Asus K501 LX laptop review

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With the turn of the decade, gaming laptops have become more and more affordable, and a key player in this aspect is the Asus K501 LX. Coming to us straight from the PC behemoths Asus themselves, the Asus K501 LX is a lightweight gaming laptop that’s functional and budget friendly, allowing more people to get into the gaming hobby. But is it any good? Read our Asus K501 LX review to find out.



Asus K501 LX review – Specifications

For a gaming laptop, the Asus K501 LX comes with fairly above average hardware specifications. Featuring a sixth generation Core i7 processor by Intel clocked at 2.5 GHz, it’s a surprisingly power efficient choice. Despite not being the highest end option, it’s still a powerful chip, and one that should handle all daily tasks and gaming pretty well without facing much of an issue.

Accompanying that, we have 8GB of DDR3 RAM for smoother multitasking and gaming, as well as a 256 GB SSD, which should make for fairly speedy boot up times and some faster load times in games. The GeForce GTX 950M graphic card with 2 GB VRAM completes the internal technical specifications, a portable laptop GPU that’s sufficient for most games

Asus K501 LX specifications

Over on the front of the device we find a 15.6-inch Full HD display with a 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. For a gaming laptop of this caliber, it’s a good choice to pick a more modest display like this. On the I/O section of things, we’ve got a HDMI port that allows connecting the laptop to an external display. This is useful for things like presentations and especially big screen gaming.

On top of that, the budget gaming notebook also features two USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports for connecting peripherals. The backlit keyboard has a numeric pad and a multi touch trackpad. Keeping things up and running on the inside is a 3-cell battery that can last up to 5 hours of continuous use according to Asus.

The speakers on the Asus K501 LX are also quite good. Helmed by an optimized amplifier, it provides loud and precise sound performance. It filters noise out very well, making for an enjoyable listening experience regardless of whether you’re watching videos, gaming, or listening to music.

While it’s not exactly going to be a gaming beast, it should be able to handle most modern games just fine. It’s an excellent fit for more casual gamers who don’t need the absolute highest end performance.

Asus K501 LX review – Design and build quality

Asus are well known for their stellar build quality on their laptops, and this carries over to the Asus K501 LX as well. It takes the route that many other budget-oriented notebooks take, using solid and lightweight brushed aluminum and polycarbonate plastic to form most of the device’s chassis. It’s a strong choice, and it’s mainstream for a reason.

Physically, the laptop is also quite well built with sturdy hinges and no noticeable creaks or bends in its chassis. It’s more than sturdy enough to toss around in a bag, though the display is still delicate so don’t throw it around too much. Still, a fairly roughed notebook that should be able to take a beating without any issue.

As for the design itself, while the build quality here is excellent, it’s still a quite minimalistic design. There’s nothing that’s too standout about it, though it’s also clear that at this price point, nobody is really looking for a device that’s top-notch performance. On top of this, while it’s not the most unique design, there’s also denying that it still looks good for a gaming laptop.

Another great feature built into the device is a backlit keyboard, which outside of just looking cool also allows users to better see and type and in the dark. It makes the Asus K501 LX an even better device when it comes to productivity and gaming, though outside of that it’s a fairly standard style keyboard. No mechanical switches to be found here, but there’s an integrated numpad which is helpful.

Asus K501 LX cooling system

So, what about heating? Thankfully, the palm rest area stays comfortably cool, thanks to how the components are arranged on the motherboard and the laptop’s cooling system, something Asus has coined as a Smart Dual Cooling System. While in practice, it’s simply a dual heat pipe design that distributes heat evenly, it also makes for a cool laptop.

Overall, the design of the Asus K501 LX really can’t be faulted, especially when it’s contending in the budget market like it already is. It’s built well, it looks good, and it works great, especially when it comes to the device’s cooling solution and how cool it keeps the laptop even when under strenuous load.

Asus K501 LX Review – Connectivity

So, rounding out the device’s specifications, we have some standard connectivity options. There’s WiFi (802.11 b/g/n), Bluetooth (v4.0) and of course, an ethernet port for your wired LAN needs. All very normal and expected stuff to be honest.

We already mentioned earlier that the laptop has two USB 3.0 ports and two USB 2.0 ports, but there’s still more physical I/O to go over. We’ve also got an SD card reader, the aforementioned HDMI port, a headphone/microphone jack and all essential integrated webcam. It’s decent set of outputs and inputs for a device that’s this thin.

Like many modern laptops, this Asus gaming laptop comes with preinstalled with Windows, though the version on-board is the older Windows 8.1 64-bit. Thankfully though, you can basically update it to Windows 10 for free just by downloading the update, so you don’t need to worry about being left behind by the Windows curve.

Asus K501 LX Review – Conclusion

You really can’t go wrong with the Asus K501 LX, it’s a solid mid-range gaming laptop for the price conscious buyer. If you’re planning to buy a new laptop any time soon, you’ll definitely want to give this one a look, it’s a great value for money!

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