So my initial thoughts and psuedo-review on this beast.
First a bit of context - I am not a massive gamer these days (I do have the obligatory Steam library with a few hundred unplayed games etc) and my last gaming device was my 4790k / GTX980 system from around 2014/2015. This is my first venture into gaming laptops so have nothing to compare it to from this range. My previous laptop was a Huawei Matebook X Pro (i7, 16gb, 512ssd) and I have had Dell XPS 15's in the past and MacBook Pro's as well
Ok, the G15.
My device is the infamous BestBuy unit with RGB in Gray.
It is the R9 5900HS / RTX 3070 / 24GB / 1TB variant.
Model GA503QR
Design
First things first, mine is the grey variant with the single zone RGB keyboard.
I love the lid personally, I think its a nice balance between professional and gamery. The half panel funky colour thingy works well and is understated enough I don't mind taking it into work. I have had a few comments of it looking smart and when they see the inside I get the whole 'oooh fancy keyboard'. My only gripe about the top panel is the ability to fill the holes with random dirt
Inside its robustly built, other reviewers have complained about build quality, glue issues on screen, creaks here and there.
Fortunately mine has no such issue. I am a fan of the ergo lift hinge as I think it suits the laptop nicely
The speaker design is strange for me, the recesses for the sound to come out are fairly small and I know I am going to drop something in there that I need to fish out! Speaking of speakers, this is my only complaint about the laptop. Sadly mine suffers from the popping issue reported on some. It's a non issue really as I have headphones I use but is annoying and I hope that a software update fixes this.
Port selection is decent and I haven't needed to grab my bag to find an adapter or anything since I have had it.
Screen / Keyboard / Trackpad
The screen is absolutely gorgeous. The best laptop display I have used bar none! It is colour accurate, the software allows loads of tweaks, can be OC'd to 3ms and is native 165hz. Its an absolute gem. My only minor gripe here is brightness as I basically live in the sun out here. I wish it was a little brighter in the day but sitting here this evening even on 50% it looks fab.
The keyboard takes some getting used to but again is perfectly balanced. Nice travel and not too spongey as these laptop keyboards can be. Its not too clacky like the boards on MacBooks and I prefer it to the Huawei I am coming from. RGB is nice although the pedant in me would like per key control.
The trackpad is nice and responsive. I use it rarely as I have my MX Master 3 hooked up but its large and easy to use whenever I have needed it.
Performance and Battery life
The performance on this thing is insane. To be honest I have been using it my work profile where the CPU and GPU are limited and it burns through anything and everything I need.
Its completely overkill for my use case as I do basic programming, have about 100 chrome tabs open at anyone time and do a lot of spreadsheet work.
Nevertheless when at work it absolutely wants for nothing. It has never slowed, given me a BSOD or any performance related concerns at any time. All the while sitting comfortably around 30-40c in silence with no fans spinning.
Remarkable.
The battery life on this thing with a few tweaks is north of 8hrs.
Ive done a full day of moderate usage (8hrs) and left with circa 20%. It's genuinely unbelievable and if I pushed it could probably see 10hrs which is insane.
My screen brightness is around 50%, sound is off and profile set to silent. Anything that can affect battery has been limited. (iGPU on, panel set to 60hz and 3ms switched off)
The only game I have run as of now (and that was to appease the geeks at work) is GTAV and it was awesome. Average FPS on max settings was around 110 and temps never exceeded 70c.
This was with the power brick plugged in. I am yet to try USB C PD but as it charges in an hour with the brick I don't see why its needed.
Maybe in emergencies.
Final thoughts
I love the laptop. It does everything I need it to without any compromise. I think I have been very fortunate not to get one with the various issues widely reported. (other than the speaker popping)
I haven't touched the boundaries of what this laptop is capable of but look forward to exploring that over the next few weeks / months.
I will take some pics and post some performance scores when I have the chance to run them.
If anyone has any specific questions let me know and I can try my best to answer them.
If you're on the fence and your use case is similar to mine, just buy it.
You won't be disappointed.
PICS
Lid (Yes I've scratched it already, yes theres holes with dirt already, yes I need a skin)
Right Hand Side ports and vents
Left Hand Side ports and vents
Screen 100% Brightness (under office lighting)
Screen lowest Brightness (under office lighting)
Keyboard lowest brightness
Keyboard max brightness
Vents to screen (MX Master 3 for reference)
Rear vents (MX Master 3 for reference)
