During our coverage of the ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15 gaming laptop, guest presenter James fortunately stumbled upon this nifty little device called a Keystone. It’s a thumbnail-sized piece of translucent plastic. Initially, we incorrectly identified it as a bog-standard USB drive, but it’s a lot more technologically advanced.

It’s an accessory included on more and more of gaming laptops from ASUS. During the unboxing experience you may accidentally gloss over the keystone as a throwaway gimmick, but here’s why it may be useful to gamers.

Essentially, think of the Keystone as a physical key to unlock access to user-defined profiles and settings. From log-in screens to automatically launching programs.

It’s smartly magnetised, effortlessly snapping into place. It uses near field communication (NFC) for a contactless connection. No sustained wear and tear on a physical port, or awkwardly orientating the drive right-side up. The keystone comes in colour variations to subtly alter the laptop’s aesthetics.

Use it as a key!

Let’s discuss some intended uses. First and foremost – a key! The comparison is particularly apt when you consider an accompanying keyring is also included. Through ASUS’s Armoury Crate software, you can configure your Windows account to automatically log-in when the Keystone’s inserted, or lock when removed.

Having a physical key rather than being solely reliant on vulnerable and potentially compromised passwords is a much-welcomed security feature.

Instead of laboriously inputting a super-long, convoluted master password each time, you can simply unlock your laptop using this physical key. For PC gamers attending crowded LAN parties who find unethical eyes stalking their keystrokes, the Keystone it acts as a physical line of defence.

Shadow Drive

Continuing the security-focused features, Shadow Drive reveals a hidden storage partition only when the Keystone is inserted. If you’d rather not always have sensitive documents so readily available, the keystone acts as a fast-acting switch for turning the partition’s visibility on-and-off. Remove the keystone, and let your friends borrow your laptop without accidentally stumbling across your private files.

Armoury Crate

For a more personalised application of the Keystone, let’s delve deeper into the Armoury Crate software to discover it untapped potential. You can assign various functions and modes to the keystone itself, allowing transfer of configurations between compatible devices.

Want a gaming-focused keystone? Set the fan speed to ramp up and quickly launch a program when the keystone is inserted to help improve performance and get you in-game as fast as possible. No more time-wasting, tedious desktop browsing or convoluted shortcuts. You can even trigger customisable lighting and sound effects when docking the keystone for a truly immersive experience.

The keystone is a simplistic accessory, but when configured correctly, can become an absolutely crucial component in your day-to-day routine.

Check out ASUS’s line-up of gaming laptops, over at Ebuyer.

ASUS is no stranger to weird and wonderful laptop innovations. If you’d rather build a PC, check out our handy step-by-step processor and motherboard installation guide, featuring the Asus ROG Maximus XIII Hero.