Back in May, Gigabyte launched the slim and portable Aero 15 gaming laptop. HEXUS reviewed this product at the time, and judged it to be a “contemporary solution that strikes a lot of the right notes,” with a good balance of performance and features. There were a couple of small niggles regarding the webcam positioning, the quality of the built-in input peripherals and the price at nearly £2K. Today an updated model has been launched; the Gigabyte Aero 15 X (press release in German, or translated in English).
I’ve compared the spec sheets of both the Gigabyte Aero 15 and Aero 15X (no official product page yet) and there isn’t any variance between the machines other than the headlining GPU change. Other key components and product characteristics remain the same as summarised below:
- CPU: 7th generation Intel Core i7-7700HQ 2.8-3.8 GHz
- Operating system: Windows 10
- Display: FHD 1920 × 1080 display with high viewing angle, ultra-thin bezel (5 mm), and X-Rite Pantone certification
- Memory: 16GB DDR4 2400 (2 × 8), 2 slots (Max 32GB)
- Chipset: Mobile Intel HM175 Express Chipset
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 630, (*NEW in Max-Q design: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q GDDR5 8GB supports Nvidia Optimus technology, Previously GTX 1060 with 6GB)
- Mass storage: 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD (Supports PCIe NVMe Gen3 x4 and SATA) (2 ports available)
- I / O ports: USB 3.0 Type-A x 3, Thunderbolt USB Type-C x 1, HDMI 2.0 x 1, Mini DP 1.3 x 1, Headphone out jack (audio in combo), SD card reader, DC in jack, RJ-45.
- Audio: 2 Watt Speaker x 2
- Communication: WLAN: 11 ac, Bluetooth: Bluetooth v4.2
- Webcam: HD camera
- Keyboard: Island-style Full-size RGB Fusion keyboard with single-button lighting
- Battery: Li-polymer, 94Wh
- Dimensions: 356 (W) x 250 (D) x 19.9 (H) mm, weight: 2.1kg (with battery)
As headlined, the big change is the intro of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 Max-Q GDDR5 8GB. Our review of the GTX 1060 6GB model didn’t find it wanting when gaming on the built-in 1080p display. Most titles allowed us to use max quality settings and maintain 60fps averages.
The GTX 1070 in the Aero 15 X should deliver approx 40 per cent better graphics performance than the original model. Gigabyte’s spec change also helps to future proof the machine, its greater speed and graphics RAM capacity will better cope with demanding future games titles. According to NoteBookCheck the ‘X’ won’t replace the existing model but sit alongside it.
Gigabyte’s German press release says that the Aero 15 X will become available from 3rd October, priced at €2399. Gigabyte teased the above news on Saturday, via Facebook.