ASUS’s Republic of Gamers series is known to pump out some RGB infused beast. Gaming is the core of Asus’s DNA. The ASUS ROG G531 is the right mix of build & performance. But is it worth pulling the trigger? Here is our review of the Asus ROG Strix G531.
Design & Build
In traditional ROG fashion, the G531 does feel premium, with hairline crushed plastic that feels like aluminum they can’t go wrong. Asus does an excellent design with the RGB strips under the machine which pops when looking at it from afar.
The G531 has a contoured heat vent named “Flow-Tech” which pulls air from the top of the machine and vents it out from under. It also features a black-chrome mylar ROG logo on the top of the device.
The laptop feels quite thin at just 1.02 inches high, even so with how the sides of the lower half slope inwards. In terms of weight 2.3kg, 2.5kg with the charger. Taking the laptop out for gaming while on a trip or to university should not be an issue.
The led strip adds to the feel of a gaming laptop . The G531 does that pretty well, a u-design led strip synced with the keyboard makes the G531 stand out from the crowd.
The slim bezel nano-edge display make this machine feel quite portable & compact for a 15-inch laptop — more on that below.
Performance
This is an esports machine thick and through with the six-core Intel Core i7-9750H coffee lake chip and the GTX 1660 Ti. It can handle Esports titles such as CS:GO, Apex Legends& Overwatch with ease maintaining high frame rates and full HD.
GPU 
Ram (Memory) 
Cpu
I was very surprised to see the G531 could handle Metro Exodus at full HD medium settings. It was able to achieve near 200 frames on medium and lows of 80 frames while maintaining a stable 100+ frames throughout my test.
Our model had the following specs :
-Intel Core i7-9750H – 2.2 GHz Hexa-Core
– Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660ti (with 6GB GDDR5 RAM)
– 16GB DDR4 RAM
– 256gb SSD (M.2 NVMe) + 1 TB SSHD
– 15 inch Full Hd 120hz display
In most esports titles you will get over 100 fps however dropping the settings to enjoy the 120hz display will be well worth it. A good feature that comes with the G531 is the ease to switch between power profiles so you can get the best performance with one tap.
Like most gaming laptops, the G531 is slightly audible while gaming, and I would recommend moving to silent mode when possible. The silent mode will reduce performance, but you won’t need it while browsing in chrome/ in a Netflix and chill session.
Ports and What’s in the box
The port selection on the G531 is pretty good for the average gamer. You get the following:
– HDMI 2.0b
– USB C
– USB 3.1 x3
– 3.5mm headphone jack
-Ethernet
– External camera (check the camera section for more)
I really liked the addition of the external camera; however, more about this in the webcam section.
There is no thunderbolt on this device but a standard USB C. Which seems disappointing because there is limited upgradability in this regard but not to worry. Asus offers easy access to the internal hardware such as an m.2 slot(Nvme enabled), 2.5-inch hard drive and access to 2 ram slots.
ethernet, HDMI, Usb C & Ac charger 
3*Usb 3 & 3.5mm audio jack
The three USB 3.1 ports are more than enough to add any other peripherals such as a keyboard/mouse. however if you plan on using a webcam too I would recommend that you consider expansion through the USB C port.
Screen & Battery
The G531 has a 1920 x 1080 120hz display with a 3 ms response time, according to Asus their laptops are one of the few on the market which has the response time which is excellent for playing games competitively.
The nano-edge display is a step in the right direction while gaming the bezels on traditional machines can distract you from focusing on what really matters, winning although I must admit my skills are not up to that mark, but the edge that the G531 helps.
While on battery and light usage we were able to get roughly 4 hours of usage. This is quite impressive for a gaming laptop, while gaming you can get a little over 2 hours of gaming.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keyboard on the g 531 is one that I just can’t complain about, and it seems to work for me, I even managed to write a good portion of work on the machine with no problems or complaints. For a laptop I just can’t complain, It’s not great, but it is not bad either.
The keyboard felt responsive and felt tactile with the relatively right amount of travel. I can see myself using this for long gaming sessions.
Keyboard 
Mouse side 
Mouse front
The WASD keys are highlighted while playing games, which seems to be an excellent visual aesthetic for the machine; however, as someone who heavily relies on muscle memory for gaming, it did not distract me while gaming.
The trackpad is accurate , and I mainly used the ROG mouse included in the box. I liked aura-sync and how the vivid colors on my keyboard matched that of my ROG mouse.
Webcam and Speakers
Asus had to do something different, unique even to achieve the slim bezels it did with the G531. It got rid of the webcam. If we are honest here, gaming laptops have terrible webcams. But not to worry because Asus provides a pretty good external webcam.
The webcam that they offer seems to be very similar to the one we have on the Zephyrus. It has a mic, and the camera quality is not too terrible when you take a few snaps. An added benefit to having an external webcam is that no one is going to be spying on you with it.
As someone who once aspired to be a streamer, I like the idea of an external webcam. Especially since I can move it anywhere I want and get multiple angles of view for my viewers that coupled with some of the free software they provide via their armory application.
The speakers are quietly audible while watching videos, but they are entirely irrelevant when it comes to gaming as the machine can get very noisy. I would recommend a good pair of headphones. It seems like Asus had us covered with a decent tandem in the box!
