The Asus GL503: A Gaming Laptop with a Unique Design Language

As I picked up the Asus GL503, I was immediately struck by its design language. This laptop is equipped with a GTX 1050, which puts it on the lower tier in terms of gaming laptops, but it's relatively inexpensive and makes up for it with better build quality. The design language on this laptop is a little bit different from what Asus has gone for in the past. Normally, the ROG line features a bold black and red aesthetic, but this laptop takes a more subtle approach. Instead of the usual black and red accents, the GL503 has no external red accents, although the exhaust vent does feature a small red LED light. The ROG logo also lights up red, but that's about it.

The design of the GL503 is actually quite similar to the Asus GX501, which is their flagship laptop. This may seem counterintuitive, given that the GL503 is positioned as a more affordable option, but it makes sense when you consider the focus on build quality. The metal top surface gives the laptop a premium feel, and the hinge is solidly built. However, the bottom panel does not remove easily, with only an access panel available to access the RAM, hard drive, and SSD (if one is installed). This may make it more difficult to clean out the fans or access other internal components.

One of the notable features of the GL503 is its port selection. The laptop comes equipped with a single USB-C port, four USB 3.0 ports, a couple of display outputs, an Ethernet port, and an SD card slot. The audio jack is also combined into one port, which includes both headphone and earphone jacks. While some may find this combination convenient, others may prefer the ability to have separate ports for each type of device.

When I cracked open the laptop, I was impressed by the keyboard. The layout is standard with a number pad and a leftward shift key, but the keystrokes are softer than what I've experienced on other gaming laptops. The keyboard also features audio keys up top, which allow you to control your sound in-game more easily. The ROG button on the side of the laptop launches the Asus ROG App, which provides performance stats, customizable lighting, and other features.

The screen is one of the standout features of the GL503. While it's only 1080p resolution, it delivers great color accuracy and brightness. This makes it an excellent choice for tasks like video editing or graphic design. The trackpad is also accurate and uses Windows Precision drivers, making it a pleasure to use.

The performance of the GL503 is respectable, if not blistering. Running on a GTX 1050, the laptop can handle light and moderately demanding games with ease. However, it's worth noting that the thermal output is slightly higher than I expected for a thinner gaming laptop. This may be due to the fact that the GTX 1050 is an older GPU, but it's still capable of delivering good performance.

Battery life is another area where the GL503 shines. With a 64-Watt Hour battery and running tests with the screen at 250 nits, I was able to get around five hours of battery life. This may not be the longest battery life available in laptops, but it's still respectable for a gaming laptop.

So, who is this laptop for? Given its starting price of around $1000, there are certainly more affordable options available on the market that offer similar performance. However, the extra money in this laptop goes towards better build quality and a significantly better screen. If you're looking for a laptop with excellent build quality and a great display, the Asus GL503 is definitely worth considering.

As I mentioned earlier, one of the most distinctive features of the GL503 is its lack of red accents. This may seem like a minor point, but it's actually worth mentioning as part of the overall value proposition of this laptop. The fact that you're getting a high-quality build and display for an affordable price, combined with the subtle design language, makes the GL503 a compelling choice for anyone in the market for a gaming laptop.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHey, how's it going? Dave2D here, and this is the Asus GL503.So this is a laptop that's equipped with a GTX 1050.It's on like the lower tier in terms of gaming laptops but it's relatively inexpensive.It's built quite well and this is something that Asus has brought into the market to,just be a little bit different from every other gaming laptop.So the first thing I noticed when I picked this thing up is that the design language on this laptop isa little bit different from what they've gone for in the past. Normally, the ROG line isvery much Black and Red.I think that Asus is like one of the original companies that did the whole Black and Red gamer thing.I feel like this is like the transition phase. I feel like we're on the edge.Next year, I really think that we will not be seeing as many Black and Red laptopsas we've been seeing this year in the gaming industry.So this thing has no external Red accents.There's some Red in the exhaust vent and the ROG logo lights up Red but that's it.Everything else is Black, even the Keyboard lights are configurable to whatever color that you want.It has a metal top surface and the design of this is actually very similar to the Asus GX501which is like their flagship laptop.And it's kind of weird to see the same kind of design language on a laptop that's significantly cheaper.So this thing starts at around $1000 and the build quality is quite good.The hinge is good, the paneling feels solid all around. And overall, it's a well built laptop.Now the bottom panel does not remove readily soThere's like an access panel that you can remove to access the RAM, the Hard Drive and the SSD if you want to put one in.But the rest of the bottom panel is very difficult to remove. I tried for a little bit and I couldn't get it to come off.So if you need to kinda clean out the fans or access anything else like, maybe the Wi-Fi card in there,I'm sure it's doable but I didn't want to break the review unit. It's a little bit tougher than your average gaming laptop.If you'll notice there's only one RAM slot. The good thing is that it already comes with 16 gigsSo if you want to upgrade it up to 32, you just need to buy a single stick of 16 and pop it in.The port selection on this thing is pretty good. You get one USB-C, it's not Thunderbolt 3 though. You get four USB threes,a couple of display outputs, an ethernet and an SD card slot. The audio jack that's on hereis one of those combined ones so it has headphone and earphone at the same time.So you might like that, you might not. I personally prefer this type.When you crack it open you get a great Keyboard.The layout is nice, it's got a number pad and everything so you got that leftward Shift.But the keyboard feels very nice to type on. The keystrokes are a little bit softer than some gaming laptops.But I think that most people will like this thing pretty quickly.One feature I do like are the audio keys up top so you get volume Up/Down and Mute andit just makes it a little bit easier to control your sound in game.The fourth button is the ROG button and it launches the Asus ROG App for performance stats, fan control, and other things like that.The other app that Asus has is the ROG Aurora Core andThis is the App that lets you switch the colors on the Keyboard. So there's four different zones and you can switch them to any color you want.The Trackpad down here is nice. It's smooth, it's plastic and it uses Windows Precision drivers. Which, in 2017, that's what you want.You want a Windows Precision driver based trackpad because everything else is not as good.The button mechanism is okay. It's good, it's just not perfect. There's a little bit of play before it actually depresses as I click.It does feel good though overall.The speakers are about average for a thousand dollar gaming laptop. They're not bad or anything. They're just not amazing.They get reasonably loud but they're not particularly clear.The screen is where I feel like this laptop shines. So a lot of times when you spend a thousand dollars for a gaming laptop,you're gonna get some better performance, but you're gonna get some not great displays.This display panel is quite good. Color accurate, bright and it just feels like a high quality display.Now there are variants of 120 hertz and other types of panels, but even the standard panel looks really good.So if you want to do some color accurate Work or video edits, this is a great screen to do it with.For the people interested this is what the webcam looks like. I guess this is what the Mic sounds like.The image looks a little dark, I mean it's a little bit underexposed. The resolution is there but,UnderexposedPerformance on this machine is going to vary depending on how you configure it.This ones running a GTX 1050. You can get a GTX 1060 for it. But for the 1050 model, it performs as you would expect.I ran some light and moderately demanding Games. And, because it's a 1050 you're not gonna get blistering performance. But, it's not bad.And the thermal output on this thing is easily handled with the cooling system.But if you configure yours with a GTX 1060, performance will be better but it will run hotter.The Fan noise on this laptop was louder than I thought it would be.It's a GTX 1050 right? So I was hoping for it to be a little bit quieter but this is is just how thinner gaming laptops are.The good thing though is that it is able to maintain comfortable temperatures when you're playing games.So with the Asus GL503, you're getting a laptop that starts at around $1000.You're getting great build quality and very little Red accents.The screen is great. It's only 1080p, but you're getting great color accuracy and good brightness.The keyboard is comfortable to use and you get four color zones to customize. The trackpad is accurate and uses Windows Precision drivers.On the inside: the GTX 1050, and the Kaby Lake CPU are good performers and are properly cooled.The RAM and the two drive slots are upgradeable.And down over here, the 64-Watt Hour battery gets around five hours of battery life depending on what you do.I ran my tests with the screen at 250 nits.So, who is this laptop for? Because this thing starts at around a thousand dollars.You can get gaming laptops with this kind of performance for around $800.Granted, the extra money in this thing goes towards better build quality, and a significantly better screen.So if that's what you're looking for, check this thing out. I really like this one.Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video. Thumbs if you liked it. Subs if you loved it. See you guys next time!And, this thing's not black and red. I mean, that's worth $1000 by itself.\n"