At CES 2021, gaming manufacturers will unveil this year's laptop lineup, and Asus is no exception The company's ROG (Republic of Gamers) lineup includes a number of new notebooks, including lightweight models that can be connected to small external graphics cards, as well as robust devices that rival many powerful desktops on the market

The Asus ROG Flow X13 is a small gaming laptop that can take advantage of a powerful eGPU, while the ROG Strix Scar 17 is a powerful system featuring the latest CPU, GPU, and display technology

Asus calls the ROG Flow X13 "the first 2-in-1 convertible ROG laptop," which essentially means it has three modes It can be used as a laptop, as a touchscreen device, or as a makeshift gaming desktop in combination with the ROG XG Mobile, a surprisingly small eGPU

The ROG Flow X13 by itself is powered by "up to an 8-core AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS CPU" (Asus has not stated what the lower model will have) and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU Users can choose between a Full HD screen with a 120 Hz refresh rate or a 4K screen with an unspecified refresh rate (possibly lower)

Even more interesting are the laptop's physical specs: 06 inches thick and weighing 29 pounds, Asus estimates battery life at 10 hours, with fast charging via USB-C There is also an HDMI port, a USB-A port, and a 35mm audio port

Thanks to its touchscreen and 360-degree hinge, the X13 can also be used as a tablet

The ROG XG Mobile is where things get interesting Unlike larger, unwieldy external GPU housings, the ROG XG Mobile is only 82 inches long and weighs 22 pounds Nevertheless, the device supports GPUs up to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and provides both cooling and additional ports for the ROG Flow X13: specifically, four USB-A ports, SD card reader, Ethernet port, and DisplayPort, HDMI ports

The ROG Flow X13 and ROG XG Mobile bundle is available for pre-order on the Asus store For pricing and delivery details, visit the official website

At the absolute other end of the spectrum is the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17, which Asus calls a "gaming powerhouse," and from the specs, that seems accurate This 17-inch laptop is powered by an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU and an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU

It also has 32GB of RAM, up to 2TB of SSD storage (two 1TB drives), an optical mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting, and up to 12 hours of battery life (when playing videos) Gamers can choose between a Full HD 360Hz display (Asus claims this is the "world's fastest laptop display," but other companies have also announced similar screens at CES 2021) or a Quad HD 165Hz display

Asus also highlights the ROG Strix Scar's innovative cooling system, relatively compact design, USB-C charging capabilities, and Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers Unfortunately, no word on pricing Instead, Asus only states that the device will be available in North America in Q1, ie, between now and the end of March

Asus has also announced a 32-inch HDMI 21 gaming monitor (Asus ROG Swift PG32UQ), a mechanical gaming keyboard with clinking Blue switches (Asus ROG Claymore II), a 24GHz and Bluetooth, and several other gadgets, including a wireless gaming mouse (Asus ROG Gladius III Wireless) that supports both 24GHz and Bluetooth We will obtain as many of these devices as we can, test and review them, and report our results