NotebookCHECK - Notebook Forum

So many Pros.

Not bad, not bad at all. Though I wonder if you can completely disable Nvidia Optimus in BIOS, like Clevo laptops.

When the 4k comes it will be the definite XPS killer. Can't wait to get my hands on this.  ;D ;D ;D

This looks fantastic! Been waiting for this combination of specs for a while now. Though you don't mention, can it charge over USB (using USB power delivery)?

I'm also really excited for the 4k. As long as the 4k option isn't a pentile display, I'll be upgrading to a new machine much earlier than expected.

Please fix the content.
This laptop equiment the panel VA (WVA) not IPS

my next laptop will absolutely have a thin bezel/'bezel-less' screen. it appears there are two options at this time: dell xps and gigabyte aero 15. am i missing any? thanks!

@phattio:
Samsung and LG have had slim bezels for a few years now. Samsung's Notebook 9 line and LG's Gram line are good thin&light laptops. Lenovo and HP's premium consumer lines - Yoga, Spectre - and business lines - Thinkpad X,T, Elitebook 8x0,1xx0 - have also begun featuring somewhat thinner bezels since last year.

@dthrp:
thanks for the reply!

in order to narrow down my choices, are there any other laptops that combine a bezel-less screen with a GTX 1060 or 1070 like the dell xps and gigabyte aero 15?

@phattio:
That's pretty much it.

Personally though, I'd take decently sized bezels any day over the bezel-less design.
First of all, there's the whole webcam position issue. But more than that, thicker bezels are more convenient when adjusting the screen angle. I can better protect the lid by grabbing the lid by the side bezels with one hand, and base with another, instead of just holding the sides of a base with both hands.
The exterior casing may provide greater durability against the screen getting bumped or dropped. Also might make it much easier to replace in case it does break.
And from what I know, sensors and signal antennas are usually located inside the top and bottom bezels of a lid, which I'm guessing are optimal positions for performance.

Of course I'm no engineer, so it's all just an elaborate conjecture.

@dthrp:

i'll take that into consideration. thanks for your help!

I am having issues with my new Aero 15, looks like keyboard ghosting when using left CTRL,SHIFT or ALT in such combinations do not get recognized:
LCTRL+LSHIFT+SPACE
LCTRL+LSHIFT+Z
LCTRL+LSHIFT+X
LCTRL+LSHIFT+C
LCTRL+LSHIFT+V
LCTRL+LSHIFT+B
LCTRL+LSHIFT+N
LCTRL+LSHIFT+M
LCTRL+LSHIFT+,
LCTRL+LSHIFT+.
LCTRL+LSHIFT+/
LCTRL+LSHIFT+UP
LCTRL+LSHIFT+DOWN
LCTRL+LSHIFT+LEFT
LCTRL+LSHIFT+RIGHT
LCTRL+LALT+X
LCTRL+LALT+E
LCTRL+LALT+D
LSHIFT+LALT+X

Did you guys find any of these issues in your review? Also seems like an issue with Optimus and Windows UAT dialog causes freezes during pop up as its trying to switch go GPU mode.
Some links:
My post on kb issue: http://forum.gigabyte.us/thread/1102/aero-15-keyboard-issues
Optimus GPU issue: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txQZWfWFhlc

Now if only they managed to cram a 1070 into it (making a bit thicker), it would be very close to a dream machine. A shame that you have to trade off GPU performance for size in 2017

@4004
Good news, is that there're already plenty of light, < 2.6 kg 15" laptops with 1070 dGPU. The bad news though, is that all of them feature Nvidia G-SYNC, not Optimus, which is roughly 2 hours on-screen time at best. (And even with iGPU switch, it'll take more than the 100 Whr of airline battery limit to get all-day battery life) This is mainly because majority of people willing to buy those laptops would sacrifice battery life, for better gaming experience. There is a modification to allow both, to enable end users to switch between the two modes in BIOS, as Clevo has done with some of their laptops. But unfortunately, other ODMs just don't bother with it.

@dthrp well, I wouldn't use the word "plenty". Most of them are either ugly barebones (or plain ugly), or overpriced attempts at a proper machine, like Aorus and (somewhat) Razer.I wouldn't mind gsync and battery life of 10 minutes that much if it was in a nice shell, well assembled and below 3k$. Sad!

I'm debating between the AERO 15 & AERO 14, they have very similar specs and price, what are the main differences?

Thank you!

By the looks of it, the keyboard rollover issue seems to be quite serious, yet still unresolved for now. This may be a deal breaker for some gamers.

In other reviews it is said that the laptop bottom is fixed with tamper-proof screws, and the warranty is void if open by the user for upgrading the RAM or the SSD. Someone can confirm?

I can't recommend this laptop to any other than probably gaming freaks. Non of the tests mentions that the keyboard does not support plenty of hotkey functions I need for 3ds max, zBrush, After Effects etc.
STRG+ALT+SHIFT+ any key
STRG+ALT + stroke does not invert function in zBrush.
It's so basic, I guess the testers even didn't think about this could not work on any computer on earth.
Well Gigabyte did it!
It's a shame that this good product lecks on this unbelievable basic functionality.
Hilarious fusion software on 1.8 can make a christmas tree out of your keyboard but doesn't know that iti is a keyboard first.
Please mention this leck on function in your test, otherwise you are recommending an unuseable product.
Do you want so?

Yes, there have been three screws covered while I was openeing the back for upgrading ram and ssd. 
Another absolutly No Go for any user.

Got to reduce the intense of my last comment.
The Aero does a brilliant job as a working horse so far.

Anyway some keyboard combinations are still missing:

Fusion 1.1.8

LCTRL+LSHIFT+SPACE = LCTRL+LSHIFT+B
LCTRL+LSHIFT+DOWN = LCTRL+LSHIFT+UP = WTF!?
LCTRL+LALT+X = no function
LCTRL+LALT+E = no function
LCTRL+LALT+D = no function
LSHIFT+LALT+X = no function

More than this LSHIFT+LCTRL+LALT turns out different results, but none expected. You can check this with your fusion software and flashkeys on.
So LSHIFT+LCTRL+LALT+ANYKEY is not working.

LALT+LCTRL first, LSHIFT will not be recognized.
LSHIFT+LCTRL first and later LALT turns out in: SHIFT+CTRL+B ???!!!
LSHIFT+LALT first and last LCTRL - LCTRL is not recognized.

Some are also reporting missing combinations including capslock.
An external keyboard is working without any restrictions, it is said.

I really do love my Aero15 as it is exactly what I wanted.
Please, Gigabyte, resolve last issues with keyboard and turn your product into that monster tool that it should have been from the very beginning.

Got the Aero 15 a few days ago. Beautiful machine. Great battery life -- I am getting 6-8 hrs on web browsing, Excel, and watching some videos. Not feather-light but not heavy. Basically a great daily driver, almost ideal, BUT...

...The bloody keyboard ghosting issue has NOT been fully solved. There are still many key combos (in my case Excel shortcuts) that do not work properly but work completely fine on my 3-year-old GS60. Pressing 4 keys at the same time almost always causes problems -- either the combo doesn't work or something not-intended happens. So far this is happening, to a large extent, whenever the fn key is involved. This is pretty important for fast Excel modeling.

Bah. If this issue were fixed, the machine would be fantastic. Contemplating returning.

Great review, as always!
I've owned both Mac (2012 Pro) and Windows (Inspiron 2011) laptops before and decided to update to more performance laptop (both for programing and gaming) and was wondering with which ecosystem to continue, so I was also considering of buying
new Macbook Pro and was not able to decide which one to pick. After a lot of googling and multiple comments I've found a website which shows reviews from multiple sources and the overall score. The overall score part from multiple verified sources made my choice. You can also check the url of this laptop: https://goo.gl/mnUvau (rewagg.com)
Of course notebookcheck is kind of out of comparison when it's related to laptop reviews, because they provided the most details (hardware) review, but it's always a good idea to check what others say))

i bought this laptop a few weeks ago and so far im extremely satisfied with it. its RGB display is amazing, made even greater by the almost bezeless display. its battery life is exceptional, able to last me 7 hours with the brightness at 80% which is quite bright. its heavier than it looks but its battery life, function and design make up for this.
A great laptop from Gigabyte, definitely recommend to others.

I want to compare aero 15 and aero 14. Does anybody have display response time of these laptops besides notebookchexk results? What about battery life of aero 14 and 15. Notebookcheck messed up I think. I dont think that there is a 2 hour difference in websuring test and 5 hours in idle plus the aero 14 has x1440 that just do not any sense.

I am looking for a new laptop considering I need to use it mainly for game engine programming, 3D Modeling softwares, Web&Mobile programming, graphics and design.

I am considering buying the Aero 15 over the xps15 but I am kind of afraid about the RGB/RGBs fidelity. Do you have better laptops for me to consider with all these needs? Should I consider the aero 15X whilte it is 600$ more? Thank you!

This Laptop is actually mess and not that performant at all. I directly compare it with the consumer level Acer VN7-593G and the Gigabyte is half as fast as the Acer (3dMark, Intel ETU Benchmark). Why? Well it's Hardware componets seem all to run on half their possible Speed.
For example. Intel ETU Reports a max core of 2,50Ghz, the Acers does 3.8. This lead to 590Marks for the Aero to 950Marks for the Acer !!!
Additionally the SSD in the Aero is only SATA and slow as hell. You definitly Need to calculate additional 400€ on top to replace it with a NVMe to closly compare to the Acer.
Linux does not boot on the Gigabyte (Fedora and Ubuntu) as the boot process locks with kernel error because of 'soft lockup - CPU#4 stuck...'. This is actually the first Laptop since 30yrs I notice that.

Sure, the Aero is smaller, lighter and stays cool all the time, but honestly, this is just because all the Hardware is running on half-Speed.

Additionally, please notice that the Thunderbolt 3 is definitly only PCi 2.0 2-lane and not as advertised full 4 PCI lanes.

Overall a very disapointing package for that price.

Even though the Gigabyte name is relatively new for PCs in my country (though is very famous for pc components, of course), this is the perfect laptop!
In a very thin chassis it packages all the power you'll need: it is perfect for work, for gaming and anything you want.
The screen is awesome and moreover it has no bezel: marevellous!
Very satisfied! (I bought it in summer)

Runs as good as my PC;One of the few laptops that have 144Hz.
Would recommend .

Got this laptop today. I know it's 1 year late and there are newer and better versions of Aero 15 out there now, but I gotta say that this one is still relevant. The price is lower than the newer versions and it's still the best one at that price point. Screen is very nice, looks elegant because of the minimum bezel. Adapter is smaller compared to the others, and the keyboard feels nice. It also lasts very long, so long that it doesn't feel like a gaming laptop. Minus points are the webcam placement and the strange feel in the touchpad.

can i install second SSD?