ASUS - ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) 16" OLED 240Hz Gaming Laptop - Intel Core Ultra 9 - 32GB LPDDR5X - GeForce RTX 4080 - 1TB SSD - Eclipse Gray
- Brand
- ASUS
- SKU:
- GU605MZ-G16.U94080
- UPC:
- 197105399228
- Condition:
- New
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Experience the height of gaming innovation with the ROG Zephyrus G16. Featuring an all-new premium aluminum chassis with customizable lighting, this laptop merges style and durability. Its ultra-slim 0.59" profile and lightweight 4.30lbs 16" chassis redefines portability without compromising performance. Powered by Windows 11, an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU, the Zephyrus G16 seamlessly aligns with your lifestyle, meeting all your gaming and creative demands. ROG Intelligent Cooling features liquid metal for reduced CPU temperatures and upgraded Arc Flow Fans for improved airflow to sustain peak performance on the Zephyrus G16 no matter the task. Immerse yourself in the OLED ROG Nebula Display and enjoy rapid 0.2ms response times, vivid 2.5K resolution, and a smooth 240Hz refresh rate.
Dimension
Product Height : 0.59 inches
Product Width :9.72 inches
Product Depth :13.97 inches
Product Weight :4.3 pounds
Features
Make everyday easier with the Windows 11 Operating System Game, create, turn up the volume with family and friends - Windows 11 is the place for it all. With a fresh new feel and tools that make it easier to be efficient, it has whatever you need for what's next.
Windows Copilot AI assistant Meet Copilot in Windows – your AI-powered assistant for quick answers, creative inspiration, and focused tasks. Boost productivity with fast answers, image generation, and more. Elevate your Windows 11 experience and unleash creativity!
OLED ROG Nebula Display with NVIDIA G-SYNC Elevate your visual experience with the Zephyrus G16, featuring an OLED ROG Nebula Display Badge. Enjoy rapid 0.2ms response times, vivid 2.5K resolution, and a smooth 240Hz refresh rate. With NVIDIA G-SYNC, eliminate visual tearing, minimize stuttering, and reduce input lag.
AI-powered Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor Accelerate your workflow with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor. This chip features built-in AI accelerators that are ready to take advantage of the latest in technology. Dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU) cores allow AI to reduce power consumption for longer battery life during sustained AI workloads.
Top-of-the-line graphics with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Maximize gaming and creativity with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 laptop GPU, with a max TGP of 115W. Game-changing features like DLSS 3.5 and ray racing technology bring game graphics to life by simulating sunlight and creating a realistic environment for an immersive gaming experience.
Seamless multitasking with 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM Equipped with 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, the Zephyrus G16 effortlessly handles multitasking demands whether you're gaming, creating, or simply browsing for the latest trends.
Rapid loading times with 1TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD Storage Save files rapidly and store more data and games with a massive 1TB of storage. Experience advanced communication power. PCIe SSDs are great for major gaming applications, multiple servers, daily backups, and more.
Premium Aluminum CNC Chassis The Zephyrus G16 sports a premium aluminum chassis meticulously crafted through CNC machining. Along with the customizable Slash lighting array, this laptop is the perfect blend of durability, elegance, and individuality.
4.30lbs light and 0.59" slim Embrace portability without compromising. The ROG Zephyrus G16’s ultra slim 0.59” profile and lightweight 4.30lbs 16-inch chassis redefine gaming on the go.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate included Play Minecraft Legends and hundreds of other PC games on the ROG Zephyrus G16 with 3 months of Game Pass. *Terms apply.
Stay cool with ROG Intelligent Cooling Sustain peak performance with ROG Intelligent Cooling featuring liquid metal that reduces CPU temperatures by up to 13°, 2nd Gen Arc Flow Fans, and a Vapor Chamber.
NVIDIA Advanced Optimus with MUX Switch A MUX Switch increases laptop gaming performance by 5-10% by routing frames directly from the dGPU to the display bypassing the iGPU. With Advanced Optimus the switch between iGPU and dGPU becomes automatic based on the task, optimizing battery life.
Audio excellence with 6 speakers and Dolby Atmos Pump up the volume with newly improved woofers on the Zephyrus G16 offering 47% volume increase and 100Hz bass frequency. Experience Dolby Atmos support, AI noise cancellation and a 3D mic array to further enhance your audio experience.
Advanced Connectivity Stay connected with dual USB-C ports, HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, and a dedicated UHS-II MicroSD card reader.
What's Included
20 Reviews Hide Reviews Show Reviews
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Just a great all around laptop.
Fantastic laptop in every aspect. Powerful, light, thin, long battery life, and top-notch build quality. Best laptop screen I've ever seen. Keyboard, touchpad, and speakers are all high quality. The only thing I think could be improved would be the inclusion of a haptic touchpad but it still gets five stars.
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A Lightweight Premium Build w/ Gaming at Its Core
?? BUILD: First impression of the G16 is that ASUS really stepped up their build materials compared to previous years. It’s an all-aluminum design from the base to the keyboard deck to the lid. It’s an overall thin profile that feels more durable and confidence-inspiring, and just feels more portable at 4.3lbs—which is great for a gaming laptop of this caliber. On the top lid you have the new Slash Lighting array which you can configure in Armoury Crate, and on the bottom you have 11 T6 Torx screws to gain access to the internals. Other than the rubber feet spanning across the bottom, the Zephyrus G16 is thinner than the MacBook Pro 16, but when placed side by side on a flat surface, the G16 stands thinner at the front and becomes taller at the rear due to the protruding rubber feet. ??PORTS: For the I/O, the G16 sports a proprietary 240W power input. Personally, I really wish ASUS would support 240W over an additional USB-C port, but I’m sure that’s additional cost and engineering time. Even so, it does support 1x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C port as well as a USB 3.2 gen 2 USB-C port—each of which supports 100W USB-C Power Delivery. I do wish ASUS would make both of these Thunderbolt 4 compliant since it would give additional flexibility when using thunderbolt docking stations, external thunderbolt storage, and potentially eGPUs. Additionally, gamers will appreciate the 2x USB 3.2 gen 2 Type-A ports—especially for peripherals like mice, keyboards and USB headsets. And if you have a modern TV that supports HDMI 2.1, you’ll be able to achieve full bandwidth for a native 4k120Hz connection as long as you have a proper HDMI cable. Lastly, I appreciate having the option for a 3.5mm analog headphone/microphone combo jack for music, gaming or meetings, and a UHS-II SD card slot for creators. ?? EXPANSION & UPGRADES: Expandability on the G16 is one of its weaker points. On the bottom of the laptop are 11 T6 Torx screws. While 9 of the screws are exposed, you’ll need to remove two smaller rubber stoppers at the rear of the laptop to expose the 2 additional screws to gain access to the bottom of the chassis. And unfortunately, the screws are of different lengths, so you may want to keep track of the locations for each screw, or consult the service repair manual from their support website if you accidentally forget. Once the rear cover is removed, you’ll really only have access to 2x PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD slots—one of which is unoccupied, and another slot for your WiFi module. It would have been nice to see a WiFi 7 module included instead of a WiFi 6E. But more importantly, you won’t be able to upgrade RAM, so you’ll need to buy the model that fits your needs. ?? ?KEYBOARD & TOUCHPAD: The keyboard has good tactile feedback and travel, and the deck is rigid without flex. I’m able to type at my normal speed ~112 wpm without constantly fumbling. For work, I use a MacBook Pro 16, but I found that the transition to the G16’s keyboard was fairly natural for me. The RGB backlit keys are also appreciated for darker environments, but admittedly, is something I don’t care much about and don’t find myself often needing. After changing some preferences, I feel that the touchpad is very good. But I think the palm rejection could be improved because I did find myself accidentally changing the cursor position while typing. The physical clicks on the G16 touchpad do feel a bit stiff, but it’s still one of the better touchpads I’ve experienced on a Windows laptop. ?? DISPLAY: The G16 sports a 2560x1600p@240Hz OLED display. ASUS says it supports 100% of the DCI-P3 color space, and is Pantone Validated for color accuracy. While I don’t have the tools to objectively measure the display, my personal opinion is that it looks fantastic, gets very bright (especially for my use-cases), and HDR content looks fantastic on the OLED display. As a content-creator who focuses more on creating rather than editing and color-grading, it’s still good to know that I’m at least working with a display that should represent colors accurately, but for gaming purposes, I am subjectively impressed with the experience, as colors pop off the screen with excellent contrast in games. And with HDR enabled, you’ll be sure to enjoy an even richer visual experience. 240Hz will be more practical for eSports and games that are just generally less-demanding, but maxing out the most graphically intense modern games will not yield this kind of framerate. However, because the display does support Adaptive Sync, you should experience much less screen-tearing while gaming. ??? WEBCAM & MICROPHONE: At 1080p, the webcam does perform better than many others, but it’s also not going to replace a dedicated camera if you’re the type of person to stream on Twitch, Discord or YouTube. But for taking a video call, it should be sufficient with not too much noise unless you’re in low-light conditions. Additionally, you can use Windows Studio Effects to leverage the Intel NPU to apply a background blur. And of course, the Windows Hello facial recognition has been more reliable than ASUS’ fingerprint sensors. The microphone also sounds quite good when you configure it correctly. Windows claims that the G16 has a 4-channel microphone, and this checks out. Flanking the webcam on both sides, you have 2 microphone channels, and inside of the left speaker of the G16 are the other 2 channels. In my experience, I got the best quality audio by opening the Realtek Audio Console and setting the microphone to Stereo-Enhanced Mode. And if background noise is a concern, I prefer to use NVIDIA Broadcast to apply AI noise reduction. ?? SPEAKERS & HEADPHONE: The built-in speakers on the G16 are a pretty significant improvement over most ASUS laptops I’ve tried in the past. While perhaps not quite at the level of the MacBook Pro, it’s still very good and makes all content sound fantastic. If you want to adjust the sound profile of the speakers (and I think you should), you can open the Dolby Access app and select different presets or set your own EQ. Personally, I created a custom flat EQ without any additional surround virtualizers or volume levelers. As for the headphone experience, this is an area where I prefer to disable Dolby Atmos entirely, since I want a flat EQ so that I can listen to my music through the sound profile of my different headphones. Overall, I found this also to be a pleasant experience and it seemed to deliver decent loudness without distortion on sensitive both in-ear monitors and power-hungry planar magnetic headphones. It certainly won’t be replacing my dedicated DAC and amp, but in a pinch, it’s great to know I don’t have to compromise a ton. ? PERFORMANCE: For these benchmarks, I opened Armoury Crate and set the laptop’s power profile to Turbo Mode and the GPU Mode set to Optimized. I also used a laptop stand for better cooling access. Sometimes I’d run Cinebench Multi Core on the same power profile and yield 14%-16% lower results than what I’ve documented here. So take these with a grain of salt. ? Unigine Superposition 1080p Extreme DirectX benchmark: 9588 ? 3DMark Time Spy: 14681 https://www.3dmark.com/spy/46231593 ? 3DMark CPU Profile: 8866 https://www.3dmark.com/cpu/1789367 ? Cinebench R23 Multi Core (10 minutes): 18649 ? Cinebench 2024 Multi Core (10 minutes): 1011 Under a full sustained CPU load, the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H can yield very respectable results. During the PL2 load (2min sustained), the CPU would eventually sustain around 4.3GHz @ 96C, then dial back to a PL1 around 3.9GHz @ 83C. During this time, both fans do get loud (~47dB average / ~50dB max), reaching a peak around 5700 RPM, but thankfully without any high-pitched whining. Putting some closed-back headphones (Audeze Maxwell) on, I don’t really notice the fan noise. But there’s no doubt that others in my environment would certainly hear it. It’s also worth mentioning that while plugged in and using the Silent power profile, I could not get less than ~1700 RPM on the fans, but it can reach 0 RPM on battery mode for a truly silent experience. The most graphically demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077, Control, and A Plague Tale: Requiem will play well over 60fps on average while on very high settings with RT and DLSS enabled. But to engage a high frame-rate experience > 120fps, it may be better to dial back some settings, and you’ll still achieve a very crisp visual experience on the native 16” display. But if you’re comparing to other “thin” gaming laptops, the G16 may not have the best performance since the graphics only delivers 95W base + 20W dynamic boost, while others might deliver up to 175W, but those laptops will be much heavier despite having a thin profile. This puts the G16 in very limited competition for all that it offers. ?? BATTERY: Battery life continues to be a struggling point for Intel-based laptops, but it’s undoubtedly improving. If you have higher-performance needs for software development purposes, you may only get a few hours of battery life. But if your battery needs are geared towards documents, basic web browsing and video streaming, then I think it’s much more likely that you can get a 6hr to 7hr day while on lower display brightness, RGB effects disabled, and the silent power profile. ?? CONCLUSION: The 2024 Zephyrus G16 delivers a lot of improvements compared to last year’s G16 and 2022’s equivalent M16. While you will pay a premium, ASUS delivered much more value this year with a very premium experience for every aspect of the build. If performance is what you’re really after, then there are certainly better options on the market to deliver performance per dollar. But if you want something that is not only slim but lightweight and delivers a premium experience with very solid gaming performance, then the G16 may very well be what you’re looking for.
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Mobile Beast Mode? Yes PLEASE!
When I first saw the description of this computer I was a little skeptical of what exactly the Intel Core Ultra 9 was and what it could do. Well I'm here to tell you that this computer is an absolute beast. Everything about this computer kicks it up to 11. The rumors about the RTX 40 series of graphics chips are true. these things offer supremely detailed graphics and optimize even some of the more basic games. I played Team Fortress 2 (a game that's almost 20 years old) and it looked incredible. in the same sitting I loaded up one of the newest and hottest games right now: Helldivers 2, and the detail and beauty was simply astonishing. But the graphics chip shouldn't get all the credit for that, The crystal clear OLED 16" screen offers an awesomely sized view so you can hit tough shots or just take in beautiful scenery. Couple this with the speaker system that this computer has and you get amazing immersion on the go! The software that the computer comes with for customizing the way the computer operates is pretty intuitive and makes it easy to throttle things back when you don't need all that power or to push it into turbo for those high-end, sweat inducing gaming sessions. But with everything good that I can say about this laptop there are also a few drawbacks. First, because it does have one heck of an engine going on within, it tends to get rather loud and awfully hot, especially when doing anything graphically intensive. It's not that the computer cannot handle these tasks but you pay for it in sound and heat. It will however mitigate the heat rather quickly once the tasks are over. but I wouldn't recommend having this thing sitting on a flat surface for too long if you're going to be doing any heavy gaming. The second thing is that while the keyboard is cool with all the flashy lights, it's not something I would use for actually doing the gaming. The main heat point is just under the top center f the keyboard and it makes it kind of uncomfortable if you plan on using any of the keys in the center of the keyboard during times when the processor is really cooking (pun intended) The trackpad while ample (which is nice for more mundane tasks) gets in the way a lot when doing any kind of keyboard use for gaming purposes. (my thumb hit it more often than I would like) And lastly, The computer came with only 1TB of hard drive space. most wouldn't see this as much of a problem and for me its not a deal breaker, BUT with games nowadays topping 80-100GB a game, that doesn't leave much room for a lot of games onboard. Like I said, not a deal breaker, just something to keep in mind These are the only reasons that I didn't give this 5 stars. Otherwise if you are looking for a mobile powerhouse of a gaming laptop you can't get much better than this one.
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Almost perfect
Beautiful machine. Chassis feels premium almost like a MacBook Display is just incredible and performances in game are pretty good. Only big downside is the wifi speed. I’m usually around 500 mbps but this guy only does 100 for no apparent reason. Updated drivers and settings didn’t solve the issue, will continue investigating and hopefully get luckier.
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Not All Laptops Are Created Equal!!
I have been a PC gamer since the late 90’s early 2000’s. I remember when a gaming desktop weighed 80 pounds and had multiple hard drive bays for 20 gigabyte hard drives and CD-RW writers and 512 MB of ram was a huge deal. To see what pc-gaming has become in 2024 especially in the form of a laptop is astounding to me. Asus was a big motherboard brand back when I did my pc builds, but they never really were big on computers in general. Fast forward to now and I believe that Asus is the best out the box gaming setup you can buy, period. I am reviewing the Asus-ROG Zephyrus G16 laptop today and I feel blessed to have this computer in my hands. It is an absolute BEAST of a machine in such a tiny package its incredible. If you read no further than this just know that you 100% can’t go wrong with this laptop, but let’s dig into the review! Initial impressions of the laptop out the box were shocking. How could such a powerful machine be put into such a paper-thin aluminum chassis? The laptop is only .59 inches thick which is insane! Asus has blown me away with how they’re able to fit an Intel Core Ultra 9 with a RTX 4090 with sufficient cooling into this laptop and weigh less than 5 pounds total. The design is sleek and sophisticated coming with an Eclipse Gray color and a cool customizable LED feature on the top of the screen. The lighting pulses when the laptop is awake like it’s a living breathing entity. You can even setup in the Armoury crate app to have it pulse to the beat of music you play. I will say if you’re a big user of hooking up an additional monitor to your setup and keeping the laptop closed I did find it a tad distracting, but it’s easily able to be turned off if you so choose. Initial setup with Windows 11 was a breeze and I was up and running in a few minutes, did all the updates and off we go! Out the box this laptop is an absolute gaming monster. You can feel confident that anything you throw at it will perform at absolute top specs on any game. An Intel Core 9 185h processor with 32 gb of LPDD5RX ram and a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 leaves little more to be desired in a gaming rig. The laptop also comes with dual USB-C ports, HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, and a dedicated UHS-II MicroSD card reader which is handy for me since I am a photographer, so this machines doubles as an editing powerhouse! A 1TB SSD is the only thing I wish it had a little bit more space, but that’s easily fixed with an additional M2 slot for upgrades or adding some external hard drives. But 1TB is plenty to hold what I really need on the computer itself. The computer also has a built-in camera that recognizes you when you login which is a nice touch for bypassing the windows pin and handy when doing Microsoft Team meetings! The keyboard is responsive and the keys feel great under your fingers and the mousepad is a robust size. They even have keys dedicated to bringing up Armoury Crate on the fly! The OLED 16-inch monitor is beautiful with great contrast and a buttery smooth 240HZ refresh rate and .02ms response rate. The NVIDIA G-sync makes screen tearing a thing of the past. I also have a 34 inch Samsung widescreen monitor and the I play Apex legends A LOT and that game performs beautifully even with everything going on in the heat of battle. Games like Forza, Starfield, HI-Fi Rush and the new remastered Resident Evil 2 are absolutely breathtaking and I love that the computer comes with 3 free months of XBOX game pass to really give you a wide range of games to test out the box. The one thing I really truly love about ASUS computers though is the Armoury Crate, to me ASUS really knows that gamers and hardcore pc users really want customization and the ability to manipulate settings on the fly! Silent mode is great when your computer usage doesn’t need to be maximized and prolong battery life. But throwing the Laptop into Performance/Turbo mode really unlocks the potential. Being able to adjust the Processors and GPU to tailor what type of games you’re playing whether its Racing, FPS or RTS/RPG’s gives the computer that much more flexibility. OLED Care settings to make sure the OLED settings are correct to help maximize your displays lifespan is a nice touch as well. It’s a very robust app overall that makes ASUS laptops the best in the game in my opinion. Overall, I can’t recommend this laptop enough, it’s an absolute beast of a computer that leaves nothing to be desired in a gaming rig. ASUS has hit a homerun with this laptop and I’ll be curious to see where they go from here because this ones going to be tough to top! If you’re on the fence about it due to the high price tag you should jump immediately and never look back, it’s the best of the best!
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Epic gaming laptop
Build quality is mac like, speakers sound good, the 4080 does not disappoint. Definitely recommend this for a travel laptop.
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A Metal Multimedia Monster
PROS + Gorgeous 240hz OLED panel + Super-slim, all aluminum shell that seeps quality, is solid, and lightweight for size + Super solid gaming chops with RTX 4080 Laptop GPU and Intel Ultra 9 185H CPU + Great full-sounding speakers with plenty of volume and impact + Very quiet operation in Silent and Performance modes + Huge and responsive trackpad + 32GB of memory and fast SSD + Plenty of I/O CONS - Sounds like a jet engine when in Turbo mode - Can’t fight physics, it outputs some real heat during stressful gaming sessions SO-SO * Armory Crate software has some useful features, but can feel a bit clunky * RTX 4080 has 115w TGP, so not full 175w TGP potential, but still plenty fast, especially given the size * Battery life is solid for all of the specs, but likely won’t last a full day of usage THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 is targeted at gamers, but this is a multimedia powerhouse through and through. While it certainly possesses plenty of gaming chops, software, and the tools necessary to have a super solid portable gaming experience, where I think this laptop really excels above and beyond is being an all-around multimedia machine. It has the best screen I have ever seen on a laptop, rich speakers, a solid GPU & CPU for content creation and gaming, lots of I/O, fast memory, quiet operation, great portability, and a respectable battery life for the power. There is really no area where this laptop doesn’t excel. Being a thin and light laptop, that also is doubling as a portable workstation, it cannot outrun physics, and so does require a lot of cooling and fan power to operate in an efficient manner. But if you are looking for a jack of all trades that can do it all well, and are willing to pay a premium for it, this is a fantastic option. BUILD QUALITY At 0.59” thick, and weighing 4.3lbs, it is a very portable 16” laptop that houses a lot of powerful components in a slick package. The body is made of aluminum and has this gunmetal gray finish that looks and feels very premium. The body is rigid with no keyboard flex, creaking, or cheap feeling construction. The screen hinge feels great and can be opened with one finger easily, there is a bit of screen flex if you look for it, but no wobble or issues with screen construction of any form. In terms of lighting, the lightbar/slash on the back looks great when lit-up with its individual LEDs and custom light patterns, although you won’t really see it much during use, so I tended to leave it off to give the laptop a more understated look. The keyboard is a bit on the mushy side, but key travel is just about perfect for me. Overall the keyboard is very comfortable to use for long periods of time and I had no issues writing for several continuous hours on it without issue. The backlight is RGB, and can be fully controlled with lighting patterns as you would expect. If I had one nitpick with the keyboard, it would be that I wish the page up-down left-right buttons where a bit larger, as they are all half-key sized, but this really is a nitpick and not uncommon for a laptop of this size. Overall, the build quality on this laptop is top notch, and I honestly have no complaints at all. It is a premium laptop and it feels like it. Very well done. EVERYDAY USE Everyday usability is where I think this laptop really shines. This all starts with the 240hz OLED screen, which is absolutely gorgeous. It has a very wide color gamut, with perfect black levels and an infinite contrast ratio. It can get plenty bright, and everything from gaming to movies to daily browsing is a visual treat. I can’t speak for color accuracy, as I don’t have the equipment to measure this, but to my eye it looks highly color accurate, playing content that I have played many times on my calibrated monitors. It really is the best screen I have ever used on a laptop, and is buttery smooth with the 240hz refresh rate. Pairing with this are the 6 built-in Dolby Atmos speakers, which are surprisingly rich sounding for their size and the overall real estate within the laptop. They get quite loud, and at larger volumes have a good frequency presence from the low-end to the high-end. While I would definitely recommend a good pair of headphones for media consumption with any laptop, including this one, as that will still offer a better overall experience, the speakers in this are more than sufficient for casual sessions. You won’t get any real spatial audio presence from the Dolby Atmos capability of the speakers, but you do get a solid stereo presentation that is fully above average for most laptop speakers you will find. I should note that I did initially have some distortion issues with the speakers when I first got the laptop, but after a firmware and BIOS update, it all seems to have sorted out and I have not had any more issues since. Elsewhere on the laptop, you get plenty of I/O, with HDMI 2.1, USB-A, & USB-C ports, all of which mean you should be able to use this laptop without the need for an external dock, unless you need more peripherals. The charger that comes with the laptop does use a custom port, which is non-standard if you want to use the full-sized power brick, but you can also charge via USB-C, although at a slower-rate. If gaming, I would recommend using the included charger however to ensure you are getting the full power. GAMING Being a gaming laptop first and foremost, the main question I had getting this laptop was how it was going to perform with modern games, given it is a thin and light laptop first, and not the traditional bulky gaming laptops of old. The RTX 4080 laptop GPU has a 115w TGP, which is less than the 175w possible, but when combined with the Intel Ultra 9 185H CPU & 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, is a very potent machine. I threw some of my favorite AAA games against it, and I was genuinely surprised how well it performed. With DLSS, Cyberpunk 2077 was playable with medium ray-tracing settings and Alan Wake 2 was playable with medium settings and path-tracing, yielding a better performance than almost any console can do today. While these games are some of the heaviest you can play today, the fact that this laptop was able to play them at playable framerates was really impressive.When I moved to less intensive games, like Resident Evil 4 and Spider-Man, the laptop excelled with high framerates in the 100’s and no real slowdown. Most of my time spent gaming with the laptop was in the “Turbo” mode while plugged-in, which results is a very loud fan and a lot of heat being pushed out the back of the laptop. In this mode I needed to use headphones to enjoy the games fully, but heat was kept well away from the key board and my hands, which meant I was never uncomfortable gaming on the machine. Playing in “Performance” mode was sufficient for lightweight games, and operated significantly quieter and cooler in operation. Battery life while gaming in any of these modes is not great, and you will definitely want to play any serious games while connected to power, unless you want to play on a shorter 1-2 hour timeframe. Overall, I was really impressed by the gaming performance of the laptop. It offers a serious experience, which is scalable depending on the games you play, and when coupled with the build quality and size of the laptop, feels a bit like magic at times, given it is often delivering a superior experience to most modern consoles while being significantly smaller and more power efficient. It isn’t a miracle worker, and you do still have a lot of heat and cooling needed to keep the laptop functioning well, but the machine is very effective with its vapor cooling system at removing heat from the system. If all you play is modern AAA games, I wouldn’t use this as my primary system unless I wanted an all-in-one machine I could take with me, but for non AAA gaming, or even games just a few years old, this machine should be able to handle them without a sweat. DLSS in particular is a real game changer for this machine, and really lets you leverage the higher refresh rate capabilities of the display.
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The Katana of Gaming Laptops
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) is a game-changer in the realm of portable gaming laptops, setting a new benchmark for what enthusiasts and professionals alike can expect. My experience with this machine has been nothing short of remarkable, offering a blend of power, elegance, and innovation that's hard to come by. Starting with the design, the Zephyrus G16 gives off a premium feel reminiscent of a MacBook, thanks to its exceptional solid build quality. The laptop's eclipse gray chassis is not only visually appealing but also impressively durable, ensuring it can withstand the rigors of daily use. The standout feature, however, is the distinctive slash lighting on the laptop lid, which adds a unique touch to its overall aesthetic. While the lighting patterns are captivating, the addition of more customization options, including more lighting patterns and RGB capabilities/options, would elevate the user experience further. Performance-wise, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 is in a league of its own. Powered by an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, 32GB DDR5 memory, and a GeForce RTX 4080 graphics card, this laptop breezes through the most demanding games and creative tasks. The 16" OLED display, with a blistering 240Hz refresh rate, ensures ultra-smooth visuals, making every gaming session immersive. Moreover, the bootup time is virtually instant, a testament to the laptop's optimized hardware and software integration. There is no touch screen on this model, but why waste the processing power? The ASUS Armor Crate software enhances the user experience by providing a centralized platform to customize lighting, optimize gaming performance, custom profiles, screen optimization, manage game libraries, and more. This level of personalization and control is a significant plus, allowing users to tailor their gaming environment to their preferences. Another highlight is the laptop's trackpad, which is generously sized, offering precision and comfort for extended use. Coupled with the laptop's ultra-thin and lightweight design, the Zephyrus G16 is the epitome of gaming mobility without compromising on power. I still can’t believe they packed a 4080 and all the other performance hardware into this super thin machine. However, excellence comes at a price, and the Zephyrus G16 is no exception. While its cost may be on the higher end, the unparalleled performance, exceptional build quality, and unique features justify the investment for those seeking the best gaming experience on the go. Overall, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) stands out as a marvel of gaming technology, offering a perfect blend of speed, portability, and style. It is an absolute recommendation for anyone looking to elevate their gaming to new heights, regardless of where they are. In my opinion, this is the top dog of gaming laptops so far this year. ASUS knocked it out of the park with this build! Also… virtual pet anyone??
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Amazing laptop! My new everyday companion
I feel like every time I get a brand new gaming laptop I say.. this is the best laptop ever! And this new Asus G16 definitely deserves that title. I’ve been using it everyday for a week as my main gaming setup, and I love it so much that I think it might become my main rig for work and play. The OLED screen is beautiful. Videos, Photos, Games all look amazing on this screen. If you’re looking for the best screen on a laptop, I have to say that this machine should be on your shortlist but The screen brightness is only 450 nits, its been plenty bright for me for most situations. I’m not the type to sit outside with a laptop, but if you plan on getting work or gaming done outside at a cafe or something, you might be disappointed with this screen. But 450nits is typical for an OLED screen, it’s just a trade off you have to compromise on. I think it’s to prevent burn in / damage. Speakers on this laptop are also very good! I’ll say that these are the second best speakers I’ve heard on a laptop. They get loud but have a full sound. Bass, and mids are rich and trebles are clean and crisp. I will happily use the built in speakers for music listening and movie watching and gaming. The fans do kick on quite loud while gaming so it’s nice to have a loud set of speakers in the machine to drown out the fans. I haven’t had any issues with overheating yet, the fans and cooling system on this machine keep the laptop running great and I’m pushing graphics to the highest in most of the games I’ve tested. Alan Wake 2 pretty much runs at full max settings. Ray tracing for some reason causes bad frame drops on that game but to my eyes it looks amazing without the setting on. Every game I own looks and plays amazing on this laptop. My short list of current games are Alan Wake 2, Fortnite, Rocket League, Helldivers 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider. (An oldy, but I wanted to relive it on this beautiful OLED screen.) I can’t wait to try other games now and in the future. I am confident that this machine will run anything coming in the next 5 years. The RTX 4080, paired with the intel i9 and 32GB of ram is a powerful combination that will serve you well for years. This machine has an additional m.2 slot for expanding your storage which I immediately did. I installed a 2TB ssd and now I have 3 TB total for game storage. So cool! Hardware wise, this laptop is very premium. It’s mostly aluminum, the only thing that feels plastic is the bottom cover. You’ll need a T6 security driver to open it but those are easy to find. I could go on all day about this laptop, but if your here and your on the fence. I’m gonna say go ahead and buy it, I highly recommend it. This laptop is powerful enough to play just about every game available, and is also great for work if you’re a photo and video editor / content creator. And when you’re not working or gaming on this machine, you’ll love it for just kicking back on the couch or bed and watching a movie or video.