Opposite the screen, on the Flow X13’s base, is a well-designed keyboard and touchpad. Streamers will likely want to connect an external camera. It lacks a privacy shutter or IR sensors to allow logging in with Windows Hello face recognition, but it’ll do for quick video calls sessions in well-lit rooms. (One other example, which we haven't tested, is Acer's Nitro 5 Spin, but it doesn't have the eGPU option.)Ībove the display, there’s a webcam with a 720p resolution. It's atypical, to be sure-you'll see very few 2-in-1 convertible laptops designed for gaming. I did not use it like this extensively during my time testing it, although the added flexibility could be useful if you're used to the 2-in-1 design from other laptops. In a highly unusual twist, the Flow X13's screen can be rotated 360 degrees to let you prop the notebook up like a tent on your desk, or even use it as a tablet with the keyboard folded completely underneath. The Flow X13 can be used as a tablet and connected to an eGPU (top) Both options have touch-input support and are covered in a glossy Gorilla Glass top layer. But it’s probably overkill for most gamers, who would do better to consider the full HD (1,920-by-1,200-pixel) screen option, which comes with a higher 120Hz refresh rate. It’s beautiful to look at, with crisp text, plus brilliant colors thanks to its Pantone certification and ability to display the entire sRGB color gamut. Our Flow X13 review unit comes with a 4K UHD resolution (3,840 by 2,400 pixels) and a 60Hz refresh rate. This means that when you’re not gaming, you’ll have a bit more vertical space to display more lines of text or see more of a web page without scrolling. It measures 13.4 inches on the diagonal, giving it a 16:10 aspect ratio that’s a bit taller than the 16:9 standard of most laptops and TVs. The Panel: Full HD or 4K Screen OptionsĪ capable screen is essential for any gaming laptop, and the Flow X13’s display doesn’t disappoint. Rather, its main performance coup is its ability to punch far above its weight on CPU-intensive tasks other than gaming, such as rendering videos or compiling code. This means the Flow X13 isn’t a standout machine for gamers who care only about maximizing frame rates. While the Ryzen 9 H-series processor in the Flow X13 is far more powerful than the 11th Generation Core i7 in the Blade Stealth, overall gaming performance is actually roughly the same, since both laptops have similar Nvidia graphics processors and their cooling systems are still limited by chassis that are approximately the same size. We expect the laptop on its own to be priced roughly the same as the Blade Stealth, which is to say, less than $2,000. The company does plan to sell the ROG Flow X13 separately, but it has not yet announced pricing or availability. But the laptop works just fine without it, so we’ll save a discussion of the XG Mobile for its own review.Ĭurrently, Asus is selling the laptop and the eGPU as a bundle, which accounts for the high $3,000 price mentioned above. And, of course, you can do a lot better if you pair the Flow X13 with the XG Mobile (the eGPU mentioned above), populated with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. That’s seldom the case with ultraportable laptops. We’ll get into just how much more powerful the Flow X13 is below, but suffice it to say that gamers satisfied with a 1080p resolution and around 50 frames per second will find plenty to like here. You'll also note oversize exhaust and intake vents along the back and right edges, which evoke those on gaming rigs many times the Flow X13’s size. The ribbing extends to the tapered edges of the laptop, giving it a vaguely aggressive-but not ostentatious-aesthetic. It’s got classic gaming-laptop styling, with a prominent Republic of Gamers logo and ribbed black metal on the display lid. Viewed with its lid closed, the Flow X13 is an odd sight to behold. On the whole, the ROG Flow and its eGPU make for a unique one-two punch among gaming laptops. The XG Mobile can act as a dock on your desk, and, at 2.2 pounds, is even reasonable to lug along at times. But it gets even better: You can pair the ROG Flow X13 with a special, desktop-class GeForce RTX 3080 in a not-too-heavy external graphics enclosure (or eGPU, dubbed the "Asus XG Mobile"), offering an even smoother gaming experience at higher resolutions. This is an impressive (if not wholly groundbreaking) achievement, thanks mostly to the efficiency inside of the AMD Ryzen 9 CPU (one of AMD's new Ryzen 5000 series "Zen 3" chips) and Nvidia's GeForce GTX 1650 GPU. As powerful as it is compact, the Asus ROG Flow X13 (starts at $2,999 $3,299 as tested) is a 2-in-1 convertible gaming laptop that stands just 0.62 inch tall, weighs 2.9 pounds, and still manages to deliver a reasonably comfortable gaming experience at a 1080p resolution on many titles.
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