Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) overview: an AMD improve

Asus overhauled its ROG Zephyrus gaming laptops in 2024, giving them glossy, aluminum our bodies and good OLED screens. The Intel model of the ROG Zephyrus G16 appeared like a possible MacBook Pro killer when it launched in February; it’s skinny, gentle, and highly effective, however the Core Ultra 9 185H processor hampers battery life. Now that Asus has reissued the G16 with the newest flagship CPU from AMD, it has lastly develop into an all-rounder with sufficient battery life to tote to the workplace.

This model of the Zephyrus G16 has the identical Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU that powers Asus’ Zenbook S 16 to nice impact. The higher built-in graphics and enhancements in effectivity and uncooked horsepower over Intel’s cell Meteor Lake processors make the AMD mannequin the clear winner. If solely it weren’t so dang costly. 

Our $2,300 overview unit, with an Nvidia RTX 4070 cell GPU, is considered one of 4 G16 variants with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU. There’s one other 4070 mannequin in white, with 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage for $2,300, whereas the least costly model is $1,900 with an RTX 4060, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. More GPU energy is just out there on Intel fashions, with an RTX 4080 choice at $2,700 and an RTX 4090 for $3,300. RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so it’s essential to think about earlier than buying.

Apart from the processor, and the bounce to Wi-Fi 7 from Wi-Fi 6e, the AMD model of the G16 is sort of equivalent to the Intel model. Both use the identical 0.59-inch-thick unibody aluminum chassis, ports, and 200-watt charging brick; the one seen distinction is the Copilot key on the AMD mannequin rather than the right-hand Ctrl key. The AMD model can be an oz lighter at a scant 3.99 kilos. 

I’ve a stable foundation for evaluating the 2 G16s right here. In search of a transportable work machine I may additionally recreation on, I ditched my desktop and purchased the Intel model of the G16, with an RTX 4070 and 16GB of RAM, in August. Since then, I’ve used it not solely to work from home and in espresso retailers but additionally to play all of the video games I’d usually play on my tower.

Whichever processor and graphics card is inside, utilizing the G16 is a rock-solid expertise. There’s little or no chassis flex apart from the plate within the lifeless heart of the keyboard, the lid lifts simply with a single finger, and display screen wobble is minimal. But the 2560 x 1600, 240Hz OLED ROG Nebula Display steals the present. Thanks to the wonderful movement readability, shade accuracy, and distinction, it’s nearly the very best display screen you’ll find on a gaming laptop computer. The smaller Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 makes use of a 2880 x 1800 OLED panel, but it surely’s solely 120Hz.

Asus manufacturing facility calibrates the display screen in every G16 and claims a mean Delta E of below 1, a peak brightness of 500 nits, and one hundred pc protection of the DCI-P3 shade house. These are daring claims, however they largely maintain up. I measured one hundred pc protection of the sRGB shade house, 97.2 p.c of Adobe RGB, and 99.9 of DCI-P3. Although most brightness in SDR solely reached 397 nits, that’s loads vivid sufficient to make use of outside within the shade. HDR is even brighter, reaching 644 nits in a ten p.c window. The common Delta E, the distinction between an anticipated worth and what was measured, got here in at solely 0.17. This is an astoundingly correct show and ok for color-sensitive work.

Apart from the floating quantity controls and devoted Armoury Crate button above the F row, the minimalist design and keyboard format are a change from the 2023 mannequin and now look way more like these of Asus’ personal Zenbook line. While the keys aren’t mechanical, the 1.5mm key journey is sufficient to stave off fatigue throughout lengthy typing periods. The spacebar is a bit stiff and may skip if tapped on the furthest edges, but it surely doesn’t occur usually sufficient to develop into an issue.

The Zephyrus G16’s look has taken a flip for the demure, however Asus couldn’t resist protecting some gamer aptitude. Gone is the addressable matrix of LEDs beforehand splashed throughout the again of ROG Zephyrus laptops, changed with a diagonal strip of lighting that runs throughout the lid. Different Slash Lighting patterns are programmable in Armoury Crate, however the one shade out there is white. 

The impact is underwhelming, and that extends to the keyboard. Despite the $2,000 price ticket, all variations of the G16 are geared up with single-zone RGB backlighting, which means that every one keys will at all times be backlit with the identical shade and brightness. Competitors just like the HP Omen Transcend 16 and Razer Blade 16 each supply per-key lighting. The exclusion right here, mixed with the Slash bar, looks like Asus is attempting to toe the road between slim studio laptop computer and full gaming aesthetic, however the consequence feels unlikely to please both crowd.

Despite the equivalent seems to be, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU pulls forward of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H in each single artificial benchmark. In most instances, it’s a small enchancment in each single and multicore duties, however AMD takes a whopping 20 p.c single-core and 10 p.c multicore lead in Geekbench 6.

That lead sadly doesn’t scale uniformly to gaming. It’s true that, at 1080p, the place CPU variations are most blatant, the AMD model of the G16 places up a commanding efficiency over Intel’s chip. Results are higher throughout the board, with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 bettering 14 p.c in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, 13 p.c in Cyberpunk 2077, and 12 p.c in Returnal. 

Make no mistake, each the AMD and Intel variations of the G16 are succesful gaming machines, and shifting as much as 1440p or the native 2560 x 1600 decision erases any distinction between the 2. The bottleneck right here is the GPU. While the RTX 4070 continues to be a succesful cell graphics card practically two years after launch, it could possibly’t fairly hit 60 frames per second in each recreation at maxed-out settings. Less demanding titles like Elden Ring will nonetheless run at 60fps on Ultra all day, however this midrange card reveals its age in newer video games.

Tweaking settings or enabling an upscaler like Nvidia’s DLSS in video games that assist it’s a completely viable resolution, and even probably the most demanding titles like Alan Wake 2 are playable on the 4070 variations of the G16, with compromises. Running round Coffee World as Saga halfway by means of the sport, neither the AMD or Intel model may crack 60fps at 1440p or native decision, and enabling DLSS on the Quality setting solely delivered about 50 frames per second. The recreation turns into way more playable when settings are dropped to medium or body era is turned on. 

Ray-tracing lovers and people with 4K exterior displays ought to take into account the 4080 and 4090 fashions. Asus limits the RTX 4080 and 4090 to 115 watts of energy draw to maintain temps down, which means a thicker laptop computer just like the Razer Blade 16 with a 4090 in it’s going to rating about 10 p.c larger in Time Spy than a G16 with a 4090, owing to its beefier cooling resolution and better energy allowance of 175 watts. This is a negligible distinction for most individuals, however diehards trying to wring out each ounce of efficiency will wish to look elsewhere.

AMD persistently dominates Intel within the built-in graphics division, and that hasn’t modified with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. The AMD Radeon 890M is probably the most highly effective built-in GPU available on the market and may ship stable 1080p gaming efficiency even on battery energy — it’s no surprise that Ayaneo and different producers are utilizing the chip of their latest gaming handhelds. 

Playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p on battery energy utilizing built-in graphics is a surprisingly nice expertise. The benchmark returned 40 frames per second with all the pieces set to its most, and dropping the settings to excessive and enabling Intel’s XeSS upscaling netted 47fps. The APU — as AMD calls its CPUs with built-in graphics — pulls 42 watts with this setup, which means about an hour and a half of runtime regardless of the G16’s massive 90Wh battery. With a customized energy profile that limits the APU to 25 watts complete (extra granular management is out there with open-source Armoury Crate alternate options like G-Helper), the outcomes have been about the identical however stretched the battery life to 2 hours. 

Even heavier titles like Cyberpunk 2077 are playable on built-in graphics. With the 25-watt cap in place, I recorded 47fps within the benchmark with all the pieces set to Medium and AMD’s FSR upscaler set to Balanced and the identical 1.5-hour runtime as Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The Arc Graphics on the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H will play 2D and lighter indie video games simply high quality, however it could possibly’t crack 30fps within the above video games on the similar settings. 

This makes the built-in GPU a compelling choice in the event you’re away from wall energy. Running Cyberpunk 2077 on the RTX 4070 with excessive settings at 1080p received a body fee of 60fps and a scant 45 minutes of playtime. Locking the sport to a 30fps cap and medium settings at 1080p ends in one hour, 20 minutes of battery life. Gaming on built-in graphics may be the answer for many who wish to depart the cumbersome 200W charger at house and journey with a USB-C wall wart (as much as 100 watts) as a substitute.

Battery life outdoors of gaming is the primary purpose to think about the AMD model of the G16. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H mannequin provides about six to seven hours of real-world use, which is okay for most individuals however received’t make it by means of a complete workday. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is just extra environment friendly, lasting about 9 hours in real-world use. That additional three hours pushes the G16 out of the realm of typical gaming laptops and nearer to productiveness machines just like the Zenbook S 16 or the Dell XPS 16.

A extra environment friendly processor means much less warmth, which was (and is) the G16’s Achilles’ heel. Having lived with, gamed on, and typed extra articles than I can depend on the Intel model, I can confidently say that it is a spicy laptop computer — a lot in order that the underside will get uncomfortably scorching when gaming on the 4070, even utilizing the Silent energy profile (which restricts energy to the CPU and GPU and cuts fan noise accordingly), and the world proper above the keyboard on the Intel model reaches a scorching 123 levels Fahrenheit. 

The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 thermal throttles at 95 levels Celsius like its Intel-based cousin when below load, however no level on the chassis registered over 120 levels throughout testing. Running across the titular metropolis in Baldur’s Gate 3 utilizing the Turbo energy profile not ends in a burned lap. Cooler temps may let the CPU enhance larger, however it might nonetheless be constrained by the comparatively modest 200-watt general energy restrict. 

I’ve been singing the G16’s praises for many of this overview, however the sacrifices Asus undertook to make a gaming laptop computer this transportable are obtrusive, even when they may not have an effect on day-to-day use. Repairability and upgradability are subsequent to nil. Storage is straightforward to improve, and there’s a second 2280 M.2 slot, however the RAM is soldered to the motherboard in all variations. (Which is sadly the norm in laptops this skinny. Look to thicker rivals with socketed DDR5 RAM, just like the Alienware m16 R2, in order for you the choice to improve later.) If the 16GB supplied by the bottom configuration isn’t sufficient, you’ll need to pony up an additional $300 at minimal for a mannequin with 32GB and may’t go larger from there. 

Software has by no means been Asus’ sturdy swimsuit, and Armoury Crate continues to be Armoury Crate: laggy however serviceable sufficient for most individuals. Manually disabling the devoted graphics in Armoury Crate is the easiest way to optimize battery life, however usually, it requires closing all packages utilizing the 4070, attempting once more, then closing and reopening Armoury Crate to truly make the change. I’ve additionally seen that the G16 generally fails to wake correctly if set to hibernate whereas plugged in after which reawoken on battery. 

Speaking of the battery, the one option to allow Battery Care mode, which caps the battery at 80 p.c cost to lengthen its life, is thru the MyAsus app, a wholly separate management panel you need to register for to make use of. Being prompted to enroll and make an account as a part of the Windows 11 setup feels additional intrusive.

Asus succeeds in delivering an important machine for players who don’t need their laptops to dwell on their desk, in addition to content material creators. The color-accurate, excessive refresh fee display screen seems to be incredible displaying any kind of content material, the audio system are nearly the very best you’ll find on a Windows laptop computer, and the port choice, particularly the full-sized SD card reader, is sweet sufficient for photographers and video editors, although the shortage of an ethernet jack is conspicuous.

The value stays the largest sticking level for both mannequin of the G16. I’ve seen the Intel model on sale for as little as $1,400, which undercuts inexpensive, chunkier rivals with related specs just like the Alienware m16 R2 or the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i and even Asus’ personal ProCraft line aimed squarely at artists. A 16-inch ProCraft P16 configured with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU, RTX 4070, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage however a 4K, 60Hz display screen and barely thicker chassis prices $2,300, whereas the comparably geared up G16 has not too long ago been on sale for $1,999. 

Not that $2,000 for a laptop computer with an RTX 4070 inside is an objectively whole lot when 4080-equipped gadgets fall under that mark on sale. The Intel model of the G16 supplies the very best worth, particularly when it drops under $1,500. Best Buy ceaselessly lists open-box fashions for as little as $1,100, even cheaper than the smaller G14 with an RTX 4060. Whether the additional three hours of battery life is value as much as $900 extra is subjective and relies on how ceaselessly you journey, although most individuals shall be higher served by saving that cash and throwing a USB-C charger of their bag to maintain the G16 topped off.

Of course, this may be a moot level. It’s rumored that Nvidia will debut its newest 5000-series RTX graphics playing cards at CES 2025, and producers together with Asus will launch revamped laptops quickly after, though concrete particulars haven’t been confirmed but. If the RTX 5070 isn’t a considerable enchancment over the present era and Asus launches a brand new model of the G16, hold an eye fixed out for deep reductions on the 2024 fashions. Both variations of the G16 are objectively good all-around laptops, however at value parity, the AMD mannequin wins out.