Asus NX90JQ review

Asus and Bang & Olufsen join forces for this new laptop

Asus NX90JQ
Do you get enough Bang (& Olufsen) for your buck with the NX90JQ?

TechRadar Verdict

Lots of power and features, but it really is big and expensive!

Pros

  • +

    Fantastic design

  • +

    Great audio

  • +

    Interesting usability

  • +

    Power on offer

  • +

    Wealth of features

Cons

  • -

    Average performance for the money

  • -

    Audio isn't ear-shatteringly excellent

  • -

    Screen is a little dim

  • -

    Portability

  • -

    Ultimately doesn't ooze value for money

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Every company has its 'hero' products, such as Asus' NX90JQ. These hero laptops usually boast cutting edge design or power (or both), cost an enormous amount of money and – most importantly – boost the brand awareness of the company.

Take Dell's Adamo XPS laptop and Sony's X-Series as examples, both of which happen offer class-leading portability.

But with the NX90JQ, the Taiwanese electronics giant has gone a different route – in this case creating a multimedia monster targeted at those after a premium sounding product and who aren't bothered about the matching price tag.

And at around £2,500 the price tag is a heavy one. But with the NX90JQ you do get bang for your hard-earned buck. There's the much touted Bang & Olufsen (B&O) speaker system, high-end components, an impressive features list and a gorgeous polished aluminium design.

Some could correctly argue you can get this kind of performance elsewhere for less cash, and they'd be right. MSI's excellent GX660R offers a very similar experience, including dedicated speakers, while the Acer Aspire Ethos 8943G should also be considered. But neither offers quite the swagger or beauty of the Asus NX90JQ – even if the laptop fails to deliver in certain areas.