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Home » Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603 assessment: One other killer gaming laptop computer from Asus

Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 GU603 assessment: One other killer gaming laptop computer from Asus

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The Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is a gaming laptop computer worthy of the halls of excellence. Not solely does it collect collectively lots of the newest parts for top-notch efficiency, however it squeezes all of it right into a chassis that’s strong and nice to make use of, topping all the things off with a wondrously good show.

It appears as if Asus has hit a wealthy vein of type this yr. Just like the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 earlier than it, the M16 is a likeable laptop computer that’s each highly effective and really simple to suggest.

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Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 assessment: What you should know

It is likely to be for players at first, however the Zephyrus M16 is a little bit completely different out of your run-of-the-mill gaming machines. As an alternative of a 16:9 side ratio, its huge 16in show is 16:10, which is a form you sometimes see on productiveness laptops and ultraportables.

Actually, that’s the final thrust of the M16. It’s an everyman laptop computer, one you’ll be able to energy by just a few ranges of Doom Everlasting within the night after which sling in your laptop computer bag the subsequent morning and write the month-to-month report on the prepare.

Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 assessment: Value and competitors

4 variants of the Zephyrus M16 can be found within the UK. The bottom spec mannequin (GU603HE-KR022T) runs the eight-core Intel Core i7-11800H CPU, has an Nvidia 3050Ti graphics card and a 1TB SSD. Nonetheless, it solely has the lower-spec 144Hz 1,920 x 1,200 decision show.

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The most costly is the GU603HR-KR007R, which is significantly extra succesful. For £2,299, it comes with an eight-core, 2.5GHz Intel Core i9-11900H, 32GB of DDR4 (3,200MHz) RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU with 8GB of VRAM and a whopping 2TB of storage. That is the mannequin we had been despatched for this assessment.

This yr, by way of gaming laptops we’ve reviewed just lately, a lot of the competitors comes from Asus’ personal steady. Extra particularly, the Zephyrus M16’s greatest rival comes within the type of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15, with which the M16 shares loads of similarities.

Each laptops are the identical measurement and weight; in reality, they’ve similar chassis, with the ports, vents, keyboard and touchpad positioned in the identical locations. The one bodily distinction is the display screen, which is a barely bigger 16in on the M16 versus 15.6in on the G15, and a distinct side ratio. The G15 can be accessible solely with AMD Ryzen 7 and 9 CPUs, whereas the M16 is Intel all the way in which.

At a barely cheaper value, you’ll be able to choose up an Asus ROG Strix G15 for £1,799 with a 165Hz 1440p show plus a Ryzen 7-5800H and an RTX 3070 GPU, or £1,600 with a 300Hz 1080p display screen, a Ryzen 7-5800H and an RTX 3060 GPU. It’s a little bit extra plasticky and heavier than the Asus ROG M16, however it’s nonetheless an excellent gaming laptop computer.

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Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 assessment: Design and options

For those who’re anticipating an enormous, chunky, gaming laptop computer that is plagued by garish prospers and LED mild bars, then put together to be dissatisfied.

For a laptop computer this highly effective, the Zephyrus is surprisingly understated, clad totally in matte-black metallic. The lid has some ornament – a collection of pinprick holes reveal a rainbow sample beneath – however it’s removed from excessive.

It’s slender and comparatively mild, too, measuring a mere 19.9mm thick on the entrance, rising to 22mm on the rear. It additionally has a big rubber foot, which lifts the rear of the laptop computer an extra 7mm off the desk.

The Zephyrus’ dimensions are actually bigger than your common ultraportable, however it can slip into the common 15in laptop computer bag no downside in any respect. Actually, it weighs a smidge beneath 2kg with out the facility brick, which is loopy for a laptop computer this highly effective, and across the similar because the modern Apple MacBook Professional 16in.

There’s loads of connectivity scattered across the edges of this machine. I’m not too eager on the position of the facility enter on the left-hand aspect, however the sheer variety of sockets accessible elsewhere makes up for that, with full-size HDMI, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, Gigabit Ethernet, USB-A and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left. A single USB-A and microSD card slot may also be discovered on the fitting.

Flip open the lid and also you’ll spot that there’s no quantity pad, which could irk some, however it does go away loads of house across the keyboard, so it feels good and spacious to sort on. There’s additionally an enormous touchpad right here, which measures 130mm throughout and 84mm deep.

Each are a pleasure to make use of. The keys on the keyboard have a silky, smooth really feel to them and loads of optimistic journey. The touchpad is as dependable as they arrive, too, though since it is a gaming machine, you’ll nearly actually be utilizing a mouse more often than not.

With reference to gaming, the one disappointment – should you can name it that – is that the RGB lighting can’t be adjusted on a per-key foundation as on the Strix Scar vary. You possibly can, nevertheless, select from varied results that affect the entire keyboard, from easy color biking to sensible results that mirror CPU utilization or temperature.

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Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 assessment: Show

Unusually for a gaming laptop computer, the Zephyrus ROG M16 comes with a 16:10 side ratio display screen, which strikes a good compromise between gaming, leisure and work capabilities.

Decision is a crisp 2,560 x 1,600, with a most refresh price reaching 165Hz and a 3ms response time, which the RTX 3070 GPU has no bother maintaining with. You’re additionally getting a wide-gamut P3 color copy as properly.

The Asus web site says it delivers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is true. In testing, I discovered it was able to reproducing 107% of DCI-P3. Nonetheless, it was most color correct inside Show P3, which is identical color house that Apple’s present MacBooks goal.

Primarily, it’s the identical vary of colors as DCI-P3 however with a barely completely different gamma curve. Right here, the measured common Delta E color variance rating is 1.22, which is frankly very good.

Elsewhere, brightness peaks at a good 446cd/m², and I didn’t have any complaints with the M16’s distinction ratio of 1,012:1cd/m² both. Whichever method you have a look at it, it’s a mighty high quality show and pretty much as good as something we’ve seen on any gaming laptop computer so far.

Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 assessment: Efficiency

The Intel Core i9-11900H inside our assessment laptop computer is among the many strongest cell chips Intel produces at present. It has eight cores, a base clock velocity of two.5GHz and a max Turbo frequency of 4.9GHz. That is backed up by 32GB of RAM, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU with 8GB of VRAM, and a 2TB Samsung PM9A1 NVMe SSD for storage.

In testing, the M16 produced some severely spectacular CPU benchmark figures. In our in-house benchmarks, it achieved comparable numbers to these produced by the AMD Ryzen 5900HX-powered Asus ROG Strix Scar 15, and it’s barely forward on Geekbench 5 as properly.

Within the gaming benchmarks, efficiency was equally spectacular, with the M16 beating its rivals within the 1080p Metro check by a slender margin, however shedding out to the Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 and pals within the tremendous intense Hitman 2 1080p benchmark.

Nonetheless, it’s greater than able to hitting body charges of properly over 150fps in Doom 2016 at native decision (2,560 x 1,600), sustaining a sustained body price of over 100fps.

Not solely that, however your video games are going to load stupendously rapidly as properly due to the M16’s lightning-quick Samsung SSD. I recorded sequential learn and write speeds of 5,536MB/sec and 4,325MB/sec within the AS SSD benchmark: speeds that effortlessly blow its opponents out of the water, previous the seaside and into the resort foyer.

The one fly within the ointment is battery life, which isn’t practically as spectacular. Even with a sizeable 90Whr battery put in and the battery-saving setting enabled, the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 solely lasted 6hrs 9mins in our video rundown check. That’s not horrible, however it’s greater than three hours shorter than the Ryzen-powered Zephyrus G15.

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Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 assessment: Verdict

Regardless of that slight niggle, I’m nonetheless severely impressed with the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16. It manages to pack an enormous quantity of energy right into a slim body, topped off with rocket-fuelled SSD efficiency and a spectacularly good show.

It’s a cracker of a machine and, if something, a lot better worth than the Zephyrus G15 we examined just lately. For those who follow the 165Hz show, then you definitely’re getting a gaming laptop computer that prices £300 much less, but it comes with a much bigger display screen and a quicker, bigger capability SSD. The one sacrifice is the marginally decrease degree GPU.

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