Category
🤖
TechTranscript
00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here. So this is the new 2nd generation ROG Scar. So the
00:08Strix G504GS. This is the newly updated version of the Strix line. The top surface is still
00:16metal but it's a little boxier in shape now. It just has some simple rounded corners with
00:20the brushed texture. The big change though is the logo. It can now change colors. It
00:26used to be locked into that old school gamer red color which honestly was getting really
00:29stale. Now you can channel your inner rainbow and just let it rip. The build quality and
00:34reliability of the Strix laptops have always been pretty good. I think that's why they
00:38do so well on Amazon. Like people buy them, they use them for a while and they have good
00:42experience with them. So that's why their ratings are so high. It is a predominantly
00:46plastic device though. That's the weird thing. The top panel is metal but the inside, the
00:50bottom panel, the sides, they're all polycarbonate but it's really rigid. Like there are laptops
00:54out there that use metal materials that don't feel as sturdy as this. The Strix laptops
00:59are built well. Now new for this year is also a light strip up front. And I really
01:03like this thing. It's one of the more unique features on this laptop. You get full control
01:06on the software and there's two regions to light up. And I just find this relaxing. There's
01:11something nice and kind of soothing about this pastel color. And the other thing, it's
01:14not obnoxious, right? Like a lot of RGB lights on laptops are just on the front or the side
01:19and it's kind of broadcasting that RGB to the world. This is like, it's facing you.
01:23It's kind of like your own personal RGB space. I don't know. It's simple but I like it. One
01:28of the biggest changes on this laptop is the screen. So the previous generation of
01:32Strix had some pretty thick bezels. And I think that was one of my biggest complaints
01:36I've had about the Strix. And I think a lot of people felt that way as well. This new
01:39generation has a really thin bezel and it looks so much nicer. It's not completely bezel-less.
01:44There's obviously a bit of a bezel still. And there's also a chin. So they put the webcam
01:48down here. There wasn't enough space up at the top, I guess, to put one up there. They
01:52put it at the bottom but it's actually on the side as well. It's not even in the middle.
01:55It's not something I think a lot of gamers use but the image isn't great and the angle
01:59isn't particularly flattering. So the display panel itself is excellent. Like, straight
02:04up excellent. It's bright with good color accuracy and it's fast. It's 144Hz, super
02:09fast refresh rate. We're seeing a lot of high refresh laptops pop up in 2017 but this one
02:15is a 3ms panel. I think it's actually the fastest 144Hz panel I've seen. Like, the fastest
02:21response time on a 144Hz panel that I've seen. Games look so good on this screen. There's
02:26a USB-C port but it doesn't support Thunderbolt 3. And in 2018, like mid-2018, I feel like
02:31it's just a thing that should happen on devices like this. It's a high-end gaming laptop.
02:36It's not the most expensive one out there but Thunderbolt 3 support is kind of not expected
02:41but it should be there. The speakers, they're good. They're located on the side so I like
02:45the location. And I don't know if they put new speakers in this generation or if it's
02:49just a software update but they sound way better than I thought they would. The mids
02:53are clean, the highs are clean, and the bass is actually present but there's no sub. Like,
02:57I popped it open expecting a sub, there is no sub. They're just really good speakers.
03:02So last year's model was tough to open up fully. You could get to the RAM and stuff
03:05easily, there was a hatch, but if you needed to open it up completely to access the fans
03:09or something, it was a huge pain in the butt. This year, there's no more hatch, the whole
03:13back panel pops off easily and you have access to the fans, the 2.6 of RAM, the SSD, the
03:18hard drive, all of which are easily replaced. The Wi-Fi card is using a quad antenna for
03:22better reception and stuff. The battery down here is not big, it's a 64 watt hour piece
03:27and I'm only getting around 3.5 hours of battery life with the screen at 250 nits. You definitely
03:32need a charger if you're going to bring it to class or work or wherever because 3.5 hours
03:35is not going to cut it for a full day. The keyboard, this is a comfortable keyboard,
03:40good travel. Layout takes a little bit of time to get used to because of the arrow key
03:44placement between the number pad, but the keyboard's good overall. The lighting is
03:49okay, it's a four zone, I wish it was individually lit, and there's clear WASD keys here, which
03:55are unique, but I don't know, they're not for me. There's something about this translucent
03:58material that makes it kind of look unfinished. The color from the lighting just blasts through
04:02these keycaps, but I don't love the look. The trackpad, this is a much improved trackpad
04:07from the previous generation. Tracking is really accurate, it's using Windows Precision
04:10drivers and there's dedicated hardware buttons. The palm rejection could be a little better,
04:15it's picking up some occasional left palm action when I press the spacebar, but it's
04:19pretty minor. So the performance is strong. This unit has a GTX 1070 to go with that 6-core
04:258750H. The CPU is a multi-core beast, and the GPU just crushes. It uses that 144Hz panel
04:32well. A lot of competitive shooters will hit 144Hz even with the graphics settings cranked
04:37up. They've also done a good job cooling it. Remember, it's a GTX 1070, not the Max-Q,
04:42but a regular 1070, and I'm not seeing throttling in benchmarks and stuff. The temperatures
04:46are good. The fans are also not too loud. It's nice to see them cool a full 1070 without
04:51excessive fan noise, even at max load. Now one of the reasons why they're able to do
04:55this is because the device itself. Like, I'm sure the thermal solution is good, but this
04:59device is not an ultra-thin laptop. It's not thick or anything, but laptops are just easier
05:03to cool when there's more room in there for bigger fans and stuff like that. So this laptop
05:08is a much-improved version from the previous generation. The first-generation Strix was
05:12really good. This is just that much better. I feel like Asus listened to their customer
05:15base, figured out what they wanted, what they didn't want, and made something that's a really
05:19compelling purchase. This one here is the Scar II, and there's a brother to this, kind
05:23of like a twin, called the Hero II, which looks a little bit different, but has very
05:28similar specs. But depending on what you're looking for in terms of aesthetics, you might
05:31choose one over the other. Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video. Thumbs if you liked
05:35it, subs if you loved it. See you guys next time.