Gigabyte’s Aorus brand is pulling its 15-inch laptop down from the high riches of premium land, bringing the Aorus 15 into a slightly more affordable realm with an RTX 2070 while also introducing Microsoft Azure AI, which optimizes your CPU and GPU for you.
The Aorus 15 will be available sometime in the end of January and start at $1,799, putting it safely in the mainstream range.
Like Gigabyte’s Aero lineup, the Aorus 15 is shipping with Microsoft Azure AI, which (if enabled) accesses the Azure cloud database and pulls previously gathered information on whatever app you’re running in order to best optimize it.
In the comparison demo we saw, PUBG was getting around 50 frames per second with the AI off, but when the AI turned on it actually optimized the system to prioritize the GPU, which got the game to run at around 60 fps.
Gigabyte stated that the AI will support all Adobe software, which will allow up to a 30 percent boost in performance while editing in apps like Adobe Premiere. If the Microsoft Azure AI works as advertised, it can completely revolutionize gaming laptops.
If you want to bring the Aorus into the premium range you’ll get an Intel Core i7-8750H processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 with 8GB of VRAM, 16GB RAM (2 slots for 32GB) and two 2TB SSDs.
Surprisingly, the Aorus 15’s hood was sexier than its much more expensive alternative, the Aero 15, as the matte black was accompanied by two stylishly carved white LED strips leading up to a glowing Aorus logo.
The best part is that the webcam isn’t on the hinge, like the Aero 15; it’s at the top exactly where it should be, so I don’t have to feel guilty about appreciating the neatly cut corners on the hinge.
However, the Aorus 15 does look and feel a little bulky, weighing a little over 5 pounds and nearly measuring at 1 inch thick. Its chassis features three USB 3.1 ports, one USB 3.1 Type-C (supports DP 1.3), an HDMI 2.0 port, an RJ45 port, one mini SD card slot and a headphone jack.
Even with the webcam on the top, we still got the incredibly thin bezels combined with a 15.6-inch, 1080p panel with a 144Hz refresh rate. The green trees and red houses in the snowy landscape of Battlefield V were surprisingly bright and colorful amidst Gigabyte’s well-lit booth.
The Aorus 15’s keyboard looks neat, and still gets bright three-zone RGB lighting, but when I tested it, the keys felt mushy and unsatisfying when I typed on them.
Like the Aero 15, the Aorus 15 is getting those much need Windows precision drivers for the touchpad as well as the NAHIMIC audio software that provides a full equalizer as well as 7.1 virtual surround sound.
Something unique to the Aorus 15 is that over half of its underside is dedicated to the heatpipes and fans, and from what I could see through the vents it was reminiscent of the engine in a luxury sports car.
Aorus hasn’t rated the battery life on its 15-inch laptop, but Gigabyte’s Aero 15 is rated to last up to 10 hours, which is ridiculous for a gaming laptop. If the Aorus 15 is anywhere near that we’ll be impressed.
Needless to say, we’re excited to see how effective the Microsoft Azure AI is and how it will shape future gaming laptops to come. Stay tuned for the full review and benchmarks of the Aorus 15.
Credit: Laptop Mag
