Review: Asus ROG Flow X13

by Tarinder Sandhu on 2 February 2021, 14:01

Tags: ASUSTeK (TPE:2357), AMD (NYSE:AMD), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qaep3h

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Conclusion

Such hardware delivers superb everyday performance and offers gaming that's a notch or two above other ultraportables.

Asus makes interesting component and design choices for the 2-in-1 ROG Flow X13 ultraportable laptop.

Chief performance protagonists include an AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS chip and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q graphics wrapped inside a stylish chassis measuring just 15.8mm thick and housing a 16:10 UHD+ touchscreen display.

Such hardware delivers superb everyday performance and offers gaming that's a notch or two above other ultraportables, with the promise of even more gusto through the eGPU dock featuring an RTX 3080 mobile.

Yet the Flow X13 straddles two worlds without dominating either. Gaming laptops are naturally better at what they do through sheer size and cooling whilst true thin-and-lights have exceptional battery life alongside solid performance.

As much as we really like certain aspects of this laptop, it's not all things to all consumers, particularly at that dock-equipped £2,900 price point. If you want to go with the Flow, we'd recommend the more basic specification at half the price.

The Good
  
The Bad
Superb ultrabook CPU performance
High-quality keyboard and trackpad
16:10 touchscreen display
Discrete GPU still faster than IGP
  
Battery life not great
Expensive
SSD not the speediest
One-year warranty



Asus ROG Flow X13

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TBC.

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At HEXUS, we invite the companies whose products we test to comment on our articles. If any company representatives for the products reviewed choose to respond, we'll publish their commentary here verbatim.


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HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Posted by virtuo - Tue 02 Feb 2021 15:26
Thought it was going to be an AIO or case with that name. Just another gaming laptop.
Posted by philehidiot - Tue 02 Feb 2021 22:47
That “one year” warranty is liable to be challenged in court to their cost. They have responsibilities under the CRA if they want to sell in the UK and it is time that companies were up front about this and not trying to wriggle out of it.

EDIT: And, for the best part of three grand, manufacturer support is critical. One year of no quibble support and then the possibility of an Apple-esque brick wall requiring a legal crusade if something important breaks after 13 months? No chance.
Posted by Spud1 - Wed 03 Feb 2021 11:44
You know what, this has a load of minor issues, and a few things that would stop me buying it (the keyboard, case design, thermals, proprietary eGPU socket ) but none of that matters.

This is the first true competitor to the Blade Stealth 13 that I've seen - and cheaper to boot at £1500ish (lets all ignore the pointless eGPU model for a bit).

That's a good sign, as I think 13" is the perfect size for a laptop and have no desire for a bigger one - i really like my BS13, but when it eventually packs up (being Razer, and now a year old, it can't have long left ;) ) i'll hopefully have a bit more choice than one vendor :)

edit: It's interesting this wasn't put up against the BS13 actually - given that's the real competitor here, rather than the larger laptops featured in the charts. I guess it's about available data or something, but still.
Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH - Mon 26 Apr 2021 09:44
This can be had for £1500 without the external GPU:
https://www.box.co.uk/GV301QH-K6200T-ASUS-ROG-FLOW-X13-GV301QH-K6200T_3557488.html
Posted by Jonj1611 - Mon 26 Apr 2021 09:50
Look at this crazy beast, a design inspiration or a complete mistake! - https://www.box.co.uk/GX551QS-HB083T-ASUS-ROG-Zephyrus-Duo-15-AMD-Ryzen-9-32G_3557487.html