The Perfect Thin Gaming Laptop? – Gigabyte AERO 15X Review
Linus Tech Tips
·Linus Tech Tips
·2018-05-06
·
1,276 words · ~6 min read
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NVIDIA's max-q design gpus have given us some really interesting laptops this
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year most of which have been laser focused on providing crazy performance
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in a size we haven't seen before Gigabyte had a bit of a different idea
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sounds crazy but they were like what if you could just use a power
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efficient max-q GPU in like
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more like a regular laptop for maximum awesomeness
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well what you'd probably end up with is the aero 15x
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also maximally awesome by the way is today's sponsor sennheiser you can check
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out the pxc 550 wireless headphones at the link in the video description
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the arrow 15x has a clean professional look to it that actually reminds me of
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older dell or lenovo business models except with a carbon fiber accent on the
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back and RGB lighting on the keyboard to keep it from getting too boring in
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corporate it also has almost no bezels bordering
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the display and the feel of the whole laptop is really solid save for a
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slightly wobbly screen hinge at just under 20 millimeters thick and
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4.6 pounds it doesn't quite qualify as a thin and light but for the power that it
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houses i would definitely call it portable it's rocking an Intel core i7
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quad core 16 gigs of RAM and a gtx 1070
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max q making it suitable for anything from heavy gaming to light workstation
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use that is assuming that it's adequately cooled and adding to the
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portability is the fact that the i o includes full-size usb 3 Ethernet and
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Thunderbolt 3 so there's no need to carry around any dongles if you don't
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want to back to cooling though obviously that's
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going to be a challenge for a device like the arrow 15x
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with only the CPU loaded we experienced no throttling though and temps in the
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mid 70s with that said with a combined CPU and
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GPU load like Gigabyte's compact brix
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gaming desktop the aero 15x's CPU
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throttled down significantly it seems though like this is something
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that they could fine-tune with a future BIOS or driver update because under full
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load we could hardly even hear the fans gaming performance is really strong
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though a max q 1070 isn't quite as fast
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as a desktop 1070 but in this machine it
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actually ends up within spitting distance and given how slim it is i'm
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willing to forgive it a couple of frames here and there besides on its 60hz
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display it won't be making much of a difference anyway which i guess leads us
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perfectly into our biggest beef with the arrow 15x it
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hurts me to say this but 60 refreshes per second at 1080p
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really isn't enough it's not a bad display at all especially
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if you're into the gaming workstation angle since it's x right color
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calibrated out of the box and in my opinion 1080p while not as crispy as
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1440p or better isn't too bad for the
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size but with this kind of CPU and GPU
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performance we should easily be running at 100 FPS or more in many modern games
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and right now buyers of this device
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aren't getting the full experience unless they hook up an external monitor
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and i've got other issues as well the webcam placement you either get a view
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up my nostrils or if we adjust it
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you get to stare at my right hand
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oh right you're down there so when is like i don't know a magnetic
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like clip-on mic or something with just contacts in the top of the monitor
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coming that would be sick no bezels no privacy concerns and no
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viewing angle compromise moving down from the webcam though is
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lots of good news on the keyboard there's a pleasant travel distance and a
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solid feel to the keys with a fairly high actuation force so fans of cherry
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mx blue switches will probably really like this one i found it awesome to type
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on some gamers might find there's a little
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more force required than they'd like i could see your left pinky getting a bit
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tired but overall really liked it and then going lower still we've got a
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perfectly usable though somewhat unremarkable trackpad it does what it
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needs to do with solid tracking and a clicky feel where the arrow 15x really
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shines compared to other gaming laptops especially compact ones is the battery
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life with almost 6 hours of unplugged
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productivity it is among the best battery life we've ever seen in any
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gaming laptop especially one with this kind of performance
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and opening it up which is pretty easy if you have the
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right bit reveals how exactly Gigabyte
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achieved this feat it's beautiful manufacturers or at least Gigabyte
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anyway are finally listening to me that
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is a 94.24 watt hour battery that is right
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near the legal limit for what you can take on a plane with you and
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i might cry a little here because it's also got sockets for adding more
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m.2 storage and upgrading your RAM
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instead of soldered solutions for either of those
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so that's all fine and good but like all the other max q laptops we've seen it
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comes at a cost literally
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this version here will run you 2200
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which means if your wallet is tight and your backpack is large you can get more
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performance for less but while the aero 15x doesn't give you the
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best bang for the buck and really
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it doesn't excel at any specific task
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it also isn't the worst performance per dollar or for that matter it's not the
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worst at anything nothing else that i've seen yet gives
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you everything that it does all in one
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place portability productivity and
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gaming highly recommended great work
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Gigabyte need to see a 120 hertz display with
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first purchase so thanks for watching guys if this
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video sucked you know what to do but if it was awesome get subscribed hit the
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like button or check out the link to where to buy the stuff we featured in
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the video description also down there is our merch george has cool shirts like
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this one and our community forum which you should totally join