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- Excellent gaming performance
- Great battery life
- Excellent keyboard
- Good build quality
- 720p webcam
- Competing laptops often have 1440p resolution standard
For those who would rather have something smaller, Asus' 16-inch ROG Strix G16 laptop is part of the Strix lineup designated for esports. In terms of size, the Strix G17 and G18 are situated above it. The ROG Strix G16 is equipped with Nvidia's latest GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card and an elite Intel Core i9-13980HX Raptor Lake CPU. This is the second laptop that we've evaluated that has the standard laptop GPU built on Ada Lovelace from Nvidia.
The ROG Strix G16, which has a 16-inch 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) 165 Hz IPS display, is also the newest laptop to go from a 16:9 to a 16:10 aspect ratio. With 16GB of DDR5-4800 RAM, a 1TB SSD, and the premium design we've come to expect from Asus ROG, this laptop has enough power to compete with some of the greatest gaming laptops available.
The ROG Strix G16, which costs $1,999 when configured, has a lot of capable hardware, but how does it compare to the competition?
Design of the Asus ROG Strix G16
For 2023, Asus fully revamped the ROG Strix G16's chassis, and I believe it looks fantastic. Plastic is used by Asus for the remainder of the chassis and metal for the lid. The ROG Strix G16 proves that plastic doesn't have to equal "cheap," with a satin-like shine and excellent fit and finish throughout.
With regard to the RGB lighting, Asus stays rather understated; a tiny "under-glow" LED strip runs along the front edge of the laptop, extending to the sides and providing per-key illumination for the keyboard. Aura Sync, a feature of the Asus Armoury Crate software, allows you to customize each.
Speaking about the keyboard, Asus equipped it with five configurable hotkeys, designated M1 through M5, at the top. They take care of things like loudness, turning on and off the microphone, and a shortcut to the Armoury Crate by default. Although the ROG Strix G16 appears to be big enough to fit a number pad, it does not.
The ROG Strix G16 has only two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A connectors on its right side. On the other hand, the left side has one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C connector, one HDMI 2.1 port, one GbE port, one Thunderbolt 4 port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a proprietary barrel-style power port. Large vents on the laptop's back and sides allow heat from the GeForce RTX 4070 and Core i9-13980HX to be expelled.
The laptop weights 5.51 pounds (2.5 kg) and is 13.94 x 10.39 x 0.89 inches (354 x 264 x 304 mm) in size. In comparison, the Gigabyte Aorus 15X weighs 5.73 pounds, the HP Omen 16 weighs 5.2 pounds, and the Razer Blade 15 weighs 4.4 pounds.
Asus ROG Strix G16 Specifications
- CPU: Intel Core i9-13980HX
- Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 (8GB GDDR6, 2,225 MHz Boost Clock, 140 W Max Graphics Power)
- Memory: 16GB DDR4-4800 (2x 8GB)
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
- Display: 16-inch, 1920x1200, 165 Hz, 16:10
- Networking: Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211, Bluetooth 5.2
- Ports: 1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB 3.2 Type-C Gen 2, 2x USB 3.2 Type-A Gen 2, 1x HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm headphone jack, 1 Gbps Ethernet
- Camera: 720p
- Battery: 90 Whr
- Power Adapter: 280 W
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
- Dimensions (WxDxH): 13.94 x 10.39 x 0.89 inches (354 x 264 x 304 mm)
- Weight: 5.51 pounds (2.5 kg)
- Price (as configured): $1,999
Performance of the Asus ROG Strix G16 for Gaming
With an Intel Core i9-13980HX (8 performance cores, 16 efficiency cores, and 5.6 GHz maximum turbo boost), an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB of DDR5-4800 RAM (two SO-DIMMs), and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD, the Asus ROG Strix G16 is a potent gaming laptop. The laptop's 1920 x 1200 resolution seems a little strange. It has slightly more pixels per inch than a 1920 x 1080 screen, but it still costs far less than the 2560 x 1440 screens that gaming laptops often have in the $2,000 range. As a result, because gaming laptops with GeForce RTX 3070/4070-class GPUs nowadays usually have 2560 x 1440 displays, all of the rivals in this category have them as well.
Even though benchmarking is fascinating, I wanted to play Overwatch 2 on the ROG Strix G16 for a little. I maximized the detail settings to a resolution of 1920 x 1200. In order to match the display's 165Hz refresh rate, I kept my frame rate at 165 fps. Even in situations when there was a lot of motion on the screen, the 165 frames per second rate remained maintained while playing online games.
The Gigabyte Aorus 15X (Core i9-13900HX, GeForce RTX 4070) was narrowly defeated by the ROG Strix G16 at 1080p with 116 frames per second in our Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark. With 90 frames per second at 1080p, the Razer Blade 15 (Core i7-12800H, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti) and HP Omen 16 (Core i7-12700H, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti) were tied for third place.
The Razer Blade 15 and HP Omen 15 achieved the highest scores in Grand Theft Auto V, with 104 frames per second at 1080p. Sadly, the ROG Strix G16 and Aorus 15X with GeForce RTX 4070 had to make way. You'll also note that, in comparison to the ROG Strix's little performance reduction from 1080p to 1200p, all other laptops had a large performance drop to 1440p.
In Red Dead Redemption 2, the ROG Strix managed to defeat the Aorus 15X at 1080p at 72 frames per second. The Omen 16 and Razer Blade 14 weren't far behind, though. Once more, the ROG Strix G16 displayed a little dip at 1200p as opposed to the laptops' more dramatic decline at 1440p.
In Far Cry 6, the ROG Strix G16 and Aorus 15X easily outperformed their less powerful GeForce RTX 3070 Ti-equipped rivals, both of which almost reached 100 frames per second at 1080p. In third position with 83 frames per second, the Razer Blade 15 was surpassed by the Omen 16 with 66 frames per second at 1080p.
Lastly, the Aorus 15X dominated our Borderlands 3 test, with 151 frames per second at 1080p. The ROG Strix G16 could only manage 100 frames per second despite having a more powerful CPU and GPU. To confirm our findings, we ran this benchmark several times, but that is the current state of affairs. At 1080p, the Omen 16 and Razer Blade 15 ranked third and fourth, respectively, with 79 and 76 frames per second.
Quality mode upscaling may typically increase performance by 30–50%, sometimes even more, in games that use DLSS, such Metro Exodus, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The resulting image quality frequently matches or surpasses native rendering. When enabled, DLSS 3 Frame Generation can artificially increase the number of frames transmitted to your display by 50–100%; however, this adds extra latency, and the games' real gameplay experience isn't that much better than the greater FPS would suggest. Although it's not a horrible choice to have, how Frame Generation affects the experience as a whole really depends on personal preference.
We performed 15 plays of Metro Exodus on its RTX preset at 1200p, which takes around 30 minutes, in order to stress-test the ROG Strix G16. The system averaged 79.35 frames per second while maintaining a range of 79.10 to 79.66 frames per second for every run. The efficiency cores of the Core i9-13980HX registered 3.3 GHz, while the performance cores averaged 3.93 GHz. The CPU package had a temperature of 76 °C. Aside from that, the RTX 4070 registered 65.4 C and averaged 1,717 MHz.
Performance of Productivity on the Asus ROG Strix G16
The Asus ROG Strix G16 has a powerful CPU, the Core i9-13980HX, making it ideal for productive work. This is the top Raptor Lake mobile CPU from Intel, including 32 threads overall and 24 cores. The efficiency cores of the CPU peak at 4 GHz, while the performance cores reach a maximum turbo frequency of 5.6 GHz. Asus then uses two 8GB SO-DIMMs to connect the CPU with 16GB of DDR5-4800 memory.
Geekbench 5 saw a great start to things, with the ROG Strix G16 scoring 2,067 in single core testing and 18,227 in multicore testing. These results just somewhat beat the Gigabyte Aorus 15X, which came in second. The Razer Blade 15 and HP Omen 16 were far behind with their less potent Alder Lake-based CPUs, especially when it came to multi-core performance.
In the file transfer test, which entails transferring 25GB of data over the SSD, the ROG Strix G16 placed second. Our test result of 1,238.04 MBps was almost 30% slower than that of the top-performing Aorus 15X (1,721.37 MBps). The laptop from Asus has a Micron 2400 SSD (MTFDKBA1T0QFM), which isn't the fastest PCIe 4.0 SSD available.
In our Handbrake test, which includes converting a 4K movie to 1080p, the ROG Strix G16 finished in second position. The Aorus 15X took 3 minutes and 55 seconds to do the exercise, while the laptop took 5 minutes and 5 seconds.
The Asus ROG Strix G16's display
The 16-inch 165 Hz IPS display of the Asus ROG Strix G16 has a resolution of 1920 x 1200. This much CPU and GPU power is usually found in laptops with a 2560 x 1440 or 2560 x 1600 display. Although the 1920 x 1200 screen on our review sample was not the standard, Asus does offer models of this laptop with a 2560 x 1600 screen, which is what I believe ought to be the norm.
When I'm gazing at displays, I like to play Overwatch 2 because of its vibrant color scheme. On the vibrant display of the ROG Strix G16, the reds and greens gleamed, while the Greek-focused Ilios map's soothing blue tones commanded attention.
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I read the excellent review of the Lotus Emira by Throttle House for a more realistic perspective on the display. The on-location sights were breathtaking, and the Emira, painted in a magnificent British Racing Green, was perfectly recreated. I also saw The Super Mario Bros. Movie's last trailer. Everything appeared to have been meticulously replicated, from the pinkish colors of the Sand Kingdom to the lava that surrounded Bowser's castle.
The ROG Strix G16 wasn't quite as vibrant in instrumented testing as some of its rivals, like as the overachieving Razer Blade 15, but it's still very much in the race. A whole 107.1 percent of the sRGB and 75.9 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamuts were tested. With a brightness of 279 nits, it managed to secure the second position, trailing only the HP Omen 16.
The Asus ROG Strix G16's keyboard and touchpad
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According to Asus, the keys have a 2 mm travel, and I had no trouble typing on them. The velvety texture of the keys instantly made my fingertips feel at home, even after using them for hours at a time. Keyhero.com is my first choice for keyboard testing. I've said it before, but I'm neither the fastest or most accurate typist. Nevertheless, I was able to achieve 67.81 words per minute with 97.1% accuracy.
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several may find it surprising that Asus did not include a number pad in the ROG Strix G16, given its enormous 16-inch frame; yet, several of my colleagues are happy to live without it. Every now and again, I grabbed for the missing number pad, only to get stuck each time. Although my review sample lacked this feature, Asus does provide laptops with a number pad built right into the touchpad.
In relation to the touchpad, it measures 5.12 x 3.5 inches and is coated in glass.Even though I like to use a mouse while using a laptop for gaming, the touchpad on this one proved to be roomy and made it easy for me to navigate around, whether I was playing games or using regular Windows 11 Home programs. However, for gaming, you should definitely use one of the finest gaming mice.
The Asus ROG Strix G16's audio
The ROG Strix G16's two speakers are used for audio on the Asus ROG StrAsus, and they sound good. I choose to play Bobby Caldwell's song "What You Won't Do for Love" in the queue. The trumpets and guitar licks effectively matched Caldwell's deep vocals, which shone despite the sparse bottom presence.
Rewinding to Throttle House's evaluation of the Lotus Emira, my attention was drawn to the 3.5-liter V6 engine's sound right away. Although the engine was originally from a humble Toyota Camry, Lotus tuned it and installed a supercharger to increase its horsepower by nearly 100 percent. That way, as the V6 hit its 6,800 rpm redline, I could hear the quiet whine of the supercharger in the background.As I let off the throttle, the exhaust crackled and burbled loudly over the speakers.ix G16
The ROG Strix G16's gaming audio was not very good; once more, the absence of bass significantly lessened the impact of explosions in titles like Grand Theft Auto V and Overwatch 2. But I turned up the volume without distortion, which assisted in muffleing the built-in fans.
Dynamic, Game, Movie, Music, and Voice audio profiles may all be adjusted with the Dolby Atmos app. Since there wasn't much of a difference between the options, I decided to leave it on Dynamic, which modifies itself dynamically depending on the content being played.
Ability to upgrade the Asus ROG Strix G16
Before I could enter the Asus ROG Strix G16, I had to take out eleven screws. But I wasn't finished yet. The bottom panel needs to be carefully pryed off, and I didn't want to chance breaking the RGB strip that runs along the front of the chassis. I was able to remove the panel fully by starting to pry close to the Ethernet connector.
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I was able to see the inside components thanks to this, including the Micron 2400 PCIe 4.0 SSD on the right. Adjacent to the Intel Wi-Fi 6E card on the other side of the chassis is an additional, vacant M.2 slot. The two SO-DIMM slots are situated in the motherboard's middle. Two 8GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMMs were installed in our equipment, however it may be upgraded to 32GB (2x 16GB) if desired. It also seems to be simple to change the battery.
Durability of the Asus ROG Strix G16's Battery
When it comes to battery life, gaming laptops have a terrible reputation, but the Asus ROG Strix G16 reverses that tendency. The ROG Strix G16 outlasted the Razer Blade 14, which was less powerful, by over four hours. Additionally, the laptop outlasted the Gigabyte Aorus 15X and the HP Omen 16 by at least three hours.
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When compared to the Aorus 15X, which has a bigger 99 Whr battery and is equally equipped, the performance is even more impressive. But we have to keep in mind that the Aorus 15X powers a 2560 x 1440, 240 Hz display.
he Asus ROG Strix G16 is hot
repeated our Metro Exodus stress test on the Asus ROG Strix G16 to measure heat production while gaming. This benchmark produces a lot of heat, which makes it ideal for measuring heat levels.
temperature we recorded was 94 degrees Fahrenheit (34.4 degrees Celsius) based on our measurement of the keyboard's center between the G and H keys. That's exactly what we would anticipate from a laptop meant for gaming, and some of them become rather heated. Relatively speaking, the touchpad was 78 F (25.5 C) cold.
The laptop's lowest temperature was 109F (42.7 C). The laptop's bottom, next to the hinge and exhaust, had a temperature of 119 F (48.3 C), which was its warmest spot.
ng gaming sessions, the sound of the fans can be plainly heard, although the pitch is not offensive and can be easily drowned out by the speakers. The sound of the fans won't bother you if you play with headphones on.
The Asus ROG Strix G16's webcam
Unfortunately, Asus is staying with its 720p cameras while many gaming laptops are switching to 1080p ones. Although there's no assurance that a higher resolution camera would result in an instant improvement in image quality, it's unfortunate that Asus didn't even attempt with this laptop.
end effect is performance in this class that is merely mediocre. The ROG Strix G16's 1080p camera appeared to be covered in a thin film of Vaseline, in contrast to the Gigabyte Aero 15X, whose 1080p camera amazed me with its overall quality and low-light capabilities. My mustache and beard stubble lost some of its fine detail in translation, and the dim lighting made background noise much more audible.
Software and Guarantee for the ROG Strix G16 from Asus
The Asus ROG Strix G16 ships with the typical Windows 11 Home bloat, such as several Microsoft Office trial versions, Spotify, Kindle, and WhatsApp. But Asus also comes with its own apps, which are beneficial to users.
u may modify the five hotkeys, change the Aura Sync RGB lighting, and monitor system vitals (temperature, clock speeds, RAM, storage, etc.) using the aforementioned Armoury Crate. MyAsus offers social media connections with Asus as well as customer service and warranty information. With the help of the app Aura Creator, you may design unique lighting schemes that are synced across many devices.
Dolby Access, the Realtek Audio Console, and McAfee LiveSafe are among the additional installed applications.
There is a one-year warranty for the ROG Strix G16.
Configurations for the Asus ROG Strix G16
h prices beginning at $1,399, there are several prebuilt variants of the Asus ROG Strix G16 available. An Intel Core i9-13980HX processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB DDR4-4800 RAM, a 1TB SSD, a 1200p 165 Hz display, and per-key RGB lighting are all included in our $1,999 evaluation sample (G614JI-AS94).
A Core i9-13980HX processor is included with every ROG Strix G16 configuration that Asus offers, but GeForce RTX 4050 or RTX 4060 graphics cards are also an option. The price increases to $2,199 for upgraded display choices, which include a 2560 x 1600 panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate and up to a 2TB SSD.
In summary
All things considered, the Asus ROG Strix G16 is a good offering in the sub-$2,000 gaming laptop market. At just $100 extra, the Gigabyte Aorus 15X is its closest rival. The ROG Strix G16 boasts an extra three hours of battery life, while the Aorus 15X has a better quality display at 2560 x 1600.
terms of performance, the Asus ROG Strix G16 is a powerful gaming laptop that further demonstrates the power of Nvidia's recently released GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs and Intel's latest Raptor Lake mobile CPU. Among the laptop's many other strong points are its well-made construction, tasteful RGB lighting, and cozy keyboard.
Although it didn't win our file transfer test, the ROG Strix G16 placed second and fared well in the other productivity activities. Given the power that this laptop is hauling, the 1920 x 1200 resolution is a little disappointing, but consumers may upgrade to 2560 x 1600 for even more cheese. Additionally, Asus cut corners on the camera and speakers, which is a major loss in the current work-from-home environment.
spite of these shortcomings, the Asus ROG Strix G16 is a powerful 16-inch gaming PC with a premium design that should be on your shortlist for purchase.