I tried Asus’ ROG gaming laptop with a massive 18-inch display

When Asus approached me to review the ROG Strix Scar 18, not once but twice I thought if I would want to use a laptop with a massive 18-inch display. I may not be the right audience for an 18-inch gaming laptop but there is a section that would be fascinated by an expansive display, the Intel Core i9 processor, and Nvidia’s RTX 4090 GPU inside. It’s one of those pro-grade laptops that promises the raw performance that one would expect from a high-end gaming laptop. Here’s my review.

The ROG Strix Scar 18 is for those who really care about aesthetics. The device is wrapped in a black shell, with a glow-in-dark Republic of Gamers (ROG) logo on the back of the display. You will find a large strip of lights going around the front of the chassis, just underneath the wrist rest. The laptop has a fun vibe to it, which is clearly visible when you see a strip of multi-coloured RGBs illuminating the back. The sides of the laptop, including vents, are made of transparent plastic, which adds a nice touch to the design.

Instead of opting for magnesium alloy, the laptop is made of plastic. Although the build quality is fine, it is nowhere close to alternatives like the Alienware 18 and Razer Blade 18. The laptop is heavy too — it weighs 3 kg, which isn’t surprising for a gaming laptop. This isn’t the thinnest laptop out there, but it still feels light when you consider this machine has an insanely large 18-inch display and the specs it boasts of. I travelled with the ROG Strix Scar 18 and yes, it does feel heavy and barely fits in my old Samsonite backpack. The power brick is another concern; it adds a few more pounds to its weight. I wish Asus had made a lighter power brick but I also understand the huge brick is necessary to juice up the power-hungry components on this laptop.

You get a solid array of ports spread across three sides of the laptop. There’s a pair of USB 3.2 Type-A Gen 2 ports, a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB 3.2 Type-C Gen 2 port, a HDMI 2.1, a LAN port, and the DC input.

Smooth 18-inch, 240Hz display

The screen is definitely the star of the show. It’s an 18-inch QHD+ IPS panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate. It supports 100 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour gamut, and its 400 nits of peak brightness make it just bright enough to read an e-paper or play games on it. The 18-inch display certainly has an advantage because of its sheer size. While playing Halo Infinite, I felt the bigger screen adds a new dimension to the experience. The bezel surrounding the screen is very slim for a big gaming laptop, and it’s also bright. The 18-inch display does deliver excellent colour performance, but it also pales in comparison to laptops with advanced OLED or mini-LED screens.

The keyboard is perfect for this type of laptop. It feels great to type on, and each key gives the perfect amount of feedback. The keys are silent and well-spaced. There are dedicated keys for volume controls, mic mute/unmute, and even programmable keys that you can customise within Asus’ Armoury Crate software that’s pre-installed. It also has a full number pad. It may take a few days to get familiarised with the layout but once you get a hang of it, you will appreciate every aspect of the keyboard. The trackpad is also perfect. It is large, and feels responsive.

My review unit came packed with the best possible components, and while a premium price to pay, it’s the best way to experience the Scar 18. The laptop is packing Intel’s Core i9-13980HX. It’s a 24-core CPU with eight performance cores and 16 efficient cores, along with 16 GB DDR5 RAM and Nvidia RTX 4090 GPU. It also featured a pair of 1TB drives configured with RAID0 for your boot drive. The laptop is freaking powerful, and it translates into perfect gaming performance.

The Scar 18 is a speed demon. Halo Infinite and Dirt 5 were buttery smooth, clocking reasonable fps when the graphics settings were enhanced. The same was true of Forza Horizon 5. In my Chrome tab test, the laptop managed to run 30 tabs at the same time with no stutter or slowdown. But yes, the laptop does get hot. The laptop’s fans can get loud and the keyboard becomes hard to use when playing games with high-quality graphics after a point.

Apart from the battery life, I also didn’t like the speakers and web camera on the Scar 18. The speakers lack the thrill needed to enjoy movies and games as they fail to deliver impressive sound. More so, they aren’t loud enough and often struggle with tiny sounds and weak bass. The webcam isn’t great, either. It’s a 720 p webcam which is fine for basic video calls but struggles in low-light settings. This is unacceptable considering Asus is charging a premium for a laptop like this.