The 2021 Asus ROG line-up: a next-gen debut at CES

CES 2021 has brought with it new Nvidia RTX graphics cards for laptops and AMD 5000 Mobile Series processors. And ROG is the first to deliver devices with all these delightful components installed, even including Liquid Metal instead of Thermal Paste. We'll be highlighting some of the best. Competition from Asus and TUF should follow in the days to come.

Improved second screens are also included among ROG's notebooks. Besides that, there's a small laptop called ROG Flow X13. It's a gaming machine, thanks to a fast proprietary eGPU port with an external graphics card called XG Mobile. Furthermore, ROG has engineered the first laptop displays at 360 hertz.

ROG Flow X13: a notebook, tablet and, thanks to its eGPU, gaming powerhouse

At only 13 inches, the ROG Flow X13 is portable and can also serve as a tablet thanks to the Flip Design, allowing the display to be flipped 360 degrees. It supports touch and pen input and offers a 16:10 aspect ratio as well as either a 120 Hz Full HD panel or a 4K panel including Corning Gorilla Glass. Both displays are validated for Pantone and support Adaptive Sync.

The Flow X13 is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS CPU and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU. All powered by a 100-watt USB-C charger, pretty light by gaming standards. According to the manufacturer, it'll still be enough to charge while gaming. Furthermore, it can bring the device to 60 per cent battery capacity within 39 minutes when not in use.

If the integrated GTX 1650 isn't enough, the Flow X13 has a proprietary eGPU port with a speed of 63 gigabits per second. For comparison: Thunderbolt 4 offers 40 gigabits per second. The external XG Mobile can be attached to the port: an eGPU with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 that also makes for a good docking station.

The XG Mobile eGPU further connects to the notebook via a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface belonging to the proprietary port, enabling an integrated I/O hub and providing more connectivity. What's great is that it's powered by a 280-watt power supply, which powers both the eGPU and the notebook at the same time.

ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE

The Zephyrus Duo 15 SE also makes an innovative impression thanks to its second display. Compared to the previous version, the so-called «Screen Pad Plus» feature by ROG has been improved. Among other things, it's now supposed to lift so far when opening the laptop that the impression of an almost flush display extension to the main screen is created when sitting in front of it. This can be used, among other things, for displaying enhanced game content or for add-on creative tools, which ROG develops in collaboration with Adobe.

An AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 are supposed to provide top graphics performance to the thin notebook. For the display, you can choose between a 300 Hz Full HD display with 100 per cent sRGB colour space coverage and 3 milliseconds response time or a 120 Hz 4K display with 100 per cent Adobe RGB colour space coverage. Both panels are validated for Pantone and feature Adaptive Sync technology.

As in the previous generation, an air intake for the Active Aerodynamic System Plus (AAS+) cooling system is located under the second screen. This one features new Arc-Flow fans with 13 per cent better airflow, has five heat pipes, four heatsinks and liquid metal instead of thermal paste.

ROG Strix SCAR 17 with a 360 Hz Full HD panel

ROG sees the Strix SCAR 17 itself as the «ultimate portable eSports machine». And they might not be too far off considering the hardware, especially since an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor are installed in the best configuration. On top of this, the SmokeFire offers up to 64 GB of Dual-Channel DDR 3200 MHz storage.

What makes the notebook stand out at this year's CES is a 360 Hz Full HD panel with a response time of 3 milliseconds. A 165 Hz WQHD panel with pre-calibrated DCI-P3 colour space is also available, with both options featuring Adaptive Sync. Compared to the previous version, ROG has reduced the frame size of the Strix SCAR 17 – overall, the notebook is now 5.7 per cent more compact. The 15-inch variant even shrinks by 7 per cent.

Regarding controls, the device has an 85 per cent larger trackpad and a mechanical keyboard with freely adjustable RGB lighting and a key drop of 1.9 millimetres. RGB light bars on the front and under the display as well as exchangeable hinge caps further give the device an individual touch.

ROG has also improved the cooling system of the SCAR 17, using arc-flow fans and liquid metal, among other things. With special blade tips on the fans, the self-cleaning cooling system is supposed to reduce turbulence thanks to the aerodynamic wave pattern of the airflow.

In addition to other improvements, such as the sound system, the SCAR 17 now has a larger 90-Wh battery that supports fast charging and offers compatibility with 100-Watt USB Type-C power adapters.

Availability and prices for the gaming notebooks

We've summarised the new gaming laptops as well as other notebooks with the new RTX graphics card presented at CES in the following article. It'll be continually updated.

Gaming Accessories

In addition to notebooks, ROG also has new accessories at the ready.

ROG Swift PG32UQ with dual HDMI 2.1

In the Swift PG32UQ, ROG is launching the first 32-inch gaming monitor with HDMI 2.1.

The 144 Hz IPS panel used has an MPRT (Moving Picture Response Time) around one millisecond. To support the new console generation, a UHD resolution at 120 hertz is possible, and two HDMI 2.1 ports are available in addition to DisplayPort 1.4. Also included are DSC (Display Stream Compression) technology, G-Sync, ELMB Sync (Extreme Low Motion Blur Sync), and a feature called Asus Variable Overdrive, which is supposed to ensure consistently smooth images at variable frame rates. Furthermore, the screen is DisplayHDR-600 compatible and offers a colour space coverage of 160 per cent at sRGB and 98 per cent at DCI-P3.

The exact availability as well as the price aren't yet public. The monitor is scheduled for release by the end of the first quarter of 2021.

ROG Claymore II

The Claymore II mechanical RGB gaming keyboard is said to provide lag-free input via USB-C wired as well as 2.4 GHz wireless. It features RX Blue switches from ROG – or RX Red switches if you so desire – and all-round RGB lighting per button.

The trigger point is activated directly at the beginning of key travel, which leads to almost delay-free input. Special keycaps and a mechanism called X-Stabiliser are supposed to ensure a smooth and wobble-free keystroke.

The keyboard also comes with a removable numeric keypad that can be attached on both sides, as well as a magnetically attached palm rest. The numeric keypad also has a volume control and four media control buttons that can be freely reprogrammed. An integrated 4000 mAh battery is supposed to provide up to 40 hours of use.

Availability and price will be supplied as soon as possible.

ROG Gladius III Wireless

With the Gladius III, ROG is offering an ergonomic 19,000 dpi gaming mouse with three connectivity options: it can be operated wired, via 2.4 GHz RF and via Bluetooth.

To customise the mouse click, it has a Push-Fit Switch Socket II that supports both mechanical 3 pin and optical 5 pin micro switches from Omron. Asus ROG emphasised revolutionary zero-click latency at the presentation, which is supposed to provide real-time response.

We'll also provide the availability and price of the ROG Gladius III Wireless as soon as possible.