The launch of NVIDIA’s latest GeForce RTX 50-series laptop GPUs brought with it a new set of gaming laptops across all of the major manufacturers. They boast improved graphical performance at lower power targets, supported by the latest CPUs from both Intel and AMD. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 is one such laptop, whose performance and design puts most of its predecessors to shame. Of course, it does come with one catch – its price. Can ASUS justify its price tag? Read on in my review to find out.
Design and Build Quality
ASUS has refined the design of its Zephyrus G-series over the years since its first launch back in 2016. The standout design feature was, without a doubt, its AniMe Vision Dot Matrix display on the laptop’s lid. It was a gimmick in many respects, but nonetheless, it was cool. However ASUS slowly phased it out over subsequent generations, making it less flashy and more subtle.
The latest iteration of the feature is an LED strip diagonally across the lid, with 68 individual white LEDs. They can be programmed to 15 different animations or act as a notification LED for incoming Windows notifications. Another interesting feature is Sonic Match mode, where it will sync the LEDs to audio playback, which is definitely a conversation-starter. While 68 LEDs is much lower than the 1000+ LEDs that used to be present in the previous designs, the latest design is still unique and I like the implementation this time.
The rest of the laptop is more minimalist, which is a good thing in my opinion. If I wanted attention, then the ROG Strix SCAR series would make more sense. There is a simple ROG logo on the bottom left side of the lid, along with another “ROG Zephyrus” logo below the display inside the laptop.
For the amount of performance it offers, the Zephyrus G16 really is impressively thin. Gone are the days of thick, heavy laptops that needed bulky cooling systems to keep the thermals under control. The degree of engineering that went into designing such a slim chassis is commendable. On the whole, I find the design of Zephyrus G16 to be sleek, refined, modern and elegant.
When it comes to build quality, there are only positives. The CNC machined Aluminium chassis is exceptionally rigid, with little to no chassis-flex or lid-flex. The hinge has the perfect tension too, allowing it to be opened with one finger. The laptop feels dense in the hand, owing to the cooling systems inside, and it overall exudes quality. In my opinion, the Zephyrus G16 is on-par with the MacBook Pro laptop when it comes to build quality.
Display and Sound
ASUS has stepped up their display game with the Zephyrus G16, equipping it with a stunning OLED display that is up there with the best in the industry. It is a 16-inch, 2.5K (2560 x 1600, WQXGA) OLED panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio, a maximum refresh rate of 240Hz, o.2ms response time, support for G-Sync and Dolby Vision HDR, and it is Pantone Validated. The colour accuracy is top-notch with 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 colour space and ASUS claims a Delta E< , which makes it great for content creation.
The only shortcoming of the laptop would be its brightness, which peaks at 500 nits. This is lower than the MacBook Pro Display which can reach a peak brightness of 1600 nits in HDR mode. Still, 500 nits is good enough for indoor use and I didn’t really miss the higher brightness of the MacBook Pro. The laptop is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified, so you do get a decent HDR experience.
When it comes to gaming on this laptop, I can find no fault whatsoever. It is unbelievably fast, responsive and the colours simply look fantastic. Whether it’s RPG games with big beautiful worlds or fast-paced E-sports titles, the Zephyrus G16’s display will impress you.
Above the display, you also get Windows Hello Facial recognition, which is a nice feature to have.
When it comes to sound, the Zephyrus G16 has upward-firing 6 speaker setup that includes dual-side woofers. The audio quality was impressive, coming quite close to the MacBook Pro, both in terms of volume and quality. The lower frequencies in particular were note-worthy. I thoroughly enjoyed using the speakers for consuming media, and of course, you also have Dolby Atmos Support via the preloaded app.
For audio input, the laptop has a 3 DMIC array that does a great job of capturing clear audio for voice and video calls. Another feature is their two-way AI-Noise cancellation technology that does a good job of cancelling background noise during calls.
Performance and Thermals
The performance of the Zephyrus G16 is definitely one of its biggest highlights. Running this beast of the laptop is Intel’s latest Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 285H, which is paired with
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU. This combination of CPU and GPU offers some of the best performance possible in a laptop form factor, and the execution by ASUS is top-notch.
The Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 285H is a 16 core beast of a processor comprising 6 performance-cores, 8 efficient-cores and 2 low power efficient-cores. It has a base frequency of 2.9 GHz and it can boost up to 5.4 GHz. It comes with dedicated NPU cores for sustained AI workloads, which makes using things like Microsoft’s Co-Pilot a lot quicker and better.
Complementing the performance of the CPU is NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU. ASUS has tuned the GPU to reach up to 120W with its Dynamic Boost technology, which is plenty of power for the most demanding use cases. And since it is a 50 series GPU, you get support for all of NVIDIA’s latest technologies including DLSS 4.0, Multi Frame Generation, enhanced Super Resolution, etc. Truly one of the best GPUs you can get in a laptop, save for the RTX 5090, but that GPU is meant more for AI workloads than for gaming purposes anyways.
With this combination of CPU and GPU, the G16 can handle nearly any task thrown at it, whether its complex 3D renders, content creation, and of course, any gaming load with ease.
Our model is also equipped with 32GB LPDDR5X RAM on board, running at 7467 MT/s and also has a 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD for all your storage needs.
Here are some benchmarks for the Zephyrus G16:
The thermals are another impressive area for the Zephyrus G16. ASUS has equipped this laptop with their best technologies such as Liquid Metal thermal interface, vapour chamber cooling, a triple fan setup that cools components other than the CPU and GPU, and more. All of which results in exceptional thermal performance in a chassis that is much thinner than expected. During gaming loads, the fans do get loud but not obnoxious. And in lighter loads, the laptop has a 0dB mode for silent performance.
Keyboard and Trackpad
ASUS has been making excellent keyboards for their laptops and the Zephyrus G16 is no exception. The keycaps this time around are 12% larger than the previous generation and the key travel is 1.7mm, which is plenty for a laptop keyboard. The key presses feel click-y, with good actuation force and a satisfying sound.
I had no issues with layout either, although I still dislike having the co-pilot button. At least, ASUS could make it a configurable button or give me the ability to turn it off. Too many times I accidentally clicked it thinking it was the right CTRL button.
Being a Zephyrus gaming laptop, of course you get RGB-lighting support with AURA Sync. However it is single zone RGB and not per-key LEDs.
The trackpad is absolutely massive. It is glass-topped and it runs on Windows Precision Drivers, resulting in perfect accuracy and great gesture support. The large size did make me worry about the palm-rejection, but during my use, I faced no issues.
Ports and Connectivity
The ports on the Zephyrus G16 include
- 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
- 1x HDMI 2.1 FRL
- 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
- 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with support for DisplayPort / power delivery / G-SYNC
- 1x Thunderbolt 4 with support for DisplayPort / power delivery
- 1x card reader (SD) (UHS-II, 312MB/s)
The selection of ports is generous and I am perfectly happy with it. The inclusion of an SD card reader is especially useful for content creators.
For wireless connectivity, you get an Intel Wi-Fi 7 card along with Bluetooth 5.4 support. As expected from an Intel Wi-Fi card, connectivity was excellent, with good speeds and no drops in the connection. Wi-Fi 7 is absurdly fast, and while there aren’t many routers that can enable those speeds, it is good to have for future-proofing.
Battery
Built into the Zephyrus G16 is a 90Whr 4-Cell Li-ion battery that supports fast-charging with the included 240W adapter. The laptop also supports USB Type-C charging, however you can’t expect to get the full performance of the laptop.
Laptops with Intel CPUs aren’t known for their battery life, especially when compared to its competition from AMD powered laptops. However I’m pleased to say that the Zephyrus G16 performed better than expected in this regard. While it is no battery monster like the MacBook Pro, it did hold up well in my day to day use.
I was able to get anywhere between 6-8 hours of screen time with the laptop when using it lightly (Browsing the web, Netflix, YouTube, etc.). This is of course in the “Eco Mode” setting with the dedicated GPU turned off. If you perform heavier tasks, the battery life will quickly drop.
Conclusion
To recap, the Zephyrus G16 has a brilliant display, beautiful design and impressive build quality, top-notch performance, and a great keyboard and trackpad. The battery life would be the only area that I would consider as average, which for a gaming laptop is good enough.
So the Zephyrus G16 should be an easy recommendation right? Well there is a matter of the price. The laptop starts at Rs. 359,990 for the RTX 5080 variant, and that is a hefty price for a Windows laptop. There are a lot of great options that are less expensive in the gaming laptop space. However, if you want the absolute best Windows laptop, both for content creation and for gaming on-the-go, and price isn’t objection, then the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 is definitely the laptop to consider buying.
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus laptop is available for purchase on the ASUS official e-store and on Amazon, starting at Rs. 359,990