---
template:
slug: flow-x13
title: The Asus ROG Flow X13
subtitle: My hunt for a new laptop has finally concluded
date: 2022-05-02
---

![](https://cdn.icyphox.sh/3NZ1u.jpg)

I've been on the lookout for a new laptop for a while now. While the HP
Envy was good -- is good -- the measly 8 gigs of RAM was struggling to
hold in all the beefy stuff that I run these days (skaffold, k3s, etc.).
And it being a "budget" laptop of its time didn't do its chassis any
favors -- the bottom was very scratched because the rubber bumpons
came off; the keyboard deck had some rather mysterious scuff marks.
Anyway, off I went looking for a replacement.

My requirements for a laptop are somewhat specific. From the title it's
obvious that I'd like to have good Linux support; here's a list of
other things that I expect to see:

- HiDPI: Any resolution above 1080p (or 1200p). I look at text all day,
  and I'd like it to be _crispy_.
- 13" - 14": I don't like overly large or heavy laptops. I think 13.3
  inches is the perfect screen size; 14 is a compromise.
- A decent CPU: I don't really do anything very compute intensive, but
  an i7 or a Ryzen 7 should be ideal.
- 32 GB RAM: Having struggled with 8 gigs for so long made this a hard
  requirement. Never again will I have to `pkill gopls`.

I can't say I had a specific budget in mind, but anything more than 140k
INR (1.4L, ≈1800 USD) is somewhat hard to justify. Listed below were the
contenders for the prestegious position of being my laptop of choice:

- **Tuxedo InfinityBook Pro 14**: While this ticks all the boxes, the
  cost including shipping (as of this writing) is about 1700 EUR. And
  that's without opening the massive, stinky can of worms called Indian
  Customs. Expecting a very lenient 40% duty, it's safe to say it's
  _batshit expensive_.
- **ThinkPad X13**: Lenovo's site allows you to customize orders for
  certain models, and these will be custom built and shipped from China.
  The nice thing is Lenovo takes care of the customs and shipping and
  other logistics. The not-nice thing is it takes a minimum of _12
  weeks_ -- at least for the X13. That's 4 whole months. I think I'll
  pass.

With that preface out of the way, the machine I finally settled on was
(as the title reads) the **Asus ROG Flow X13**. My model set me back by
about 130,000 INR (1.3L, ≈1700 USD). The trick was to look in the
"gaming laptops" section, because this model didn't show up anywhere in
the thin-and-light/productivity/ultrabook searches. And it doesn't look
gamery at all. Here's what my Dad had to say, as a serial ThinkPad user:

> "It looks like a ThinkPad."

## hardware

I opted to buy the 2021 model because, really, the only difference in
the 2022 model is the marginally better CPU and a MUX switch. I don't
care much for either. The octa-core Ryzen 9 5900HS has more compute
power than I could ever need.

The chassis is made of a "magnesium alloy", with a grooved finish that
feels very nice to touch. There's very minimal branding -- one somewhat
"iridescent" label with the Republic of Gamers logotype on one corner of
the lid, and the ROG logo on the right palm-rest, made out of the same
groove design.

| | |
| ---- | ---- |
| ![](https://cdn.icyphox.sh/J2SN2.jpg) | ![](https://cdn.icyphox.sh/0wFTQ.jpg) |

The hinges are sturdy and allow for 360° rotation. The lid can be opened
with a single finger, which is much appreciated. The screen itself is a
gorgeous 4K (3840×2400) touch screen panel. While the need need for 4K
on a 13" screen is questionable, I welcome it wholeheartedly. It is the
best screen I've used; the colors are punchy, text is (naturally) very
crisp. It's glossy, and attracts a ton of fingerprints. A stylus is
included in the box -- or at least it was for me -- but I haven't found
much use for it after the initial excitement.

![](https://cdn.icyphox.sh/s7u2n.jpg)

The keyboard is pretty good. Given the choice, I wouldn't have picked
the font on the caps, but I suppose it could be worse. Three backlight
modes for low, medium and high brightness exist. These can be controlled
via the sysfs device at `/sys/class/leds/asus::kbd_backlight/`. The
dedicated volume buttons are nice and work out of the box; the mic-mute
toggle key however needs special treatment to get detected by X11 --
adding the below udev rule did the trick:

```nix
udev.extraHwdb = ''
  evdev:input:b0003v0B05p19B6*
    KEYBOARD_KEY_ff31007c=f20
'';
```

For ports, you get a USB-C and a USB-A on the right along with the power
button; on the left: a 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack, a HDMI 2.0 port,
and the proprietary XGm port for use with the [XG
Mobile](https://rog.asus.com/in/external-graphic-docks/2021-rog-xg-mobile-model/)
external GPU. The eGPU port, while being generally useless to me, also
happens to contain a USB-C port, bringing the total to two. The ports
selection could be better -- a single USB-A is one too less, forcing me
to have to use a dongle to connect both my keyboard and mouse.

| | |
| ---- | ---- | 
| ![](https://cdn.icyphox.sh/xyYII.jpg) | ![](https://cdn.icyphox.sh/z-Y1R.jpg) |

The entire package weighs in at about 1.3 kilograms, which is just as
much as my HP Envy. For how well it's built, I'm not complaining.

Finally, here's the full spec list:
- Ryzen 9 5900HS, 8 cores & 16 threads
- 32 GB LPDDR4X RAM @ 4266MHz
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q, 4 GB GDDR6
- 1 TB SSD

## software

Installing NixOS was straightforward. Basically everything works out of
the box. I'd have liked to run OpenBSD on it, but I unfortunately
require Linux for work. NixOS, while I understand nothing of Nix (the
language), works well enough. Being able to configure your entire system
from one single place is quite nice. Overall, it's a lot more cohesive
than other Linux systems.

The Nvidia GPU is handled surprisingly well. Looks like Linux has
improved a lot in this regard. "Offload mode" is especially neat -- you
can selectively "offload" certain tasks (like running Steam) to the GPU,
and otherwise have it suspended. Here's how I do it:

```nix
{ pkgs, ... }:

pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "nvidia-offload"
  ''
    export __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD=1
    export __NV_PRIME_RENDER_OFFLOAD_PROVIDER=NVIDIA-G0
    export __GLX_VENDOR_LIBRARY_NAME=nvidia
    export __VK_LAYER_NV_optimus=NVIDIA_only
    exec -a "$0" "$@"
  ''
```

Now simply run

```sh
$ nvidia-offload steam
```

to have Steam run on the GPU. Use the `nvidia-smi` tool to inspect
processes currently using the GPU.

The laptop has an accelerometer to detect when it's in tablet mode, and
invert the display accordingly. Unfortunatly, I couldn't figure out how
to get it to work in X11/cwm. Instead, I wrote a handy script to rotate
the display and the touch input:

```nix
{ pkgs, ... }:

let
  xrandr = "${pkgs.xorg.xrandr}/bin/xrandr";
  xinput = "${pkgs.xorg.xinput}/bin/xinput";
in
pkgs.writeShellScriptBin "invert"
  ''
    orientation="$(${xrandr} --query --verbose | grep eDP | cut -d ' ' -f 6)"
    if [[ "$orientation" == "normal" ]];
    then
      echo "turning screen upside down..."
      ${xrandr} -o inverted
      ${xinput} set-prop 'ELAN9008:00 04F3:2C82' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' -1 0 1 0 -1 1 0 0 1
      ${xinput} set-prop 'ELAN9008:00 04F3:2C82 Stylus Pen (0)' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' -1 0 1 0 -1 1 0 0 1
      ${xinput} set-prop 'ELAN9008:00 04F3:2C82 Stylus Eraser (0)' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' -1 0 1 0 -1 1 0 0 1
    else
      echo "reverting back to normal..."
      ${xrandr} -o normal
      ${xinput} set-prop 'ELAN9008:00 04F3:2C82' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
      ${xinput} set-prop 'ELAN9008:00 04F3:2C82 Stylus Pen (0)' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
      ${xinput} set-prop 'ELAN9008:00 04F3:2C82 Stylus Eraser (0)' 'Coordinate Transformation Matrix' 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
    fi
  ''
```

Then, simply run `invert` to toggle your current orientation:
```sh
▲ invert
turning screen upside down...

▲ invert
reverting back to normal...
```

Battery life could be better, but with TLP/powertop + switching the CPU
governor to `powersave` on battery, I get about 7 - 8 hours on light
workloads, and about 5 on heavy. I'm going to guess the 4K panel is to
blame.

Also worth mentioning is the [Asus Linux](https://asus-linux.org)
project. They have some useful resources for running Linux on Asus
laptops, and [asusctl](https://gitlab.com/asus-linux/asusctl) /
[supergfxctl](https://gitlab.com/asus-linux/supergfxctl) -- two great
tools for managing power profiles, fan curves and the dGPU.

Overall, I couldn't be happier with this machine. It wasn't cheap, but
it sure does check all the boxes and it's incredibly future proof. As
for my trusty old HP Envy 13, I haven't decided yet what to do with it.
It'll most probably end up in my closet, enshrined under a layer of
clothes.

You can find all the scripts mentioned in this post (and more!)
[here](https://github.com/icyphox/dotfiles/tree/master/nix).