Gigabyte has revealed its new Gigabyte Aero 15: it is an impressive computer which is built as a no-compromise high-performance which is capable of being a gaming computer, but also a workstation. At the same time, it is extremely mobile for this level of performance. Technically speaking, the Gigabyte Aero 15 shatters the typical barriers that separate gaming (graphics speed), workstation (display quality) and mobility (size/weight).
Specifications
The Gigabyte Aero 15 has impressive specs, check for yourself:
- Intel Core i7-7700HQ, 16GB RAM
- GeForce 1060 GTX 1060 GPU 6GB (VR Ready)
- 15” FHD display (UHD/4K available in June) with 5mm thin bezels. X-Rite Pantone certified
- 14 x 9.8 x 0.8”, 4.6 lbs
- 94 Wh battery (!)
Industrial design
The Gigabyte Aero uses many elements that are familiar from Gigabyte since the Aero 14 was revealed not so long ago. Of course, it is very compact for a computer with this kind of performance. At 0.8” thick, it is comparable to computers such as the Razer Blade.
Upon opening the laptop you will see a backlit keyboard with which every single key has its own LED light, and of course – they are programmable for both lighting and key combos. There are 13 types of light effects that are pre-programmed,
It is not the most beautiful computer in terms of pure aesthetics/design, but I will leave it to you to decide if it is your style or not. What I do know is that this is unlikely to be the kind of computer that is being purchased only to look pretty. Given the technical features, I expect people to be quite forgiving about any beauty shortcomings.
The WVA display has 5mm bezels, and it is a good idea since Dell and HP have had much success with this kind of design. WVA technology has been selected because it has better view angle than TN, but has faster pixel response time than IPS (for gaming). This is a 60HZ display.
The webcam had to be moved at the bottom, which is a bit detrimental to the quality of video chats, but something had to give. The display will be certified by Pantone, and each laptop ships with a calibrated screen. It currently comes with FHD, but Gigabyte has promised a 4K version coming up within months.
There are many ports, but the interesting ones to me are the Thunderbolt 3. With 40 Gbps of bandwidth, it is possible to drive two 5K displays and even an external GPU box.
Inside, there’s enough space for two m.2 SSDs, which means that you can add 2x1TB of SSD storage if you can afford it. It might be even more than that, but you should double-check if you intend to go beyond 2TB.
Conclusion: one of a kind
The Gigabyte Aero 15 is very interesting because it breaks across multiple categories. Normally, the barrier between a Productivity, Gaming and (light) Workstation laptop are well defined, and some users are left in-between with no options that satisfy them.
Those who do graphic design work do not want a full-on CAD computer, but at the same time, it is hard to find options with a decent GPU and plenty of storage without being too bulky.
Gamers who want a better degree of mobility can have a hard time finding a good performance/weight gaming-capable laptop because the industry’s assumption is that you will be plugged in.
How big of a market can Gigabyte carve for itself with this model? That remains to be seen, but the Aero 15 gives users more freedom and more options to benefit from mobility and gaming-level performance at the same time.
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