It’s big and heavy, with enough power that you’re not likely to ever see it struggle.
Whether the ROG Strix SCAR 18 is the gaming laptop for you depends on your priorities.
Let’s get started.
It’s a relatively unassuming laptop when you’re looking from the top down, but there’s a lot of power under this lid.
This review was made possible thanks to a review sample provided by ASUS.
The company did not see the contents of the review before publishing.
It also means you don’t get a lot of choice with this machine, with two main configurations.
Even then, you could upgrade the SSD and RAM yourself down the line.
I can mostly forgive all of that, though.
What’s more difficult to look past is just how ugly this laptop is.
Turn the ROG Strix SCAR 18 on, and you’ll be greeted with lots of RGB lighting on the lid, the keyboard, and around the sides.
The matte black aluminum lid is the most refined part of this laptop.
All the RGB lighting doesn’t help, either.
On the right side you have two USB key in-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports.
On the left side you have the 330W DC power port, an Ethernet jack, an HDMI 2.1 port, a USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 2 port with 100W Power Delivery, and a 3.5mm audio jack.(Image credit: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy)
That means you get the durability and brightness of the former with the contrast ratios of the latter.
The result is a laptop screen that’s actually useable for HDR and looks wonderful.
This is an extremely nice display, but it’s not perfect.
On the other side you have two USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports.(Image credit: Windows Central | Zachary Boddy)
It toes perfection, but falls short.
In general usage, this laptop is predictably smooth.
Running Windows 11 on a 240Hz MiniLED display helps with that overall feeling of smoothness, too.
This display is absolutely a cut above many other gaming laptop screens, but it’s not quite the best.
Turn to benchmarks, and the ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 18 (2024) continues to impress.
It won’t do it quietly, though.
Whether you care more about great visuals or high framerates, this laptop doesn’t make you compromise much.
This is a pretty color accurate display, hitting 100% of the DCI-P3 cinematic color gamut.
In Cyberpunk 2077, it’s a 4 frames-per-second advantage on the Ray: Tracing Ultra preset.
Counter-Strike 2 is marginally more stable.
The ROG Strix Scar 18 falls on the wrong side of that fence.
There’s a ridiculous number of vents to keep air moving, and this bottom panel comes off to give you access to the SODIMM and M.2 slots.
I ran the laptop through Procyon, a benchmark suite, and its two hour-long Battery Consumption tests.
The final nail is that the massive 330W barrel-plug charging adapter is annoyingly designed.
With gaming laptops, favor is undeniably skewed toward the keyboard.
It’s clear ASUS used one of the best PCIe Gen 4x4 SSDs in this laptop.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The touchpad is average, with a glass surface andMicrosoft Precisiondrivers for gesture support.
It’s not massive compared to the laptop, but it does get the job done.
I don’t have too many complaints.
In Cinebench 2024, no laptop could keep up in multicore performance.(Image credit: Windows Central)
The 720p, HD webcam is serviceable at best, and its mics compliment it perfectly.
That is to say, this is not the laptop you want if you frequently video conference or stream.
At any volume, it’s not the most impressive audio experience.
This overall productivity benchmark also showcases this laptop’s performance, being well within the margin of error compared to other top gaming laptops.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Either way, everything worksfine.
Armoury Crate continues to be one of the better gaming hubs, its awkward and over-the-top interface aside.
If you do need, an 18-inch screen… You still don’t need to get this laptop.
The ROG Strix SCAR 18 is once again neck and neck with one of its biggest competitors, the Legion Pro 7i, in Geekbench 6’s test.(Image credit: Windows Central)
This is the laptop for those that can’t compromise on performance above all else.
At the end of the day, this monstrous gadget is simplybig.
If that all sounds peachy to you, this laptop is good!
The RTX 4090 inside this laptop smashes through 3DMark Time Spy, but it’s not a huge departure over the RTX 4080.(Image credit: Windows Central)
ASUS' ROG Strix SCAR 18 is officially the fastest device we’ve tested when encoding a 4K video using HandBrake.(Image credit: Windows Central)
This is a very large laptop, but this massive rear vent helps keep the laptop cool during long gaming sessions.
The keyboard deck is transparent along the top, but it doesn’t add much.
This is a good keyboard and a fine touchpad on a keyboard deck laced with lines, branding, and semi-transparent plastic.
You can remove this customizable “Armor Cap,” with an extra one included in the box.
The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus looks absolutely tiny compared to the ROG Strix SCAR 18.
I like this laptop and it’s a great performer, but I wouldn’t choose it over the competition.
