Review: ASUS ROG G501JW-DS71 – The Thinest ROG Notebook With Maximum Battery Performance

The ASUS ROG G501 series has been shown since Computex 2021, and as the pemmzchannel team said during the Hans-on preview at that time, this series is the first ASUS ROG series to play in the ultra slim gaming notebook segment following the success of the Razer Blade and MSI GS series at the time. that.

ASUS ROG G501JW-DS71 Specification

Display : 15.6″ 3840 x 2160 4K UHD (16:9) IPS LED Backlit Antiglare Type Display, Wide Viewing Angle
Processor : 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4720HQ Processor, 2.6 GHz (Max Turbo Frequency 3.6GHz), 6MB Smart Cache
Memory : 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz (8GB onboard, 1 x 8GB)
Hard Drive : 512GB SSD
Graphics : NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 960M with 4GB GDDR5
Optical Drive : No ODD
Operating System : Windows 8.1
Networking : Standard 802.11 ac/b/g/n 2×2, Bluetooth 4.0 Included
Audio : Built-in 2 Speaker(s) And Microphone
Bang & Olufsen ICEpower®
SonicMaster Premium
MaxxAudio support
Battery : 6 Cells 96 Whrs
Camera : HD Web Camera
System Dimensions : 383 x 255 x 20.6 ~ 21.3 mm (WxDxH)
Slots/Interface :
1 x COMBO audio jack
3 x USB 3.0 port(s)
1 x HDMI
1 x WLAN On/Off Switch
1 x Mini Display Port
1 x Thunderbolt port (Combo with mini Display Port)
1 x SD card reader
1X AC adapter plug
1 x Volume up/down
1 x Screen switch

In our opinion, the specifications offered by Asus’ first ultrathin gaming notebook are the maximum for the barebones size that he uses. A little reminiscent of the Razer Blade specifications, which have minimal upgrade options. For main specifications such as CPU and GPU, there is no need to discuss it in length, but for RAM and Storage we need to provide a little more detail.

For the 16GB of RAM it’s built into, 8GB of it is embedded in the motherboard, and the other 8GB is installed in the only DIMM socket. As for storage on the ASUS ROG G501JW-DS71, it uses a PCI X4 connection which in theory can provide a throughput bandwidth wider than the mSATA slot on other notebooks that generally use a PCI X1 connection. Unfortunately, in addition to the m2.SATA slot which has a 512GB SSD installed, there is no other storage slot for us to increase storage capacity.

Design

File0298 By design, there are indeed some differences between the G50x that we previewed at the computex event 2 years ago and the ASUS ROG G501JW which we are currently reviewing. For more details, you can see our Hands-on preview video at the computex event in the following video.

File0306 ASUS ROG G501JW has dimensions of 383mm long, 255mm wide, 20.6mm thick and weighs about 2kg. In our opinion, it can still compete with some of its rivals, even those that have a less thickness like the Aorus X5 which was recently introduced.

There are several areas that are simplified in the ASUS ROG G501JW’s design, the first being the absence of the illumination light on the ROG logo on the lid cover. Then the air inlet on the surface of the bottom case is also removed. Diverted to the back which means side by side with the exhaust hole. This concept is quite unique, and made us doubt the heat dissipation ability of this notebook.

Display Panel

ASUS ROG G501JW is one of the few gaming notebooks that offers a 4K Ultra HD resolution panel display. Using panels made by Samsung with the LTN156FL02-101 series, the display performance provided by this notebook tends to be good in terms of brightness and contrast, but is still inadequate when used outdoors. The consequences are the same, namely less than the maximum on the Black level. This display performance is more suitable for gamers than professionals. This is similar to what ASUS offers on the other G500 series.

The weight comparison between the display area and the workstation, as well as the display panel hinge concept is good enough that we only need to use one hand to open the display lid. One more thing, the red trim on the lid panel of this notebook is quite successful in giving an exclusive impression even though the genre of this notebook is gaming.

Workstation

The workstation design on the ASUS ROG G501JW is not much different from some of its predecessors, such as the G500 or GL500 series. A keyboard with a single Red backlight and a touchpad whose buttons click together make the workstation look simple. Which is a bit unfortunate, the illumination on the keyboard is not bright and evenly distributed and also not spread to the touchpad.

The advantage is on the keyboard keys that adopt scissor-switch keys with a playing distance of only 1.6mm. This makes it very responsive when pressed, even at unusual speeds. Very useful for gamers who often experience ghosting and response delays.

Audio Features

Asus Audio Wizard ASUS ROG G501JW doesn’t have many extra features, and most of them are By software features such as ROG audio wizard. With this application, users can change the sound system to several types of Environment such as ganding, music or theater. You can still manually change existing presets until you find the most suitable audio configuration.

First Game III

The Asus Game First III feature is quite helpful for users when using a shared connection. Starting from knowing the real connection from the internet to determining how many ports should be maximized for each type of use. There are 4 preset types of use, namely general (optimization), Game (for Online Game), Streaming, and File sharing.

In Optimization mode which is more manual mode, we can add applications that we want to prioritize the connection data path. We can set each application how many mb bandwidth limit that application can use. This feature works very well except that the shared connection is regulated by microtic which has been “strangled” from there. That way we can only maximize connections that have been determined by the admin.

Ports & Connectivity

For business connections, what we can find on notebooks in general we also find on this notebook except the Network Port (LAN). We immediately suspected that the ASUS ROG G501JW offered an external hardware option as we often find in several ASUS Ultrabook series. And sure enough, in the Sales package you can find several accessories such as External Gigabit Network via USB and mini Display port to Analog video (D-Sub). So, for networking by default, ASUS ROG G501JW only relies on the Intel 7260 WIFi module.

The sales point in this section is that ASUS has provided the G501JW with a mini Display Port, which several vendors have not yet adopted. This port is also a thunderbolt port and output to analog video via an adapter.

Upgrade Options

Only 1 DIMM slot and 1 m2.SATA PCI x4 slot (property of notebookcheck.net)

The bottom that embraces the uni-body concept does not give us much room to investigate the issue of upgrading options on this notebook. However, information from various sources, this ASUS ROG G501JW has very minimal upgrade options except for a DDR3 slot which in some SKUs has been filled with 8GB DDR3L RAM. Which means, the first 8GB module is embedded on the motherboard like the A series. As for storage, there is only 1 m2.SATA slot that has been filled with M2.SATA with a capacity of 512GB. This configuration reminds us of the configuration of the new Macbook from Apple.

Performance

The performance offered by ASUS ROG G501 enters the Mid-high class by bringing a combination of CPU core i7 4720HQ and Geforce GTX960M 4GB GDDR5. Almost all the latest popular 3D Games can run very smoothly in Full HD resolution at High settings. However, to enjoy the maximum capabilities of Ultra-HD, it seems that it is still too far because the hardware limitation that we know of does not yet natively support 4K resolution.

Extra Capacity Battery

Asus deserves a thumbs up for its concern with battery power capacity in their ROG notebooks. Although it’s a bit surprising actually, the series with this thin barebones is actually given a super battery capacity. It is possible, to supply its 4K panel which of course is power hungry. You can imagine, the cost for the battery is quite high if you use a Lithium Polymer type, especially with a capacity of up to 95Wh. Especially when the age of use is up, get ready to spend a little deeper to replace the battery part.

Temperature

As mentioned in the design point, the cooling system on the ASUS ROG G501 uses a concept that the pemmzchannel team has seen for the first time, ASUS gave the name HyperCool Technology which works to throw hot air back towards the back. Of course, the fan model used is a blower type that can control the direction of air circulation. The combination of the in-line exhaust plus the blower fan is quite successful in securing the Palm rest from the heat because the hot air does not have time to reach the area under the touchpad and Palm rest.

If you pay a little attention, this cooling concept seems to be a development of the cooling concept in the A series which has already removed hot air through the grille at the bottom of the LCD. However, on the ASUS ROG G501JW, it is more optimized with the addition of a blower type fan.

Conclusion

Although it can be said that it is a bit late to offer the ultra-slim gaming notebook series, through this G501JW ASUS has managed to set a good example for other manufacturers in terms of cooling systems that are comfortable for users. With the price offered, namely, the ASUS ROG G501JW in our opinion is less worth to money in terms of performance, design and upgrade options. But don’t forget the Ultra-HD display that you get at that price.