Asus ROG FX503 Detailed Review: Best Budget Gaming Laptop?

Asus ROG FX503 is one of the best budget eccentric gaming laptops in the market. It has a very balanced spec sheet with a higher refresh display. Read this article till the end to know more about its specification, features and drawbacks.

Asus ROG FX503 Specification

• Processor: Intel Core i7-7700HQ @ 2.80GHz and TurboBoost up to 3.80GHz

• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB DDR5

• RAM: 4GB DDR4 2400MHz

• Display: 15.6″ LED backlit FHD (1920×1080) 60Hz Anti-Glare Panel with 45% NTSC 
• Storage: 128GB M.2 SSD + 1TB 7200RPM HDD
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi 5.0 and Bluetooth 4.2
• Weight: 2.5KG

Asus ROG FX503 In-Depth Review

The Asus ROG FX503 is a highly attractive budget gaming notebook that promises good performance and a nice set of components for the price. The laptop includes a bright and colourful display, as well as an ambient red backlit keyboard, which gives the gadget a premium appearance. 

The FX 503 has a 7th generation Core i7 processor and an Nvidia GTX 1050 GPU. It has a built-in webcam and microphone, making it ideal for calls or streaming. It has an average battery life and is one of its drawbacks .Otherwise, the Asus FX503 is an excellent budget gaming laptop.

Design and Build

The ROG FX503 appears to be very premium, mainly due to the fact that it shares some of the style features of its more expensive rivals. The lid is built of plastic and has some flex, but the device feels fairly solid when in use. The lid of the Laptop has been created to give emphasis to the logo that is positioned in the centre of the lid, and Asus went with a basic design that does not draw a lot of fingerprints.

When you open the laptop, you’ll notice a 15.6″ 1080p display with wide bezels. The device offers an ambient red lighted keyboard with natural-feeling clicks. FX503 has a much smaller touchpad when compared to other gaming laptops in the market. It weighs only 2.5kg, which is quite light for a gaming laptop of this kind, and its dimensions are 384 x 262 x 24 mm.

Display

When it comes to the display, it has a 15.6-inch 1080p panel that is both vivid and brilliant. We viewed a few videos in native quality on the laptop, and the colours are vibrant. The monitor has a 120Hz higher refresh rate and a matte anti-glare coating. 

The fast refresh rate of this laptop will give you the intended gaming immersion. The display becomes very bright, and you can easily view it in most daylight settings. With Asus FX503 you have a great experience when it comes to consuming content whether it is movies, TV shows or gaming.

Performance

The FX 503 can handle everything you throw at it because of its 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD combo. The laptop boots up instantly, thanks to its SSD, and it copies a 4.88GB file in less than 45 seconds at an average rate of 162 MB/S. It can effortlessly manage heavy multitasking, surfing, and extended gaming sessions. Whatever the case may be, the laptop works fast and efficiently.

We tested NFS Payback, Far Cry 5, and PUBG on it because it’s a gaming laptop, and the performance was excellent. The games loaded quickly and had high frame rates. We did notice a few frame drops in Far Cry 5 at High settings, but reducing some settings fixed the issue altogether. The laptop comes preloaded with Windows 10 Home, making it a plug-and-play machine.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The Asus ROG FX503 keyboard is suitable for a normal laptop, but not for a gaming laptop. The travel distance of the keys is reasonable, however they are quite soft when pressed and do not provide the best feedback. 

The arrangement in general is rather decent, and the function keys are separated from the numerical keys so that we can identify them without ambiguity. The Arrow keys are segregated to prevent mistyping, and the key travel is enough at 1.8mm.

Although we recommend using a separate mouse with the FX 503 for gaming, the touchpad is enough. Because of the distraction-free metal design, the finger slides over it smoothly. And it registers all multi-touch Windows actions without difficulty. Even the click of the touchpad feels quite natural and does not require too much force.

Webcam and Sound

The webcam performs well and captures enough light to provide acceptable shots. The webcam’s sharpness was a bit low, and we’d prefer better photographs for video calling. Even though the webcam is 720p, the results it gives was not that great. The sharpness of the video was lower than expected as well. 

The Asus FX503 has a wonderful pair of speakers that deliver well-balanced audio at all volume levels. Although the sound quality was above average, we still recommend wearing headphones for a more immersive gaming experience. The bass was low and artificial, the highs were mediocre. But the speakers stood out without a hiss in the mid-range.

Battery

When it comes to battery life, the FX503 isn’t a certain winner, and you might want to bring your laptop practically everywhere you go. The laptop provided an average backup time of 3-4 hours when used normally and significantly less on more demanding tasks. The battery life on the Laptop can be considered to be quite low for any intensive performance, and it is recommended to run it on a power supply for best performance.

Conclusion

If gaming capability and screen quality are your top concerns in a budget gaming laptop, the Asus ROG FX503 is a solid choice. The display is decent and provides bright and vibrant output. Because the hardware is properly optimized, the device’s gaming performance is rather good. The advantage of this gaming laptop is that it is accessible at a price point where there aren’t many good options. Hope this article helps and lets you make a better decision.

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