GIGABYTE AERO 15 CLASSIC-XA Review

The Display

At 240 Hz, the GIGABYTE AERO 15 CLASSIC-XA has the highest refresh rate available on a laptop. If you think 120 or 144 Hz is beyond the perceivable rate of the eye, UFO Test will change your mind. For the first time in my experience, the UFO and all of its features are perfectly defined as it scrolls across the screen. However, there is a noticeable lag to the response time of pixels.

When it comes to the real world and you’re in the middle of a frantic gunfight in your game of choice, it’s a slightly different story. This is no fault of the laptop, but rather diminishing returns as the refresh rate increases. Additionally, unlike UFO Test, games often have a form of motion blurring as well as less harshly defined edges.

There is more to a display than just the refresh rate, such as colour reproduction. Coming with a Pantone certified, factory calibrated display sets the bar high on paper. Thankfully, it lives up to expectations. Colours are bright without being unnaturally saturated, and blacks are as crisp as you’ll get without an OLED display. Additionally, the colours are accurate, and there is no visible banding in gradients.

Brightness is adequate, but you won’t be doing any colour-critical work in direct sunlight as contrast suffers greatly. This is to be expected, but it still isn’t the greatest we’ve seen in this regard. That said, indoors it’s a breeze to use. In a dark room you will certainly be turning the brightness down.