Asus' sizeable (but slim) Zephyrus S17 gaming laptop already impressed with its 17-inch display in a 15-inch form factor. Now, a refreshed model is giving gamers Intel's 11th Gen H-series CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU.
The new ROG Zephyrus S17 (GX703) will be available in North America in the second quarter of 2021, and boasts a slightly new design to keep things cool under the hood while Intel's new processor and a powerful RTX 3080 get to work on its 4K display panel that supports a 120Hz refresh rate. Plus, a number of other notable upgrades.
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Asus ROG Zephyrus S17
With Intel's latest 11th Gen H-Series CPU, the Zephyrus S17 is expected to deliver a huge boost in gaming performance compared to its predecessors, especially with an RTX 3080 GPU in the mix. The 11th Gen H-Series processor has been seen hitting up to 238 frames per second when running Hitman 3, if that's anything to go by.
The Zephyrus S17 will also come with up to 32GB DDR4-3200 RAM, along with up to three PCIe SSDs in an ultra-fast HyperDrive Ultimate array. Asus hasn't noted the size of these SSDs, but we have a sneaking suspicion it is a 1TB.
Design
One of the first things you'll notice in the Zephyrus S17 is the new AAS plus which brings the keyboard up to a five-degree angle for better typing and a huge improvement in cooling performance of the laptop. We've (sort of) seen this before in the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15, except the keyboard now lifts instead of the second screen.
Along with this, expect a standard black model with the ROG logo on the lid, super-narrow bezels to fit its huge 17-inch screen, and a thin form factor — boasting dimensions 39.49(W) x 26.43(D) x 1.99(H) cm (15.5 x 10.3 x 0.7-inches).
Display
The new Zephyrus S17 offers up two impressive 17-inch display choices, both with 100% DCI-P3 coverage, Pantone validated, and Dolby Vision support.
Gamers can expect to choose a 1440p QHD display that supports a 165Hz refresh rate with a 3ms response time, with G-Sync and Advanced Optimus support. There's also the 4K display panel that supports a 120Hz refresh rate also with a 3ms response time. The 4K option also comes with Adaptive-Sync. The S17's 120Hz refresh rate at a 4K resolution will surely impress.
Ports
The Zephyrus S17 has ports a-plenty. It even boasts Thunderbolt 4 connectivity, which can also be used for speedy battery charging.
Expect two USB C ports — one with Thunderbolt 4 — supporting DisplayPort 1.4 and USB Power Delivery 3.0, three USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, an SD card reader, HDMI 2.0 output, an RJ45 Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Battery
The Zephyrus M16 comes with a 90 watt-hour battery, which can easily be charged with the Thunderbolt 4 Power Delivery. Will this be enough to deliver a long-lasting battery life to a 17-inch display gaming laptop boasting powerful specs? We'll have to wait and see until we can review the S17.
Keyboard
Since the new AAS plus raises the keyboard from the chassis, the Zephyrus S17 now offers optical-mechanical key switches with a Desktop-like keyboard layout with per-key RGB lighting. The S17's keyboard might be trying to measure up to Alienware's MX mechanical keys on the m15 R4 and m17 R4.
Bottom line
Asus has yet to reveal the prices or specific release date for its new 17-inch display ROG Zephyrus S17. Regardless, we're excited to check out Intel's new H-Series processor, combined with an RTX 3080, on a huge, slim-bezel laptop display.
While on paper, the S17 is hugely impressive, but we won't know if it can be counted among the best gaming laptops around until we get our hands on it.
