Gigabyte Aorus X3 Plus R7 Gaming Notebook Review

Peter Donnell / 7 years ago

Final Thoughts

Pricing

Picking a powerful laptop isn’t too hard. However, finding one that’s also so compact, that still sports a QHD LED display often means paying a big premium. You won’t find any bargains here, with the Aorus X3 Plus R7 clocking in at £1799.99. That is a lot of money, but given the overall hardware that is included, the performance, and the design, it’s a sound investment for those seeking a powerful and compact gaming notebook.

Overview

It’s simply amazing how far the gaming notebook market has developed in recent years. This system is incredibly light and slim given the hardware that it houses. To get this level of performance just two years ago would mean carrying something incredibly heavy and impractical. The X3 Plus R7 is sleek and stylish enough that you could carry it into the office, bundle it in your bag for a long-haul flight, or sit with it comfortably on your knee.

Gaming

Gaming is important to many of us these days. Sure, I love gaming on my desktop computer, but I also travel a lot. Being able to pick up a system with one hand that will play the latest games at 2560 x 1440 with competitive frame rates is amazing. Yes, it is a lot of money, but there’s a big market for people that travel a lot and also want to enjoy the best PC gaming has to offer. Short of spending a lot more money on a bigger laptop with a GTX 1080 and a 4K display, you’re not going to get much better than this.

Home and Office

A powerful gaming system is usually no slouch at anything else you throw at it. If you’re doing some video editing, working on a few spreadsheets, mooching on reddit, or anything else that sounds like my typical work day, the X3 has all the power you need. Equipped with a powerful quad-core CPU, fast DDR4 memory, and an M.2 PCIe SSD, it’s not going to slow your workflow down. The 1440p display is great for productivity too, allowing you to fit two documents side by side on the same display.

Build Quality

There’s nothing to complain about here, and Aorus has picked great components in terms of hardware. They’ve backed that up with great cooling hardware, that helps keep temperatures nice and low, without causing excessive noise. Of course, this also means you can get high-end performance for longer without fear of over heating. The exterior chassis feels durable and doesn’t flex, and gives the keyboard a grounded and sturdy feel while working or gaming.

Pros

Compact 13.9″ design
QHD display
Amazing 1080p gaming performance
Very good 1440p gaming performance
Great for work and productivity
Fast M.2 PCIe storage
Surprisingly lightweight
Slim PSU pack
LED keyboard
Good connectivity

Cons

None

Neutral

Only has two years warranty
No second HDD for increased storage space

“If you need to be mobile with your gaming system, the Aorus X3 Plus R7 is a premium quality choice. It’ll deliver a level of gorgeous graphics, high resolutions, and smooth frame rates that you may not expect from such a compact system. Very impressive!”