ASUS - ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) 16" OLED 240Hz Gaming Laptop - Intel Core Ultra 9 - 32GB LPDDR5X - GeForce RTX 4080 - 1TB SSD - Eclipse Gray

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.

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.

Rather than clutter this review with specs, ports, charts, graphs, figures, FPSes and, hertz’s, which are widely available elsewhere now, I just want to stick to my overall experience with the 2024 Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 so far. Unboxing: My package showed up slightly crushed, thankfully it was double boxed and the precious contents inside were safe and undamaged. The laptop box itself was nicely laid out, all the contents secure and safely stowed. When I had the laptop in my hand for the first time, my first thought was ‘Quality’. I’ve worked IT for over 20 years, been an engineer for a few years, so I’ve had my share of laptops in my hands. This is the best ‘feeling’ and ‘looking’ laptop I’ve ever had. The full CNC shell is perfect and I’m not sure we could do a better job milling it in our shop (shhh dont tell the boss). The slash lighting is a nice touch, not overbearing with the aesthetics. It can be mellow or loud depending on how bright and obnoxious of a pattern you set. One wish, I wish there was a ‘Night Rider’ setting, you know back and forth like the car Kit. I love the Eclipse Gray color and shell texture, however it attracts and shows smudges easily.. But.. I usually have a chamois cloth nearby that wipes them off just as easily. Setup: Like any new PC, grab a cup or 4 of jo, you’re in for a long ride setting it up. Run through windows setup, logins, accounts, passwords, updates, reboots, more updates blah blah blah and you’ll finally get to installing your software and getting windows setup how you like. What feels like 37 hours later (no fault of Asus) we finally get to ‘play’. Office/general use: In the office or general use around home The Zepherus fits in. The G16 has an infrared camera above the display that supports Windows hello, so no need for logins or passwords after the initial face scan setup, and it’s fast, I look at the camera and windows is open instantly. The trackpad is huge and feels nice with good tactile clicks. I generally hate using trackpads but this one is usable. And off to work we go, click the easy access Armory Crate button (M4) and set to ‘Silent’ mode. This works great for me, plenty fast for normal email, web browsing, etc. Fan noise is nill to not noticeable and processor speed is plenty. The keyboard feels just right and I don't find myself having to correct many mistakes due to the layout or tactile feel. Rendering a 3D CAD model on the Asus Zephyrus (in turbo mode) finished faster than on my CAD workstation, so there is plenty of power there to get work done when needed. Work days over, time to go home and play. Another ‘wish’ here, at the price point these high end laptops come in at, why can’t they include at least a simple padded laptop sleeve to put it in? Not a deal breaker as you can get one for $15. The first thing I try is a program called Zwift. First I use Armory Crate again to switch to performance mode. Zwift is a social type of training/fitness program I use while biking indoors or running on the treadmill. It allows you to bike/run with others round the world in real time while basically showing an avatar of you and everyone else on the road. It's a fairly simple program but must be loaded with bloat. On my existing laptop it takes longer to boot the program than it takes to actually do the workout, and half the time when the program is finally running, it crashes on me. The Asus Zephyrus is awesome, Zwift boots in a fraction of the time and works, no more crashes. Now with the workout out of the way, time to play some games. Back to Armory Crate and switch to turbo mode. I tried assorted games on the laptop and all seem to run well. I can finally run my RC flight sim with graphics and all the options turned to max. Now lets really put it to the test with PC VR goggles. Again with the RC flight sim in VR now instead, I can keep graphics turned up and not I’m not having any issues flying planes or heli’s due to lag. Next out comes MS flight sim and the goggles, go for broke and turn up all the resolutions, and boom.. Ok I knew a laptop 4080 wasn’t going to cut it but I had to try. I’m still working on getting all the proper settings, but I don't doubt I’ll be able to find a perfectly flyable MS sim in VR. Next I loaded up DCS. Again, I still have some tweaking to do, but after a default install and setup I was flying VR with quality graphics in my sim rig. Something I’ve not been able to do until now due to not having a PC capable of it. I also loaded up F1 2022 and with default settings have a perfectly playable game in VR. It’s an entire new world vrs playing these games from the gaming console with a monitor in my sim rig. Couple other notes: When you work this laptop hard, like PCVR, it will get hot. Luckily most of the hot air blows out the back where you wont feel it.. The case will also get quite hot in the center above the keyboard. See attached photo showing hotspot. This was after Cinebench ran for 10 minutes. The other FLIR image shows the back of the laptop heating up the desk it’s sitting on. In the process of making and moving all that hot air, the fans will get noisy. IMHO it’s not an obnoxious noise though. I don't know how to explain other than it's an easier noise to listen to. I’ve heard plenty of other laptops and desktops with fans that are obnoxious, and the ASUS Zephyrus isn’t. The sound from the speakers is the best I’ve heard from a laptop. I feel it might be lacking a little on the high end, but that could also be my aging ears. It gets plenty loud for laptop purposes. That display… WOW…. This is my first OLED anything, other than my smart watch, and dang those whites are white and blacks are black. Overall crisp and clear and so easy to look at for hours. Might have to plug my Huey in to check the color calibration and start editing photos on it too. The screen is glossy but it’s a different kind of glossy. I’ve had other glossy screens that were almost like a black mirror where you could see a perfect reflection of yourself with it off. With this display it’s almost like there is a diffuser that makes it kinda matt looking but also adds a little blue tint. I normally don't like glossy displays, but wouldn’t hesitate getting another like this again.. Bottom line, this laptop is quite the chunk of change, but buy once cry once you are getting a quality laptop that functions awesome from the office to the game room and leaves me disappointed about nothing!

I've used many laptops over the years, owned many Mac and Windows laptops. This is an excellent Laptop. Ultra premium build, OLED 240hz screen, great performer for the size. Unboxing and Build Quality In the box I found the laptop and power adapter as well as some standard paperwork documentation. The machine is very thin and light - it's actually a bit smaller than a 16" Macbook Pro. Build quality is excellent. The gray color is similar to Apple space gray and the metal build feels great. There is little to no keyboard deck flex. The slash lighting on top is a cool touch but it can attract dirt and dust easily in the LED gaps. Fingerprint resistance seems OK. The 240w power adapter is smaller than past Asus adapters which is highly welcomed for better portability. It also uses a new rectangular plug which feels sturdy. Setup As with any new laptop, make sure you download the latest updates from Windows Update and use the Asus Armory crate software to upgrade all the drivers. I'd also download the Nvidia app and update the graphics driver as part of setting up a new laptop. I find Asus Armory crate to be functional while performing well and not feeling too bloated, although the settings can be a bit confusing. I wish they had a simplified mode with simple lighting and performance modes and driver update section, and then a more advanced mode to unlock the other settings if desired. It can feel a bit overwhelming to open Armory Crate and see so many options. Most people just want to set the power mode and the lighting color and update drivers. General Usability Great trackpad, perhaps a tiny little bit hard to click but that's OK. It clicks evenly and there is no play. The port selection is great. Love the USB-A and USB-C ports being on both sides. The speakers are excellent - up there with macbook pro quality. They are the best speakers I have ever heard on a windows laptop. Screen The 16" 1600P 240hz OLED screen is one of the main selling points of this laptop. The display is glossy and looks beautiful. It also gets bright enough, I believe the spec is about 400 nits which seems accurate. The glossy display coupled with the OLED display makes for a great display with excellent contrast and bright colors. The gloss screen seems to have a anti reflective layer that in certain lighting conditions gives it a bit of a bluish gray undertone. It's not a big deal, just something I noticed. The 240hz refresh rate is a dream for games like Counter Strike, League of Legends, Call of Duty, Fortnite, Valorant, etc. I played several hours of CS2 and League of Legends and the 240hz refresh rate is wonderful. With G-Sync turned on by default I also saw no screen tearing. The text clarity and subpixel layout are more than acceptable for an OLED display. Around some text theres a very, very small amount of color fringing from the OLED subpixel layout but It's really not noticable at normal viewing distance and It's much better than the fringing on something like an LG 42" OLED TV at a desk as a monitor. I was also very happy to see the screen has no dirty screen effect, no screen door effect, no random dots on it. When it comes to burn-in, as long as you don't leave the screen on 24/7, I see no reason to be concerned about burn in anymore with these displays. Performance For a machine this size, I'm real impressed by what Asus has managed to crank out of this machine. With my 4080 version on Performance mode I managed a timespy score overall 13,100, and with Turbo mode (louder fans, higher power targets) I get 14,700. How this translates into gameplay - Realistically, any modern game including high demand AAA games run excellent on this laptop. Especially with new technology from Nvidia for frame generation in games like hogwarts legacy and others can create an excellent gaming experience. The Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU is more than powerful enough for the job paired with this CPU. In Cinebench on Performance Mode, I get a score of 17,100 over a 10 minute run. Heat, Fans While playing games, the heat management is very good. The palm rests do not get hot, the keyboard does not get hot. The only parts of the laptop that get hot are the area between the keyboard and the display. The fan noise while gaming is actually pretty good for a machine this size. On turbo mode the fans do get whirring pretty loud but that's the price you pay for that extra performance bump. Idling and low drain tasks, the fan curve should be tweaked a bit by Asus. It's a little frustrating to hear the fan whine up and down while watching youtube videos. I'd rather have a continuous nearly quiet sound than a quiet sound with spool ups every few seconds. I think this is a simple software tweak for Asus to implement - while gaming the fan noise is continuous and not changing which is less distracting. Upgradability If you open the laptop to add an SSD or upgrade the wifi, or to clean fans, note that there are two more hidden screws underneath the two small rectangular rubber pieces toward the back. I added an SSD and upgraded the wifi card to a BE200 card. Of course, the SSD was plug and play, and the Wifi 7 card was also plug and play. Battery If you use silent mode on battery, the battery can last well over 5hrs, but silent mode brings the cpu clocks way down. It's perfectly usable for basic tasks or youtube videos, etc, but noticeably slower. Setting it to performance mode in Armory Crate while on battery makes the machine snappier, but the battery gets cut down to 2-3hrs. I don't personally play games while on battery with laptops since the performance drops down. For me battery while playing games is more to just move the machine to a different room in the house, etc. Overall This is a really excellent laptop for high performance portability. The OLED screen is excellent, the performance is good, the speakers are great, keyboard and trackpad are great, and with the right settings can deliver long battery life. I had absolutely zero glitches in my use so far, and the machine performed as expected. If you're after a bit more power, you can get an Asus Scar 18 which is one of the best large desktop replacement laptops, but that comes at a higher price and larger size. I think the Zephyrus G16 strikes the right balance for most people in the premium portability category.

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!

It has been a good while since I’ve updated my gaming laptop and I was excited to have a chance to pick up this latest ASUS ROG model as a replacement for my last ROG. If you’ve never had a laptop from this line, you have no idea what you are missing! Right out of the box you can tell it is a solid build. Asus integrated this slash pattern of LEDs on the lid that is very distinctive. From there you open up and find a practically borderless screen that is sharper and has more vivid color than I’ve found on any laptop. That brings me to the speed - oh, the speed! There’s been a lot of grumbling about specs for one of my favorite newly released games, and I was looking forward to cranking the levels up and seeing what would happen. It performed like a champ, holding on for highly complex simulations with no sweat at all. There are so many features and configurations you can make with this computer that I did find it a little overwhelming. Inside of the included Armoury crate is a total command center of functions and performance monitors and choose from. If there was only one weaker spot on this product it’s the audio speakers. I know not to expect too much from a laptop, but these were particularly underwhelming. Thankfully I don’t use them for much and play with a headset. All in all I would say this is a stellar laptop for gaming addicts and anyone that needs a lot of performance for their work.

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??

Solid laptop, top notch build quality, excellent diaplay, with one huge problem. This problem is the Armory Crate software. It has a mind of its own. I just got the laptop 2 days ago, and I have already had to do a factory reset on it. Got every thing back up and running last night did all the updates, then did the proper shutdown powered it off and went ro bed. This morning powered it on, after checking emails and stuff thought to check Armory Crate just to be sure. I hit the Armory Crate shortcut button and nothing. So launched the program from windows and it doesn’t show any option for Slash Lighting, switch off the Bootup sound, OLED Care, or Aura Sync. It says no compatible device found. I mean from last night to this morning, I didnt change a single setting. It’s because of this I am giving it a 3 star.

I bought an open box excellent condition version of this laptop as no new one was available. Upon getting it all set up and my main games installed i went to benchmark and get an idea of how would would run. Jedi survivor took 15 minutes to get to the opening menu. I was gett 1 frame every 2 seconds. Co closed the game and tried to open invidia control panel to only be popped up with “a graphics card was jot detected. Turns out it has an intel arc 770. Many games wouldnt use the dang thing and would barely function and werent playable. Others would play but tell me the vram had only 128mb available despite the system using 2900mb at the moment. Great looking laptop and would love to keep it but it cant play games so has to go back. Will just go with an MSI and not worry about wasting more time.