Asus ROG laptops have always catered to the gamer’s needs.
It shows in their lineup since there are three ROG models to choose from – the ROG Zephyrus, the ROG Flow, and the ROG Strix, which can get confusing at times. Last time, we did a full review of the ROG Zephyrus M16, which you can read here.
Today, we’re checking out one of the biggest and possibly one of the most powerful ROG laptops available this 2023 – the ROG Strix Scar 18. Our review unit is the ROG Strix Scar 18 in the G834JY configuration, the highest-spec unit available. It features an Intel Core i9-13980HX processor, NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU, and 2TB of ultra-fast SSD storage. Not to mention you also get a large 18-inch 2K resolution screen with a 240Hz refresh rate.
But is bigger, and in this case more powerful, always the best option? In this review, we’ll be checking out whether ROG Strix Scar 18 should be something you consider if you’re in the market for a top-spec gaming laptop.
Table of Contents
Design and Construction
The ROG Strix Scar 18 is a full-size laptop measuring 399 x 294 x 23.1 mm and is roughly 31mm thick. Yes, it’s one big laptop, and it’s quite heavy too weighing in at 3.10 kg. That said, it’s not the most portable especially if you’ll be traveling around. In fact, it’s so big that it doesn’t fit most backpacks. I had to use the bigger laptop bag packaged with the laptop just to be able to bring it around.
When you’re not carrying it around though, it’s a very nice laptop to look at both closed and open. The lid is made out of a solid piece of aluminum with an anodized black finish and the big ROG logo, which also lights up.
While the lid is made of aluminum, the rest of the laptop is made out of plastic. It feels okay and it does seem sturdy. However, it would have been nicer if the portion surrounding the keyboard was also made out of aluminum to give it a more premium feel. Not to mention you also get LED all around – from the keyboard down to the front panel and even the rear exhaust. Perfect if you want to get into the gamer mood.
As for the keyboard itself, it’s nice to touch and ergonomic despite being full-sized. You don’t accidentally hit the keys on the numpad since there’s adequate spacing between the keys. As with any ROG laptop, the keys also light up in RGB. You can even change the way the colors change.
Meanwhile, the position of the trackpad is also ergonomic, making it easy to use even if you’re not using a mouse. Still, I’d recommend using the mouse packaged with this laptop just to make life easier.
Despite the matte finishes near the keyboard and trackpad area, the plastic is relatively smudge resistant against fingerprints. However, if you have sweaty arms or hands, that’s an entirely different issue.
Surprisingly, it even comes with a built-in webcam so you can use it for work when on Zoom calls or other online meetings. It’s not the best especially if you want to stream since it only captures at 720P max, but still props to ASUS for a webcam to begin with.
Overall, it’s nice to the touch and it does give off a very gamer vibe. Not to mention, you’re also bound to catch the attention of people when you’re using it outside thanks to the size and the RGB. But the size and weight is also a factor. Chances are you wouldn’t want to be traveling around with this unless you don’t mind carrying something a big and heavy in your backpack.
Display and Multimedia
The display of the ROG Strix Scar 18 measures 18-inch wide IPS screen with 2560×1600 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, and a 240Hz refresh rate.
Since this is a gaming laptop with an IPS display, I didn’t expect the screen the most color accurate or have the nicest colors as compared to the newer OLED displays. But surprisingly, the screen on the ROG Strix Scar 18 isn’t that bad. More importantly, the colors were quite accurate out of the box, although the blacks weren’t as deep as I wanted.
Despite the large screen, you also have nice viewing angles with only minimal drop-off in quality when off-axis. There are also very slim bezels all around. So even when you have a group of friends together, they can enjoy watching you play.
With the large display, it’s great for playing games since you can see more as compared to the usual 16- or even 17-inch laptop screen. In fact, you don’t even need to connect it to an external monitor. At least, we didn’t feel like we needed to while reviewing this unit.
Aside from gaming, watching movies or videos on the ROG is very enjoyable. That’s thanks to the 4-speaker system which surprisingly has some bass to it. It’s not the best laptop speakers, but they’re very decent if just want to watch a movie without using headphones or when you’re out with friends. Not to mention it is loud that people will be able to hear whatever’s happening on the screen clearly. For the audiophiles, there’s still a 3.5mm audio jack to use.
Performance and Benchmarks
Powering our review unit of the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 18 is Intel’s latest 13th Gen i9-13980HX processor. It also comes with 32GB RAM (16GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM x 2) and 2TB of fast SSD storage.
Perhaps the highlight of this laptop is the graphics card. It packs the newest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU which also features ROG Boost: 2090MHz* at 175W (2040MHz Boost Clock+50MHz OC, 150W+25W Dynamic Boost).
Together with the powerful 13th Gen Intel chipset, you can expect this beast of a laptop to run almost any game you can think of. Running multiple tabs of Google Chrome together with Discord, Spotify, and even a game doesn’t slow the laptop down one bit.
We tried out different games on the ROG Strix Scar 18, including Genshin Impact and Honkai Star Rail. Both of these performed well as expected. With the settings maxed out, we got to enjoy a beautiful view of Teyvat, and even going around the various areas of Star Rail was a nice sight to see.
But what surprised us the most was when we were playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Warzone. Playing using the recommended settings of the game (with some settings on high), we were able to get constant 120-130FPS even when there was a lot of action going on. We achieved similar results when we connected the laptop to our TV in the living room.
Do note that these results were achieved while playing in Turbo mode with the laptop plugged in. Using the same settings but without the laptop plugged in, the FPS while playing MW2 did drop to around 90-100, and we were getting some lag once in a while. Still impressive all things considered.
As with most gaming laptops, the fans on this laptop are quite loud. The moment you start up the game, they turn on, and it can be quite distracting if you’re playing a more laid back relaxing game. It also runs relatively hot, but not as hot as I expected.
To give you a better idea of how the ROG Strix Scar 18 performs, check out the performance benchmarks above.
Connectivity and Battery Life
In terms of connectivity, there are multiple ports available, and they’re more than adequate. These include two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, one Thunderbolt port, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, an HDMI 2.1, and even a LAN port. Unfortunately, there is no SD or microSD card slot on this laptop, which makes it a bit difficult if you’re transferring photos or videos from your camera. Other connectivity features include WiFi-6E, and Bluetooth 5.3.
The ports are adequate, but I expected more considering this is an 18-inch laptop, especially an SD card slot.
For the battery, the ROG Strix Scar 18 comes with a 90WHr battery pack. From my experience, it is capable of lasting around 3 hours and 30 minutes when in Silent mode, and with battery saver turned on while browsing social media or doing work.
The battery life does drop significantly when you start playing games and switch to Performance mode. In this scenario, battery life was around 1 hour and 30 minutes only. But that’s to be expected since this is a gaming laptop, and they’re not exactly known for having the best battery life. And for the best experience, this laptop should be used while plugged into a power outlet.
Conclusion
Given the size, weight, and even price of the ROG Strix Scar 18, it’s not for everyone. But if this laptop will serve as a gaming desktop replacement to save space in your room and you don’t mind carrying a 3.1kg laptop around all the time, then this is a great choice model to buy. You get the latest Intel 13th Gen laptop processor paired with a powerful NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU. With that, you can expect the ROG Strix Scar 18 to last you a long time.
If you’re interested in the ROG Strix Scar 18 with a similar configuration, it currently retails for PHP 294,000. At the time of writing, ROG does have a discount offering it for only PHP 285,000 on their official Lazada store 13.
It’s a big price to pay, but you do get everything a gaming PC can do but in a more portable package. We think it’s worth it, especially if you want a laptop instead of a gaming PC, and if you have the budget it is a great laptop to have. But if you want something lighter or more portable, ROG does have other options available for you.
What we liked:
Very powerful chipset and GPU
Large screen with a nice display
Great aesthetics
Powerful speakers
What we didn’t like:
Very heavy
Not very portable
Short battery life even when not gaming
