Ive been using the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026), and this is the best (and biggest) gaming laptop you can buy right now

Date:
Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:11:33 +0000

Description:
If you have a few thousand burning a hole in your pocket and a gym membership to help you carry it, the Asus ROG Strix SCAR 18 is the most powerful gaming laptop money can buy.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Asus
ROG Strix Scar 18: One-minute review A hefty laptop in every sense of the word, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 bolsters its beefy design with high-end componentry, including a flagship Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and an Nvidia RTX 5090 GPU. Its an 18-inch gaming machine thats capable of running the latest titles at the best quality.

If this blockbuster performance comes at a cost, its portability: the ROG Strix Scar 18s size and weight make it a desktop replacement rather than a lightweight travel companion, unless you have a big bag and a strong back.
The speakers and trackpad feel like they could be better, but this is otherwise a solid all-in-one package for gamers (and creators) who value performance. Latest Videos From Watch full video here: (Image credit: Future) Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Price & release date How much does it cost? $6,299 / 5,699 / AU$8,379 When is it available? Available now Where can you get it? Available in the US, UK, and Australia Youre not hallucinating: the ROG Strix Scar 18 really is that eye-wateringly expensive. For that price,
you are getting a state-of-the-art gaming laptop , and its a perfect balance in terms of CPU, GPU, and display, delivering desktop-like levels of performance in a fairly portable unit. But its still just so much to spend on a computer, and you start to wonder where higher prices due to tech shortages end, and sheer profiteering begins.

You could buy a lesser model (a 5070 model with 32GB RAM and a 2TB SSD is about $/2,000 less) and add more RAM and hard drive capacity when youve got enough in your pension to afford them, but the GPU is fixed here, and this is arguably the most important bang-for-buck component to upgrade.

So yes, its extremely expensive, and extremely powerful but whether youre getting what youre paying for is debatable. Value : 3 / 5 Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Specs Swipe to scroll horizontally

Price:

$6,299 / 5,699 / AU$8,379

CPU:

Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX

Graphics:

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

Display:

18-inch ROG Nebula HDR QHD+ (2560 x 1600), Mini-LED, 240Hz

RAM:

64GB DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM (Dual Channel)

Storage:

4TB SSD

Ports:

1x 2.5G LAN, 2x Thunderbolt 5 (Type-C), 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A.

Wireless:

Intel Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) 2x2 + Bluetooth 5.4

Weight:

7.27 lbs (3.30 kg)

Dimensions:

15.71 x 11.73 x 0.93 ~ 1.26 inches (399 x 298 x 23.5 ~ 32.0 mm) Asus ROG
Strix Scar 18 review: Design Mammoth 18-inch footprint Droolworthy, pixel-packed high-contrast screen Fun AniMe Vision display Lets start with
the obvious: this is not a small laptop. 18 inches is basically the most humongous laptop you can buy at the moment, and its not exactly portable. It wont fit into a standard backpack, and it probably won't leave your house outside of a suitcase. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
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At 7.27 lbs (3.3 kg), just lifting the unit is a workout in itself, and the power brick adds another 2.2 lbs (1 kg), so youve got a hefty unit that you wont be pulling out in a caf, unless it has very stable tables. But its a gaming laptop, and portability is at the very bottom of the requirements
here.

As is subtlety. Instead of at least trying to design something that gives a lighter, airier impression, Asus has leaned into an angular, beefy design language. Add in the RGB LED lighting strip around the bottom edge, and the entire thing looks like its about to take off and become a new target for the Rebel Alliance. (Image credit: Future) Thats not the only lighting trick the ROG Strix Scar 18 keeps up its sleeve: on the rear of the screen, theres what Asus dubs AniMe Vision, essentially a programmable Wall Street-style ticker tape readout for your laptop. Its monochrome, and very low-res, but its actually really neat: you can use Asus software to customize what it says, so you can broadcast scrolling messages of love or hate, depending on who youre sitting opposite.

On the other side of this screen is the main display itself, which is thankfully higher-resolution and more colorful. Much more colorful. While not full ultra-HD, its 2.5K resolution (2560 x 1600) and 240Hz refresh rate is a perfect match for an 18-inch screen. Its also mini-LED, which makes colors utterly pop, even from oblique viewing angles. (Image credit: Future) Asus
has included a keyboard replete with enormous trackpad and full-size number pad. Theres a decent amount of depth to the keys, and while theres no mechanical clunk, theyre responsive and comfortable enough for long gaming
and typing sessions.

The trackpad doesnt quite meet Apple s almost supernaturally interactive standards, and its prone to accidental touches, but most users will likely be pairing this laptop with a mouse. The speakers, too, are a little disappointing and tinny. (Image credit: Future) On the underside of the
laptop is a grill of air intakes for cooling, and this whole panel can be detached without tools so you can upgrade the RAM and SSDs. Around the edge
of the laptop theres a gamut of ports: three USB 3.2, two USB-C/Thunderbolt
5, HDMI, Ethernet, 3.5 mm headphone jack, SD card slot no, wait, not an SD card slot, just a vent that looks an awful lot like an SD card slot. Cheeky!
I would have loved an SD card slot on a laptop of this size and price. Design : 4 / 5 Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Performance Nvidia RTX 5090 is an absolute beast Phenomenal DLSS support Gets crazy loud in Turbo mode Having such a huge screen works wonders here; its slightly wider aspect ratio adds a movie-like expansiveness to more cinematic games.

The test laptop we received packs an Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU with 24 GB VRAM. Memory weighs in at a substantial 64 GB DDR5 dual-channel, and Im never going to come near filling up the 4 TB SSD.

It has the gaming panache where it counts. 007 First Light hits 62 FPS on ultra graphics settings, with Bonds glassy eyes melting my heart at any given opportunity. Lower the quality and the frame rates hit new heights up to 170 FPS in 007 , and it still looks really good, if a little last-gen. Asus ROG Strix SCAR 18 Benchmarks 3DMark: Night Raid: 84,346; Fire Strike: 41,166;
Time Spy: 21,574; Port Royal: 14,368 Geekbench 6: Multicore: 26,101; Single-core: 2,340 Total War: Warhammer III: Mirrors of Madness (1080p, Ultra): 176.7 fps; (1080p, Low): 411.7 fps Cyberpunk 2077: (1080p, Ultra): 129.8 fps; (1080p, Low): 149.9 fps Dirt 5: (1080p, Ultra): 197.2 fps; (1080p, Low): 296.0 fps PCMark 10 Battery Life: 3 hours and 3 minutes Likewise, the hard, ray-traced light of Pragmata looks gorgeous when it hits those solid surfaces, and I was able to turn ray tracing on and hit 60 FPS at full res, which is just right. Dianas flowing locks alone are worth the price of admittance.

Asus includes preset modes (Silent, Performance, Turbo), which can be toggled in-game with a handy function key, making it easier to unlock higher frame rates I watched 007: First Light jump from 100 to 150 FPS (at low settings). However, Turbo also makes the fans kick in and, despite Asus vapor chamber cooling the whole thing becomes a bit jet engine-like. (Image credit: Future) Raw settings are only half the story now, though. Nvidias 5090 includes DLSS, and this is a quick and easy shortcut to match the 240hz refresh rate of Asus glorious panel. In 007: First Light , I can bump the settings all the way up and hit an epic 225 FPS, bringing it back to cinematic life.

I also had a quick dabble in my interminable Adobe Premier/After Effects project, and this is a laptop thats as suited to creators as it is to gamers. 3D tracking, which was a stumbling block for my 2023 MacBook Pro, is almost instantaneous here, and it can take on 8K video timelines without missing a beat. Its game-centric looks may not please all designers, but for streamers and YouTubers its good to know its got the graphical grunt where you need it. Performance : 4.5 / 5 (Image credit: Future) Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review: Battery life Expect five hours-ish for general computing Drops substantially when gaming For a high-performance gaming laptop, battery life is actually pretty impressive. PCMark 10s battery life benchmark, which simulates general day-to-day computer use like youre some idealized executive whos on Zoom
calls that decide the fate of the planet, came in at five hours and three minutes. Running a 1080p video on a continuous loop in VLC gave a five-hour and 18-minute result exactly enough time to watch all three Venom movies, and, wait, theres a third Venom movie? (Image credit: Future) Heavy gaming sessions inevitably drag the battery life down to the sub 90-minute duration, so youre never going to want to be far from a wall socket. Battery life : 4 / 5 Should I buy the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18? Swipe to scroll horizontally

Attribute

Notes

Score

Features

Outstanding display tech, with easy upgrade potential

4.5

Performance

Desktop-grade productivity and gaming frame rates

4.5

Design

Bold, heavy aesthetic that trades portability for performance

4

Value

Youll need a wallet as large as the PC itself

3 Buy it if

You demand uncompromised gaming power Combining the RTX 5090 GPU and Core Ultra 9 CPU creates a Double Dragon -esque combo that will take on any game with ray tracing cranked up.

You want a stunning desktop replacement 18-inches hits the sweet spot for a laptop thatll rarely leave the desk, feeling expansive and cinematic, and the 240Hz refresh rate and brilliant brightness are exceptional here.

You are a creator who needs desktop-class grunt So long as youre OK with the brutalised aesthetics, with 64GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD, this machine chomps through 8K video rendering, 3D tracking, and intense multitasking. Dont buy
it if

You need a laptop that you can actually travel with At over 7 pounds (not counting the hefty 2-pound brick), this is an absolute unit that will
struggle to fit in a normal backpack or survive on a caf table.

You're sensible with money Crossing the five-thousand-dollar threshold makes this a luxury purchase. Solid gaming performance can still be had for half
the price.

You want high-end built-in speakers For a laptop this large and expensive, the speakers are surprisingly tinny and weak, meaning you'll almost certainly want to pair it with a headset. Also consider

Razer Blade 18 A sleeker, aluminum-unibody alternative that offers a similarly premium 18-inch display and high-end specs, but usually commands an even steeper price tag.

Read our full Razer Blade 18 review

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i An understated and slightly smaller option that strikes a far better balance of performance-per-dollar even if it lacks the ostentatious design of the Scar 18.

Read our full Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 10 review How I tested the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (Image credit: Future) Used as my daily driver computer for a month Tested according to TechRadars guidelines Put through its paces with games including 007 First Light , Pragmata , and Forza Horizon 6 To truly put the Asus ROG Strix SCAR 18 through its paces, I lived with it as my main computer for several days, testing it both as an everyday workstation and a high-end gaming battlestation. I made sure to test the system in various power profiles, monitoring the thermal performance and fan volume during long
gaming sessions.

All benchmarks were run using TechRadar's standardized testing parametersV-Sync was disabled in the Nvidia control panel, the power mode was set to "Best Performance" in Windows, and the laptop was fully charged and plugged into its massive 450W brick to unlock its maximum potential. Read TechRadars reviews guarantee First reviewed: July 2026 Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2026): Price Comparison No price information Check Amazon We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices powered by



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/gaming-laptops/asus-rog-strix-scar-18-g835


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