Both WiFi and Ethernet provides blazing-fast, uninterrupted network connectivity – a blessing for high-end network gaming.

A 9.5mm Super Multi optical drive is also present. We are not sure whether this was a necessary addition but avoiding it could help this laptop lose some more weight.

ASUS ROG Strix GL553VE Gaming Laptop: Overall Impressions

This latest ASUS gaming laptop can be described as an exciting piece of hardware. An ultra-fast Intel processor, 16GB RAM, 4GB dedicated graphics, SSD + HDD storage, RGB keyboard – just about everything is in place to impress gamers.

Each piece of hardware provides stunning performance during high-end gaming and gamers will absolutely love their new ASUS ROG rig.

What comes as a disappointment is its battery backup of about 4 to 5 hours. Users who wish to avoid connecting the charger for longer will not be happy with this.

Overall, ASUS has launched a decent, high-speed laptop for its fans – the gamers. It’s good to see ASUS coming up with new hardware and with ROG Strix GL553VE, it continues to impress.