Asus ROG Flow X13 (13.4-inch, 2021)

“The ROG Flow X13 is an ultracompact and surprisingly powerful gaming laptop.”

Compact, well-built chassis ; Excellent performance from fifth-generation AMD Ryzen 9 ; Accompanying eGPU can boost graphics performance ; Comfortable keyboard ; Crisp 4K display ; 360-degree hinge

Short battery life for an ultraportable ; Pricey

A quirky 2-in-1 convertible, the Asus ROG Flow X13 offers decent gaming performance, extraordinary speed on CPU-centric tasks (thanks to a fifth-generation AMD Ryzen 9 CPU), and as compact a chassis as you’ll find on any premium gaming laptop. Plus, a...

Compact convertible chassis ; Powerhouse processor ; 16:10 screen with stylus support ; Comfortable keyboard

Battery life isn’t great ; Comes in a $3,000 bundle ; Some screen wobble ; XG Mobile doesn’t always deliver 3080-level performance

Asus’ ROG Flow X13 is a 2-in-1 convertible gaming laptop, with the most powerful processor you can find in a 13-inch chassis. It comes with the XG Mobile, an external GPU that delivers high-end frame rates when it’s plugged in.

High-end Ryzen 9 5980HS performance in a tiny laptop ; High-end GeForce RTX 3080 performance in a tiny laptop

eGPU is cumbersome on the go ; Cover for eGPU port is flimsy

Besides the Ryzen 5000 CPU, Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 3080 is the other star of this show. Sure, compared to the RTX 3080 desktop it’s a slight letdown, but it’s also completely unrealistic to expect identical performance from the laptop version of any GPU,...

Head-turning, versatile design ; Great gaming and overall performance ; Excellent battery life ; XG Mobile is a compact, portable eGPU

Keys are a bit small ; Display could be brighter and more vivid ; Expensive

The Asus ROG Flow X13 gives gamers versatility, power, endurance and innovation in one gorgeous chassis.

very fast SoC (8 cores, 16 threads);Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q;stable case;great 16:10 touch display;active-pen ready;compact and light;32 GB of RAM;backlit keyboard;Wi-Fi 6

soldered RAM;clearly audible under load;below-average Wi-Fi performance;high case temperatures;fingerprints are visible very quickly;high energy consumption in idle usage;no card reader

Top-notch performance for the price ; Minimal design ; Good display ; Battery life gets a thumbs up

Laptop attracts smudges easily ; Trackpad could have been bigger

nice looks, well built and portable for what it is ; good typing experience, decent clickpad ; good screen options ; excellent performance with daily use, demanding loads, and games, as long as you're propping upt eh back to improve airflow ; fair...

black design easily showing smudges and fingerprints ; the slim bottom feet choke the fans, impacting temperatures and performance in demanding loads ; louder fan noise than on the Z13 tablet ; the thermal module blows the hot air into the screen

Thin and lightweight design ; Crisp display quality ; Comfortable keyboard

Short battery life ; Disappointing gaming performance without the external GPU

However, the underwhelming gaming performance, mediocre battery life, and cumbersome port placement leave much to be desired. Though impressive in its own right, you’re better off getting the more powerful (and similarly priced) Razer Blade 14 or...

Convertible form factor ; lightweight, incredible display ; performance ; XG Mobile is an excellent add on

Fan noise is annoying ; audio output is sub-par ; average battery performance ; awkward power button placement ; Expensive