Review: Aorus X3 Plus

Conclusion

Having set the stage with the powerful X7 back in January this year, Aorus has now taken the opportunity to deliver a smaller alternative designed with portability in mind.

Priced at £1,549, the 13.9in X3 Plus has been worth the wait and for the most part exceeds our expectations of a modern-day gaming laptop. This is a system that's relatively thin and light, yet it possesses a quad-core Intel Haswell processor, dedicated GeForce GTX 870M graphics, ultra-fast M.2 SSDs and a gorgeous 3,200x1,800 IGZO display.

Squeezing such powerful components into a frame as compact as this is a sign of Aorus' engineering expertise, and though there is a touch of CPU throttling to contend with, overall integration is good and the laptop's gaming credentials are clear to see. Every game runs smooth at 1080p, and if you're willing to tweak quality settings, you can even get the desired result at the native 1800p resolution.

It is an exciting time to be in the market for a gaming laptop, yet as laudable as the X3 Plus is, Aorus perhaps needed to bring the machine to market sooner. Now, with Intel's next-generation Broadwell architecture looming large, one has to wonder: how impressive might this laptop be with a Broadwell CPU and power-saving Nvidia Maxwell graphics? We're looking forward to finding out and suspect we won't have long to wait.

The Good

Thin, light and portable for a gaming laptop
Lush 3,200x1,800 IGZO display
Quad-core Intel Haswell processor
Dedicated GeForce GTX 870M graphics
Ultra-fast dual-drive SSD storage array
Backlit scissor-switch keyboard
Fans keep quiet during light load
Good choice of I/O ports

The Bad

Downward-firing speaker system
Gets warm and loud with intensive use
CPU can throttle under high load
No touchscreen option

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Aorus X3 Plus

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The Aorus X3 Plus gaming laptop is available to purchase from Scan Computers*.

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