Asus ROG Zephyrus (GTX 1070) Max-Q Gaming Laptop Review

By Alexander Quejado
published

Early Verdict

Equipping the Asus ROG Zephyrus with a GTX 1070 Max-Q GPU remedies all of the previous issues we had with the GTX 1080 Max-Q edition of this laptop. This is the best Max-Q laptop we've tested, pound-for-pound.

Pros

  • +

    Sleek aesthetics and solid build quality

  • +

    Great performance and thermal dissipation

  • +

    Improved battery life

  • +

    Accurate display

Cons

  • -

    Under-saturated display

  • -

    Expensive for a GTX 1070 laptop

Why you can trust Tom's Hardware Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.

Introduction & Product Tour

Shortly after Nvidia announced its new Max-Q technology, Asus sent us the ROG Zephyrus featuring the GTX 1080 with Max-Q Design. There were many things we liked about it: it had a sleek and sexy design with just the right amount of gamer accents. It had enough performance to handle almost all modern games at FHD resolution. It also featured one of the best laptop displays we've tested thus far.

Unfortunately, Max-Q's potential comes with a handful of trade-offs. The reduced power consumption doesn't play do it any favors at higher resolutions compared to other GTX 1080-based laptops. The Zephyrus' slim form factor also introduced thermal cooling and battery life challenges.

Today, we're taking another look at the Zephyrus, this time with the GTX 1070 Max-Q.

Specifications

Product Tour

Aesthetics and packaging are identical to the GTX 1080 version, which you can read about here. We'll jump straight into the benchmarks.

Image 1 of 4

This Asus ROG Zephyrus features a 7th-generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ, Nvidia's new GeForce GTX 1070 with Max-Q design, 16GB of DDR4-2400 memory, and a 512GB M.2 SSD. It has a 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080) anti-glare IPS display with a fast 120Hz refresh rate, which is complemented by G-Sync technology. Given its size, the Zephyrus doesn't feature a 1TB HDD, which is standard in most high-end gaming laptops.


MORE: Best Gaming Laptops


MORE: Gaming Laptop Previews


MORE: All Laptop Content

Alexander Quejado
4 Comments Comment from the forums
  • AgentLozen
    Hey Stephen555! Thanks for the Instagram link!

    I was really dubious about the whole Max-Q thing when I first heard about it. I didn't think it was possible to get a big video card into a slim laptop without thermal consequences.

    It seems like I was right to be skeptical about the GTX 1080. That card seems to get hot no matter how much you cripple it's performance. The GTX 1070, on the other hand, seems to hit a sweet spot. The performance is excellent and the temperatures are reasonable. The testing also shows that the display is fantastic. If I was in the market for a new laptop today, I would seriously consider getting ASUS Zephyrus 1070 Max Q after reading this review.

    As it stands, I'm willing to wait a few months for Volta.
    Reply
  • milkod2001
    If a few months mean next year then yeah go ahead and wait.
    Reply
  • AgentLozen
    milkod2001 said:
    If a few months mean next year then yeah go ahead and wait.

    That's news to me. I'd like to read the source you got that from. Would you mind posting a link?
    Reply
  • sellputcall
    That keyboard without a palm rest looks _really_ uncomfortable. Anyone try it and has an opinion on it?
    Reply