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Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition (GL503VM) review: Less a hero than dependable sidekick

Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition (GL503VM) review: Less a hero than dependable sidekick

Asus calls this particular configuration of its 15.6-inch ROG Strix GL503 series "the Hero Edition," because it's ostensibly optimized for your big arena battles, cleverest strategizing and hardest roles to play. It isn't really. It's just a middle-of-the-Strix-road configuration, with an i7700HQ CPU and GTX 1060 graphics, and a different set of highlighted keycaps. But it's also a fine general-purpose gaming laptop with a couple of design aspects that stand out.

Asus defines its "Hero" differently in different regions, as well; it's a great example about how these "optimized" systems are optimized more for marketing than actual gamers. In the US, this "ideal" system for MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena), RTS and RPG costs $1,600, and comes with 16GB RAM, a Core i7-7700HQ and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060. 

In the UK, I guess you don't need as much power for MOBA, because there the Hero has a Core i5-7300HQ, 8GB and half the SSD -- you can't find it in Asus' online store, but its RRP per Amazon is £1,300. The same laptop without the Hero moniker, is £1,365 direct from Asus. There doesn't seem to be an analogous configuration to our Hero: A version with 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD + 1TB hybrid HDD option goes for a little over £1,320 or a GTX 1070 model for £1,970.

Australian MOBA fans don't seem to need GPU strength; the AU$2,000 Hero model has an i7-7700HQ and 16GB RAM, but only a GTX 1050 and 128GB+1TB storage. On the other hand, the equivalent of our Hero configuration is the AU$2,600 Strix SCAR, Asus' "optimised for FPS" model.

To bring it all full circle, in the US, the "only for top shooters" Strix SCAR (GL503VS) has a 144Hz display and a GTX 1070, which really is a nice FPS configuration.  

Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition (GL503VM)

Price as reviewed	$1,599
Display size/resolution	15.6-inch 1,920x1,080 display
PC CPU	2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ
PC Memory	16GB DDR SDRAM 2,400MHz
Graphics	6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060
Storage	256GB SSD+1TB hybrid (Firecuda), SD card slot
Ports	4 x USB 3.0 Type-A, 1 x USB-C, 1 x Mini DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI 2.0
Networking	Ethernet, 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2
Operating system	Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
Weight	5.8 pounds/2.6kg

Pricewise, the ROG Strix GL503 series sits in the middle of the pack. The Dell Gaming laptop in the same configuration costs only $1,350 (£1,350, AU$1,850), but there are some more upscale competitors, like the Alienware 15 or Acer Predator 15, which offer the configuration for around $1,700 (£1,400, AU$2,500). You can save about $500 if you drop to the GTX 1050-equipped model, which is OK if you don't (yet) care about VR and if the types of games you play don't benefit from the frame-rate increase.

However, if you have some leeway in your budget and expect the system to last you a few years,  I'd recommend upping to the GTX 1070; with it, you'll get better-than-OK VR as well as notably better performance, and it'll give you better VR performance once VR starts to get higher res. That means the Strix Scar Edition (GL503VS) for about $400 more.

High points

I like the keyboard a lot, both for playing and typing. The keys are the right size and where you expect them to be when you're on the move. At first the keystrokes felt a little dead-ended -- Asus uses a technology to actuate the membrane keys earlier in the stroke than usual, which means you're pressing a little too hard during the non-resistant portion of the stroke. But once I got used to it, found it very comfortable and responsive, with no rollover issues. 

There's a slide-off panel on the bottom for quick memory upgrades as well.

The QWER keys are double-backlit (they have translucent sides so the backlight glows through) instead of WASD, which is the only noticeable way in which the Hero is optimized for non-FPS over the other systems in the line. I don't find highlighted keys much help for gaming, but YMMV.

Sarah Tew/CNET

The touchpad also has a more premium feel and sensitivity than usual for a gaming notebook, which makes a big difference for out-of-game navigating. But it doesn't have a backlight to go with the four keyboard lighting zones, nor could I find a NumLock indicator anywhere, which is just silly.

The display is pretty good for the price. It seems to be the same (or at least similar to) that of the Alienware 15 we tested, a TN-WVA (wide viewing angle)  panel, which manufacturers have taken to labeling as "IPS-level." It measures at about 94 percent sRGB; if the white point were lower, it probably would meet the 100 percent gamut-coverage spec -- it's the right size -- but it's so cool (color temperatures between 8,300K and 12,000K) the entire gamut is shifted. 

Through the gaming center utility you have a choice of, sRGB, Cinema, Racing, Scenery, RTS/RPG and FPS screen modes, each of which change the white point, gamma and contrast. Frankly, I found sRGB suitable for everything -- it has the highest gamma (2.2, so you can see the most amount of detail) and contrast (1,184:1) along with the most reasonable white point (8,300K). At its brightest it hits 285 nits, but running at about 75 percent brightness it typically runs about 220 nits. 

Asus' ROG Strix Hero has a nice selection of ports, and as you'd expect it supports G-Sync through the Mini DisplayPort connection. Given the frame rates you'll typically get with the GTX 1060, the maximum 120Hz refresh rate of the built-in panel is fine without G-sync. 

Sarah Tew/CNET

The speakers get moderately loud, but don't convey enough directionality if you're surrounded by enemies. There's a utility to tweak that, if you want to. I recommend headphones, though. There's no separate headphone and mic jacks for headsets, just a single multipurpose port.

In action

Asus has a Android ROG Gaming Center app for monitoring your system "remotely" -- I put that in quotations because you have to be directly connected to the system, but you can use it to monitor while in-game without having to jump out.

There's also the latest version of the company's network management software, GameFirst IV. It didn't come installed on our test system, though there was an empty directory for it, and it took some hunting to find it online (zip file). (Normally I wouldn't bother, but Asus highlights it as one of the benefits of the GL series.)
GameFirst is very much like the Killer Control Center, and for prioritization it seems to work fine. But it also claims to be able to multigate -- direct specific traffic over different network routes, such as some over Ethernet and some over wireless for up to four different gateways. That's a little trickier. 

I find it doesn't always use the designated connection, and whether it even sees it can depend on the order in which you load the applications as to whether it multigates or just prioritizes. Also, while it might occasionally increase total bandwidth without affecting latency, it does sometimes result in dropped frames even with the high bandwidth and latency. Also, unlike Killer's, you can only set the parameters when an application is open; you can't just scan the hard disk to find the ones you want to specify. There's an auto mode as well as a manual one.

Asus ships the laptop with Intel graphics disabled, an uncommon but not unheard-of practice. That's great for performance and means you don't have to futz with the settings in the Nvidia control center to optimize GPU usage, but it also tanks the battery life; hence, the just-under-3-hour result on our tests. Unsurprisingly, it generally scored within five percent of the similarly equipped Lenovo Legion Y720 on our tests, except for battery life. That's also the only test on which it didn't outperform the also-similar HP Omen 15, which uses the GTX 1060 with the slimmer Max-Q design. (Its Geekbench Multi-Core is unusually low because it underperformed on the cryptography test, while the multicore Cinebench test is limited to rendering algorithms.)

It also means you really can't leave your power adapter at home even when you're not gaming, which adds another 1.4 pounds/626g to the already substantial 5.8-pound2.6kg carry weight. At that weight, I'd expect the Strix to feel pretty solid, but while attractive it feels somewhat like smooth premium plastic (possibly aluminum in places). The screen flexes a little too much, and at one point I thought the panel was going to pop out. It didn't. 

One reason it feels like plastic is because it doesn't heat up. That's good; after only about an hour of the relatively slow-moving but processing-intensive Talos Principle, the CPU temperature reported as 145 degrees F/63 degrees C with the fans blowing hard and noisily, but the surfaces remained cool.

The ROG Strix Hero GL503VM is a great general-purpose, midpriced gaming laptop but you might want to spend a little less or a little more if you're buying in the Strix line, and pass altogether if you plan to run off the battery for more than 2.5 hours at a stretch. 

Streaming video playback battery drain test

Dell Inspiron 15 7577 Gaming (late 2017) 362 Lenovo Legion Y720 358 Acer Predator Helios 300 320 HP Omen 15 180 Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition GL503V 177

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance (in minutes)

Geekbench 4 (Multi-core)

HP Omen 15 14,830 Lenovo Legion Y720 14,208 Acer Predator Helios 300 13,460 Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition GL503V 12,406 Dell Inspiron 15 7577 Gaming (late 2017) 10,611

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

3DMark Fire Strike Ultra

Acer Predator Helios 300 2,804 Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition GL503V 2,657 Lenovo Legion Y720 2,523 HP Omen 15 2,323 Dell Inspiron 15 7577 Gaming (late 2017) 2,266

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

Cinebench R15 OpenGL

Lenovo Legion Y720 96.8 Acer Predator Helios 300 94.9 Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition GL503V 91.9 Dell Inspiron 15 7577 Gaming (late 2017) 87.9

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance (FPS)

Cinebench R15 CPU (multi-core)

Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition GL503V 744 Acer Predator Helios 300 736 Lenovo Legion Y720 607 Dell Inspiron 15 7577 Gaming (late 2017) 510

Note: Longer bars indicate better performance

System configurations

Acer Predator Helios 300	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060; 512GB SSD
Asus ROG Strix Hero Edition GL503V	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060; 256GB SSD+1TB HDD
HP Omen (15-inch, 2017)	Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with Max-Q Design; 256GB SSD + 2TB HDD
Lenovo Legion Y720	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.8GHz Intel Core i7-7700HQ; 16GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060; 128GB SSD+1TB HDD
Dell Inspiron 15 7577 Gaming (Late 2017)	Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-7300HQ; 8GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz; 6GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with Max-Q Design; 256GB SSD

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Dji phantom 3 professional 4k drone dji phantom 3 standard review dji phantom 3 advanced review dji phantom 3 se review dji phantom 3 pro dji phantom 3 professional drone dji phantom 3 professional battery dji phantom 3 dji phantom 3 standard

DJI Phantom 3 Professional review: Stunning 4K aerial footage that doesn't break the bank

DJI Phantom 3 Professional review: Stunning 4K aerial footage that doesn't break the bank

DJI's Phantom series have become a benchmark for consumer drones -- or quadcopters, if you prefer -- thanks to their simple setup, ease of flying and relatively low price. The current king of the lineup, the Phantom 3 Professional, raises the bar even higher with the addition of 4K video recording from its stabilised camera.

Its design is almost unchanged from the previous Phantom 2 series , with a chunky white plastic body, and it's still incredibly easy to learn to fly. It has improved image sensors too, which provide superior footage than previously available, and ground-scanning sensors to help it fly indoors. If you want to take your home movies to the next level, but don't want to fork out the many thousands for professional-level drones, the Phantom 3 is a superb starting point.

There are currently three versions of the drone available. The Phantom 3 Professional (which I review here) shoots video in 4K (3,820x2,160-pixel) resolution and retails for $1,259, £1,159 or AU$1,950. The Phantom 3 Advanced is functionally identical, but shoots video in 1080p (1,920x1,080); it costs $999, £899 or AU$1,550. Both of those debuted in April, but they were just joined by a third model, the more affordablePhantom 3 Standard ($799, £649 or AU$1,299), which strips away some of the better features of its sibling models and includes the same controller as the older Phantom 2 Vision+. (Meanwhile, DJI has also scheduled a press conference in Los Angeles later this month, making another new drone announcement likely.)

Ultimately, the Advanced is arguably the sweet spot, given the fact that its 1080p video will more than suffice for most eyes (discerning the extra detail on 4K displays is a challenge, to say the least). But for those who must have 4K, the Phantom 3 Pro delivers best-in-class video for many thousands less than you'll pay for professional drones.

Design

The Phantom 3 looks pretty much identical to DJI's previous Phantom models: a stout white plastic body, four rotors and narrow, fixed landing legs slung beneath. It's light enough to carry in one hand and, when you unscrew the rotor blades, it's just about small enough to fit into a decent-sized backpack. It's certainly more portable than the much larger Inspire 1 drone.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

It feels as well built as before, with the capacity to survive both the odd bump into a wall or a small crash while you're getting the hang of flying it. I managed to fly it straight into the roof of my house where it plummeted three storeys to the grass below. Aside from a few cosmetic scuffs, it was absolutely fine, and continues to fly without any trouble.

The rotor blades are easily replaceable if you snap a few. Just unscrew them from the motors on each of the drone's four corners. You'll know how to do it already, since the blades are the only parts you need to assemble out of the box.

The controller is roughly similar to previous versions, with two main sticks and a clamp to hold a tablet -- I used my iPad Mini without a problem -- which acts as the display for the drone's camera via the DJI Pilot app. There are small, fold-down brackets to hold a smartphone, with the app optimised for use with the iPhone 5S , 6 and 6 Plus . It was easier, however, to view the footage and use the app's small on-screen buttons on the the tablet's larger screen. Android device support is thin, with just the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Note 3 , Sony Xperia Z3, Google Nexus 7 II , Google Nexus 9 , Xiaomi Mi 3 and ZTE Nubia Z7 mini listed.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

On each top corner of the controller are buttons for starting and stopping recording and quickly changing camera settings like the exposure and angle of view. Using these physical controls is much easier than poking at the tiny on-screen controls while the drone is airborne.

Setup

Getting started with the drone is incredibly easy. When you take it out of the box, just start charging the battery and the controller (a supplied lead charges both through one plug), and download the DJI Pilot app onto your iOS or Android device.

Once everything is charged, switch on the controller and the drone, pop your phone or tablet into the bracket and connect your mobile device with its usual charging cable to the controller. Then, after a few simple steps on the app, you're connected and ready to go -- around five minutes of playing around had me up and running.

Before you take off for the first time, you can use the app as a training guide. You pilot a virtual drone around a field on-screen, allowing you to familiarise yourself with the main controls, without risking smashing your new toy into a tree. Even so, the first time you use it should be in a very open space, and you should stick to basic manoeuvres until you get the hang of it.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

When you first get your drone, it's worth checking DJI's downloads site for any available firmware updates -- oddly, I didn't see an update notification in the app, even though there was one to download. Updating the camera firmware is a long process, albeit fairly straightforward. You'll need to pop the camera's microSD card into your computer, download the firmware, unzip it and put it on the card. After you insert the card back into the drone and turn it on, it'll take about 20 minutes to install it, bleeping the whole time.

Flying the drone

The DJI 3 is every bit as easy to fly as its predecessors. Even just 10 minutes of casual flying around an open area is sufficient time to learn the basics. It helps that the drone is incredibly responsive and can accelerate -- and, more importantly, decelerate -- extremely quickly. If you see you're getting too close to some trees, a quick movement on the stick will instantly change its course to get you out of trouble or simply return the sticks to neutral to stop it in its tracks.

At close range (up to around 30 metres, or 100 feet) I find it easy to pilot the drone simply by looking at it. Once it gets a bit further away -- or it's above you, visibly lost against the bright sky -- then it's more convenient to use the camera view on your tablet, seeing what it's seeing, to help navigate. It automatically corrects for wind, so slight gusts won't throw it off course, but trying to get closeup footage of a tornado is not a good idea.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

New sensors on the bottom of the drone point down and detect patterns on the floor to lock on to, in order to remain stable when flying indoors, where a GPS signal (used for stability outdoors) isn't available. Although you could technically fly any of the previous drones indoors, the new sensors provide better stability, making it able to hover in a fixed location without any control from you. This made a big difference in my testing as I was able to fly the drone from inside my living room out of the window.

Of course, you have to be much more careful than when flying outdoors as there are various factors which make it less stable. Flying above a plain surface, for example, will give the cameras nothing to lock onto, and above about 2 metres (6 feet), it doesn't detect the ground at all and can easily start to drift off course. I managed to crash it inside the CNET office when I flew it about 6 metres (about 20 feet) above the floor and it wasn't able to hold its position. It was, thankfully, unharmed.

DJI reckons you can get around 20-23 minutes of flight time from a full charge of the drone's battery, which I'd say is accurate. It does depend on how vigorously you're flying though, so if you do plan on really hitting top speed at high altitudes, expect a little less time. Although that's pretty standard for this type of drone, it's still very limiting if you want to take it away to a specific location to capture footage.

The batteries are removable, and you can buy spares, but they'll set you back around £125, $149 or AU$205 each. Batteries compatible with previous models are not compatible with the Phantom 3.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

A return-to-home function will automatically bring the drone safely back to your location to land when it detects that the batteries are critically low -- it won't simply fall out of the sky. You can also press the return to home button on screen and there's one on the controller too. It will automatically bring the drone back to the location it took off from, which is a handy failsafe option to have if you begin to lose sight of it and want to bring it back to you safely.

Camera

As with the predecessor, the camera is slung beneath the drone -- but this time with a bunch of significant upgrades. It has the same 1/2.3-inch sensor, although it's been tweaked to provide better dynamic range. Exposure is generally more balanced. Bright skies are kept under control, while the darker ground is kept easily visible.

The Phantom Vision 2's camera had a habit of either exposing for the bright sky, plunging the ground into shadow, or exposing for the ground, resulting in a washed-out sky. The Phantom 3 does a considerably better job, producing rich, well balanced footage.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The headline feature on the Professional model is its ability to shoot video in Ultra HD 4K resolution. It brings a tonne of detail when viewing the footage on a high resolution monitor, which is particularly noticeable when looking at small details on house roofs far below. The benefit of 4K footage isn't just to look crisp on a 4K monitor, it also gives you a lot of room to crop into the frame, while still maintaining full HD quality or better.

If you're shooting a specific object, this extra resolution allows you to digitally stabilise the footage, smoothing out any slight movements of the drone and ensuring the object stays perfectly central, without sacrificing any quality.

It can do this at frame rates of 24, 25 or 30 frames per second too, the latter of which will be great for long, smooth shots. If your shots require faster motion from the camera and the subject, then shooting at 60fps in Full HD will produce much smoother footage.

With the wheels on each corner of the controller you can tilt the camera up or down, and to pan simply turn the drone on its axis. You can point it exactly down, which gives a really neat view of the landscape, particularly when you take it really high. One of the main differences between this and the pricier DJI Inspire 1 drone is that there's no ability to control the camera using a second controller. If you want to shoot a subject with one person flying the drone past, with a second producer independently controlling the camera (which can pan and tilt in all directions), you'll need to splash more cash for the Inspire.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The lens on the camera has a 90-degree field of view, which is narrower than the previous version. That may seem a step down, but it's actually for a very good reason. The extreme wide angles used by the Phantom 2 caused distortion of the image, particularly at the corners, meaning a lot of digital correction had to be used, if the footage was for a professional purpose. It's particularly noticeable when panning around a horizon, as you can visibly see the horizon curving down at the edge.

The narrower angle does make a huge difference, with considerably less distortion of the image. As well as just producing nicer-looking footage for your Facebook feed, professionals among you will appreciate the time saved by not having to digitally correct it.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

The camera is mounted on the same three-axis stabilising gimbal, which automatically corrects for any slight movements of the drone, and smoothing out vibrations from the rotors. It works incredibly well and results in much smoother footage, without the unpleasant jerks and bumps seen from drones that don't use stabilisation -- including DJI's Phantom 2.

Do keep in mind that when flying the drone at high speeds, or turning quickly, the gimbal will have to move the camera at a more extreme upwards angle to the extent that it's possible to see the rotors in the top portion of the image. Smooth motions will therefore produce the best results. You can see some of our test footage in the following video:

Live streaming

A neat new feature on the Phantom 3 is the ability to stream live video from the drone to YouTube. The DJI app makes it easy to set up live streaming -- you also need to enable your YouTube account for live video on the desktop site. It needs a good data connection, so if you're using a tablet or phone that doesn't have a SIM card, you'll need to tether it to your phone.

Streaming video is no easy task for a mobile connection, so you'll want to make sure you're on a fast 4G LTE connection for it to work properly. When I was on 3G, the YouTube stream being watched remotely was extremely jumpy and froze numerous times. On 4G, however, it was much smoother and gave a good view of the action. Its lower quality and lower frame rate means it's far less smooth than video taken directly from the camera, but it's perfectly watchable, particularly when the drone remains fairly still in the air.

Andrew Hoyle/CNET

It might not be a killer feature for many of you, but it could be handy for news journalists wanting to give a top-down view of an unfolding event. Engineers too may find it useful to be able to fly into a potentially dangerous building and send footage back, without risking injury by entering themselves.

Conclusion

The DJI Phantom 3 Professional drone is simple to set up and incredibly easy to learn to fly, making it an accessible piece of kit even to those with only a vague knowledge of technology. Its drastically improved image quality, addition of 4K resolution and its excellent stabilising gimbal allows it to capture brilliant footage, with none of the jerkiness or exposure issues seen on earlier models.

Ultimately, the stepdown Phantom 3 Advanced -- with all of the same features except a 1080p camera in place of the Pro's 4K one -- is the better choice for most flyers, but anyone who needs the extra resolution (or the comfort of futureproofing) will find the Phantom 3 Pro a solid choice. Either one is a much more affordable entry into aerial videography than any professional drone, and is well worth considering, whether you're an enthusiastic amateur filmmaker or simply want to add cool, creative shots to your home videos.

CNET Senior Editor Josh Goldman contributed to this review.

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