But the runaway winner in this notoriously CPU-favoring title is Asus’ own Zephyrus G14, which was $1,499 as tested, with an AMD 4900HS CPU and an Nvidia GTX 2060. The XPG Xenia ($1,399, Core i7-9750H and GTX 1660 Ti) did just slightly better. On the Grand Theft Auto V benchmark (1920 x 1080 very high), the Zephyrus M15’s score of 61 frames per second (fps) is enough to push it ahead of the much pricier Dell XPS 15 ($2,349 in our review config with the same CPU as this Asus, but a GTX 1650 Ti). Whether you opt for the “prism black” or “prism gray” chassis (hey Asus, isn’t a prism supposed to be about color?), the Zephyrus M15 is a fairly thin (0.7 inches), boxy slab of a laptop with just enough smart style to keep it from looking drab. Maybe it’s just the way companies tend to over-market the flashy high-end (and high-priced) gaming rigs (like Asus’ own ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 GX550 or Alienware’s Area-51m), but the Zephyrus M15 feels refreshing in its competent simplicity.

It runs cooler (this model with a Core i7-10750H gets downright toasty during gaming sessions) and performs mostly better, for about $150 more. And if you like this design and also plan to do some serious work with your laptop, the slightly smaller AMD Ryzen 4000-powered Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is arguably better. But those who do their creative work remotely should note the absence of a webcam. Asus also markets the Zephyrus M15 to gamers who want to do some creating on the side, and a wide-gamut 4K panel is an option for those types.

Asus rog zephyrus g15 fan control