So I want to get the elephant in the room out quickly; this isn’t something too many buyers will target at a $6,999.00 starting price ($8,999.00 for the higher-end SKU) and weighing in at 3.3kg. But ASUS has shown clearly, at the extreme, what’s possible in a laptop.
The Republic of Gamers (ROG) STRIX SCAR 18 is an incredible feat of engineering, squeezing bleeding edge hardware throughout the spec sheet into a — albeit large — laptop that has exceptional performance, flashy presentation and gives the user plenty of reasons to be happy.
The Hardware: Zero compromise to performance
The ROG STRIX SCAR 18 (2025) is a high-performance gaming laptop designed with top-tier specifications to deliver an immersive experience. It runs on Windows 11 Home and is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 275HX, featuring 24 cores and 24 threads, with an Intel AI Boost NPU providing up to 13 TOPS for enhanced AI capabilities. Graphics are handled by either an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU with 16GB GDDR7 or a more powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU with 24GB GDDR7, both capable of significant ROG Boost for optimal gaming performance.
The stunning 18-inch Mini LED display offers a 2.5K (2560 x 1600) resolution with a 16:10 aspect ratio, anti-glare finish, and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut; it’s stunning. It boasts a rapid 240Hz refresh rate, G-Sync support, Pantone Validation, and includes a MUX Switch with NVIDIA Advanced Optimus, alongside Dolby Vision HDR support.
For memory and storage, the laptop comes with 16GB or 32GB of DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM, expandable up to 64GB. It offers various PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Performance SSD configurations, including RAID 0 options for increased speed and capacity up to 4 TB. Connectivity is robust with a range of I/O ports including HDMI 2.1 FRL, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, a 2.5G LAN port, and Thunderbolt™ 5. Other notable features include a per-key RGB backlit chiclet keyboard, a 1080P FHD IR Camera for Windows Hello, and an advanced audio system with Smart Amp Technology, Dolby Atmos, and AI noise-cancelling, delivered through a 4-speaker setup. Wireless capabilities are provided by Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. The laptop is powered by a 90WHrs battery and weighs 3.30 Kg with dimensions of 39.9 x 29.8 x 2.35 ~ 3.20 cm.
The look and feel of the hardware
All the specs are great, but what that equates to for the user is something different to the “on paper” numbers. To put it briefly, this thing is a hefty beast. When you’re used to a MacBook Air that weighs under 1kg, then have something more than 3 x the weight to lug around, PLUS the charging brick (and I mean brick), then you’re going to notice the difference.
Is that a bad thing?
For target users, heck no, it’s not a bad thing, but you need to be aware of some of the shortcomings of lugging around a big, heavy laptop. As a starting point, if I were commuting by public transport to work, I wouldn’t want to be carrying this thing around with me daily. It’s just too heavy and not hugely practical for that purpose. But where it does come into play is for users who load their bag, head to the car and park near their office as an extremely capable desktop replacement. There is just so much processing and video power here that you’re in the box seat to achieve just about anything.
Performance: Gaming, creating or productivity – The ROG STRIX SCAR 18 can do it all
It doesn’t matter what you throw at the ROG STRIX SCAR 18, you’ll get great results, from streaming media on that stunning screen, to high end gaming or even video rendering. The Core Ultra 9 Processor ensures that you’ve got the grunt to achieve whatever you need to, complimented by high end, discrete graphics it just delivers.
I tested the review unit on several games. It delivered huge frame rates, consistent response, and an outstanding gaming experience. Even recent release games were no match for the hardware, consistently delivering over 140fps.
Battery Life: It does pretty well given the performance of the machine
I’d love to say it’s got battery life akin to some more productivity-focused devices, but the reality is it doesn’t. I gave the review unit a hammering, running on battery, and playing some games. The battery went from 100% full to warning me to plug in or shut down in 1 hour and 7 minutes. Given the 2.5k screen running at 240Hz coupled with the processing and video power, that’s actually a pretty good result.
Running less intensive processes like email, general web surfing, and productivity apps, the battery life is far better than gaming. But you’ll need to keep your charging brick with you if you’re on the move because you won’t get a full 8-hour workday out of this laptop. I’d keep a decent quality (check out my personal favourite, the Belkin range) GaN USB-C charger with you to top up the battery on the move as opportunity allows.
Final thoughts
It’s a big ask for anyone to fork out $7k for a laptop, even if it does meet daily needs for all of your connected life. The trouble here is that there are some really good options out there that don’t cost anywhere near as much. If you’re primarily a home gamer, you could get a desktop gaming machine and a solid laptop (lighter, reasonable performance and great battery life) for less money.
The notes above don’t diminish the quality of the ROG STRIX SCAR18, or the engineering wonder that it is. It houses the latest, greatest and most powerful of nearly everything and delivers performance that you really can’t argue with. With that performance comes a couple of sacrifices, primarily weight and battery life.
Honestly though, if I were doing a lot of video work on the go; the size and quality of the screen would make it a very attractive option. The fact that it can give a great gaming experience at the same time is just a huge bonus from that perspective.
I see the ROG STRIX SCAR 18 as a device that people who are quite transient or space-poor (apartment living or shared spaces) but like to game would love. From that perspective, the only question is whether people can deal with the price of the unit.
It’s a mighty impressive machine that delivers effortless brutality to any task you throw at it. The ROG STRIX SCAR 18 is available through JB Hi-FI and the Republic of Gamers site.
