Good looks and good gaming performance from Asus’ latest ROG Strix laptop
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Pros:
Excellent gaming performance
Great battery life
Excellent keyboard
Good build quality
Cons:
-720p webcam
-Competing laptops start often have 1440p resolution standard
Among Asus' esports-branded Strix laptop, the 16-inch ROG Strix G16 is the option for those who prefer something smaller. (The Strix G17 and Strix G18 sit above it in size). The ROG Strix G16 features a top-of-the-line Intel Core i9-13980HX Raptor Lake processor and Nvidia’s new GeForce RTX 4070. This marks the second laptop we’ve tested with Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace-based mainstream laptop GPU.
The ROG Strix G16 also represents the latest laptop transitioning from a 16:9 to 16:10 aspect ratio, with a 16-inch 1920 x 1200 (WUXGA) 165 Hz IPS display. This laptop has the goods to contend with some of the best gaming laptops on the market and includes 16GB of DDR5-4800 memory, a 1TB SSD, and a high-quality chassis that we’ve come to expect from Asus ROG.
Design of the Asus ROG Strix G16
Asus has completely redesigned the chassis of the ROG Strix G16 for 2023, and I think it looks great. Asus uses aluminum for the lid and plastic for the rest of the chassis. Plastic doesn’t have to mean “cheap,” as the ROG Strix G16 has a high-quality fit and finish throughout, along with a satin-like sheen.
Asus keeps it relatively subtle with the RGB lighting; a thin “under-glow” LED strip runs along the laptop's front edge and wraps around to the sides and per-key lighting for the keyboard. Each is configurable using Aura Sync in the Asus Armoury Crate software.
Speaking of the keyboard, Asus added five programmable hotkeys at the top of the keyboard, labeled M1 through M5. By default, they handle functions like volume, microphone on/off, and a shortcut to the Armoury Crate. The ROG Strix G16 does not feature a number pad despite seemingly being large enough to accommodate it.
The right side of the ROG Strix G16 is home to just two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports. However, the left side features one Thunderbolt 4 port, one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port, a GbE port, HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a proprietary barrel-style power port. There are large vents along both sides of the laptop and rear to exhaust heat generated by the Core i9-13980HX and GeForce RTX 4070.
The laptop measures 13.94 x 10.39 x 0.89 inches (354 x 264 x 304 mm) and weighs 5.51 pounds (2.5 kg). That weight compares to 5.73 pounds for the Gigabyte Aorus 15X, 5.2 pounds for the HP Omen 16 and 4.4 pounds for the Razer Blade 15.
Asus ROG Strix G16: Specifications and features
The Strix G16 is available in CPU configurations up to Intel Core i9-13980HX with varying RTX 40 Series GPUs and either a QHD+ 240Hz display or FHD 165 Hz display. Asus’s e-store is where to go for models featuring Intel’s Core i9-13980HX CPU. Here, prices start at $1,599.99 for the most basic configuration that drops a GeForce RTX 4050 GPU.
Alternatively, on Amazon you can find a selection of Asus ROG Strix G16 models featuring Intel’s Core i7-13650HX processor, with the most affordable shipping for just $1,379 with an RTX 4060 GPU. Compare that to Razer’s most affordable Razer Blade 16 model which costs $2,699.99. The specification of our review unit is as follows:
CPU: Core i7-13650HX
RAM: 16GB DDR5 / 4800 MHz
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
Display: 16-inch, QHD+ (2560 x 1600), 240 Hz refresh rate, IPS-level, anti-glare, 16:10 aspect ratio, DCI-P3 color, 3ms response time, G-Sync
Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
Ports: 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (supports DisplayPort, power delivery and G-Sync, HDMI 2.1, RJ45 Ethernet port, 3.5mm audio jack
Networking: Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3
Weight: 5.51lbs (2.50kg)
Dimensions: 13.94 x 10.39 x 0.89 inches
Battery: 90WHr
Asus ROG Strix G16: Keyboard and trackpad
The Strix G16’s keyboard and trackpad are just ideal for competitive gaming. You get a full-sized keyboard with full-sized arrow keys, as well as dedicated hotkeys at the top. The hotkeys are all programmable, but in their default setting they allow you to control the laptop’s fan settings, volume, microphone and to quickly access Asus’s companion software app. which is called the Armoury Crate.
My review unit didn’t have a numpad, which I found a little inconvenient at times, but you can get a model that illuminates a numpad in the trackpad itself, which wins Asus some points for creativity. The keys also feel quite springy. They provide a generous 2 mm of travel. Programmable per-key lit backlighting makes them a delight to play on at night.
I found the laptop’s trackpad to be large and spacious. It also felt reasonably quick. Although you will find quicker and smoother trackpads out there, Razer’s Precision Trackpad is one that comes to mind. Still, with the trackpad merely a secondary thought in competitive gaming these days, what you get here is perfectly suitable for an occasional frantic swipe and tap.
Asus ROG Strix G16: Display and webcam
Asus’s ROG Nebula branding conjures up imagery of deep space, but it simply refers to the G16’s QHD+ display with 240 Hz refresh rate and three millisecond response time.
In my view, this resolution/refresh rate/response rate combination is one of the best you can currently get, usually producing nicely detailed images but without the glitching or tearing. It’s a lesser-known fact that perfectly smooth performance on 4K displays can still be a bit beyond the hardware capabilities of some laptops right now.
In any case, the G16’s display has been honed for exceptional performance. The backlighting provides a decent 500 nits of peak brightness and looks very bright. In fact, the panel did a fine job rendering colors – I particularly noticed vivid reds and greens in the games I was trialing.
The contrast was perfectly fine too, with the dark areas of maps looking very menacing in games like Sniper Elite 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. Plus, Nvidia’s G-Sync support seemed to all but eliminate screen tearing so I could simply enjoy video and gaming in splendid uninterrupted motion.
The G16’s display is also Pantone Validated for those who might want to use it for design work. As we’ll see in the performance section, the laptop is certainly powerful enough for this kind of work. Although, to me, it seemed like the Strix G16’s panel doesn’t quite render images as accurately as Asus’s ROG Zephyrus Duo 16, which is a little more fine-tuned for creators.
A 720p webcam fits into the top bezel in a specially designed alcove. It produces images sufficiently, but they’re generally of a lower quality than I would have liked. I didn’t find myself taking too many screenshots while in video chats. Still, something is better than nothing and so long as you don’t need to do any important Zoom calls where video quality is critical, it will do the trick nicely.
Asus ROG Strix G16: Connectivity and audio
The large majority of the Strix G16’s connectors are located on the left-hand side of the laptop which means if you’re a left hander it’s going to get mighty cluttered there and may interfere with your mouse hand. Asus could have remedied this by placing some of the ports along the back side, like we see in the Alienware X15 R2. But alas any such creative port placement seems to have become a casualty of the air vent which comprises the laptop’s whole posterior length.
Still, the port selection is very generous. You get multiple USB-A ports, a USB-C port and Thunderbolt 4 port for ancillary gadgets like your mouse, phone and an external SSD. Counting the display-capable ports reveals three, so there are plenty of options to stream games or videos at LAN catch ups too.
When it comes to audio, the Strix G16’s two bottom-facing speakers do a passable job creating a rich and varied tonal landscape when you’re playing music from an audio app or listening to music in games.
However, in some games I did notice that vocals in the lower tonal range sounded a little hollow. That’s most likely because the acoustics from the downward facing speakers have to bounce off my tabletop before hitting my ears. Still, Dolby Atmos support is an asset to the G16’s audio offering, really elevating the sound experience, especially in dramatic scenes.
Asus ROG Strix G16: CPU performance
My review unit came with an Intel Core i7-13650HX CPU, part of Intel’s new Raptor Lake mobile CPU lineup. This processor, which is built using a 10-nanometer manufacturing process, integrates six Performance Cores (P-cores) and eight Efficiency (E-cores) and has a maximum of 20 threads. It benefits from a higher maximum frequency of 4.9 GHz (that’s all-core (P-core) performance) and also has a bigger cache compared with its Alder Lake equivalent, the Intel Core i7-12650H.
To test our laptop’s CPU performance against the silicon in other high-performance gaming laptops, I put together a list of comparisons. This lineup included gamer-centric laptops like the Alienware X15 R2 and the 2023 Razer Blade 16. The recently released Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 was also added to the comparisons, providing a useful yardstick against another 16-inch laptop in Asus’s 2023 lineup.
Looking first at the results of the Cinebench R20 Multi-threaded benchmark and in the graph below you can see the G16 topped the field of seven, beating both the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 and the Razer Blade 16. This is an excellent result, thereby proving this laptop can easily handle CPU-intensive applications that utilize all the cores of the laptop’s CPU like AAA games or video editing.
Moving on to the Handbrake test and the results are similarly impressive. This time the G16 finished encoding a 30GB MKV file to MP4 using the Android Tablet preset in just 746 seconds.
This is one of the quickest scores we’ve seen this year and proves the Strix G16 is exceptionally good at keeping its thermals in check while powering through a CPU-intensive task. While other laptops needed to throttle performance sooner in this task, our review unit was better able to control and dissipate its heat load to continue encoding with gusto.
These results bide extremely well for gamers. Without me having to boost CPU performance in Armoury Crate, the Strix G16 managed to outclass a field of gaming laptops whose CPUs are all a class act. The result is definitely food for thought… If that’s what our model with i7-13650HX CPU can do, one can only imagine what the models sporting Intel’s zippier Core i9-13980HX CPUs can do!
The results are also a testament to the performance capabilities of Intel’s new 13th generation HX Series CPUs. Intel places its HX CPUs above its H Series enthusiast processors to offer gamers and creators what it claims is ‘the best possible performance currently available in laptops.’
Suffice to say, gamers can be confident that the Strix G16 won’t just run their AAA games, indeed it will deliver some of the best performance they can currently find in a 16-inch laptop.
Asus ROG Strix G16: Gaming performance
The GeForce RTX 4060 discreet GPU in our review model is a step-up from the entry-level GeForce RTX 4050 in Nvidia’s mobile GPU lineup. One of its biggest drawcards for gamers for this new video card is its 24 ray-tracing cores, which kind of supercharge the rendering of light and shading in games and 3D applications, allowing for more realism than was ever possible before.
The GeForce RTX 4060 also supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is the latest version of the DirectX API and the one that will ultimately power a whole new generation of AAA games. It’s a decent piece of hardware with some good future proofing support. This particular RTX 4060 GPU was tuned to a TGP of 140 watts, which is the maximum possible.
To get a general gauge of the graphics processing power on offer, I ran the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark on our review unit. Again, the result was very favorable. While the Razer Blade 16 with its premium RTX 4090 GPU stood head and shoulders above the pack, the Strix G16 with its more modest RTX 4060 GPU was only slightly off the pace of the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, which packed a sportier RTX 4070 GPU.
Furthermore, the Strix G16 demonstrated comparable graphics performance to the Alienware X15 R2, whose RTX 3080 GPU was considered one of the most powerful in 2022. This is a terrific result considering the lowly placement of our laptop’s GPU in the hierarchy of Nvidia’s RTX 40 Series graphics cards.
When I ran the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark, the Strix G16 averaged 155 frames per second. This result placed it third among our group of comparisons behind the Razer Blade 16 and the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16.
Finally, we ran the benchmark for the game Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Here again, the G16 placed third in the performance results. Again, we can say it comfortably outpaced the Alienware X15 R2, confirming its dominance of this laptop in our games benchmarks.
What do these results mean? Overall, they’re very encouraging. They show the G16 can hold its own against laptops with more powerful GPUs and also produce faster frame rates than laptops with older, but more premium GPUs.
In summary, this suggests not only is the Strix G16 powerful enough to simply run AAA games, but rather gamers can expect competitive standard performance even if they opt for a less expensive model with an RTX 4060 GPU.
Asus ROG Strix G16: Battery life
The Strix G16 impressed me in my laptop testing, but not so when it came to evaluating the laptop’s battery life. To test the battery, I set a 4K Hollywood movie to repeat, after adjusting the sound to 50 percent and switching off the keyboard backlighting. Wi-Fi was also switched to airplane mode to prevent any disruption to the video.
In the graph displayed below, you can see the Strix G16 lasted just 448 minutes before it ran out of juice and shut down. That’s just over seven hours of video playtime.
This result implies that the G16 is just an average performer when it comes to battery life and suggests it’s likely to last only three to four hours while gaming away from an AC outlet, which is nothing to write home about.
Asus ROG Strix G16: Should you buy it?
On balance the Asus ROG Strix G16 hits all the right notes for performance, functionality and style. Not only does it deliver excellent CPU and GPU performance, all the ports you need, and a slick cyberpunk attitude, but it also has a gorgeous display and is priced considerably lower than at least one key rival.
Sure, it has some shortcomings, like the average battery life, more plastic in its chassis than some competitor laptops, and a low-resolution webcam. But with performance this good, those quirks fall by the wayside.