The first thing you’ll notice about this laptop is its stealth-fighter-themed chassis, which Asus says was inspired by an F-22 fighter plane. On the inside, Asus added some silver patterning along with sinister red backlighting, which helps give the laptop more flair. Gamers will be happy to know that in our labs the Asus ROG’s 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 LCD offered great accuracy, spot-on colors, and top-tier brightness. Audio was a little shallow at first, but fortunately you can choose between a few presets to enhance its quality. In terms of raw power, the laptop features a 2.6GHz Core i7-6700HQ quad-core CPU coupled with a generous 16GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. To make the system extra snappy, Asus also included a 128GB SSD. For graphics, you get Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 960M with 4GB of RAM. It’s not the most current GPU on the market, but it’s still capable of taking on the latest games as long as you keep your expectations in check. In terms of connectivity, there’s an odd mix of new and old as Asus includes a dual-layer DVD tray, but also includes a USB 3.1 port. If you’re looking to save money, this sub-$1,000 gaming laptop (opens in new tab) is the way to go.
