Gigabyte Aero 15
Sleek, fast and fun
CONCLUSION A thin and compact notebook that is both an excellent gaming and workstation system.
Maybe we should just stop marveling at thin gaming laptops. They’re quickly becoming the norm, and thick and clunky notebooks – however powerful – are looking increasingly dated.
The Gigabyte Aero 15 is part of this new normal, and it goes a step further by lopping o a huge chunk of bezel and cramming a 15.6inch screen onto the body of a slim 14-inch notebook. But it’s interesting for more reasons than its relatively compact size.
For one, it is available in three colors – black, orange, and green. This is a new and refreshing design change for Gigabyte, and we couldn’t be happier to see it.
The Aero 15 may actually be the best notebook Gigabyte has made in a while. Its aluminum chassis feels very solid and well put together, and even the display hinge is smooth and uid throughout its entire range of movement, with just the right amount of resistance.
It also feels modern, thanks in large part to the gorgeous edge-to-edge display. The screen is X-Rite Pantone certied, which means that each panel has been tuned for accurate color reproduction, which photographers and video editors will appreciate. One drawback of the slim bezels is the need to t the webcam on the bottom bezel, so camera angles aren’t the most attering.
The Aero 15 also impresses with its wide range of ports and connectors, including support for up to three external displays, and the Thunderbolt 3 port alone supports up to two 4K monitors. Gigabyte actually intends for the Aero 15 to double up as a workstation machine, and the 512GB model ships with Windows 10 Pro.
The keyboard is pleasantly springy and has nice feedback, so the overall typing experience feels quite good. However, there isn’t as much space as on other 15.6-inch notebooks, so some might nd it a little cramped. There is also support for per-key RGB customizations and individual macros, so there are nearly limitless options available.