ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: The No-Limits Gaming Laptop

The 2025 ASUS ROG Strix G18 isn’t just a gaming laptop; it’s a portal to digital domination. ASUS consistently sits atop the gaming laptop throne, and this flagship exemplifies why. While I haven’t wrestled with every ASUS beast, this Strix G18 devoured every challenge I threw its way. Fittingly, my baptism by fire involved ripping through DOOM: The Dark Ages. With graphics maxed out, I unleashed carnage upon demonic hordes, and the G18 didn’t even flinch.

Forget therapy. The ROG Strix G18 lets you exorcise your demons, pixel by glorious pixel. We’re talking DOOM Eternal levels of demon-slaying beauty, powered by ASUS’s PC gaming sorcery. But before you strap on your BFG and dive headfirst into hell, a word of caution: This beast isn’t without its chains. Prepare your wallet for a serious hit, and your back for a workout. Like the Legion Pro 7i, portability isn’t exactly in its vocabulary.

The 2025 ROG Strix G18: A portable powerhouse or an expensive anchor? Gaming laptops are a constant compromise. Raw, desk-dominating power crammed into a (relatively) mobile shell. This machine promises face-melting performance, but at $3,499.99 and a considerable heft, the question is: Does the Strix G18 soar, or is it grounded by its own ambition? Let’s dissect this beast and see if it justifies the cost and the carry.

Table of Contents

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Specs
ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Hardware and Design
ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Display
ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Performance
ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Software
ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Battery Life and Charging
Should you buy the ASUS ROG Strix G18?

Specs

ASUS ROG Strix G18 (2025) G815LW Specs

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ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Hardware and Design

The ROG Strix G18 doesn’t just scream gaming laptop; it roars. ASUS clearly channeled racetrack energy into this Eclipse Gray machine (specifically, the G815LW model). They claim inspiration from race cars, envisioning "powerful performance, maximum speed, and calculated movement." Whether you see tire tracks or not, one thing’s undeniable: this laptop is a head-turner. From its sleek lines to its aggressive stance, the G18 is pure visual adrenaline. It’s not just about power; it’s about the thrill of the ride, and the design gets that right. The aesthetics alone are enough to make you want to push it to its limits.

Forget sharp edges. Chamfered corners give this chassis a sleek, almost aerodynamic profile. ASUS swapped out the old texture for a velvety smooth finish that screams premium. The catch? Fingerprints. But honestly, who cares when you’re too busy dominating the game? Expect to be top-fragging so hard, you won’t even notice.

The premium build whispers luxury, punctuated by unmistakable gamer DNA. The ROG Eye logo, etched boldly on the back, hints at power without screaming for attention. ASUS drops Easter eggs for the faithful: subtle "Republic of Gamers" insignias and the defiant "For those who dare" are strategically placed. Missable at first glance, "ROG Strix" is proudly emblazoned on the underside, revealed only when flipping the machine – a nod to those who dare to tinker. Speaking of which, the tool-free bottom panel invites upgrades. RAM boosts? An extra M.2 SSD? Pop it open and unleash the potential. Frankly, this laptop isn’t just great-looking, it’s a testament to ASUS’s design prowess, easily their best yet.

Lighting that gives off a menacing aura

Forget mere backlighting; this laptop bleeds light. A vibrant aura emanates from its undercarriage, a continuous RGB stream encircling the chassis. While others have flirted with similar concepts, this is a full immersion, a radiant halo transforming your desk into a cyberpunk landscape. Imagine Night City’s neon glow seeping into your reality. ASUS amplifies this immersive experience with a per-key RGB keyboard, a symphony of customizable color dancing beneath your fingertips. It’s not just illumination; it’s an atmosphere.

The ASUS model’s QWERASDF and Space Bar keys? Genius. They’re not just keys; they’re portals. Translucent caps allow the RGB to erupt, bathing the surrounding area in a vibrant glow. Some might call it excessive; I call it a throwback to the dawn of see-through tech, a glorious reminder of gaming’s transparent past. It’s a bold design choice that resonates with a generation raised on circuit boards and glowing internals, and frankly, I’m here for it.

Dive into the Armoury Crate app and orchestrate your laptop’s inner glow. Choose a single, powerful hue for a static beacon, or unleash a dazzling rainbow cascade. Feeling poetic? Set your machine to "breathe" with a mesmerizing pulse. I tinkered with them all, but inevitably, I returned to that cool, confident cyan the one you see splashed across these pages. It justfeelsright.

A full suite of ports for all of your peripherals

Tired of gaming laptops that skimp on connectivity? The ROG Strix G18 laughs in the face of port poverty. Its robust design isn’t just for show; it’s a treasure trove of connectivity. Forget dongles and adapters, this beast boasts a port for every peripheral and then some. We’re talking three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports for your mouse, keyboard, and headset. But it doesn’t stop there, experience lightning-fast data transfer and display capabilities with dual Thunderbolt 5 ports supporting DisplayPort, Power Delivery, and G-Sync. Lag? Not on this machine, thanks to the dedicated 2.5G LAN port. Immerse yourself with a crisp display via HDMI 2.1, and plug in your favorite headphones with the 3.5mm combo audio jack. The ROG Strix G18 ensures you’re always connected and ready to dominate.

You’ll love the full-size keyboard and massive trackpad

Forget cramped keys and frustrating typos. This keyboard is a dream. It’s full-sized, giving your fingers room to dance across the keys. I put it through its paces for weeks, from intense gaming sessions to daily work grinds, and never once felt limited. Typing was effortless, a smooth and comfortable ride even after hours of use. And the trackpad? Think expansive, luxurious real estate for your fingertips. It’s gloriously oversized, a tactile treat that elevates the entire experience. Is it essential? Maybe not. Is it a joy to use? Absolutely.

The keys are a tactile delight. Each press offers a satisfying journey, a perfect balance of travel that isn’t too shallow or too deep. ASUS’s Overstroke technology delivers a noticeable edge, shaving precious milliseconds off actuation. In the heat of battle, playing titles like Rainbow Six Siege, this responsiveness translates directly into victory. Key presses register with near-instantaneous precision.

ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Display

The laptop’s display doesn’t just look good; it commands attention. The 2.5K IPS panel might not deliver OLED-level blacks, but its color accuracy shines. Gaming? Immersive. Movies? Vibrant. The silky smooth 240Hz refresh rate turns every frame into a visual feast, banishing blur and tearing. With a peak brightness of 500 nits, the screen remains vibrant, even when the sun tries to steal the show.

Glare? What glare? Thanks to ASUS’s Ambient Contrast Ratio film, the display remained remarkably clear, even under harsh lighting. Colors popped with vibrant accuracy when viewed head-on. Sneaky glances from prying eyes are also thwarted, as this film maintains image integrity from wider viewing angles. Bottom line: Games look absolutely stunning.

ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Performance

Diving into the gaming laptop abyss? Let’s be real, performance is king (and queen, and the entire royal court). Shelling out $3,000+ deserves face-melting frame rates, not choppy disappointment. Buckle up, because the ROG Strix G18 delivers. I’m talking Cyberpunk 2077 on Ultra settings, consistently hitting a buttery smooth 144 FPS, often soaring to a glorious 155 FPS. Prepare for liftoff.

Night City, a sprawling, chaotic canvas of Cyberpunk 2077, pushed the limits. Ray tracing and path tracing were cranked to the max, DLSS and 4x frame generation bridged the gap. Were they "true" frames? Perhaps not. But tearing through the neon-drenched streets, the illusion was flawless. Even on "Ultra Nightmare" in DOOM: The Dark Ages, visuals screamed while frames soared, hitting a consistently smooth 240 FPS with DLSS quality mode and 4x frame gen. Let that sink in for a graphically demanding behemoth like DOOM!

Black Myth: Wukong. This game has been my white whale, a performance hog that’s humbled other rigs. I’ve wrestled with it more than I ever did with Cyberpunk 2077, chasing stable frames like a digital Ahab. Naturally, I was chomping at the bit to see if the ROG Strix G18, packing that rumored RTX 5080, could finally tame this beast. On my previous attempts, I’d had to kneecap the gorgeous visuals, settling for a blend of high and medium settings just to claw my way to a playable 60+ FPS. Even then, the game looked fantastic. But could the Strix G18 unlock Wukong’s full, unbridled glory? That was the burning question.

Cranking Black Myth: Wukong to "Cinematic" settings on the ROG Strix G18 felt like unlocking a cheat code. The gameplay flowed smoother than molten gold. Thanks to DLSS set to quality with 4x frame generation, the frame rate stubbornly refused to dip below 138 fps, usually dancing around a glorious 142. This was uncharted territory for me, pushing visuals to their absolute limit. And let me tell you, Wukong in "Cinematic" is a visual feast. This performance? Pure, unadulterated power unleashed in Turbo Mode with the GPU set to Ultimate.

The Armoury Crate app unlocks the beast within. As expected, the Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX made mincemeat of CPU-intensive tasks. Let’s just say the ROG Strix G18 doesn’t just play demanding games – it devours them, scoffing at the notion of a challenge.

Benchmarks

To gauge performance, this laptop faced a gauntlet of benchmark tests. Mirroring our Legion Pro 7i review, Geekbench 6 challenged both CPU and GPU, while Cinebench stressed the CPU. Beyond those familiar trials, we unleashed the power of 3DMark, pushing the limits with the demanding Steel Nomad, Speed Way, and Time Spy benchmarks.

Geekbench 6

Let’s kick things off with Geekbench 6, our go-to for cross-platform benchmarking. Why? Because it plays nice with everything from laptops to phones. On the ROG Strix G18, we unleashed Geekbench 6 to put both the CPU and GPU through their paces with a barrage of single-core, multi-core, and dedicated GPU tests.

The ROG Strix G18 didn’t just compete; it conquered. We pitted it against powerhouses like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i and the ASUS ProArt twins, the PX13 and P16. The result? A near-total knockout. Across almost every benchmark, the Strix G18 reigned supreme. Only the Legion Pro 7i narrowly edged it out by a mere 16 points in the single-core CPU arena. But when the GPU test hit, the Strix G18 didn’t just win; it unleashed a performance tsunami.

| Laptop | Geekbench Single-Core | Geekbench Multi-Core | Geekbench GPU | | — | — | — | — | | ASUS ROG Strix G18 | 2,946 | 18,945 | 203,350 | | Lenovo Legion Pro 7i | 2,962 | 15,262 | 117,636 | | ASUS ProArt PX13 | 2,852 | 13,878 | 88,995 | | ASUS ProArt P16 | 2,764 | 13,614 | 43,556 |

Cinebench

Cinebench was our weapon of choice to dissect the CPU’s single-core and multi-core prowess. While Cinebench offers a GPU benchmark, it’s currently blind to NVIDIA’s cutting-edge Blackwell architecture – think RTX 50-series GPUs like the RTX 5080 nestled within this laptop. The result? In the single-core arena, it trails the Legion Pro 7i, but only by a hair. However, unleash all cores, and it rockets past the Legion, leaving it in the dust.

| Laptop | Cinebench Single-Core | Cinebench Multi-Core | | — | — | — | | ASUS ROG Strix G18 | 134 | 2,032 | | Lenovo Legion Pro 7i | 135 | 1,879 | | ASUS ProArt PX13 | 112 | 1,089 | | ASUS ProArt P16 | 116 | 1,142 |

3DMark

Let’s throw 3DMark into the mix. I’m running it because I’ve got the software in my arsenal (Steam sale, holla!), and its benchmarks are a popular proving ground. Heads up though: since this laptop is breaking new ground with 3DMark in our reviews, we’re skipping the comparison table and just dropping the raw scores for now. Consider it a sneak peek!

The ROG Strix G18 didn’t just pass the Ray Tracing gauntlet; it dominated. In the brutal Speed Way test, designed to push high-end gaming rigs to their absolute limit, the G18 clocked in at a blistering 5,513, averaging a silky smooth 55.13 frames per second. This isn’t smoke and mirrors, folks – just pure, unadulterated hardware muscle, no DLSS multi-frame generation shenanigans here. Next, it faced the Steel Nomad, a test known for its punishing realism, and emerged victorious with a score of 5,110 and an average of 51.11 frames per second. Finally, the G18 put the final nail in the coffin with a Time Spy score of 20,657, cementing its position as a true performance king.

Battery Life

Battery life: the final hurdle. Because let’s face it, this is alaptop. Freedom from the wall socket is kind of the point, right? So, how long will that freedom last? A crucial test, and one I tackled head-on, but with a caveat: to squeeze every last drop of juice, I ran the test in "Silent" mode and with the GPU dialed down to "Eco." Think of it as marathon mode for your machine.

With screen blazing and keyboard illuminated, I replicated our standard battery drain gauntlet, the same one we used on the Legion Pro 7i. The mission: unplug, crank up the settings, and work until the lights went out. In other words, full brightness, backlit keys glowing, and a day’s work to do, all powered solely by the battery. The finish line? Zero percent.

Three hours. That’s all I squeezed out of this beast before scrambling for the charger. But let’s be real, were you expecting an all-day marathon? This isn’t your grandma’s laptop for checking email. This is a ROG Strix G18: a fire-breathing dragon disguised as a notebook. Battery life takes a backseat to raw, unadulterated power. Every cycle is poured into pushing pixels and melting faces, and on that front, the G18 isn’t just good – it’s a champion.

ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Software

Beneath its sleek exterior, this Windows 11 laptop pulses with a hidden heart – a ROG gaming soul. Forget the generic Windows experience. The gateway to unlocking its true potential lies within ASUS Armoury Crate. Consider this your mission control. Diving into Armoury Crate reveals a treasure trove of customization. Tweak operating modes for optimal performance, manipulate GPU settings for visual dominance, and orchestrate mesmerizing light shows with Aura Sync. But the power doesn’t stop there. Unleash your inner macro master, design custom Aura Wallpapers, and truly make this machine your own. Master Armoury Crate, and you master your ROG gaming experience.

Unleash a symphony of light. Aura Sync orchestrates a mesmerizing dance between your ROG arsenal. Imagine your ROG headset and mouse pulsating in perfect harmony, their vibrant colors mirroring the dynamic display of your ROG laptop.

But ASUS doesn’t just stop at visual flair. They’ve engineered a gateway to complete control. With a single tap of the ROG Eye key – strategically placed above the keyboard alongside easily accessible macro keys – Armoury Crate springs to life. This isn’t just a launch button; it’s your command center. Of course, you’re not stuck with our defaults. Customize the ROG Eye key, and those macro keys, to unleash your personalized brand of power.

ASUS ROG Strix G18 Ultimate Review: Battery Life and Charging

The ROG Strix G18’s battery life isn’t its strongest suit, but let’s be honest, are you really unplugging this beast for extended periods? If you’re a student lugging it between lectures, a quick charge between classes is practically mandatory. Think of it as refueling your fighter jet before the next dogfight – your grades depend on it!

The battery life teeters around the three-hour mark, a tightrope walk between productivity and power outlet proximity. Dimming the vibrant backlit keys and dialing down the display’s luminosity stretches that runtime further, offering a fleeting escape from the charger’s tether. In my experience, I squeezed roughly three hours, give or take a few minutes, before the low-battery warning flashed. Thankfully, the refueling pit stop is quick. The 380W power supply, a veritable firehose of energy for the 90Wh battery, refills the tank in just over an hour, letting you rapidly return to full power.

Should you buy the ASUS ROG Strix G18?

Let’s be real: dropping three and a half grand on a laptop requires some soul-searching. Even for gaming, the ROG Strix G18 is a behemoth. Think carefully if you truly need this much power in a machine this size. The price tag is eye-watering, no doubt, but the G18 delivers performance that melts faces. If neither the cost nor the sheer scale scares you, prepare to be blown away.

Forget the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i. Sure, the price tag is similar. But inside? Same GPU, same CPU, identical storage and RAM. Yet, our benchmarks tell a different story. This machine consistently outperformed the competition, crushing every test save for a negligible few. Okay, no OLED display, and it’s packing atadmore heft (two pounds, to be exact). But trust me, the raw power and superior performance are worth it. This isn’t just a top-tier gaming laptop; it’s a powerhouse. If you’re serious about gaming, seriously consider this beast.

Forget the rest. Until we’ve wrung out every last drop of performance from the competition, one gaming laptop reigns supreme: the ROG Strix G18. This isn’t just raw power; it’s beautifully brutal, a machine that chews through demanding titles without breaking a sweat. And ASUS? They nailed the upgrade game. That toolless back panel is a stroke of genius – why can’t everyone do this? The price stings, yes, but if you crave unbridled performance and future-proof expandability, pull the trigger. You won’t regret it.

You should buy the ASUS ROG Strix G18 if:

You’re ok with the price and weight
You want the best possible performance in the most demanding games

You shouldn’t buy the ASUS ROG Strix G18 if:

You’re looking for something more portable
You don’t want to spend this much money
You want a laptop that’s quieter

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