22 JULY2020|COMPUTER SHOPPER|ISSUE389
WHENITCOMEStogamingPCCs,the
mechanicalkeyboardisking;yoourarely,
however, seeoneadorningagaammiinnggllaappttoopp.
Thereistheoddexception,butmost
manufacturersavoidintegratinggmechanical
keyboardsbecausethethingsjuustaddso
muchweightandbulk.
NotsotheGigabyteAorus15G,which
incorporates,amongotherthings,a
fullymechanicalkeyboard,yetkkeeps
theweightdownto amanageabble
2.3kg.Coupledwithsome
prettypotentinnards,an
aluminiumchassisthat
feels asifitwouldsurvive
anuclearblastanda
competitive-class240Hzdisplay,thisisa
gaminglaptopto bereckonedwith.
Themodelweweresentcosts£2,199and
comeswitha240Hzdisplay(runningat
1,980x,1080),anocta-core,2.3GHzIntelCore
i7-10875Hprocessor,16GBof RAM,a512GB
SSDandNvidiaGeForceRTX2070Super
Max-Qgraphics.Thisisalotof cashindeed
–muchmorethanthe£1,699basemodel–
butit’snotnecessarilypoorvalue.The
upcomingRazerBlade15refresh,itshould
be noted,willbeavailablewithcomparable
specsfor£2,549:afull£350more.
KNACKFOR CLACK
Startingwiththatmechanicalkeyybbooaarrdd,iittss
chicletdesignmightfeelunfamiliiarto those
usedto mechanicaldesktopkeybboards,but
onceyougetusedtothespacinggyou’ll
soonappreciateittaking
the placeofatypicallaptop
scissorswitch.Besidesthe
naturallystrongertactilityof
mechanicalswitches,what’smosst
noticeablehereisthetraveldeptth:
mostlaptopkeysbottomout
after 1mm,butthesekeysgo
down to 2mm.Thismakesforfarr
moredecisivekeystrokesanda
more satisfyingfeeloverall.
Asthisisahigh-endgaming
laptop,thekeyboardisalsofully
equippedwithRGBlighting.Thisis
fullycustomisableonaper-key
basis viatheAoruscontrolcentrre
software,andyou’llbepleasedtoo
knowthatextendsto turningitooff
if it’snotyourcupoftea.
TheAorus15Gisn’tthefirst
laptopto featureamechanical
GIGABYTE Aorus15G
★★★★★
£2,199•Fromwwww.scan.co.uk
WINDOWS10 GAMINGLAPTOP
keyboard,butitisthefirstoneto do sowhile
maintainingsufficientportability.Notto say
thisisasvelteclamshell:2.3kgisstilltwicethe
weightofsomeultraportables,andtotal
weightreaches3kgifyoucountthepower
supply. Still,comparedto thelikesofthe
giganticAcerPredator21X,atleastthiscan
feasiblyfitinabackpack.
JUSTATOUCH
Thetouchpadworkswell,too,asdoesthe
built-infingerprintreaderinitstop-left
corner (althoughyou’llprobablybeusing
amousemostofthetimeanyway).Sadly,
otheraspectsoftheAorus15G’sdesign
aarreeaalliittttlleelleessssaappppeeaalliinngg.
TheCNC-machinedmetaalchassislooksand
feelssuperb,andthere’sagooodselectionof
inputsandoutputsaroundttheedges,too.
VERDICT
Brand-new silicon and afullymmechanical
keyboard make this one of the best gaming
laptops ever
However,thepositioningof thoseports
leaves alotto bedesired.TheHDMI,Mini
DisplayPort,USB3.1,3.5mmjackandGigabit
Ethernetportwouldbemorepracticalifthey
werelocatedfurtherbacktowardstherear,
andthesamegoesforthepowerport,USB
Type-CandthetwootherUSB3.1portsonthe
right.Asthey’remountedsofarforward,
cablescanoftengetintheway ofyour
mousingonsmallertables.
The720pwebcamisdownrightrubbish,
too. Itisniceto seethatthere’sasliding
privacycover,butyou’llwantto keepthat
closedunlessyouwantanyoneto realise
quitehowbadthecapturequalityis.
COOL RUNNINGS
InfairnesstoGGigabyte,thereisareasonwhy
theAorus’spoortsareallmountedtowards
thefrontofthechassis:
namely,cooling.Thelaptop
has52mm-longoutletgrilles
ooneachflank,whichaddto
theemaincoolingoutletsthat
spannmostofthewidthof the
laptoppattherear.
Giiventhecalibreofthe
internnal components,coolingis
understandablyamajorfocushere,
andaakeyboardshortcutonthe
Escapekeytogglesthefansbetween
NNoorrmmmalandMaximum.Evenat
normmal,there’saconstantand
audibblewhooshing–rampitupand
it’sdeafening–althoughtheplus
sideisthatthefansaresopowerful
thatyougetaratherpleasant
coolingeffectaroundyourfingertips
asairrispulledthroughthekeyboard
intottheheartofthelaptop.
