Asus Rog Strix Scar 18 (18-Inch, 2023)

Exceptional gaming performance It's rarely loud in gaming scenarios Surprisingly decent battery life Great keyboard Stunning mini-LED display

Awkward port layout Plenty of screen flex Insanely big and expensive

“The only thing bigger than the size of the ROG Strix Scar 18 is its performance.”

Power rivals that of many gaming desktops. Upgradeable up to Nvidia RTX 4090, 32 GB of RAM, and 2-TB SSD. Achieves super high fps even in AAA games. Gorgeous Mini LED screen. Plenty of ports.

Massive, bulky, and expensive. Power ; consumption ; rivals that of many gaming desktops. Work/web browsing battery life under 6 hours. Just keep that charger handy.

Top-line GPU and CPU ; Clever case design and cooling ; Amazing screen

Fans can get loud ; Spine-bending weight ; Almost unattainably expensive

If raw power and outright luxury are your only concerns, feel free to switch that verdict for a full five stars – but we feel the weight, fan noise and cost of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2023) might be a little more than most folks can stomach.

Extreme performance ; Excellent gaming display ; Semi-reasonable size and weight ; Decent battery on iGPU

Plastic construction ; Expensive ; Can become loud under intense work loads

The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is one of the most powerful gaming laptops right now, showing off the latest flagship CPU from Intel (13th Gen Core i9) and GPU from Nvidia (GeForce RTX 4090). It’s big and expensive, but the body feels reasonable for...

Flashy, futuristic design ; Captivating display ; Full, balanced audio ; Impressive overall and gaming performance

Pricy ; Webcam could be better ; Below-average battery life

With its high-powered components, beautiful display and excellent audio, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 leaves a swath of destruction in its wake and leaving no prisoners.

refreshed design and sturdy build quality ; good inputs and IO ; balanced 16:10 QHD+ 240 Hz display ; significantly more powerful and better cooled than the 2022 generation ; versatile profiles and excellently-balanced mid-level Performance mode ;...

slightly larger and heavier than the previous Scar 17 ; all the IO is now on the sides, with the updated cooling occupying all the rear edge ; smudgy interior and annoyingly placed status LEDs ; still no card reader, Lock, or biometrics ; pricy in this...

This machine destroyed our gaming benchmarks

A whopping $7,499 is far from cheap.

Right now, it’s the ultimate gaming laptop and even some outstanding competition from forthcoming rivals will struggle to defeat it.

I'm not absolutely convinced that the 18-inch laptop is destined to stick around, but the ROG Strix Scar 18 at least demonstrates that the format has some potential. If you get one, just be sure to invest in a bigger backpack, too.