The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G18 is a powerful gaming laptop that offers an 18-inch display with a large screen real estate, making it ideal for immersive gaming experiences. The laptop's design is sleek and compact, allowing users to easily carry it around without feeling weighed down by the size of the device.

One of the standout features of the Zephyrus G18 is its ability to offer a comfortable viewing distance while still providing an 18-inch display. This allows users to enjoy their games without straining their eyes or feeling cramped in front of the screen. The laptop's PCIE slot and RAM configuration also provide ample storage and performance capabilities, making it suitable for demanding games and applications.

The GPU is another key component of the Zephyrus G18, with users able to configure it with a variety of different 40-series GPUs to suit their needs. The laptop's cooling system is also noteworthy, featuring intelligent cooling that helps to keep temperatures under control even during intense gaming sessions.

In terms of audio, the Zephyrus G18 features down-firing speakers, although these may not be ideal for everyone. However, users can opt for a gaming headset instead, which will provide a more immersive audio experience. The laptop also features a semi-transparent exterior design, adding to its unique aesthetic appeal.

The keyboard and trackpad are also worth mentioning, with the Zephyrus G18 featuring an RGB keyboard that provides a high level of customization options for users. The trackpad is offset in this model, allowing users to access a number pad if desired. In comparison to other gaming laptops, such as the ASUS ROG Strix G18 Non-Scar model, the Zephyrus G18 offers similar features and performance capabilities.

One notable difference between the Zephyrus G18 and its non-Scar counterpart is the lack of an RGB light bar on the front of the device. However, this may be a minor trade-off for those who prefer a more understated design aesthetic. The laptop's ergonomics are also noteworthy, with users reporting that it feels more comfortable to use than other gaming laptops in its class.

The fans on the Zephyrus G18 can get quite loud when the laptop is actively charging, although this is not always a problem for most users. In general, however, the laptop's fan noise levels are well-managed and do not detract from the overall gaming experience.

For users who want to fine-tune their laptop's performance settings, ASUS provides Armory Crate software that allows them to configure various settings, including GPU mode, CPU settings, and Windows power modes. This level of customization can be a major advantage for gamers who need precise control over their system's performance.

In terms of pricing, the ROG Zephyrus G18 is positioned at the top of ASUS's gaming laptop lineup, with a premium price tag to match its features and capabilities. However, users do not necessarily need the Scar model to get a great gaming experience, as similar performance can be achieved on lower-priced variants such as the Strix G18 Non-Scar model or 16-inch variants.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enoh would you look at that another shrouded unboxing experience which Mo has been very sneaky about he's like okay you were ready everything's ready to go it's Square it's all of it surprisingly whoa we have like a box made out of wood here and a number of kind of patterns and shapes this looks handmade we've also got these little tablets this is the way I have spoken these all say different things they do Navarro Naboo and one Starfighter this must have something to do it's another one of these puzzle situations on the box also States this is the way this is uh like I can feel The Carving that's carved in there now obviously as I've told you in the past I have watched Mandalorian and that's the famous this is the way so I think there's a Star Wars aspect to this experience now this drawer is locked there's a hinge here and another drawer it's a two drawer situation and they're both locked what do these tablets tableau I don't want to put it too far in I don't want to lose it oh true false there's some sort of a game here this whole thing I was looking at that hinge but I thought that was just to set it up oh jeez that is heavy wow um wow what a package so this is going to be a trivia game and I'm gonna need to complete it in order to unlock the new Rog gaming laptops of which there are two of them installed inside but protected behind this glass I don't know if I know the answers to all these things I mean I watched the show but I bet my character what happens if I get it wrong what is the catchphrase it's either going to be this is the way or I have spoken I don't remember the character I probably should but but uh oh I have spoken but is the mandalorian's real name I think din jarin Maybe yes that was right what is the mythical creature in the Mandalorian Navarro or mythosaurus mythosaurus that seems too obvious no it is mythosaurs wow what Droid does Mando buy from Pele Moto rsd4 or ig-12 rsd4 mandalorian's first ship is called razor Crest or Naboo N1 Starfighter razor crest Cobb vanth is a true Mandalorian false how old is baby Yoda 150 hmm 50. 50. baby Yoda is 50. what is Mando's armor made from bescar I remember that not Damascus beskar boom so I discovered there's basically this little magnetic Contraption in here that unlocks the drawer like like a typical kind of drawer pull the metal piece is lifted up and then the drawer itself is unlocked but you have to have the correct answers in each slot and I realized that once I heard the sound when you insert it that it's like a click and that's the magnet coming up to the top of the acrylic material and unlocking the drawer so check this out correct answers and you get a laptop pretty cool oh so this must be the new zephyrus yeah that's right the new zephyrus gaming laptop and then in the other drawer that must be the strix so this looks like the 16-inch version of the strix but it also comes in an 18 inch model all right so we have all the laptops set up now and there's a total of three because there's actually this strix scar which to be honest I've been using for a little while because I kind of like it and it does have the most power of the bunch and also this really nice 18 inch display which on a laptop is I mean there have been bigger but like that's pretty immersive in and of itself but let's start over on this side so this is the new zephyrus and this is the only one with this really cool dot display on the lid and this thing is capable of like Custom Graphics there's a couple of presets in there it's all controlled via software so this one has some pretty intense personalization now as far as the specs on my unit that I've got here it is 16 gigs of video memory it has an I9 13900h oh speaking of video we are talking about Nvidia 40 series across the entirety of the lineup here from zephyrus to strix to strict scar this also has two terabytes of pcie SSD storage it's got two times 16 gigs of memory but of course that's also upgradeable but the best thing to do is sort of check the website to see all the different configuration options there's different display options and lots to choose from this one is also going to be the most portable of the three that we're going to look at here today it has a 240 hertz refresh rate HDR 1000 display 100 DCI P3 coverage Nvidia Optimus they claim that the CPU is cooler 13 degrees Celsius they kind of reconfigured some of the cooling some of the heat pipes and fans and so forth on the bottom here we can see the rather large feet that this stands on including a kind of nice ergonomically pleasing type of angle that's created by default now this zephyrus is also famous for this kind of cool hinge which lifts up the deck of the keyboard to give you this really comfortable typing surface this and it does so without you even really thinking about it you just lift the lid and boom we get this kind of ramp action actually this hinge is really cool it goes all the way down now how useful is that well I don't know maybe on your lap sitting on the couch you don't want to be restrained so this is kind of a cool hinge design now it does send some of the cooling out the back side this vent here and so there's also a little bit of space created between the display we have a fairly trim bezel especially on the sides although we do have room at the top for our front facing camera activities on the right side of the device USB AC and micro SD card expansion for storage Barrel style connector towards the back of the laptop for power Thunderbolt full size HDMI USBC and a dedicated headphone jack analog Nvidia g-sync RTX as mentioned 40 series available in here so this is a 16 inch wqxga panel and it is as you can see like a matte finish so not very much glare and lots of pixels and I kind of like the idea this year with the prioritization on cooling keeps the fan noise down these are gaming laptops at the end of day I mean this thing is definitely not enormous and the extra emphasis on cooling this time around keeps that fan noise down probably helps with longevity and things like that so I don't mind that decision at all okay moving over now to the strix this is the 16 inch model and the spec that I've been sent eight gigs of video memory on this model I9 13980 HX and this color is gray it has like a kind of a brushed look it's a pretty matte finish on there and instead of having the light up features you have like an etched Rog logo this one is venting out the back it's a sort of more traditional gaming laptop hinge that's on here some nice design details Republic of Gamers along the back venting out the back I kind of like the way they've integrated these feet very solid robust feet over there some nice little Easter eggs on the bottom Rog built into the vent design it looks like speakers here are going to be firing to the table intelligent cooling so Barrel style connector for power we're going to get a full size ethernet Jack here which is a nice touch full size HDMI a couple of thunderbolts as well as display port and a dedicated analog headphone and then two more USB a ports so this one is going to win versatility or Port diversity challenge up against the zephyrus but this is a bigger laptop as as well now I really like this so at the front here we have this obvious grip point to really help you lift the display it's a subtle thing it's a small detail but it is a nice touch and very obvious from a design perspective both are so solid actually the deck has almost no flex on there at all but if I had to pick one and like portability wasn't an issue and I was just picking based on keyboard I kind of prefer typing on this one this one is the one that I like the most out of the bunch it's a gaming laptop at the end of the day this is the strix scar so this has an 18 inch display on it and resolution still wqxga but 18 inches it gives you a little bit more Flex for like how far you sit from the laptop so when I was gaming on it it's like you know I like to kind of configure my space in such a way where the laptop perhaps maybe slightly further away from me and I have like an external kind of keyboard style device that I'm using and an external Mouse not all the time but sometimes and then having an 18 inch display kind of lets you do that while still being at a comfortable viewing distance one TV plus one TV as far as storage it's pcie as well 16 gigs times two as far as ddr5 is concerned so 32 gigs of RAM but it's the same as the other models like as far as the GPU is concerned you can configure it with a variety of different 40 series gpus you can see slightly different layout on the bottom no Easter egg here we have this gray panel though which is different than the other intelligent cooling we have some down firing speakers not necessarily ideal I don't know how big of a consideration that is on a gaming laptop anyways you have so many options for audio you're probably using a gaming headset you have dedicated audio out so probably not a massive deal another nice little touch you have this kind of semi-transparent exterior just to give it some more uniqueness around the side of the device Barrel style connector for power you still get that full-size ethernet a full-size HDMI two Thunderbolts and there's that headset Jack that I mentioned other side two more USB A's so similar to the non-scar Edition and that semi-transparent thing but like in a smoked look happening at the top part of the keyboard deck I really like that look at this beautiful display I mean it's a big difference measured diagonally and so it just gives you look it's going to be tougher to travel with and for me if I'm going on a trip or something like that I'm probably not taking a gaming laptop and I realize that's kind of a luxury having different devices to choose from but I want something that's easy to move from one place to the other but not necessarily that I'm going to be carrying for hours on end where a pound difference is going to make a big deal so this 18 inch is kind of it's I'm I'm willing to make the compromise on scale RGB keyboard once again trackpad in this case is now offset because this unit is big enough to have a number pad if that's something that you're into keyboard comparison extremely comparable hard to make a pick there probably preference to this because I've been using it a little bit more maybe it's a familiarity thing it's getting a phone call oh yeah so that's another thing to mention zephyrus no RGB light bar in the front whereas the strix models do foreign what a revive it's a it's like once you get a gaming laptop that's this big it almost feels like you're sitting in front of a gaming setup I think it's something to do with like having the taller display as well like it's more comfortable than I'm feeling less of uh an inclination to kind of hunch I don't mind being back here I just feel like the ergonomics are better with an 18-inch gaming laptop now the other thing that I noticed as far as the fans are concerned is that when the laptop is actively charging obviously a lot of the time that you're using it you're going to have it plugged in it's at a hundred percent now when it's actively charging sometimes the fans can be a little bit louder but like this level of fan noise right here getting 240 frames in a game I like to play like this is totally acceptable to me and we already talked about how a lot of people when they're gaming they have their headset on anyways by the way this is all configurable via Armory crate you have your GPU mode here standard Eco optimized or ultimate these settings are for your CPU your CPU has Windows silent performance turbo or manual so you can kind of dial it exactly as you please you want better performance possibly a little bit more fan okay go go that way you want more power saving more battery life you're using for productivity or Windows okay toggle to that setting and you can have that automatically happen when you plug it in with your different preferences or when you launch a game alright so you can get the strix or the strict Scar the scar sits at the very top with the premium price tag to match for those that just want the ultimate gaming experience and don't care about the price tag however it's important to note that for most people they're going to get plenty of frames and a great experience on the other strix models as well that start at a lower price point than even if you want this 18 inch display you can dial it down to like a 40 70 40 60 even all the way down to a 40 50 in the regular strix G18 non-scar model and the same applies for the 16 inch variants if you prefer a more trim form factor so there's lots to choose from you absolutely don't need the scar model but I'm not gonna lie it's a little bit of funoh would you look at that another shrouded unboxing experience which Mo has been very sneaky about he's like okay you were ready everything's ready to go it's Square it's all of it surprisingly whoa we have like a box made out of wood here and a number of kind of patterns and shapes this looks handmade we've also got these little tablets this is the way I have spoken these all say different things they do Navarro Naboo and one Starfighter this must have something to do it's another one of these puzzle situations on the box also States this is the way this is uh like I can feel The Carving that's carved in there now obviously as I've told you in the past I have watched Mandalorian and that's the famous this is the way so I think there's a Star Wars aspect to this experience now this drawer is locked there's a hinge here and another drawer it's a two drawer situation and they're both locked what do these tablets tableau I don't want to put it too far in I don't want to lose it oh true false there's some sort of a game here this whole thing I was looking at that hinge but I thought that was just to set it up oh jeez that is heavy wow um wow what a package so this is going to be a trivia game and I'm gonna need to complete it in order to unlock the new Rog gaming laptops of which there are two of them installed inside but protected behind this glass I don't know if I know the answers to all these things I mean I watched the show but I bet my character what happens if I get it wrong what is the catchphrase it's either going to be this is the way or I have spoken I don't remember the character I probably should but but uh oh I have spoken but is the mandalorian's real name I think din jarin Maybe yes that was right what is the mythical creature in the Mandalorian Navarro or mythosaurus mythosaurus that seems too obvious no it is mythosaurs wow what Droid does Mando buy from Pele Moto rsd4 or ig-12 rsd4 mandalorian's first ship is called razor Crest or Naboo N1 Starfighter razor crest Cobb vanth is a true Mandalorian false how old is baby Yoda 150 hmm 50. 50. baby Yoda is 50. what is Mando's armor made from bescar I remember that not Damascus beskar boom so I discovered there's basically this little magnetic Contraption in here that unlocks the drawer like like a typical kind of drawer pull the metal piece is lifted up and then the drawer itself is unlocked but you have to have the correct answers in each slot and I realized that once I heard the sound when you insert it that it's like a click and that's the magnet coming up to the top of the acrylic material and unlocking the drawer so check this out correct answers and you get a laptop pretty cool oh so this must be the new zephyrus yeah that's right the new zephyrus gaming laptop and then in the other drawer that must be the strix so this looks like the 16-inch version of the strix but it also comes in an 18 inch model all right so we have all the laptops set up now and there's a total of three because there's actually this strix scar which to be honest I've been using for a little while because I kind of like it and it does have the most power of the bunch and also this really nice 18 inch display which on a laptop is I mean there have been bigger but like that's pretty immersive in and of itself but let's start over on this side so this is the new zephyrus and this is the only one with this really cool dot display on the lid and this thing is capable of like Custom Graphics there's a couple of presets in there it's all controlled via software so this one has some pretty intense personalization now as far as the specs on my unit that I've got here it is 16 gigs of video memory it has an I9 13900h oh speaking of video we are talking about Nvidia 40 series across the entirety of the lineup here from zephyrus to strix to strict scar this also has two terabytes of pcie SSD storage it's got two times 16 gigs of memory but of course that's also upgradeable but the best thing to do is sort of check the website to see all the different configuration options there's different display options and lots to choose from this one is also going to be the most portable of the three that we're going to look at here today it has a 240 hertz refresh rate HDR 1000 display 100 DCI P3 coverage Nvidia Optimus they claim that the CPU is cooler 13 degrees Celsius they kind of reconfigured some of the cooling some of the heat pipes and fans and so forth on the bottom here we can see the rather large feet that this stands on including a kind of nice ergonomically pleasing type of angle that's created by default now this zephyrus is also famous for this kind of cool hinge which lifts up the deck of the keyboard to give you this really comfortable typing surface this and it does so without you even really thinking about it you just lift the lid and boom we get this kind of ramp action actually this hinge is really cool it goes all the way down now how useful is that well I don't know maybe on your lap sitting on the couch you don't want to be restrained so this is kind of a cool hinge design now it does send some of the cooling out the back side this vent here and so there's also a little bit of space created between the display we have a fairly trim bezel especially on the sides although we do have room at the top for our front facing camera activities on the right side of the device USB AC and micro SD card expansion for storage Barrel style connector towards the back of the laptop for power Thunderbolt full size HDMI USBC and a dedicated headphone jack analog Nvidia g-sync RTX as mentioned 40 series available in here so this is a 16 inch wqxga panel and it is as you can see like a matte finish so not very much glare and lots of pixels and I kind of like the idea this year with the prioritization on cooling keeps the fan noise down these are gaming laptops at the end of day I mean this thing is definitely not enormous and the extra emphasis on cooling this time around keeps that fan noise down probably helps with longevity and things like that so I don't mind that decision at all okay moving over now to the strix this is the 16 inch model and the spec that I've been sent eight gigs of video memory on this model I9 13980 HX and this color is gray it has like a kind of a brushed look it's a pretty matte finish on there and instead of having the light up features you have like an etched Rog logo this one is venting out the back it's a sort of more traditional gaming laptop hinge that's on here some nice design details Republic of Gamers along the back venting out the back I kind of like the way they've integrated these feet very solid robust feet over there some nice little Easter eggs on the bottom Rog built into the vent design it looks like speakers here are going to be firing to the table intelligent cooling so Barrel style connector for power we're going to get a full size ethernet Jack here which is a nice touch full size HDMI a couple of thunderbolts as well as display port and a dedicated analog headphone and then two more USB a ports so this one is going to win versatility or Port diversity challenge up against the zephyrus but this is a bigger laptop as as well now I really like this so at the front here we have this obvious grip point to really help you lift the display it's a subtle thing it's a small detail but it is a nice touch and very obvious from a design perspective both are so solid actually the deck has almost no flex on there at all but if I had to pick one and like portability wasn't an issue and I was just picking based on keyboard I kind of prefer typing on this one this one is the one that I like the most out of the bunch it's a gaming laptop at the end of the day this is the strix scar so this has an 18 inch display on it and resolution still wqxga but 18 inches it gives you a little bit more Flex for like how far you sit from the laptop so when I was gaming on it it's like you know I like to kind of configure my space in such a way where the laptop perhaps maybe slightly further away from me and I have like an external kind of keyboard style device that I'm using and an external Mouse not all the time but sometimes and then having an 18 inch display kind of lets you do that while still being at a comfortable viewing distance one TV plus one TV as far as storage it's pcie as well 16 gigs times two as far as ddr5 is concerned so 32 gigs of RAM but it's the same as the other models like as far as the GPU is concerned you can configure it with a variety of different 40 series gpus you can see slightly different layout on the bottom no Easter egg here we have this gray panel though which is different than the other intelligent cooling we have some down firing speakers not necessarily ideal I don't know how big of a consideration that is on a gaming laptop anyways you have so many options for audio you're probably using a gaming headset you have dedicated audio out so probably not a massive deal another nice little touch you have this kind of semi-transparent exterior just to give it some more uniqueness around the side of the device Barrel style connector for power you still get that full-size ethernet a full-size HDMI two Thunderbolts and there's that headset Jack that I mentioned other side two more USB A's so similar to the non-scar Edition and that semi-transparent thing but like in a smoked look happening at the top part of the keyboard deck I really like that look at this beautiful display I mean it's a big difference measured diagonally and so it just gives you look it's going to be tougher to travel with and for me if I'm going on a trip or something like that I'm probably not taking a gaming laptop and I realize that's kind of a luxury having different devices to choose from but I want something that's easy to move from one place to the other but not necessarily that I'm going to be carrying for hours on end where a pound difference is going to make a big deal so this 18 inch is kind of it's I'm I'm willing to make the compromise on scale RGB keyboard once again trackpad in this case is now offset because this unit is big enough to have a number pad if that's something that you're into keyboard comparison extremely comparable hard to make a pick there probably preference to this because I've been using it a little bit more maybe it's a familiarity thing it's getting a phone call oh yeah so that's another thing to mention zephyrus no RGB light bar in the front whereas the strix models do foreign what a revive it's a it's like once you get a gaming laptop that's this big it almost feels like you're sitting in front of a gaming setup I think it's something to do with like having the taller display as well like it's more comfortable than I'm feeling less of uh an inclination to kind of hunch I don't mind being back here I just feel like the ergonomics are better with an 18-inch gaming laptop now the other thing that I noticed as far as the fans are concerned is that when the laptop is actively charging obviously a lot of the time that you're using it you're going to have it plugged in it's at a hundred percent now when it's actively charging sometimes the fans can be a little bit louder but like this level of fan noise right here getting 240 frames in a game I like to play like this is totally acceptable to me and we already talked about how a lot of people when they're gaming they have their headset on anyways by the way this is all configurable via Armory crate you have your GPU mode here standard Eco optimized or ultimate these settings are for your CPU your CPU has Windows silent performance turbo or manual so you can kind of dial it exactly as you please you want better performance possibly a little bit more fan okay go go that way you want more power saving more battery life you're using for productivity or Windows okay toggle to that setting and you can have that automatically happen when you plug it in with your different preferences or when you launch a game alright so you can get the strix or the strict Scar the scar sits at the very top with the premium price tag to match for those that just want the ultimate gaming experience and don't care about the price tag however it's important to note that for most people they're going to get plenty of frames and a great experience on the other strix models as well that start at a lower price point than even if you want this 18 inch display you can dial it down to like a 40 70 40 60 even all the way down to a 40 50 in the regular strix G18 non-scar model and the same applies for the 16 inch variants if you prefer a more trim form factor so there's lots to choose from you absolutely don't need the scar model but I'm not gonna lie it's a little bit of fun\n"