Weird Tech Fashion Is FINALLY Cool Again 

i read "golden age of techwear" for a second and my heart skipped a beat

I find it incredibly fascinating how typography can have so much meaning like you described. 60s graphic design was a big inspiraition to thedesignersrepublic's aesthetic. It's so awesome to me that their creative direction over 3 of the WipEout games has had such a huge, pervasive grip on the culture. The fictional WipEout branding is what made me become an artist/pursuit a creative field in architecture.

Fantasic content recently Antwon, I've been following you for about a year now and i've enjoyed all the videos you've put out but your more recent videos have been a step up in quality. I love the new direction of not just talking about Techwear but the wider implications and deep analysis of form and function, hyper reality and product consumption. Have you hired a writer? becuase if this is all you then really well done! you're doing a great job!

That early 2000s era of phone design is much missed. That's why I jumped at getting a Samsung Flip phone as soon as I could; even though it's functionally sub-par, battery life and camera are pants. I did it because it was the first time since the Nokia N95 of a smart phone with a unique physical form beyond the black mirror. I am happy to see interesting design returning to tech!

More tech and EDC review videos that fit this channel's aesthetics would be more than perfect!

Agree. Recently I've been thinking a lot about 1990s tech and the idea of restomods. Imagine the iMac G3 with modern internals!

While I can't afford the ROG Flow rn, I do immensely enjoy when my tech is fun and interesting. I used to have all sorts of goofy phones like the Juke or Kin one back in the day. I switched over to the boring normal smart phone design after a while because it's all that's out there. However, I recently got a galaxy flip 4 and it brings me so much joy going back to that old style of fun phone, and playing with the outer touch screen which supports gif files (I have a gif of Luffy from One Piece spinning the straw hat there) and just flipping open the phone to use it. Having cool tech like this honestly makes life just a little more fun. Enjoy the Flow Antwon :)

4:30 i never stopped using stickers and charms to personalize my cell phone. people love my charms and i always tell them 'nobodys stopping you from using them'. most of mine are, coincidentally like in the image, hello kitty ones 😁

I love my Nothing Phone (1). Great aesthetics and functional simultaneously.

This is great! I'm not really the target for a product like this (I don't travel or need a full-featured PC on the go) but I kind of wish I was, it looks so interesting. I would love to see more tech with personality going forward.

although people use phones and laptops a lot they are often in a pocket or bag when people are outside so not that high a priority for fashion, watches and other practical items that are more exposed are more of a focus.

I use the nothing phone(1) and ears(1) for that exact reason. It's not the best performers on specs but it's new, interesting and fun, by the design and the way that you use it. And the RMT02 has that kind of vibe so it's cool to see some different stuff in the laptop area.

OMG THANK YOU for explaining what the lettering on the keyboard was! I was trying to figure out what those strange glyphs were and NONE of the other videos I watched had that info!

My tech nerd and fashion brains are fighting over this one I start a new job soon and really want to make a statement about who I am with my tools Mechanics are super prideful in their tools and show them out through their work ware and other accessories Why don’t we in the digital arena do that too

It looks nice, but people interested in tech are usually keeping an eye on the price:performance ratio of products, and are usually not willing to budget for aesthetics. Wearing this kind of tech as a fashion statement is still considered to be pretty nerdy, too, in addition to making you a target for theft. As a tech ninja, I would consider it, but I think the form factor on this one is too large. Something in the ballpark of the iPad mini would be more reasonable.

That laptop is functional and beautiful art in the way that design objects can be when done well. The most accessible option for those with less to invest are things like funky cases and accessory upgrades

This is more cosplay as a tool laptop than being a real tool laptop...

Yes, we need more of all of this.

Dude I hated all the other reviews where they basically make fun of it. I guess I cannot blame them for not understanding but I was waiting for your review and thanx a lot for it!!!

I really wished they did it with 14/16 inches gaming laptops again

Love the Designers Republic feature! Their stuff really takes me back to the 90s and still looks great.

i miss sony industrial desing

anyone interested in in this sort of custom/more personal, fashionable tech should look up cyber decks, people essentially create these wearable computers that are part form and part function

i guess part of the problem is something you yourself mentioned, modern software is not going to run on that old LV laptop, things such as phones, tablets, computers, cars even, have become standarized for their functionality, and what's left is the room for surface level stuff, in the opposite end, clothing, their looks tend to come first because we already have the practicality covered, an old shirt is still wearable today to it's full extent despite it's looks and materials

Yes! I've been saying this for a while now... The biggest hurdle with unique aesthetics in a tech device is that the internals can become broken or outdated, rendering the whole thing a paperweight. If we can finally crack repairable and upgradeable phones, tablets, and laptops, then I think these things will naturally evolve as people will want the thing they are carrying around for a decade to be more personal than something that many trade in almost every year for the latest model. Currently, the recognizable design of the latest iPhone is itself a fashion/status statement, and I can give it a literal surface-level personalization with a different case. I won't own it long enough to form an attachment or to justify doing anything more in depth. As soon as looking at the camera cluster or screen shape can't tell me which model phone I'm looking at, I can no longer reliably use the model itself as that signifier - I'd need to ask the owner. Or, the owner can invest in a gold-plated shell with mother-of-pearl inlays to speak on their behalf.

Only kinda related: Eden of the East is such an underrated anime. So good, and the ED is one of my favorite songs ever!

It's an interesting product from a design perspective but it doesn't appear to be in any way 'hardened' or 'weatherproofed' making it more of a gimmick than genuinely practical semi-wearable.

I really love tablets, thanks for popularizing these wonderful devices!

I'm so tired of black plastic rectangle being everything. I was really excited when they showed off the PS5 because it reminds me of a sci-fi spaceship

a problem with the idea of unique tech is acceptable specs, availability, and upgradeability while remaining affordable. if stuff like this is $1.5k or more, i’d rather pick a different device which has far more capabilities and place a high tech case, skin or wrap over it for a lower price. because it’s acronym that means it will be hard to find, so forget that. i have better things to do with my time than fight low stock availability for overpriced items.

The problem with that computer is that it's a special variant of an existing product. It's like building a Nissan Micra Ferrari edition. You need to just build a Ferrari with no boring equivelent option.

The problem is that tech is expensive both environmentally and monetarily. Until that all tech is upgradable and repairable, it be a huge mistake to make them more fashionable that utilitarian, beyond cases and skins.

Insane that no one has made a rip of this for iPad Pros yet

This is why I got a Galaxy Fold 4 when it came out, something more unique than a standard slab phone

Great video but you may want to add an "Advertisement" mark in the Top left or right corner as the way this video is written may result in it being blocked from within Germany due to german advertisment laws

harkening to the early 00s when Brian Eno and Ryuichi Sakamoto were composing ringtones for Nokia 😌

3:12 just gave me an absolute nostalgia flashback, thanks Antlerman.

Aesthetics in tech is always welcome but never a prority for most people, myself included. If they could make a powerful and practical piece of tech that's also fashionable and somewhat affordable then I think it will be a hit. But this is far too expensive for the average gamer/content creator who already probably owns a powerful pc. Love the idea of making tech personal and aesthetically pleasing tho. I would like to see more companies follow suit.

As much as I hate to acknowledge it Sony killed Studio Liverpool, we will never see a correctly styled/aesthetically designed Wipeout again. Which pains me greatly. On the topic of tech I feel like for most specs are king, after that then its the case or bag that is were the creativity comes from. Using the Nintendo switch as an example there is a massive market for thumb stick toppers, vinyl stickers and button covers. Also love the Psycho-Pass shout out, they made prop replicas of the Dominators that actually transform into Lethal Elimination mode, probably hard to get now.

also tbh that tablet-top would be real useful for geographers on field trips

DUDE YOU SUMMARIZED WHAT I FEEL ABOUT APPLE WATTCHES! THEESE GRAY WATCHES WITTH A BLACK SCREEN AND THOSE SPORT BANDS HAVE NO PERSONALITY

Your shirt is a reference to the “Tekken tag logo” that’s dope.

4:47 10/10 American accent. Thought I was at my uncle's BBQ for a minute there.

11:00 I can’t wait for compostable gorpcore phones now.

Yoshi-core lookin hard af bruv

This is the perfect time for T-mobile to bring back the side kick

I'm pretty sure there are only 3 car colours now, also 3 cars with mildly different grilles. People actually out here with the dream car being a white Tesla

I really like what ZTE has done with the redmagic 8 pro titanium transparent edition with a built in fan and RGB it looks like it should belong in some cyberpunk distopia.

Finally can be the Shadowrun character i was meant to be

In terms of cool looking tech you can look at mechanical keyboards community. They have some pretty unique design

Thanks for the vid Ant. luv u bro

This is really cool. I've always wanted to look like Angelina jolie in hackers lol

Oh I loved my Sony music phone. My one could watch a stripped down version of cable TV but data was far too expensive. There was SO much variation between phones before smartphones.

the tekken tag tournament supreme shirt goes hard

Couldn't agree more to the bore of modern tech. Let's consider what we use daily and all day long, phones. When touch screens started to be popular among phones, we began to be detached from our devices. Man I miss the physical feedback of keys so much. I've always been a fan of QWERTY phones and despite recognizing how useful a touch screen is, I've always perceived that as a clear obtacle between me and what I was using rather than something immersive. I'm not sure on which side of things people would stand, probably we're a niche and companies would protect their capitalistic interest playing safe and giving to the masses what could sell more: a generic design for a generic target. Happy to see that some big companies dare to break the "rules" proposing interesting concepts, first in terms of features (Asus, LG "RIP" Mobile...) and now in terms of styling too. This tablet in particular is not my cup of tea design-wise, the answer to minimalism doesn't have to be maximalism but I love the idea behind it and the features over the chassis are well-thought and useful in the daily life. Bravo. Nice vid Antwon!

The 2000s had some of the wildest, most creative phone designs I'd ever seen. Sure, some of them were were more fashion than function but the fact there were so design choices to fit different aesthetics was great. I still remember my N-Gage fondly and the confused looks it would get from people when I used it to make calls. 😅😅 I think one of the biggest problem I have with gadgets nowadays is that the color palette is so limited - black, gray, and maybe a dark blue seems to the running theme. Why? So. Boring. Give me an electric purple laptop with rainbow colored keyboard keys or a smartphone that functions like a Sidekick!

I had that Motorola v70. Awesome phone, design wise. But the voice activated actions were horrible 😅 and once you had sand and dust inside the twist mechanism, the fun was over. Turning the smooth twist experience into something that could be related to nails on a chalkboard.

Add on Circular design then I'd be sold.

I need more tech like this too! 😮

Sony's walkman cd players are so cool, I would love to test/use one. Also would love to see sony actually making a new model that plays cds and not lame mp3 files.

So inspiring! Thanks man

Great video! Can you snatch the default wallpaper from this and upload somewhere?

Tech add ons accessories are the new way

You channel is for the modern gentlemen ...hell yea

earlier phones where definitely cool, but they had so much freedom in design because every phone had its own contained OS, you could make some stupid shaped screen and design the software to work around it. The problem now is the software on a phone is partly from the native OS but most is from apps. Developers dont have the resource to make sure that their app works on every single current screen size device + a new ngage reboot device for example. Its sad but i guess that just how it is, this is just for native stuff as well, bring in web design and its a new ballpark. Mad salty i didnt get this rog device though, i just love the metallic plate on it, wish they could somehow release that and the strap system so you could put any other laptop into it and carry over some of the aesthetics.

Great video, really showcases your own passion for this type of endeavor also. I am so happy they are making more stuff like this. I own a RMT01 which I hope will have a use case for most of this decade as a Linux machine in later years, but would otherwise be all over this. Still tempted to pick one up but I figure they will be rare as hens teeth.

Could only browse through the limited YT vids on this tech masterpiece as I wait impatiently for mine to arrive; it seems like there's 3 versions of the type-covers out there - 1 with the alphabets in the center like yours, 1 with them on the right bottom corner & the FF version. Not sure which region got which but really hoping for the center-positioned one coz much as I'm an Acro-head, the off-centered one's really messing my head~

out of context: but does anyone know where i can get that yoshi fit @ 2:20? lol, i kinda like it and wouldn't mind copping tbh, it looks cozy for movie nights :D

I just snagged one off of Amazon for MSRP a couple of days ago (haven't received it yet). I still don't even know anything about Acronym, but the specs for the price are what sold me. I'm a software engineer, but I also fly drones and want to be able to do video editing on the go. I am just so tired of lugging around a 5 to 6 pound laptop when I rarely need a laptop anymore outside of work and the occasional video editing session. So I didn't buy it for the aesthetics, but they certainly don't bother me one bit, so I really don't understand the hate that it's been receiving in that regard. I mean I naturally tend to like a more industrial design anyway, so maybe that's why it doesn't bother me, but to outright dislike the design seems odd to me. I don't see it as a fashion accessory and maybe that's the issue everyone has with it? Do people seriously care that much about what their computer looks like? I mean I guess to some extent they do, it's why RGB has become such a big thing in desktops. To me it's all about functionality and if form is thrown in there and it doesn't interfere with functionality and in some ways even enhances it in ways that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise, then I'm all for it. I'll rarely ever tote it around outside of a bag, but I certainly don't see how having the capability to do so hampers my ability to use it in any way. I think I've read some people complain that the device is expensive, but honestly I don't see how the collaboration with Acronym attributed to that in any significant way. Try getting the same or better specs for that price in any other laptop. I'm actually legitimately impressed that Asus was able to keep the cost down as much as they did. This isn't just a tablet, it's a near desktop replacement in a tablet form factor.

I want to get the acronym rog tablet so bad but it was sold out everywhere in like the first week, now I’m waiting and praying they send out another wave of them

You, Antwon, are the James May of the fashion world :D ! That is high praise mind you!

I appreciate the idea, but the execution is lackluster to me. The only added functionality this has is the harness system, which you can literally find on Amazon for $50-60. As much as you talked about "not compromising function for form" there's a definite sense of that here with the specs, especially considering the eye-watering $3000 price tag. A 4070 with an i9 isn't terrible, but there are better gaming laptops out there for a similar price. There's also the problem of gaming laptops in general such as low battery life and bad cooling, from my limited research it seems like this device definitely has these issues to varying degrees. So basically the added features of this version of the Z13 are 95% aesthetic and 5% functional. I would save your money and buy the standard version, it's like $1000 less.

Whole video is an ad..... Superb

All I hear is the Presona 5 ost playing in the background. I play too many games, gotta touch grass I guess.

Awesome review, Avid Media Composer! Genuinely cannot agree enough with how smartphones are becoming more and more "bland", (though I think only being able/afford to have one is a big factor, since it'd need to adapt to various situations). It's part of why I like the ROG phones and the Cyberdeck community, even eventually making myself a "cyberdock" out of a bootleg retro radio case with my phone as the brain plus an external monitor and keyboard. This computer really gives me that cyberdeck vibe too, especially with the strap on options (saw someone actually making a chest-mounted deck just the other day!), and it's really cool to see Asus doing more whacky stuff like this. I'm kinda hoping that Framework will become this framework (heh) for customisable laptops and easy-entry cyberdecks, but either way, the drive towards customisibility is a sign for a great future. P.S. they should've done something special with the S key too because all of us know how we're constantly saving our progress in participation to various Adobe software crashing on us

I think i have been lowkey doing this recently, If you skew your mindset to function first, things end up in an odd category of their own as most things lack basic functionality today, i.e sony xperia for phones, still looks fresh because its practically the only narrow phone on the market, oh and whilst not totally abandoned yet, i still have my 3.5mm headphone jack. Also i changed my computer setup recently because the market is just boring, so i went out and got an intel nuc extreme, put ARC A770 in it because few else would, and eventually when i get a new laptop its going to be framework, Oh and i must not forget, everyone seems to have a box under the TV these days, I put an intel nuc 4x4 there too, with linux, and how i changed my PC Speakers to studio monitors, more adaptive to my lifestyle, and generally something made directly for audio things is going to sound better than a consumer audio product

Loved this video and brings a fresh perspective from the other reviews regarding this beauty of a tech gadget. One question tho, what is the other strap used for?

Diy device personalisation is the way to go. Tie a powerbank to your waistband, add a carabiner to your laptop case, hang your headphones on your backpack

Glad im cool-weird for using an 18 year old ipod as my portable music device and not weird-weird

Slay the spire and monster train are always goated!

This thing is so badass

I think Samsung dipped their toes in customizable, unique smartphones with the latest Flip release. Customers can order phones with custom color blocking, and there is an entire line of phone accessories with high personality.

That's a cool design, but I doubt I can find usage for it. It reminded me of laptop conversions where people rip off their screens and put straps instead, so they can connect it to their glasses and have their keyboard wait for the input.

Anyone know what the extra strap with velcro is for that came with this? Great review btw.

Omg techwear man finally tech❤

I would call it TechNerdBoreCore😆

This is really cool.

I'm glad something like this exists but I really hope it remains a niche occasional statement, I don't want to have to consider tech aesthetics in the purchase decision more than I already do lol. The fact phones all look the same is an aspect of their democratisation imo.

Very insightful video, Antwony Fentanyl

This doesn’t need to be discussed like honestly

Sick as fuck. If i worked in cyber security i'd absolutely get one

Olso what about foldable smartphones? It's still brick of glass, but some have quite good design, like LG wing, Samsung have fold series and other... Also i think China local market have really good design and input futures, but other words newer know about this.

function before form. i am not english, i will apologize in advance for the poor grammar and the spelling mistakes. i am currently studing to enter the cnc machining industry. i have worked with costume made machinery for alluminium subtractive manufacturing and all of them were made with only function in mind but ended up beeing wicked cool none the less. i belive that the search for computers wth very specific ergonomics and specialized use may result in the eye catching astetics that people are used to see in clothing.

Hell yeah

I don't think I would want to express myself as a person that enjoys a terrible User experience. I do not miss T9 typing for one.😅

I have that Supreme/Tekken shirt. Shit looks good

Show me your Cornel shirt, "Andy".

As a nerd I have been preparing for this trend all my life.

Why didn't they highlight the Vim keys? Bummer

that's all right, BUT*insert _meme_here* is still a 3k limited edition laptop that went sold-out in less than 2 hours...i'd like to get my hands on one like most of the viewers under this video but even if i had the budget for a punchase that big i cant due to shortage in the making...i feel sad about it and looking acronym ig dropping out reels over reels of something you'll never buy is even more sad