Sleek Delivery

Let’s get this out of the way: I’m not a huge fan of mainstream gaming laptop designs. The ASUS ROG G703 did change my mind somewhat as it looks amazingly spiffy. The rear reminds me of a classy sports car, with the air-vents doubling the cool factor but isn’t too distracting. I also really like the RGB keyboard; it’s nice to the touch yet not overly click-y. The ASUS Aura customisable lights are a nice addition to the whole gaming experience too. Meanwhile, the touchpad is just the right size and decent to use. Personally, it’s unremarkable. Sound wise, the speakers are great as it easily projects a superb sound-stage that can literally fill-up a medium-sized room. Screen quality is also very good and is perfect for playing your favourite videogame or watching a movie on Netflix.

Built Like a Brick

While its impressive, the ASUS ROG G703 weighs a tonne. It’s chunky too and is reminiscent of the laptops from the mid-90s. Its heft and size alone mean it’s probably a permanent desk fixture and prefers to be almost always stationary. The battery on it isn’t the best either as it only has around two hours of juice. Keep in mind, all that portable power is just for when I am not playing any games. Some browsing on the Web and light workloads eat up all that battery power. Equally as cumbersome is the power brick. Of course, this monstrous laptop packs in a lot of heat, the very best specs to be exact. All that weight isn’t for nothing. While it’s a lot easier to move than a full desktop, it promises to deliver desktop level performance.

It’ll Play Everything

Now that’s enough about the exterior; more importantly, how does it run? Final Fantasy XV: Windows Edition is an extreme stress test that pushes most rigs at full-tilt. Despite that, this laptop passes the test, managing 80fps (plus/minus) on high settings. It did drop to around 50fps when the settings are set to max. Even so, some tweaks in the game’s settings could probably push the performance back to 60fps. As for more other games, Dota 2 put out even more frames – a whopping 180fps to be exact. This is also after every possible setting is set to max. With the impressive specs of this laptop, it could possibly be future-proof against another two years of crushing videogame graphics. The ASUS ROG G703 also did very well with the usual benchmark runs.

Not without Issues

Unfortunately, I did come across a few small issues. Although under normal circumstances these would not be bothersome, until they started piling up around the same time. That is when it did become a tad annoying. For example, benchmark tools end abruptly a few times during mid-test. Some taskbar icons also keep disappearing for some odd reason. Eventually, I did a Windows reset and most issues didn’t re-appear. Personally, I prefer not to consider this solution every time just to solve these problems. Of course, it could have just been my luck with review units. One other issue – the fan can get a bit loud too at times; but that’s understandable and only mildly annoying. After all, I want to keep my rig cool and stable rather than quiet and overheated.

Get Creative

Creative professionals who need a top-spec system while travelling, should consider this ASUS ROG entry. Heavy as it is, it’s worth the trouble to keep it mobile. My Adobe Photoshop projects worked like a charm, even when I work on various content layers. The large 17.3” Full HD display ensures graphic editing on Adobe Photoshop feel convenient and pleasant at the same time. There haven’t been any major load times when opening large project files too. This is on top of several background applications that are running at any one time; oftentimes they are Steam, Spotify, Google Chrome and Microsoft Word. Being able to immediately fire up my favourite videogames after closing off Adobe Photoshop is the icing on the cake; you wouldn’t need both a work laptop and a gaming desktop if one machine can do both.

High End, High Price

In the end, the high price point of the ASUS ROG G703 is perhaps the most disappointing aspect. I understand this gaming laptop sports the best specs available, but it does feel a little bit of an overkill. For its asking price, I’d expect 4K resolution and none of the errors that crop up during this review. However, I’m the everyday gamer who emphasises more on good game mechanics and/or a good story; hence, I’ve never been one who cares about needing top notch graphics. That criteria alone means I probably won’t fit the target demographic. Those that do are the ones who need to have the intense amounts of power available. More so, they are the ones who can properly harness it. For them, the ASUS ROG G703 is probably a Godsend.

Verdict: While I personally find it a tad overkill, if you absolutely need these specifications and can afford it, you’d probably really enjoy this beast.