This review is intended for those who are not going to use this laptop for only gaming purpose but on a mixed purpose. What I would like to mean is that, a balanced usage of web browsing, watching movies, listening to songs and of course the gaming session in between. The reason behind this disclaimer is because I used it as such and not solely for gaming. The ASUS FX503 was a daily driver for the past 2 weeks and I only have one word to describe it “AWESOME!”. Also this will be a pretty short review and targeted for those who already shortlisted this model and would want to have a quick read right before purchasing it. Here goes my two cents.
Design Language
Having a gaming laptop usually have the first impression of the design being futuristic as well as attractive. The FX503 is well designed in terms of outlook but not the most attractive available out there. Laptop used to be defined as a portable computer and specifically known as lightweight computer by many. Though we can never expect a gaming laptop to be light, same goes on the FX503 as it is generally heavy, large as well as bulky. Of course it fits perfectly on my ASUS ROG Nomad gaming backpack. Carrying it around is indeed possible, so for the true gamers who are willing to carry around a heavy gaming laptop – this isn’t lightweight yo!
It’s certainly worthy to carry around as the weight pretty much makes sense for all the money you are paying for the FX503. It comes with a good graphics card, big cooling fans, 15.6-inch Full HD display as well as a good designed keyboard. The keyboard keys are placed perfectly and are surely tactile with the WASD keys standing out red lining design indicating the most used keys for gaming. Not to forget that it comes with backlight for low light usage as well as for value added feature. Honorable to mention will be the size of the trackpad. It is indeed larger than the usual ones you find on a standard laptop. The air-output grill or rather heat-releasing grill is placed just on top of the keyboard. Pretty much visible and a bit of noise will be noticeable when you’re playing graphics intensive games. This is indeed a good decision as most laptop’s heat-releasing grill is placed beneath of the laptop and the space is rather cramped. The laptop will certainly get hotter eventually as the heat is reflected. No doubt a well designed laptop with dual fans paired with copper heat pipes. Last but not least, it does not come with an optical disc slot, just in case if you’re wondering.
On the left side, there are the power input, Ethernet port, HDMI port, USB 3.0 ports x2, 3.5mm audio jack and speaker.
While on the right side, there’s 1 USB 3.0 port as well as the SD card reader slot. Not to forget the kensington lock slot as well the another speaker.
Under the Hood
The FX503 that I have comes with a 7th Gen i7 processor, 4GB of RAM (expandable up to 32GB) paired with NVIDIA GeForce GTX1050 graphics card which comes with 4GB of VRAM. As for the storage, there’s 1TB of HDD paired with 128GB of SSD where the OS is loaded for fast booting and performance. The battery is a four-cell 64Wh rated and would be great if they have slotted in a six-cell battery instead. You get Windows 10 Home Edition out of the box and of course you can choose to upgrade, if you wish for online as well as getting the Microsoft Office package.
Performance
In terms of gaming performance, you can definitely run all the latest games without any issues. As for graphics intense games such as Watchdogs, Far Cry, Monster Hunter, PUBG and many more, you can still play with medium configuration flawlessly. I tried old games such as the first Watchdogs as well as Need for Speed Hot Pursuit, did not face any issues on maximum configuration. Of course been playing DOTA 2 perfectly, thanks to the processor and graphics card. Though I am not a die-hard gamer, most of my usage is for blogging and documentation related. Hence, what I could tell will be even for latest games – this beast is decent enough for you rather than any higher-end laptops out there. I did some basic video and image editing, the rendering was pretty fast and finished greater than my casual laptop which is a HP Elitebook. Do take note that this unit that I have only comes with 4GB of RAM, I wonder how awesome and over-powered it will be if there’s a full 32GB of RAM in it? – Think about it…
Battery Life
As most of the gaming laptops out there, battery life isn’t that great here either. The ASUS FX503 managed to last almost 4 hours during my gaming session. Again, not the entire 4 hours were of gaming. It was rather a mixed usage of video editing as well as web browsing. Hence, please do not forget to bring along your power adapter no matter where you’re carrying it.
Conclusion
Pretty tough call for me and perhaps my conclusion would be pretty much not too technical and as a general consumer, just like you. The ASUS FX503 is a decent performer and well priced if you ask me. To be accurate, this laptop pretty much suits myself and the way I use it. Not fully for gaming but mixed usage. Of course, the GTX1050+Core i7 is a huge deal for budget constrain people out there. Knowing ASUS for its reliability and being the ultimate choice of gamers, the FX503 is a good choice for your consideration.
The ASUS FX503 retails at RM3999 and you can get it as low as RM3949 via ASUS’s official store on LAZADA. Two years ASUS Global warranty is provided upon date of purchase on receipt. It does not come bundled with a bag pack, so please do not be surprised about that. For further information in regards of ASUS FX503, kindly refer to ASUS’s website.