Asus Rog Zephyrus G16 Is Reliable in Every Way

Perhaps one of my biggest pet peeves about gaming laptops is how over-the-top they can look and feel. I understand. Many of the best gaming laptops have tons of fans, usually have RGB lighting, and for some, that flash is a badge of honor. But flash memory doesn’t improve laptop performance, and for those who multitask, the sleeker and often more streamlined designs of performance laptops have a certain appeal, especially if you plan on taking your computer out in public.

While I liked what Asus did with the beefier ROG Strix Scar 18 , the much smaller and more minimalist design of the Zephyrus G16 is a sweet spot, delivering a versatile experience for gaming, work, and anything else you can throw at it. . It’s primarily marketed as a laptop for “creators,” but it also handles gaming well. I’ve spent the last few weeks with the G16 testing it as my daily driver, and it’s one of the first Windows laptops that didn’t make me miss the MacBook Air on day one.

A solid foundation for work and play.

The G16 follows in the footsteps of this year’s smaller ROG Zephyrus G14 , offering a rugged design that’s thinner and lighter than the bulkier Asus ROG laptops currently on the market. It features either a beautiful 16-inch Nebula OLED display with 2560 x 1600 resolution and a 240Hz refresh rate, or a cheaper and almost equally beautiful Nebula IPS panel with the same resolution and refresh rate.

This all fits well into a thin and light body that weighs just 4.29 pounds – very impressive considering it can accommodate an Nvidia RTX 4090 graphics card. The trackpad and keyboard are also very durable, although the larger trackpad took some getting used to when I first started playing with him. The keyboard’s feedback is also comfortable for typing, and the 1.7mm travel depth should suit most typing styles well.

Here are the specifications of the model that Asus sent me:

• Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H

• GPU: NVIDIA RTX 4070

• Memory: 16 GB LPDDR5X 7467 RAM.

• Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD.

• Screen size: 16-inch ROG Nebula OLED.

• Resolution: 2560 x 1600

• Refresh rate: 240Hz

These specifications may vary depending on your model. A full list of available specifications can be compared on the Asus website.

The particular model Asus sent me to test only had 16GB of RAM and an RTX 4070, but that was more than enough power for most of the games I played. You may want to sacrifice some of the higher settings for more intense gaming (more on that in a bit), and I’d recommend going with 32GB of RAM if you plan on gaming a lot, but I never felt like my leg muscles were too limited . due to less RAM. The RAM is soldered into the laptop, which means it can’t be upgraded, so when purchasing, make sure you’re getting what you need.

This laptop’s speakers are surprisingly good, with punchy sound that isn’t always the best, but is more than passable if you don’t feel like wearing headphones. The OLED display is beautiful, with plenty of color and depth, but it can be somewhat dark even at full brightness. However, the 240Hz refresh rate still provided really smooth gaming, and adjusting the brightness was fairly easy most of the time.

Overall, Asus is laying a solid foundation on which to build the Zephyrus G16. The design is sleek and easy to carry, and the metal body gives it a premium feel. And if you’re more of an RGB person, you also get what Asus calls “cutout lighting” on the lid, which allows you to do some RGB customization without going overboard.

Performance and battery life

Of course, one of the biggest compromises you make when buying a laptop is performance. This is because most of the higher performance and high performance equipment is too large and bulky to fit into a simplified and lightweight machine. That’s not necessarily the case in this case, however, as Asus has found a way to fit the RTX 4090 into the Zephyrus G16 if you buy the right model.

While I didn’t test the 4090, the 4070 delivered solid performance on my test machine, although I did have to tweak the gaming settings a bit to get the most out of the OLED panel’s 240Hz refresh rate.

Testing the laptop in 3DMark 13, I got the following results:

• 3DMark13 – CPU profile: max – 8198, 16 – 7634, 8 – 5905, 2 – 1913, 1 – 957

• 3D Mark 13 Fire Strike (DX11): 26478 (Graphics – 30869, Physics – 28574, Combination – 12171)

• 3D Mark 13 Port Royal: 7294

• 3D Mark 13 Time Spy (DX12): 12076 (Graphics – 12186, CPU – 11508)

All of these tests were captured using the Turbo G16 profile with the GPU set to Standard mode and the screen at native resolution. The tests give us a good idea of ​​what the laptop is capable of, but they don’t give the full picture of what we can expect from day-to-day use. This is where we have to look at individual games.

Testing Cyberpunk 2077 , one of the most intense games on the market, I was able to achieve a stable frames per second (FPS) rate of around 50-55 FPS when running the game on Ultra settings with RTX disabled and using DX12. When running in silent mode, which throttles performance to minimize fan noise, FPS dropped to around 29-35, which isn’t ideal but is still generally playable. I also tested Red Dead Redemption 2 , which clocked in at around 62-70fps when running on Ultra Optimized with DX12 and TAA. Quiet mode showed a stable 50-53 FPS at the same settings.

I also tested the in-game tests of Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2 , as I wanted to get an idea of ​​how things worked both in the actual game and in their tests when available. During my tests, Cyberpunk averaged around 52fps, while RDR2 averaged 50fps. These numbers don’t fully take into account the benefits of the higher refresh rates the laptop offers, but if you want extreme image clarity, you’ll see frame return this low. Both tests were run with the same settings as my real-time tests.

Ultimately, if you plan on gaming, you’ll probably want to use the higher performance modes, especially if you want to take advantage of higher graphics settings. Just keep in mind that the fans will be much louder in turbo mode, but they’re never too intrusive if I’m wearing headphones.

Battery life is another important thing to consider, and when playing on less power-hungry models like the Silent, I was able to get between four and five hours of battery life while working and browsing the Internet. However, gaming took up a huge portion of this time, especially when playing more intensive games. This is not very good, and this only happened when running the laptop on the most basic settings.

There are many features that you can take advantage of, such as an eco mode that can save you a couple more hours of time. However, if you’re using performance mode on battery, you’ll need two to three hours before you need to find a charging station, especially if you’re watching more intensive content like 4K videos. Thus, I would only recommend using silent mode when using the laptop on battery power, unless you really like fiddling around.

Is the ROG Zephyrus G16 worth the money?

Starting at $2,199.99, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is far from cheap. But the premium design includes plenty of solid features for the price. If you really want the best the G16 has to offer, you’ll have to opt for one of the more expensive options, which can cost as much as $3,499.99. These more expensive models come with 32GB of RAM, which I would recommend upgrading to since you won’t be able to install more after purchasing.

Overall, however, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is a solid contender if you’re looking for a good performance laptop with plenty of gaming power. It’s lightweight compared to most other gaming laptops, and the aluminum body gives it a premium feel that’s hard to miss if you’re looking for a Windows laptop that won’t make you regret carrying it around.

Higher-end models also come with two separate power supplies: a larger unit if you plan on using high-end modes, and a smaller unit that’s ideal for traveling when you don’t plan on gaming. The 16GB RAM model that Asus sent me costs approximately $1,999.99 when purchased at Best Buy. This is a solid laptop for gamers who don’t need to push for maximum frame rates in the latest games.

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