Gigabyte Aero 15
Takes the same core components as the Blade, but ends up with a surprisingly different result.
Aquick glance at the Aero 15 laptop’s spec sheet will tell you that it shares a lot in common with the Razer Blade, opposite — both are slim, highperformance machines built around the same core components of Intel Core i77700HQ CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM, GeForce GTX 1060 GPU and NVMe SSD.
To use yet another Star Wars analogy (sorry, APC’s writers seem to have gone a bit overboard this issue), this is a case of an X-Wing versus a TIE Fighter — or the designers versus the engineers, if you’d prefer. Because while this Gigabyte machine might not be quite as sleek as the Razer, it packs in more features and is arguably better value.
The key point of difference between the two is the Aero’s screen. It’s nearly bezel-less, with just a 5mm border on the top and sides, something that’s allowed Gigabyte to squeeze a 15.6-inch panel into what’s basically the body of a 14-inch laptop. That panel comes factory-calibrated for design work — it’s ‘X-Rite Pantone’ certified, meaning it’s been adjusted to be as accurate as possible for “project-to-print” work. And despite just being a VA-based display (rather than IPS), we found the Aero’s colours were richer, deeper and more natural than on the Razer’s IPS panel. The bigger display does make this unit more enjoyable to game on, too.
The Aero’s ports make it a bit more flexible, with an HDMI, three USB 3.0 Type-A, a USB 3.1 Type-C, Gigabit Ethernet, a Thunderbolt 3/ mini-DP combo and an SD card reader. It also doubles the storage over the Blade, with a newer (and faster) 512GB Samsung NVMe SSD.
Given the slim chassis, the Aero 15 does a passably good job of keeping that heat under control, with large vents on the bottom for drawing in cooler air which is then ejected out the back of the unit and over the screen, something which kept its GPU around 10% cooler in game testing. Fan noise wasn’t quite as loud, but, again, anyone in the same room is going to know when you’re gaming.
On the whole, the Aero’s design is a bit more roughand-tumble in parts, then — it’s more concerned with getting the job done than looking super flash. It has a bigger footprint than the Blade, adding a couple of centimetres on the back and one width-wise and it’s also 15% heavier at 2.13kg (vs 1.86kg). The chassis, too, is a mixed affair, combining CNC-milled aluminium (the keyboard deck and screen frame) with plastic (the lid and underside). While quite handsome, it’s nowhere near as solid or reassuring as the Blade’s unibody design.
The Aero doesn’t always win on the practicality front either. That 15.6-inch screen draws more power than the Blade’s 14-incher, so even with a 30% bigger battery the Aero lasted only 3:22hr vs the Blade’s 4:15hr in the demanding PCMark 8 Home battery life test.
Also annoying is the placement of the Aero’s webcam below the screen, just above the hinge. If you do a lot of video chats (and you care about how you look in them), that’d be enough for us to suggest avoiding this one.
If you’re trying to choose between these two laptops, it’s a question of whether you value a bigger, better screen and extra ports, over a sleeker, tougher chassis and longer battery life. It’s a tough call.