Review on 💻 GIGABYTE AERO 15 OLED YD-73US624SP: UHD 4k AMOLED IPS, Intel Core i7, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Win10 Pro - High-Performance Creator Laptop by Andy Tunes

Overall a very solid machine. It's not perfect, but it works great, looks good, and won't burn you. 09/30/2021 update below. Pros: * Very powerful CPU/GPU * Excellent cooling system. So far the Aero 15 runs at least 20°C cooler than my previous car. Default temp is in the mid 40's, with heavy loading in the mid-high 70's. I'd be surprised if I ever saw this machine running thermally throttled in anything remotely resembling a normal use case. Unlike my previous machine which regularly played games in 95C. (see fan quality update below) * The most beautiful screen I've ever seen on a laptop. Every other screen I have looks dull and washed out compared to this gorgeous 4k OLED. The photos and reviews I've seen just don't convey how amazing it actually looks. * Overall very good build quality. * Bright LED keyboard with full number pad (fully customizable). Feels better than most laptop keyboards. * 2 RAM and SSD slots are easily accessible by removing the bottom panel (just one set of screws). The package also includes a thermal pad for the second SSD. * Built-in retractable cover for webcam. No tape is required for this. * So much. ports. Cons: * 60Hz OLED screen. 4k 60 fps is great for most gaming scenarios, but I would steer clear of this laptop if you absolutely need ultra-high frame rates or want to play daring competitive shooters like CS or Valorant where more frames literally win games. On the plus side, you can increase the GFX settings more than you would on a higher refresh rate screen and still get the most out of it. * The OLED screen is not anti-glare. There may be a technical reason for this, but definitely avoid using it in bright places or while wearing reflective clothing. It's reflective enough to be a decent mirror when it's off. * 16 GB of RAM is not enough for such a powerful machine. Mine came with Crucial 2x8GB 3200 proprietary chips. They seem to have good RAM, just not big enough. It works much better with a HyperX 32GB 3200 installed. Can support up to 64 so there is room for improvement as prices come down. * Built-in webcam, frankly, sucks. It's quite low quality and poorly positioned. If you need a good webcam, connect an external one, there are more than enough connections. * The Gigabyte Control Center software is a clunky mess, although it does have some useful features. However, it's not very funny. * The CPU voltage cannot be reduced. This is more about newer chips than this particular laptop, but I haven't found a way to do it safely. * The screen hinges are a bit odd. It's not flimsy or flimsy, but the screen can shake a little more than I expected. * The function keys are poorly designed. The secondary function of each button isn't backlit, making it very difficult to see in the dark. Sleep and Wi-Fi are next to the screen brightness controls, and the brightness increase is on F4. I'm sure someone ruined their day by pressing the wrong button when trying to change the brightness. The Fn key for keyboard brightness is the spacebar and only has off, bright, and super bright settings. Anything in between requires you to use software. * Built-in speakers are mediocre. They're not too bad, but like the webcam, they seem to have clipped corners compared to the higher quality of the rest of this system. Edit: A few observations after 3 months of use: * Gigabyte really saved on the fans. The cooling system works as I initially thought, but the fans themselves are of poor quality and wear out quickly. My GPU fan is already starting to wear out and is making annoying excess noise. So far there is no performance loss, but I have ordered a new fan. This is why a star was downgraded from 5 to 4 as after a little research this has been an ongoing issue with the Aero series for years and remains unresolved by Gigabyte. This is the last place you want to use cheap parts. Unforgivably bad for a product that does so much right.* I took the Aero 15 apart first to lubricate the GPU fan while waiting for a replacement and I really like the interior design. It is so well thought out that it can be easily taken apart for cleaning or repairs. The screws on the heatsink are numbered and there are fewer screws than I usually see. Slightly broken ribbon cables are also not visible. The downside, even with the fans, is that you have to remove the entire heatsink to access them, so I had to re-glue as well. * Greasing the GPU fan reduced noise by about 80%. This isn't a long-term solution, but it does treat the symptoms. Please note that this is NOT something the regular end user should do. If you're unsure about opening a laptop, this could be a much bigger problem requiring an RMA, and from what I've heard Gigabyte RMAs are a terrible experience. *Also worth noting since I tried this this laptop doesn't work well with Linux on bare metal. Maybe someone more experienced with Linux could get it working, but I couldn't. Stick with VMs or WSL if you need Linux on this machine.