Contents
- 1 ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302)
- 2 Quick transition:
- 3 What's included?
- 4 What about the appearance and design of ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302)?
- 5 How convenient is it to use ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302)?
- 6 How good is the screen?
- 7 What about performance and autonomy?
- 8 Dry residue. Three things you need to know about ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302).
The ASUS Republic of Gamers brand is usually associated primarily with games. But with the advent of the ASUS ROG Flow line, it became clear that the company strives to offer users the most versatile, powerful devices that are suitable for both gaming and work, and at the same time will be compact, convenient and lightweight. ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302) is just such a transformable ultrabook. It can be called the ultimate solution among ultra-compact models: it has incredible performance within its format, a universal form factor and an excellent quality 13.4-inch display with high brightness and a refresh rate of 165 Hz. In addition, the laptop turned out to be very durable in terms of autonomy, and also has a wonderful, comfortable keyboard and touchpad. Overall, the ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 turned out to be an extremely interesting and pleasant laptop to use, which you don’t want to find fault with. Moreover, it has no significant shortcomings. It is only worth remembering the almost zero upgrade possibilities and the high price tag, which was quite expected, given the capabilities. The price list of the configuration on review is 95,000 UAH.
ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302)
Top 13.4-inch convertible laptop with AMD Ryzen
Flagship 13.4-inch ultra-compact convertible laptop with a top-end AMD Ryzen processor, 32 GB of RAM, a fast 1 TB SSD, a discrete GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. It has a very comfortable keyboard and touchpad
GeForce RTX 4070
5 reasons to buy ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302):
- extreme performance due to size;
- excellent IPS touch screen with 165 Hz refresh rate;
- the laptop works a full day without recharging;
- comfortable keyboard and touchpad;
- stylish metal body and transformer design.
2 reasons not to buy ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302):
- almost complete lack of upgrade possibility;
- very high price.
Quick transition:
- What's in the box?
- What about the appearance and design of ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302)?
- How convenient is it to use ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302)?
- How good is the screen?
- What about performance and autonomy?
- Dry residue
What's included?
ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 has a number of different configurations and configurations. A top configuration has arrived to us, but this year without an external ROG XG Mobile video card. The kit comes in a large black box. Some accessories are in an outer box, and the ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302) itself is in a smaller, very interesting-looking box. In general, inside there was also a 130 W Type-C power supply, a power cable, a ROG Flow Sleeve for a laptop, a case for an external video card (if the owner decides to upgrade the laptop using XG Mobile with an RTX 4090), a ROG Impact mouse, and an ASUS stylus. Pen 2.0 with a short charging cable and replaceable tips and all the necessary documentation.
The case looks interesting and has soft inserts for safer transportation:
What about the appearance and design of ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302)?
A couple of years ago, we reviewed the first generation ASUS ROG Flow X13. In general, the updated model has a similar style, but quite a lot of elements have changed. This is an ultra-compact and lightweight convertible laptop with a lid that rotates 360°. The body is black, aluminum and magnesium alloy are used. The entire top cover has a diagonal wavy texture and a very nice matte finish. Compared to the first model, the waves have become less prominent and slightly wider. In the middle of the lid there is a diagonal Republic of Gamers inscription, and in the lower left corner there is a small triangle with the ROG logo, which shimmers in different colors at different angles. It looks very stylish and discreet. Traditionally for the Flow line, the laptop does not have any RGB backlighting, which we are used to seeing in gaming models. The working surface also has a relief texture and a matte finish. Among the decorative elements there is only a barely noticeable ROG logo on the right under the keyboard.
Considering the compact size of the laptop, the set of connectors is very good. On the left side there is an HDMI 2.1 (discrete video card), a microSD (UHS-II) memory card slot, a combined audio jack and a proprietary XG Mobile Connector under a rubber flap. It includes proprietary PCIe 3.0 x8 with 63 Gbps bandwidth and USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2, which also supports 130W Power Delivery and Display Port 1.4 with G-Sync (also works with discrete graphics).< /p>
On the right is the power button with indicator, USB3.2 Gen2 Type-A, and USB Type-C 4.0 (40 Gbps) with support for Display Port 1.4 (integrated graphics) and Power Delivery 130 W, and also ventilation holes:
On the front side there is a traditional cutout for raising the lid. On the back there are two hinges with small decorative engravings and a large number of ventilation holes.
ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302) is a convertible with a touch display, so the entire panel is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass DXC. The frames around the display are thin, the FullHD webcam and microphones are placed in the usual place. They are complemented by an operation indicator and an infrared camera to identify the owner. There is no fingerprint scanner in the laptop.
The bottom of the laptop has a fairly standard picture: rubber feet, ventilation holes above two cooling fans, stereo speakers oriented slightly at an angle to the surface, and screws that secure the bottom cover. It's not difficult to remove, but there's not much point in it. This is an ultrabook, so upgrade options are minimal. The RAM is soldered onto the board, with access only to the network adapter and an M.2 2230 SSD drive. The 16-inch ROG Flow X16 has room for an additional SSD. There was no place for it in ASUS ROG Flow X13.
ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302) looks great and is well made. Nothing wobbles, the lids hardly bend. The laptop is very compact: 299x212x18.7 mm, and the weight is only 1.3 kg, which is especially impressive considering what is placed inside.
How convenient is it to use ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302)?
ASUS ROG Flow X13 has a design with two hinges that allow you to rotate the display unit 360°. The hinges allow you to open the laptop with one hand and secure the display well in the desired position. It almost does not tremble if accidentally touched and does not change position during sudden movements (for example, when moving).
The laptop can be used in different positions: presentation mode, tablet, “tent”. Presentation mode, for example, is very convenient when connecting an external monitor, mouse and keyboard. And the “tent” mode is surprisingly useful when traveling or flying: in this position, the laptop can be placed on a narrow folding table and watch a movie.
The keyboard layout is typical for ASUS laptops from the ROG line: standard full-size without an additional number pad, but with four additional buttons above the main block. By default, they are responsible for volume, muting the microphone and launching Armory Crate. It is also possible to assign macros to them. A number of function buttons and an arrow block have been reduced in height. Both Shift are long, Enter is single-level. Therefore, for ultrabook users the keyboard will be absolutely familiar.
As for the buttons themselves, they have a full travel of 1.7 mm, which is not always found in larger models. The click is very clear, tangible and informative. This requires very little pressure. This is one of the most comfortable ultra-compact laptop keyboards I've ever used. There is a white backlight with several brightness levels. The maximum level is even too bright.
Compared to the previous version of ASUS ROG Flow X13, the touchpad has been increased by 56%. It's really big: 129.7×76.8mm. Made of glass, has excellent coverage and sensitivity. Of course, for games it is worth connecting a mouse, but for everything else it is enough.
How good is the screen?
ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302) has two different display configurations. The younger version is IPS FullHD+ with a frequency of 120 Hz. We received a version with a more interesting screen for review. This is the so-called ROG Nebula Display, which received a bunch of different proprietary technologies. But as for the specifications, it is a 13.4-inch IPS display with an aspect ratio of 16:10, a resolution of 2560×1600, a refresh rate of 165 Hz and a response time of 3 ms. It is claimed to have 100% DCI-P3 color space coverage, a maximum brightness of 500 cd/m2, supports G-Sync adaptive frequency, Dolby Vision HDR standard and is Pantone certified. Excellent quality display: maximum viewing angles, rich colors and high brightness levels. The only thing worth remembering is that the screen is touch-sensitive and is protected by glass, so it will glare in bright light. The ROG Armory Crate app has traditional color display presets for ROG laptops in the Game Visual section. It is also possible to adjust the color temperature and calibrate the screen if you have the X-Rite i1 Display Pro calibrator.
The maximum brightness almost reaches the declared value and is 486.977 cd/m2, the black field brightness is 0.503 cd/m2, and the static contrast is 968:1. The color gamut is much wider than sRGB. In general, color reproduction is quite accurate, but the picture gravitates a little towards cool shades.
What about performance and autonomy?
ASUS ROG Flow X13 laptops use powerful new Phoenix generation processors from AMD. The top version of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS arrived to us. This is an eight-core processor that is built on the Zen 4 architecture and is manufactured using TSMC's 4nm FinFET process technology. It supports computing up to 16 threads (SMT), and has a 16 MB L3 cache. The base frequency is 4.0 GHz, the maximum is 5.2 GHz. In the standard version, the TDP is 35-54 W, but in ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 it can overclock to 60 W. There is a built-in AMD Radeon 780M graphics accelerator, which has 12 Compute Units on the 3rd generation RDNA architecture, frequency – 2800 MHz. This is now one of the most powerful integrated solutions. In addition to the built-in graphics, there is a discrete graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop, which is impressive considering the dimensions of the ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023. But, naturally, you won’t be able to install a high-power card in the ultrabook. The standard TGP level in this case is 45 W plus ROG Boost 15 W in turbo mode. The standard frequency is 1230 MHz, Boost 1280 MHz. Video memory capacity 8 GB GDDR6. There is a MUX Switch multiplexer that allows you to switch a discrete video adapter directly to the display, rather than through an integrated card. This reduces latency and improves gaming performance. Interestingly, the company does not position the laptop as an exclusively gaming solution. ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 is also aimed at those who work with heavy graphics and video processing. The appropriate NVIDIA Studio drivers are installed out of the box. The amount of RAM is 32 GB LPDDR5 6400 MHz. Upgrade is not provided. Wireless interfaces: Bluetooth 5.2 and fast Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) (Dual band) 2×2.
The laptop demonstrates very high performance in both processor and graphics performance tests. Although in terms of the last parameter it does not reach the top gaming solutions of a larger format, which is quite expected. Still, we are dealing with a power-limited version of the RTX 4070.
The cooling system includes two Arc Flow fans with 84 blades, thin heat pipes and radiators with a large heat dissipation area. Liquid metal is used as the thermal interface of the processor. In addition to the three main ventilation zones on the case, cooling air is also drawn through the keyboard. The specifications for the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor indicate a maximum operating temperature of 100°. Under prolonged maximum loads, the processor can heat up to 90°, and over time the temperature drops to approximately 85°. The processor does not slow down and the laptop works stably. The fan noise is clearly audible under load. But it is significantly quieter than larger gaming models. At minimum load, the fans turn off and the laptop runs absolutely silent.
The drive used is an M.2 2230 PCIe Gen4 x4 NVMe SSD. Model Western Digital PC SN740 1 TB.
Read speed – up to 5200 MB/s, write speed – up to 4470 MB/s:
Of course, it is worth considering that the laptop uses a low-power GeForce RTX 4070. But still, all modern games work well on ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023:
- Baldur's Gate 3. Ultra settings: 50-60 FPS.
- Cyberpunk 2077. Maximum settings, ray tracing – average: about 40-50 FPS.
- Gears 5. Ultra settings: 80-90 FPS.
- Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition. Ultra settings: 65-75 FPS.
- The Ascent. Maximum settings, all ray tracing options enabled, DLSS in balanced mode: about 60 FPS.
The autonomy of the ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 is another pleasantly striking feature. To begin with, it is worth saying that inside there is a large 75 Wh battery, for such dimensions. In a typical operating mode (brightness about 50%, Wi-Fi, working with documents, a browser and minimal photo processing), the laptop lasts about 9 hours. It's enough for a working day, and you can leave the power supply at home. Fast charging is supported: up to 50% in half an hour. Of course, discrete graphics are not involved.
ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 is equipped with a pretty good stereo system. Naturally, taking into account the form factor. It sounds loud, although there is little bass, which is quite expected.
Two applications are used to configure the laptop. The usual MyASUS with system updates, resource monitoring, setting the battery charging mode and connection priority.
And Armory Crate. It allows you to select performance modes, update the system, adjust the backlight, record macros, etc.
Dry residue. Three things you need to know about ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302).
- ASUS ROG Flow X13 is a transformable ultrabook with very powerful hardware for its format.
- The laptop works a working day without recharging.
- Has a stunning 13.4-inch IPS display with a 165Hz refresh rate.
| Specifications ASUS ROG Flow X13 2023 (GV302) | |
|---|---|
| Display | 13.4 inches, 2560×1600 (16:10), IPS, 165 Hz, Dolby Vision, touch, Corning Gorilla Glass DXC |
| Sizes | 299x212x18.7 mm |
| Weight | 1.3 kg |
| Operating system | Windows 11 Home 64bit |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS (4.0-5.2 GHz), 8 cores, 16 threads, (Zen 4, 4 nm) |
| RAM | 32 GB LPDDR5 6400 MHz |
| Graphics | nVidia GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop, 8 GB GDDR6, integrated AMD Radeon 780M |
| Accumulator | SSD 1 TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 |
| Communications | Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) (Dual band) 2×2, Bluetooth 5.2 |
| Connectors | HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1xUSB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (DisplayPort/Power Delivery/G-SYNC), 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (DisplayPort, Power Delivery) , ROG XG Mobile, microSD (UHS-II, 312 MB/s), combined audio 3.5 mm |
| Battery | 75 Wh |