AORUS 15P RTX 3080 Gaming Laptop Review

How Much Does it Cost?

The AORUS 15P Gaming Laptop is a very high-end gaming system, so it does have a high price tag as you might expect. While you can get models with more/less RAM, different graphics cards, CPUs, storage, etc, the exact model I tested today is the best part of £2500. That is a lot of money, but considering the relative performance and form factor on offer here, it’s also very competitive with what else is on the market today. AORUS are a premium brand, and this holds up to their rather high standards.

Overview

I absolutely love the AORUS 15P, it’s an utter joy to use and there’s simply nothing I didn’t like about it… well, apart from the price, because I don’t have £2500 spare, and because I don’t get to keep it for free, which in a way, is the same point. That being said, if you need a good work laptop, this is overkill, and actually, even for a gaming laptop it’s total overkill and you could make do with something half this price and still be happy.

However, this laptop isn’t about higher resolutions, it’s about FPS and it sure delivers on that front. Hitting full-HD isn’t hard, but doing it at up to 240hz, well, that’s going to need just as much power from the GPU at 4K60 would! It’s a very demanding refresh rate to reach, and even the RTX3080 will run out of steam on graphically intense titles before it gets there. However, for CS:GO, Fortnite, and the dozens of other eSports titles, this CPU and GPU combo will max those games out and make light work of hitting the higher refresh rates.

Of course, that likely doesn’t matter to your average gamer, but this isn’t an average gaming laptop. If you REALLY care about high frame rate gaming and the benefits that can bring, especially in FPS titles where reaction times are everything, you’ll card about this laptop. That being said, the higher frame rates are just a nice thing to have. Playing some Metro Exodus, Tomb Raider, and the little bit of ESO that I snuck in were an absolute treat. While the pixel count isn’t massive, the clarity the higher frame rates offers is pretty stunning in its own right.

At least when you do hook it up to an external display, thanks to HDMI 2.1 it can do 4K/120Hz, and with the RTX 3080 you’ll certainly be able to enjoy some pretty impressive gaming in that regard.

It’s also a very portable design. It’s no slouch with the hardware, but I’m really impressed with how slim and light it is. It’s not a feather, but it’s hardly a lead weight either for what it is. I could comfortably put this in my travel bag for a long haul flight. Furthermore, while it’s not a huge screen, it’s big enough to allow room for a decent keyboard width. I’ve written much of this review from it, and I wouldn’t say I ever felt particularly cramped on it.

I’m also really surprised by the sound. It’s got a little more bass to it than I would have expected. However, it doesn’t seem to suffer from distortion at higher volumes as many laptops do. Overall, it’s a very clean sound and worked well for some gaming. Plus, it has DTS:X processing, so you get good processing when you connect your favourite headphones too.

Should I Buy One?

AORUS really hit a nice balance here. The display is a nice size and benefits from really good contrast and colours. There’s a good battery in it that’ll get you through a good few hours of work and some light gaming, without being so big it just adds too much weight. The design is slim and stylish enough that you wouldn’t look out of place in the office, but it’s big enough to sit and comfortably game on. The storage speeds are swift, the fans are surprisingly quiet, and it has good connectivity. The only thing I think Gigabyte could have added is to bundle a real gaming mouse and a mouse mat, just to make it a more complete package. I am, of course, looking for something to pick at though, because overall, this is a kick-ass gaming laptop, and it’s as simple as that.