ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 SE Review: A Top-Tier Performer Held Back by Battery Life and a Missing Webcam

GamesRadar's reviewer spent two weeks with the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 17 SE, using it for the first week as the primary Windows machine for writing, research, photo editing and gaming, and in the second week as a gaming and media device away from the desk. The verdict: it is one of the most powerful and competent gaming laptops on the market, held back by a short battery life and a missing webcam.

The unit tested retails at north of $3,000 or £3,000. Inside are an Intel Core i9-12950HX processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti with 16GB of GDDR6, 32GB of DDR5-4800 memory and two 1TB M.2 NVMe SSDs. The 17.3-inch IPS-level display runs at 1080p, 360Hz with a 3ms response time. The review notes that a similarly specced Razer Blade 17 costs almost $500 more and does not quite match its performance. Listed deals in the piece range from $3,599 to $3,999.99.

The design is big, bold and unsubtle. The lid carries a backlit ROG logo and hidden graphics that reveal secret codes under UV light, and half of the keyboard deck is translucent so the internals are visible. A wrap-around Aura Sync RGB light bar runs across the front and sides, with more lighting on the bottom bezel of the screen. The keyboard is fully backlit, and all the lighting is adjustable in the Armoury Crate software.

The keyboard has a numpad that is not mechanical, but the reviewer found it responsive and satisfying, with slightly domed keycaps and 2mm of travel. The touchpad is large enough, though smaller than the Razer Blade 17's. Most ports sit on the back, which helps cable management, with two USB ports and a headphone jack on the left. The right side is bare apart from a port for the ROG Keystone, which can activate custom profiles, secure the laptop or unlock an encrypted shadow drive. The speakers get loud without distortion but lack bass, and directionality is iffy.

The screen comes in FHD 360Hz or QHD 240Hz versions. The reviewer calls the 360Hz panel ridiculously smooth, with vibrant colors and contrast, but at just 75% Adobe RGB it is poor for color-accurate work. The reviewer also calls the absence of a webcam unacceptable in 2022.

Performance is where the machine justifies itself. The 16-core processor runs at 65W, and the RTX 3080 Ti can reach 175W with dynamic boost, which the review describes as the fastest laptop GPU. Scores included 13,822 in 3DMark Time Spy, 29,616 in Fire Strike, 16,093 in Fire Strike Extreme, 8,329 in Port Royal, 7,839 in PCMark 10, and 20,977 in Cinebench R5. The SSD hit 6,990MB/s reads and 5,106MB/s writes. At 1080p on Ultra or highest settings, Shadow of the Tomb Raider ran at 176fps (140fps with ray tracing), Metro Exodus Enhanced at 108fps (96fps with ray tracing), The Division 2 at 112fps, Total War: Three Kingdoms at 106fps and Red Dead Redemption 2 at 67fps. Doom Eternal ran at almost 200fps. Only esports titles like Valorant or CS:GO come close to the panel's 360Hz.

The machine stayed far quieter under load than most laptops the reviewer has tested. Temperatures averaged in the mid-80s during long sessions, and the keyboard deck stayed cool. Battery life is the cost: about three hours of moderate office and web use, and about an hour of gaming, with reduced performance away from the wall. The laptop is 2.8cm at its thickest, but its weight of roughly 3kg and its large power brick make it a poor travel companion.

The reviewer would choose the QHD 240Hz screen, which suits high-resolution games and creative work better. Buyers who want portability are pointed to the Razer Blade 17 or Alienware X17 R2, both of which have webcams. For raw performance, the review says, hardly any laptop is better.