At Computex 2021 AMD announced the AMD Advantage platform for the first time. This is the new standard for gaming laptops that carry all the technology from AMD. Now, gaming laptops with AMD Advantage certification from manufacturers are starting to appear on the market. We had the opportunity to try one of them, namely the ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition from the ASUS manufacturer. How is the performance of this gaming laptop? Check out the reviews as follows.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition Design
In the design sector, the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition at first glance looks similar to its brother ROG Strix G15. The body material is aluminum. However, it looks more sporty with a textured design that crosses from the top left and a red Armor Cap on the chassis. This Armor Cap can be replaced. There are three color choices of Armor Cap namely red, silver and black.
To highlight its gaming aura, ASUS has pinned RGB LED lighting at the bottom of the body. RGB lighting can be adjusted to color output according to taste.
This gaming laptop is not a thin and light category. It weighs about 2.5 Kg. While the thickness is about 2.72 cm. On the body can also be found a series of connectivity ports.
The ports it carries include one 3.5mm audio port and two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A ports on the left side of the body. On the back is one USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A port, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port that supports DisplayPort / power delivery, one HDMI 2.0b port and one RJ45 LAN port. On the right there is no connectivity port. One positive value that makes the gaming experience more optimal because it will not interfere when playing games using a gaming mouse.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition screen
The screen is also slightly different from the standard G15 version. The display panel comes with thinner bezels. The ratio of the screen panel to the body reaches 85%. The standard ROG Strix G15 has a screen-to-body ratio of around 81.5%. As a result, the overall dimensions can be about 7% more compact than the previous generation of ROG Strix even though they both carry a 15-inch screen panel. With a thin screen bezel, this gaming laptop is not equipped with a webcam.
For the screen panel, ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition comes with a 15.6-inch IPS display panel with a resolution of Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels. The panel refresh rate is 300Hz complete with AMD Freesync support.
The display on the screen is very good. Images look sharp with accurate colors with support for the standard 100% sRGB color coverage. It can also be relied on for creative content such as photo and video editing. For gaming, of course, it is very satisfying. Thanks to the high refresh rate, the visuals on the screen are minimally blurry and avoid the tearing effect.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition Keyboard and Trackpad
Shifting to the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition keyboard area brings a chicklet-style keyboard. This keyboard is very comfortable to use for typing or playing games. The keyboard is also equipped with RGB backlit which supports Aura Sync. So, if you have ROG gaming accessories such as a mouse or gaming headset with the same Aura Sync feature, the color output can be synchronized via Armory Crate. There are also media control keys neatly arranged on the right side of the keyboard and a variety of very functional hot keys.
Shifting to the trackpad area, the size of the trackpad it carries is quite large. The surface is coated with a matte material that feels very smooth. The touchpad response with fingers is also very good. Left and right mouse clicks are also comfortable to press and are not noisy.
Features of ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition
In addition to RGB lighting and replaceable Armor Cap, like other ASUS gaming laptops, the ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition can also be found in Armory Crate. Armory Crate is the central control for this laptop.
A very complete variety of settings can be found here. Gamers can be enabled to adjust the performance automatically with three options Silent, Balanced and Turbo. Manual setting is also possible. Apart from that, other settings are also available, such as adjusting Aura Sync RGB lighting, performing system updates to creating profiles that can adapt to usage scenarios.
In the audio sector, ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition has brought speakers with Dolby Atmos support. The audio performance also feels quite detailed and powerful when used for gaming or enjoying multimedia content.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition Performance
ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition is the first gaming laptop with AMD Advantage certification that we tried. However, this gaming laptop manages to give a very satisfying impression.
Please note that there are several conditions that have been set by AMD for AMD Advantage. Most importantly, the processor and graphics card that must be used is the combination of the Ryzen Mobile 5000-series processor and the Radeon RX 6000M graphics card. Storage space is also required to use an NVMe SSD for shorter boot times.
ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and the highest-end AMD Radeon series RX6800M 12GB graphics card. It supports 16GB of RAM with an upgrade option up to a maximum of 32GB. For storage space, there is a PCIe Gen3 SSD with a capacity of 512GB. It’s quite limited for the size of the current gaming laptop, which is now starting to use a lot of 1TB capacity. The benchmark results are as follows.
With these specifications, it is undeniable that ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition is able to provide very fast performance for various needs. From productivity, AAA Gaming, to content creation can be handled without any problems. In gaming tests such as Shadow of Tomb Raider, Cyberpunk 2077 and Metro Exodus all can be played smoothly at the most optimal graphics settings.
One thing we really admire is the cooling system. AMD does set high standards for thermal management on laptops that meet AMD Advantage platform standards. In gaming testing, when all components work optimally, the cooling system has proven to be successful in keeping the laptop temperature stable. The cooling fan is also relatively quiet.
Not only the internals of the laptop, the surface area of the keyboard can also be maintained at a temperature. Thanks to a special IR sensor, the keyboard temperature can be monitored automatically. That way the cooling system will ensure the keyboard area is not hot. As a result, when gaming, we hardly felt a warm sensation on the surface area of the keyboard, especially in the WSAD area. According to ASUS, this smart sensor can keep the surface temperature of the keyboard up to 40 degrees Celsius during long gaming sessions. Overall, the performance of the cooling system is above the average gaming laptop in general.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition Battery
Another advantage that we encountered from this laptop is its very efficient power consumption. One of the conditions for AMD Advantage is that it requires a usage time of up to about 10 hours to play videos. In practice, for standard daily productivity tests alone we were able to get almost 11 hours of uptime. The test was carried out with the scheme only working with the notepad application for typing, occasionally browsing, connecting to WiFi, activating the battery saver option, using Silent mode, not using the backlit keyboard, turning off the RGB LED, and the screen brightness level is around 30 percent. Durable for a gaming laptop.
Conclusion
Through AMD Advantage this time AMD has managed to raise the standard of gaming laptops. Not only focus on performance, but also on thermal management and battery life. This makes AMD Advantage gaming laptops a very optimal package for gaming. ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition with AMD Ryzen 9 and Radeon RX6800M is one proof. This gaming laptop is indeed very fast. However, this is offset by a top-notch cooling system and above-average battery life. If you are a gamer who prioritizes very powerful gaming performance, cool performance, and long battery life, ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition is a must-see.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition Suitable for:
Hardcore gamers: The combination of powerful specs, a 300 Hz display panel and a powerful cooling system makes it ideal for playing AAA games at optimal graphics settings.
Creator content: Thanks to AMD Smartshift technology, the combination of AMD Ryzen and AMD Radeon processors is able to be optimized according to the computing needs of users. So, not only for gamers, the performance is also very capable for content creation. The screen also supports 100% sRGB.
AMD fan gamers: AMD Advantage is the answer AMD fans have been waiting for. Gamers can now finally enjoy gaming laptops that all use superior technology from AMD processors and graphics cards.
ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition advantages:
+ Powerful performance
+ Attractive design
+ 300 Hz display panel
+ Full connectivity ports
+ Excellent cooling system
+ Long battery life
Disadvantages of ASUS ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition:
– SSD capacity is relatively small for today’s gaming laptops
– Not equipped with a webcam
