Asus ROG Flow X13: A Love Story Complicated by a $3,000 Bundled eGPU

The world of laptops is often neatly divided. You have your sleek, portable convertibles, ideal for productivity and on-the-go tasks. Then you have your hulking gaming laptops, powerhouses designed to deliver maximum performance at the expense of portability. Never did I think these two disparate categories could, or even should, intersect. Before CES 2021, the idea of a 2-in-1 gaming laptop felt like a pipe dream, a technological impossibility.

But Asus, in their infinite pursuit of innovation, threw caution to the wind and birthed the ROG Flow X13, a laptop that challenges the very definition of what a gaming machine can be. It’s a convertible, it’s portable, and it packs a punch – at least, on the CPU side.

The first impression is striking. In a world of bulky gaming behemoths, the Flow X13 is surprisingly svelte. Measuring just 11.8 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches and weighing in at a mere 2.9 pounds, it rivals many ultra-slim laptops in size and weight. The 13.4-inch, 16:10 touch display is vibrant and responsive, and the 360-degree hinges allow for seamless transitions between laptop, tent, and tablet modes. Imagine whipping this out on a cramped airplane tray table (in the blissful "after times" of course!) – the possibilities are endless.

Aesthetically, the Flow X13 is a winner. The all-black design is understated and elegant, a refreshing departure from the often-gaudy styling of typical gaming laptops. The lid features subtle, textured lines that add a touch of sophistication, and the keyboard deck mirrors this texture with even finer embossed lines. The keyboard itself is lifted straight from the ROG Zephyrus G14 and G15, boasting well-spaced keys that offer a comfortable typing experience. Blindfolded, you might actually mistake the Flow X13 for one of its Zephyrus siblings, minus the distinct hinge.

Under the hood is where things get really interesting. The Flow X13 is powered by AMD’s top-of-the-line Ryzen 9 5980HS mobile processor (a version with the Ryzen 9 5900HS is also available). This CPU is an absolute beast, tearing through CPU-intensive tasks with ease. In benchmark tests, it outperforms Intel’s 11th-gen Core i7-1185G7 and even Apple’s M1 chip in rendering 3D images in Blender and transcoding 4K videos to 1080p in Handbrake. Its multi-core performance is simply phenomenal. Even the single-core performance holds its own against the M1 and the i7-1185G7.

The Ryzen 9 5980HS even manages to outshine Intel’s older 10th-gen Core i9-10885H in both raw performance and in Blender and Handbrake benchmarks, completing 3D rendering tasks a whole minute faster and transcoding 4K video about 30 seconds faster. Now, Intel’s new Core i7-11375H Special Edition is on the horizon, promising to rival AMD’s 4800HS and 4900H mobile processors and boasting Resizable BAR support. And an upcoming 11th-gen H-series processor with an 8-core, 16-thread chip is sure to challenge the Ryzen 9 5980HS’s dominance. But as of now, the Ryzen 9 5980HS is a champion in the realm of gaming and slim laptops, and frankly, it deserves to be in more machines.

Now, every romance has its quirks, and the Flow X13 is no exception. One USB port? Seriously? In a world of peripherals and external drives, this feels like a cruel joke. While I typically prefer using a wireless mouse with a USB dongle, the Flow X13’s exceptionally smooth trackpad almost makes up for it. Plus, the HDMI port and USB-C port (which also serves as the charging port) offer some redemption.

Airflow management is another aspect to consider. To achieve optimal cooling, the display needs to be angled around 115 degrees in laptop mode. A 90-degree angle can obstruct airflow from the bottom and back vents, leading to a noticeable performance drop. In fact, Blender benchmarks revealed a minute increase in processing time when the display was set at 90 degrees.

Despite the intense processing power, the Flow X13 remains remarkably cool to the touch. Skin temperatures stay around 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), and the CPU never exceeded 82 degrees Celsius (179.6 Fahrenheit), even during rigorous game benchmark tests with maxed-out settings. Processor longevity shouldn’t be a concern here.

Battery life is decent, clocking in at around 6 hours, which is typical for gaming laptops but falls far short of the 21 hours AMD touted for its Ryzen 5000U-series processors during their CES keynote.

Here is where my love affair with the ROG Flow X13 takes a bitter turn: the GTX 1650 Max-Q inside. While it’s enough to play many games at 1080p with adjusted settings (Metro Exodus at low settings reaches around 70 fps), it’s a disappointing bottleneck for such a powerful CPU. Asus prioritized the ultra-slim design, which is understandable considering the 2-in-1 nature of the device. Perhaps a GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q, like the one found in the Microsoft SurfaceBook 3, would have been a better compromise, but thermal constraints likely played a role.

But the real kicker is that you can’t currently purchase the Flow X13 without also buying Asus’ eGPU, which houses an RTX 3080. This bundle costs a staggering $3,000. For someone who’s simply looking for a capable laptop and doesn’t require an ultra-powerful graphics card, this is an impossible ask. Sadly, I wasn’t provided with an eGPU, leading to an experience heavily focused on the 2-in-1 functionality rather than the gaming capabilities. The fact that the Flow X13 isn’t sold separately makes it a far more niche product than it needs to be.

This is where the Asus ROG Flow X13 breaks my heart. If I could buy the X13 on its own, I would. I could live with the slightly shorter battery life, because nearly everything else about the laptop is exceptional. But recommending a $3,000 2-in-1 gaming laptop bundled with an RTX 3080 eGPU is simply out of the question for most people.

In summary:

Pros:

• Lovely, understated design
• Incredibly lightweight and portable
• Acceptable battery life
• Blazing fast CPU

Cons:

• Underwhelming GPU for the price
• Currently bundled with an RTX 3080 eGPU for $3,000.
• Laptop is not sold separately

Update: (1/29/21 11:30 AM ET): Asus reached out and stated that the Flow X13 will be sold separately eventually, with no firm date or price set. If and when that happens and the price is attractive, my heart will definitely begin to heal.