There are also a few 14-inch gaming laptops that are only marginally larger than the ROG Flow X13. In terms of raw portability, I’m happy to call it a draw, making the Flow X13 one of the very smallest gaming laptops you can buy. The ROG Flow X13 is lighter at just 2.87 pounds. The taller 16:10 shape of the Flow X13 makes it slightly longer on the table, while the 16:9 Razer Blade Stealth 13 is wider. Razer’s 13-inch gaming laptop is 0.2 inches thinner than the Flow X13 and has a different shape due to the aspect of the screen. The Razer Blade Stealth 13 is almost identical in dimensions. A laptop with these dimensions just shouldn’t be able to handle an 8-core CPU and discrete RTX graphics card - and yet, here it is. I can’t overstate how impressively small this thing is. Of course, the size of the Flow X13 is its calling card. There’s very slight give in the keyboard, but overall, it’s a rigid-feeling laptop. That’s a common weak point, especially for laptops with a 360-degree hinge - which is another unique aspect of this laptop.

The weakest point of the laptop is on the lid along the hinge. The lid doesn’t bend very much, especially near the top. Whether or not it’s true, the Flow X13 feels very sturdy. It’s a fairly minimalist design, so long as you can look past the typical gamer font used on the keycaps.Īsus claims the textured lines also bring added strength to the structure. A more subtle version of that texture is found on the palm rests. The lid features textured diagonal lines across the front and a small nameplate in the bottom corner for the logo. The simple, all-black exterior resembles the other gaming laptops in the ROG lineup, including the Zephyrus G15 or some of the older M-series laptops. Judging by its size, the ROG Flow X13 is what used to be called an “Ultrabook.” Thanks to a 360-hinge and a touchscreen, it’s also a convertible 2-in-1.īut with its styling and performance, it’s unabashedly a gaming laptop. Despite some smaller issues I had, the ROG Flow X13 delivers on the promise of gaming on the go in the smallest possible package. That’s not a bad price for a premium gaming laptop. But my review unit is a stand-alone model, sold exclusively at Best Buy for $1,500. Most configurations come with the interesting XG Mobile external graphics enclosure. With up to an RTX 3050 Ti GPU and Ryzen 9 5900HS processor, you can rest assured that these are the most powerful components you could possibly stuff into a laptop of this size. It’s the second 13-inch gaming laptop you can buy right now, but in some ways, it takes things even further.

Asus flow x13