The price is clearly too high for a processor 2 times weaker than 7945HX, a mediocre screen with an outdated fhd resolution (and even on a larger panel than 15.6, which reduces the already bad ppi for 15.6"), with which it is impossible to eliminate muddy fonts in Chrome, because need ppi above 220-230. With a low response time, i.e. fake "165Hz" and the usual obsolete typical sRGB color coverage.
With a completely insufficient amount of RAM - especially for a "gaming" laptop in 2023, for such a price, with other shortcomings, there should be at least 32GB and a 2TB SSD level of A-Data Legend 960.
Asus has also been greedy at this price by only bringing out 1 of the 2 built-in USB40 ports on the 7940HS. And this potentially reduces the eGPU link (with link aggregation, there are already such) by half. With 2 ports, it would equal the future Intel TB5 in terms of bandwidth.
The heating of the laptop precludes its use when case is closed - most likely the screen panel will simply burn out at such temperatures 50C+.
The author claims that the memory has a normal bandwidth, but this is not the case. Like all AMD memory controllers of the latest series, it significantly loses to Intel controllers in terms of efficiency. 4800x128/8 ~ 76Gbps. Only writing to memory is close to this value. Reading and copying are configured according to the timings in the BIOS disgustingly.
The power cord idiotically covers the hot air exhaust on the left. Why couldn't the power input be made in the back?
On the right, it was quite possible to add 2 more usb-a 3.2 ports or bring out just the second built-in USB40 port symmetrically so that you can comfortably use the laptop from usb-c charging on the sofa/bed for both right-handed and left-handed people for light tasks.
As a "gaming" laptop, it no longer pulls some of the releases at 60fps even in fhd resolution, so you have to lower the quality of the graphics. What's the point of buying a new laptop then?
From the point of view of a universal device for work and occasionally games, the screen is mediocre. It was 4k@120Hz, as it was for good as in HP Omen even in 2021, everything was perfect for the clarity of fonts in Chrome, but so the eyes of the buyer of this laptop will definitely suffer from reading sites with not switchable muddy fonts (or use FireFox with switched off antialasing for fonts).
The red price for such a solution is around $ 1000, given that the L5Pro, similar in speed, could be taken in the fall of 2022 for 1100 with a much better screen, but AMD clearly overprices its Zen4 and video chips.
In addition, the author himself noted the poor tactile response of the keyboard (usually Asus has good keyboards for this price level), which also has the usual flaws for most laptops.
Everything will decide the price reduction in the future. In the meantime, I would not spend $1700 on such a morally obsolete screen and a bunch of compromises (even with the latest processor for poor optimization of DDR5 memory in BIOS), when in the fall of 2022, for this money you could easily buy a top-end Legion 7 2022 with 6800H+M6700.
But Asus - keep trying! Your efforts deserve respect.
I would like 18"/4k@120Hz from 2000:1 (Black IPS by LG) solutions without expensive discrete cards (or entry-level like 4050/4060) as working business devices with a really high-quality screen. With a good full-fledged keyboard (a full numpad like TUF, which is so lacking in your current 18" models (and that is stupid decision), as well as a high-contrast 4k screen) and a bunch of expansion ports, convenient for both right-handed and left-handed people. Preferably with a power socket in the back.