ASUS ROG Strix Hero II Review – a powerful and stylish machine for your MOBA gaming needs

As a gamer on PC (laptop), we are always looking for a machine that is superior inside yet looks gorgeous outside (so we can show off to our friends, right?). We are lucky to be able to get our hands on the new ASUS ROG Strix Hero II, and when we first saw the machine, we knew this could be the best one we are looking for. Check out our ASUS ROG Strix Hero II Review below to know how does it catch our hearts!

*Photos taken with Sony α5100

Design and Display

Strix Hero II is featuring 2 contrasting brushed finishes across its lid, as well as a metallic Mystic Black finish with red coloured vents on its rear. While on the near keyboard area, it is a smudge-proof surface with two-way brushed finishes and some Cyberpunk-inspired markings on it.

Featuring a 144Hz super-narrow-bezel display, Strix Hero II comes in a more compact body which it is 2.33 cm narrower compared to its predecessor, the Strix Hero Edition. The display is having a 3ms gray-to-gray (GTG) response time that minimizes ghosting and motion blur for clearer visuals. It is super lightweight with an overall weight of just 2.4 kg too, allowing you to bring it around easily.

A gaming laptop doesn’t look like a gaming laptop if it doesn’t come with some RGB lightings, and this is where Strix Hero II truly stand out from the others. We had the usual RGB backlit on the keyboard and a glowing ROG logo on the lid of Strix Hero Edition, but Strix Hero II just got better at it with its Aura lighting effects.

This time, the ROG logo on the lid, the keyboard area, and the front light bar are all synced to Aura lighting. Of course, you can customize the Aura lighting via the ROG Gaming Center software, there is even a music mode where the light would change following the music beats. I would love to watch the lighting changes with the music beats all day long!

Specially designed for MOBA players, the machine has its QWER keys highlighted with transparent key caps and 4 hotkeys. It also features 0.25 mm-deep keycap curves for more comfortable typing. The keyboard comes with ROG Overstroke technology, anti-ghosting and N-key rollover too, which enables you to enjoy accurate gaming effortlessly.

Specifications

• Model Name: GL504GM
• Size: 36.1 x 26.2 x 2.61 cm
• Weight: 2.4kg
• CPU: Intel Core i7-8570H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
• Display: 15.6-inch FHD IPS panel
• Refresh Rate: 144Hz
• Memory: 8 GB DDR4
• OS: Windows 10

Benchmark

• UserBenchmark

Strix Hero II got a decent result at 61% for gaming section, it could handle the majority of the recent games at high resolutions and ultra details levels. Although 8GB RAM is enough for gaming, you can still upgrade the RAM if you want to. Of course, handling everyday tasks such as web browsing and playing video is totally not a problem.

• PC Mark 10

In the PC Mark 10 test, Strix Hero II got an impressive overall score of 4559. It scores 6904 on the essential section, while for the score on photo editing, it got a pretty result of 6620. The machine might lack in video editing as it only gets a score of 3502, but it could still handle rendering and visualization perfectly with the score of 7105.

• 3D Mark

On 3D Mark’s Time Spy test, the machine got an overall score of 3801 – 3679 for graphics score and 4686 for CPU score. It manages to get 20 to 24 FPS on both graphics test (a huge improvement, as the first generation only gets 10 to 12 FPS), while on CPU test it manages to get a result of about 16 FPS. In short, the machine is capable of running high-graphics video games and MOBA games seamlessly.

Gaming Performance

We tested quite a few MOBA games including League of Legends, Battlerite, Smite and DOTA 2 on ROG Strix Hero II, so far all the games run smoothly under the highest graphics option. We could even get over 100 FPS when playing League of Legends! While for Smite, Battlerite and DOTA 2, we get a steady FPS of around 60.

Other than MOBA games, we also tried out RPGs like Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom and World of Warcraft. The visuals are beautifully presented on the 15.6-inch FHD display. Also, Strix Hero II‘s side-firing speakers are clear and loud, which makes you immerse in the gaming world even more.

Conclusion

Compared to the first generation (Strix Hero Edition), ASUS ROG Strix Hero II has improved a lot, especially on the gaming performance. Although the machine has put its focus on MOBA gaming, it still features an impressive 144Hz refresh rate that provides an enjoyable gaming experience to its users. The design is now more attractive with its Aura sync technology too.

With its powerful specs that could run most of the recent games perfectly, it is a waste to just play MOBA games on it. ASUS ROG Strix Hero II Edition is now available at RM6299 (about USD 1553), you can visit the official site for more information.

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