Asus ROG Strix Hero II

Not too long ago, budget gaming laptops felt inexpensive in the worst of ways, with terrible TN screens and shoddy plastic bodies. However, these days they’re a huge step forward, with excellent built quality to match their impressive gaming performance, all while maintaining a reasonable price.

The Asus ROG Strix Hero II, announced at Computex 2018, furthers this trend with a nearly bezel-less display and enough RGB lighting to make your friends jealous. Best of all, every Asus ROG Strix Hero II is well equipped with the latest Intel Coffee Lake processors and up to Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics.

Price and availability

The Asus ROG Strix Hero II starts at a none-too-shabby $1,699 (about £1,270, AU$2,240), which is pretty decent when you consider it comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-8750H, GTX 1060 6GB, Full HD 144Hz display 16GB 2666Mhz RAM, 256GB PCIe SSD and a 1TB FireCuda SSHD.

Those are practically the same specs you’ll find on the Acer Predator Helios 300, which costs a much more affordable $1,099 (about £820, AU$1,450), but also comes with a plain old Full HD 60Hz display. 

Of course, the recently announced Special Edition version of Acer’s affordable gaming laptop would be a fairer comparison, as it sports a newer Coffee Lake processor and an overclockable version of the Nvidia GTX 1060, but the company has yet to disclose pricing for the newest model.

Design

It’s strange to see a bezel-less display for a gaming laptop that costs as little as the Hero II does, yet nothing about it screams "budget". Rather, it’s a well-built notebook whose only fault is using a little too much plastic.

This is especially noticeable just below the screen, where the bottom seems to be made out of a cheap strip of plastic that measures more than two inches tall. 

Asus has tried its best to mask this fact by giving almost every square inch of the Hero II an interesting texture or diagonally stacked brushed finish, and for the most part it works well. No two parts of this laptop look the same.

The Hero II has also seen a serious injection of RGB lighting. The keyboard is now split into four sections that you can customize, along with a nearly full width light bar at the front of the laptop that can show a rippling spectrum of colors.

Otherwise, the only really notable design element is the transparent keycaps on the Q, W, E and R keys to help multiplayer online battle arena players find their way to their hero skills. It might seem like a trivial thing, but the MoBA gamer focus of this machine is a big part of its draw. It's exactly while Asus split the ROG Strix Scar II off and tuned it for FPS shooter fans.

 Specs and performance

The Asus ROG Strix Hero II comes with an 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8300H processor paired with at least a Nvidia GTX 1060 graphics card and 16GB of RAM. StarCraft II players and fans of other strategy games might want to opt for a CPU upgrade to the Intel Core i7-8750H to better power all those little AI units.

Meanwhile, on the storage front you can have either a 128GB, 256GB or 512GB SSD paired with a 1TB hard drive or 1TB SSHD hybrid drive.

Even with just a Core i5 processor, this machine looks poised to easily handle any MoBA game. Admittedly, these arena battle games are never too resource intensive, but it should have no problem running Overwatch, PUBG or even Battlefield V when it releases.

Unfortunately, we weren't actually able to play any games during Computex, so we're hoping it performs as well as other equally-equipped notebooks in the wild.

Early verdict

The Asus ROG Strix Hero II is a helluva an upgrade over what we expected from an affordable gaming laptop. On top the surprisingly attractive chassis, this laptop comes overly equipped to serve the MoBA community its targeting. 

However, its focus on diehard League of Legends and Dota 2 players may alienate other gamers.

• We’ve rounded up all the latest news from Computex 2018

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Shopify

Shopify is a one-stop e-commerce platform which provides just about everything you need to build and grow your web store: a template-based site builder, comprehensive product catalog, easy payment processing, automated fulfillment via shipping apps and other integrations, inventory management, powerful analytics and more.

Beginners can start gently by focusing on their storefront. Shopify has more than 100 top-quality templates available, better than most of the competition, although only 10 of these are free. An excellent theme browser enables filtering the designs by industry or layout type. Most themes are available in multiple styles, and you can preview any of these with a click.

Professional store features include support for customer accounts, product reviews, automatic tax and shipping rates, abandoned checkout recovery, 100+ payment gateways and more.

• Sign up for Shopify here

Store management tools cover easy order fulfillment, inventory management and refund tools. Marketing options such as gift cards, discounts and email marketing help you drum up more business, and detailed reports and Google Analytics support provide essential feedback on your efforts so far. There's even a custom mobile app so that you can view and control what's happening, wherever you are.

Shopify doesn't have nearly as many of the annoying limits or catches that you'll sometimes get with other platforms. You can sell as many products as you like, or whatever type, there's no bandwidth or disk space limit, and you don't have to factor in the cost of SSL as there's a free certificate thrown in.

Despite all this functionality, the Basic Shopify plan is available for a very reasonable $29 (£20.71) a month. This doesn't include gift cards or Shopify's more advanced reports, but otherwise includes all the features we've described so far.

The only significant penalty comes in the transaction fees. The company's own Shopify Payments scheme doesn't have any, but if you prefer anyone else you'll pay 2.2% + 20p for online credit card payments, or a flat 2% when using external payment gateways.

There's also a minor hassle in that you only get support for two staff accounts. Some competitors don't impose any user limits at all.

Upgrading to the $79 (£56.43) Shopify account cuts credit card charges to 1.9% + 20p and 1% on external gateways. You also get gift cards, professional reports, and an option for up to five staff members to access and manage your accounts.

Other plans range from a simple Shopify Life subscription which enables selling on social media and taking credit card payments for only $9 (£6.43) a month, up to enterprise-level schemes and add-ons which allow for taking orders and payments in a physical store.

Whatever attracts your attention, Shopify offers a free 14-day trial to help you explore it further, with no credit card details required.

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Getting started

Signing up with Shopify works much as you would expect: hand over your email address, name, physical address and phone number, and the service logs you into Shopify's web admin console within a few seconds.

The Shopify interface does its best to keep options to a minimum. A left-hand sidebar organizes features into straightforward categories - Orders, Products, Customers, Analytics, Discounts, Apps - while the Dashboard highlights how you should get started (add products, then customize your store). It's all very clean and simple.

One problem with this minimalist approach is it's not immediately obvious where you should look to carry out a particular task. Fortunately, a well-designed search system is on hand to point you in the right direction.

Start typing in the box and matching interface options are displayed and updated as you go. We began typing PayPal, for instance, but by the time we reached 'PayP' the search box was displaying just one match, Payment Provider Settings. Tapping this took us to the relevant page in the Settings screen and we were able to check out our various options.

Shopify's dashboard design won't be for everyone. Competitors such as UltraCart and Volusion make arguably better use of their home pages, for example displaying reports on store performance so they're always visible at a glance. Those sites can also look cluttered and be more intimidating to e-commerce newbies, though, and overall Shopify's dashboard provides a comfortable and straightforward place to work.

Creating your store

The Shopify dashboard suggests that adding a product is the 'first step to launching your store', so we clicked the Add button to get started.

The website displayed a simple Add Product form where we were able to manually enter product details. This covers all the essentials you would expect - description, images, linked videos, product classifications (type, vendor, collections, tags), variants, pricing, inventory details, shipping - but little more.

Shopify product descriptions can include basic tables, for instance, while an Insert Video box enables entering simple embed codes. By contrast, BigCommerce offers almost as many table settings and options as Microsoft Word, and its Embed Media box offers fine-tuned control over HTML5 video and audio, Flash, generic IFrame and other objects.

Shopify supports importing product catalogs from other platforms, too, although this isn't immediately clear from the interface. The manual product entry page doesn't have an Import option and it's not visible in the sidebar, so you won't see it unless you go to the Products section.

Import features are minimal. Shopify only supports CSV files, the maximum file size is only 15MB, and there's no control over the import process and no option to link custom fields in the CSV to specific Shopify product attributes. This won't be an issue if the file is in the correct format, though, and Shopify does at least provide a sample file to help, as well as previewing the results of the import process before asking you to accept it.

Shipping support is better, at least once you've realized where it is (buried in Settings rather than highlighted on the Dashboard as a must-do task.)

The system gets you off to a quick start with some reasonable default settings: you're shipping from the address you specified during setup, you're charging domestic shipping rates for your home country and have a single shipping zone to cover the rest of the world. Even if this isn't accurate, it gives you some sample values to explore.

If you need more, you're able to add as many other shipping zones as necessary. Each one can include your choice of countries, and your shipping rates can be calculated based on the price or weight of an order, or calculated from the rates taken from a specific shipping provider or app.

Although Shopify doesn't allow for specifying the dimensions of a product, you can enter weight, and a Packages system enables setting up different prices for the various package sizes and types you'll use to ship your products.

Setting up your payment providers is equally straightforward. PayPal Express checkouts are enabled by default. The Stripe-powered Shopify Payments system enables taking payments via credit cards once you've provided a few more personal and financial details.

There's direct support for Amazon Pay and you can also choose to accept alternative payments, as well as manual and other options (bank deposit, cash on delivery, money order, more.) You can set up whatever you need with minimal hassle and be taking orders almost immediately.

Running your business

Designing your site is a good start, but the real work comes in running the store over the long term, so it's important that your chosen platform has all the necessary tools to help.

One major Shopify highlight is its mobile app (iOS and Android are supported.)

Along with its general site management and inventory tasks (adding and editing products, browsing reports), the app enables processing orders, issuing refunds, connecting with staff or contacting customers directly. This means there's no waiting around for customers if you happen to be out of the office - you can give them the speedy service they expect, almost wherever you are.

Built-in analytics give you an at-a-glance view of many important business stats: total orders and sales; top products; online store sessions by location, device type and traffic source; sales by social and traffic source; and top referrers and landing pages. Individual reports give you more detail, and a capable report generator gives you multiple report templates and allows you to edit columns and add custom filters.

As we've seen, there's a lot of functionality here, but it doesn't just stop with the standard Shopify features. An exceptionally busy App Store enables expanding its powers by integrating with an array of third-party services covering every aspect of your business: marketing, sales, social media, shipping, inventory, customer service, accounting, reporting and more.

We don't have the space here to do justice to what's on offer, but to give you an idea, here are just some of the things you can do with Shopify's free social media apps: enable signing up and logging in with multiple social network accounts; embed Instagram feeds in your store; automatically post custom messages to social networks when you add new products; collect reviews from Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and use them in your store; integrate messaging via Skype, Messenger, SMS and email; promote best-selling products on your favorite sites, and the list goes on…

Many of these apps are free or include free options, and overall they greatly expand what the service can do. If you're browsing Shopify's website to find out more about the service, be sure to check out the App Store, too.

Final verdict

An excellent e-commerce platform, relatively easy to use and with a huge library of apps for integrating with other services. Beware the transaction fees if you don't use Shopify Payments, though.

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Asus ZenBook S

Asus has pretty much mastered the Ultrabook category, so it was inevitable that the company would create something a little crazy – and so enter the Asus ZenBook S introduced at Computex 2018.

On first blush, this 13-inch Ultrabook might look like any other Asus has produced before, but then it rears up to be one of the most ergonomic and efficiently cooled laptops we’ve seen in some time.

Price and availability

The Asus ZenBook S (UX391) arrives first to the US on June 11 with a starting price of $1,199 (about £900, AU$1,570). At this price point, Asus’ ultra-slim laptop would undercut the Acer Swift 7, which was introduced earlier in the year for $1,699 or £1,599 (about AU$2,160) to start.

That said, the HP Spectre 13 is still the most affordable Ultrabook in its class with a price of only $1,149 (about £859, AU$1,509) for a well configured model that includes an Intel Core i7-8550U CPU, Full HD screen, 256GB SSD and 8GB of DDR3 RAM.

Design

It’s also incredibly thin and lightweight, measuring only 0.5-inches (1.29cm) thick and 2.3 pounds (1.04kg). That said, the Acer Swift 7 is still the thinnest laptop in the world being only 0.35 inches (0.9cm) thick.

The Asus ZenBook S strikes an imposing figure when its open. Thanks to its ‘ErgoLift Hinge,’ the laptop’s screen lifts upward by more than a full inch to better meet you at eye level. Meanwhile, the rear end of the screen lid, pitches the keyboard at a 5.5-degrees to simulate a desktop typing experience.

After going through these two transformations, this Ultrabook feels a lot more comfortable to use than many of the other laptops we’ve used in the past – with the exception of the Dell Adamo XPS, which brought forth the very same design as the ZenBook S nearly eight years ago.

Beyond the creature comforts this design provides, Asus claims the ErgoLift Hinge allows for better cooling. Rather than simply having the laptop just sit on a surface and heat it up, the extra space beneath the ZenBook S allows it to pull in more cool air and expel heat through the hinge. We don’t know if it actually works in practice, but we look forward to not resting a hot laptop against our thighs.

Asus claims the ErgoLift hinge also enhances audio by angling the bottom-firing speakers. The laptop also features a smart amplifier that automatically maximizes volume for top-notch sound quality. Again we weren’t able to really test this feature in the middle of the busy and noisy press event, but Asus reasoning seems to be sound.

Lastly, the ZenBook S’ fancy hinge also plays into minimal 5.9mm NanoEdge bezels around the screen. By moving the hinge up, Asus has basically cheated its way out removing this laptop’s fat chin. However, in this process, the ZenBook S has an effective 85% screen-to-body ratio, so all you see above the keyboard is really just the screen with a barely visible border around it.

Specs and performance

Despite its ultra-thin formfactor, the sports the best components found in any of today’s hottest Ultrabooks. This includes up to an Intel Core i7-8550U processor with Intel HD Graphics 620, 16GB of DDR3 memory at 2,133MHz and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage.

Base models will likely come with less storage and memory as well as a lower-tier – but still entirely serviceable – Intel Core i5-8250U CPU.

During our brief time with the device, the Asus ZenBook S seems to have no problems launching applications and making Windows 10 feel zippy.

As ever, this Ultrabook features Asus’ almost-too-vibrant screen. But now it also comes paired with its Tru2Life video technology, which enhances contrast, sharpness and playback smoothness through pixel analysis. After seeing a few video clips, we’re convinced this laptop will make a great streaming video device.

Asus proposes that the ZenBook S will last a whopping 13 and a half hours on a single charge, but we’ll remain skeptical of that claim until we perform our own testing.

Early verdict

The Asus ZenBook S isn’t the world’s thinnest, most affordable or even 100% uniquely designed laptop – but that doesn’t really matter.

With a reasonable starting price, smart design choices and some truly awesome color options, it still looks like the Ultrabook treat yourself with now.

But before you do, you should hold tight for our full review coming within the coming months.

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Yamaha R-N303 audio receiver review

In an era of soundbars and built-in speakers, AV receivers seem to be getting less common. But that doesn’t mean they’re without use – allowing you to control multiple sources from one single remote, and control different sets of speakers for different uses.

That doesn’t mean, however, that they shouldn’t be refreshed every now and then. After all, in 2018 CDs are well and truly on their way out, as streaming services and wireless features become standard. Yamaha has tried to combine the classic AV receiver with modern functionality – and the result is the Yamaha R-N303. At $249/£299 it could be a pretty great deal, especially if it delivers on its modern features. Does it? We put the Yamaha R-N303 to the test to find out.

Design and setup

The Yamaha R-N303 is actually a very easy receiver to set up. Once you pull it out of the box, you’ll simply plug in cables connected to your speakers and sources. The receiver supports CD players or any other line input, as well as two sets of stereo speakers here. If you want surround sound, though, you’ll probably need to shell out a bit more cash for a receiver that can connect to all your speakers. The receiver also has an optical input, which is good news for those that want to connect their TV directly to the unit. You’ll want to make sure you have all the appropriate cables, but for speakers the unit supports both banana plugs and wire cables. And if you plan on using the unit for listening to the radio, you’ll want to connect the included antennas.

Once all your physical connections are set up, you can connect the device to your Wi-Fi network. This, unfortunately, is a step that we had a lot of trouble with. The first time we tried to set up the device, it got stuck trying to connect and wouldn't link to the app. After a chat with a Yamaha rep, we were able to reset the device and connect it to an iPhone – but still had trouble with an Android device. (We were told this is a rare occurrence.)

Either way, the system was thankfully still able to connect through Bluetooth – so even if you can’t get the MusicCast app up and running, you’ll still be able to play music from your phone.

In use

Using the Yamaha R-N303 isn’t too difficult, but it’s not the easiest affair either. Once you get used to how the remote works, you’ll be able to make your way around the interface pretty easily – and once everything is set up you’ll get into a routine of using the receiver.

The remote may look intimidating but, again, you probably won’t use all of the buttons. It’s broken down into a few different sections. Near the top you’ll control power and sleep mode, below which you’ll have input selectors – allowing you to choose where your audio is coming from. A bit further down you’ll have radio controls, a directional pad and selection buttons, menu buttons, and so on. It’s really not difficult to get used to, but it may take a few minutes to get your head around.

Last but not least is the MusicCast app, and if you can get it to connect it’s really quite nice. From the app you can turn the receiver on and off, and play music from some of the better-known music streaming services, or directly from your phone. As a Google Play Music user, it was pretty disappointing to find that some services weren’t supported, including Google Play Music and Apple Music, among others.

Connecting through Bluetooth and using the receiver as a Bluetooth device is pretty straightforward. You connect the same way you would any other Bluetooth device, after which you can play music from your phone, and use the remote to control playback.

Sound

Of course, perhaps the most important thing about the receiver is how it sounds, and we found it perfectly capable. As mentioned, the receiver supports stereo speakers – and really that’s all it supports. Not only can you not connect stereo speakers, but there’s also no support for a subwoofer – though that’s not entirely unusual for this price bracket.

The receiver offers two stereo 100W outputs with support for 96kHz 24-bit playback, and it sounds great. For true audiophiles, it may be worth investing in a slightly higher-power unit that supports both surround sound and a subwoofer. We found the unit delivered decent low-end through the speakers we were using, but the bass could certainly be boosted a little. 

Verdict

For the price, the Yamaha R-N303 receiver is a very solid option. While there are some downsides, like the lack of surround sound and the buggy wireless setup, in general the receiver is pretty easy to use and sounds great. Perhaps the best thing about it, however, is how inexpensive it is – at $249/£299, you’d be hard-pressed to find another receiver that supports this many features.

• Best AV receiver 2018: which should you buy?

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Google Apps for Work (G Suite) 2018 review

Philips Brilliance BDM4350UC

To paraphrase Paul Hogan in the iconic 1986 movie Crocodile Dundee: “That’s not a monitor – this is a monitor!”

The Philips Brilliance BDM4350UC is a 43-inch monster gaming display aimed at those who aspire to 4K, and want to be able to see the extra details when they run in this mode from across the room.

But how practical is a screen this big, and what aspects have been sacrificed to achieve the affordable price point of $499 (around £375)?

Design

As designs go, the BDM4350UC doesn’t break any molds or challenge any expectations. It’s a 43-inch IPS panel – with a 1cm border on three sides and a marginally thicker bezel on the bottom – that most people will immediately assume is a TV.

With such a large screen and a weight of nearly 10kg to contend with, in terms of a stand, the designers went with two wide spaced aluminum feet that screw to the underside.

These project about 10cm from the panel, limiting how close to a wall you can get the monitor, although the screen does also have VESA 200 mounting holes for those who like wall mounts or desk pillars.

One annoyance that we immediately identified was the placement of the input ports on the rear of this screen.

There are five video inputs: two DisplayPort 1.2 connectors, another pair of HDMI 2.0 ports, and a wholly nostalgic VGA port. Why VGA was included is a mystery, because that interface doesn’t support 4K resolutions, and any video card with only that connection available would be hard pressed to offer decent performance at 1080p.

Up to four of the inputs can be used at once, should you have four 1080p systems that you’d like to see picture-in-picture.

Along with the video inputs, there are also audio jacks and a full USB 3.0 hub with four ports.

What’s wrong with all these inputs is that they are all at 90-degrees to the back of the screen, rather than flush. That means for wall mounting, you will probably need to find cables with L-shaped connectors, or you will have cabling problems.

Most TVs have flush or recessed ports these days, and Philips makes plenty of them, so why this flaw wasn’t spotted and corrected is anyone’s guess.

Where this design seems less like a TV is the inclusion of a control joystick, a system which in the last six months has taken over from the confusing button clusters that came before.

The joystick provides access to an on-screen menu system that allows you to tweak a wide range of settings including brightness, contrast, color temperature and input selection.

One slight oddity with this menu is that it will only appear once any input is detected. When we received the review model it defaulted to the German language, and we attempted to change it to English, but the menu would almost immediately disappear before we could make the change. However, once plugged into a PC we were able to say ‘auf wiedersehen’ to that language option without any further issues.

Overall, the BDM4350UC isn’t anything special from a design or aesthetics perspective, rather it is mostly about the panel and what that can achieve with a suitable computer or console.

Performance

Philips quotes an sRGB gamut of 100% for this panel, although in our calibration testing we only managed 97% and just 75% of AdobeRGB.

Those aren’t bad numbers, but it wouldn’t tempt anyone who works professionally with color to pick this monitor as their weapon of choice.

For gaming purposes, the colors are fine if not exceptionally punchy, and the static contrast levels are good – even if they need a little tweaking away from the default settings.

Pleasingly, the tonal response is almost exactly Gamma 2.2 across the full range. But what lets this panel down is the backlight, or rather the inconsistency of it over the full 43-inches of this screen.

Most screens are brighter in the center than the edges, but the BDM4350UC’s variation is extreme; possibly too much. In testing luminance levels, the middle of the screen was generating 279 cd/m2 whereas the top-right was only 205 cd/m2. That’s a third lower.

The other problems are frame and backlight shadows that become very apparent when the screen is a uniform color. In moving games with a complicated background these artefacts weren’t noticeable.  But, set the desktop to a single flat color, and they immediately become apparent.

The review model had three distinctly brighter patches to the right of middle, for example. This may not be the case with the model you purchase, of course, but all we can report is what we saw with our review sample.

If you can accept that this screen isn’t perfect – and at this price, we shouldn’t expect it to be – there is one more issue to consider. Can you afford 4K?

Is 4K a blessing?

There is an issue with 4K panels that the makers can’t address. It’s to do with the GPU a PC must have to drive that many pixels at a decent framerate in most popular titles.

We’d recommend that the minimum spec for 4K gaming is at least a GTX 1070, but ideally a GTX 1080 video card, if you like those detail settings to remain high. If you don’t have a fast contemporary GPU, they can be an expensive proposition – particularly when the prices are driven up by cryptocurrency miners, as we’ve seen in recent times.

This screen is also of a size where it is assumed that you have either a very deep desk to place it on, or a room where the screen is situated at least five feet from the viewer.

That might be conceivable in many American homes, but is perhaps much less practical in European properties, where floor space is usually more restricted.

The necessity for an expensive GPU and a big room to use this monitor in does raise questions regarding the practicality of 4K gaming for many people.

Final verdict

The BDM4350UC is something of a mixed bag, with big-screen gaming at one end and average metrics at the other. If you must have a 4K screen that everyone can easily see from a distance, then this is it. However, using it as a general-purpose display is less desirable.

The price is excellent, though, given that if you plug this into a cable box, it can easily double for a TV – so maybe it is best to think of the BDM4350UC as one without an inbuilt decoder.

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Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO

Roccat has been dutifully making excellent gaming keyboards for a while now, but in a market that’s getting ever more competitive, how do you stand out from the crowd? With the Vulcan 120 AIMO, which has launched at Computex 2018, Roccat aims to do just that by combining its experience, build quality and a striking design that’s unlike any gaming keyboard we’ve seen before.

It seems like the company is playing to its strengths, and that’s always welcome. On the box of the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO, it proudly says “German Design & Engineering."

And, while it’s eye-catching design will certainly be getting a lot of attention, there’s also some finer details that Roccat has lavished on the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO in a bid to make it one of the best gaming keyboards money can buy. But, has it succeeded? 

Price and availability

Roccat has told us that the Vulcan 120 AIMO will be sold in late Q3 of 2018, and it is available to pre-order now. There will be the Vulcan 80 AIMO, which does not include the customisable LED backlighting (it is just a single color), nor a wrist rest, and that will cost £119 (around $160, AU$200).

There’s also the Vulcan 100 AIMO, which doesn’t come with a wrist rest and costs £139 (around $190, AU$250).

Finally, the Vulcan 120 AIMO that we review here will be sold for £149 (around $200, AU$260).  This puts it at around the same price as the Logitech G513 at £159 ($149, about AU$200) and other mid-range gaming keyboards like the $159 (£159, AU$215) Corsair K70 LUX RGB and $149 (£149, AU$189) Cooler Master MasterKeys MK750.

Design

The design of the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO is, quite simply, stunning. As soon as we saw it, we loved the look. In many ways, the design is quite conservative for a gaming keyboard. There’s a brushed aluminium body, and the seemingly obligatory RGB back lighting, but one small difference really makes this keyboard stand out.

And that is the keys themselves. Unlike other keyboards that have key caps that cover the entire key, including the switch, the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO only has keycaps over the top of the key, leaving the rest exposed.

It’s a small design tweak that makes a huge difference, giving the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO an industrial-like feel as the mechanical parts are exposed, while also giving a hint of retro cool that's similar to old typewriters.

It certainly doesn’t look old fashioned, however, as those RGB LEDs which light up each individual key look even more striking as they glow around each key, as well as through the top, as the switches themselves are transparent.

There’s no dedicated macro keys on the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO, which some people may miss, but we think helps keep it from feeling cluttered. 

Instead, macros can be assigned to the F1, F2, F3 and F4 keys. There is a dial knob in the top right-hand corner of the keyboard. Next to it are three buttons. One mutes the volume of your device. The next button is the ‘FX’ button. Pressing this, then twisting the knob lets you scroll through the various lighting options. There is also a volume button, and pressing this lets you use the knob to control sound volume.

It also comes with a wrist rest you can attach to it. It’s a nice addition, but it’s made of rigid plastic, which means it’s not as comfortable to use as a padded wrist rest. In the end, we swapped it out for a wrist rest we’d previously been using. It’s the one misstep in an otherwise flawless design.

Performance

Roccat is yet another company that has dropped the popular Cherry MX mechanical switches for its own, with the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO using Roccat Titan switches. These have a 1.8mm actuation point, and are probably most similar to Cherry MX Brown switches.

So, you get a tactile switch that feels light and fast. The half-weight caps on the keys don’t just give the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO a striking look, it also allows the keys to return to their position much faster. It’s not as loud or ‘clicky’ as some mechanical keyboards are, but the quickness of the switches makes it a fantastic keyboard for typing on, as well as a very good gaming keyboard.

According to Roccat the electrical bounce time of the keys is reduce by 20%, compared to Cherry MX Switches, to 4ms, and it results in a very responsive feeling keyboard that can keep up with frantic typing, as well as fast-paced action in games.

This means the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO is an excellent keyboard if you use your PC for working on as well as playing games. While the Roccat Titan switches aren’t quite as good at gaming as Cherry MX Red switches, the Red switches aren’t always great for typing on. The Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO feels much more well-rounded in that regard.

Final verdict

Overall, we are very impressed with the Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO. Its design is absolutely gorgeous, and we love the way it does something different with RGB lighting. The half-capped keys are a masterstroke that really makes the keyboard stand out, and there are practical benefits to it as well, with the keys being lighter and faster.

The Roccat Vulcan 120 AIMO also performs brilliantly in both gaming and typing, as it feels fast and responsive with an actuation point that is not too shallow, and gives you tactile feedback when pressing the keys. It’s not the loudest mechanical keyboard we’ve tried, which will please anyone who sits near you when you type and game.

It is expensive, but you’re getting a fantastic and versatile keyboard that looks fantastic. We really can’t say enough good things about its design. It’s just a shame that we find the wrist rest to be not as comfortable as cushioned ones, but that’s a minor complaint, really.

• Here's our list of the best gaming keyboards of 2018

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ASUS VivoBook S

ASUS has a lot on show at Computex 2018, and two of the most interesting things to roll out were the VivoBook S15 and VivoBook S14. These new laptops sport a much more casual and colorful attitude, and ASUS says they’re “designed for the young and the young at heart”.

Price and availability

The ASUS VivoBook S15 will be available in late June for around $699 (about £525, AU$699), and availability of the VivoBook S14 will be announced at a later date.

Design and specifications

The eye-catching colors are the first thing you’ll notice about the VivoBook S. You can choose from Firmament Green, Star Grey, Silver Blue, Gun Metal, and Icicle Gold. The Firmament Green version is the only model that features its color throughout – the other models simply feature a colored trim on the sides, with an all-grey finish.

This model also features a textured woven finish surrounding the keyboard, while the Icicle Gold model sports a brushed finish with diamond-inspired motifs for that slightly edgier look.

ASUS is touting its new ErgoLift hinge on several of its new models, and the VivoBook is no exception. The new hinge essentially lifts the base of the laptop upwards when you open it, thus tilting the keyboard by 3.5 degrees to make for a more comfortable typing experience. 

Both models feature significantly thinner bezels at the top and sides, giving a much more immersive experience when you're staring at the screen all day. Weight-wise the 15.6-inch S15 weighs only 3.96lb (1.8kg), while the 14-inch S14 has an overall weight of 3.08lb (1.4kg). They’re slim enough to slip into a standard laptop or messenger bag as well, measuring just 0.71 inches (18mm) at their thinnest point.

Connectivity-wise there’s a satisfactory number of ports available, including USB 3.1 Type-C, three USB Type-A, full-size HDMI, and a microSD card reader. We would have liked a standard SD card reader instead, as well as an Ethernet port.

A full-size keyboard makes for comfortable typing, and the keys travel far enough to register a satisfying click with each keystroke. The ErgoLift hinge does really make a difference when typing, though if you’re using the VivoBook on your lap, you might not notice much difference.

The touchpad is spacious and responsive as well, with a small fingerprint sensor on the top right for easier logins via Windows Hello.

The VivoBook S may seem like a playful little number, but its specs tell a different story. Both models can be configured with up to 8th Generation Intel Core i7 processors, along with 16GB RAM and NVIDIA GeForce MX150 discrete graphics.

In terms of storage, the S15 has a dual-storage design that allows up to 512GB SSD and a 2TB HDD to be used for maximum performance.

Early verdict

The VivoBook S certainly aims to be a playful and lightweight laptop that anyone can pick up to enjoy decent performance in an attractive form-factor. It’s got an attractive price point that would make it a great choice for design students who want something that looks good but can keep up with basic designing tasks.

• Check out all the latest news and hands-on reviews from Computex 2018

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