With the arrival of Nvidia’s Max-Q, gaming laptops have become slimmer and more portable than ever. And in the ever-growing field of ultraportable-sized gaming notebooks, Gigabyte has established its 15-inch laptop as one of the frontrunners with its potent combination of high-end power and excellent battery life. That continues with the 2018 version of the Gigabyte Aero 15X.
As with its predecessor, the laptop combines an impressively frame that measures just 0.7 inches in thickness with a rather straightforward design that prioritizes function over style. That means, it looks a lot more like a productivity machine rather than a gaming powerhouse, which is probably nice for those that don’t exactly appreciate the rather loud visual elements of most gaming-focused machines.
The 2018 Gigabyte Aero 15X has an impressive-looking 15.6-inch display that’s nearly bezel-free. Seriously, all it has are thin strips on the top and sides, which forced the outfit to place the webcam right on the hinge instead. Yes, it’s an odd angle that probably makes video calls a little awkward, but, like everything else in life, it’s one you’re likely to get used to at some point. The top-of-the-line model comes with 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160), along with a maximum 144Hz refresh rate, which is a huge step up from the 60Hz screen of the last model. The same 4K display comes with 100 percent Adobe RGB coverage, as well as X-Rite Pantone tech, so colors are factory-calibrated right out of the box.
Inside, it houses Intel’s six-core i7-8750H CPU, a Nvidia GTX 1070 GPU, up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB SSD. It actually has an extra RAM slot, so you can throw in another 16GB stick if you want to maximize this darn thing’s computing power, as well as two M.2 PCI-E slots in case you want to expand the storage with a couple of hard drives. Suffice to say, that’s enough power to run any AAA game at high resolutions and frame rates, so you won’t be lacking in the hardware muscle department for your next year or so of gaming.
To keep things from overheating during extended gaming sessions, the 2018 Gigabyte Aero 15X uses two fans and two pipes to draw heat and move it out to the vents, as well as a side vent to prevent the hot air from recirculating. Do note, the fans can get loud, although they only kick in whenever it detects the system needs the extra cooling. One of the most notable things about the previous generation of this laptop is its outstanding battery life. That doesn’t change here, as it still manages to pack a 94.24Wh battery, which should allow it to run for up to eight hours when engaged in standard productivity tasks. Gaming, of course, will likely dwindle that down severely.
Other features include a full-size keyboard with integrated backlighting (yes, you can customize the color of each key individually), three USB 3.1 ports, one Thunderbolt slot, one HDMI slot, one mini-DP, an SD card slot, and an Ethernet port. It weighs 4.6 pounds.
The 2018 Gigabyte Aero 15X comes out April 16th.
- 15.6" 5mm Thin Bezel FHD 144Hz Pantone X-Rite 1920x1080 IPS anti-glare display LCD