This is our second time seeing Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G16 gaming laptop, having reviewed the Intel version in August 2024. Today’s AMD-based configuration (starts at $1,999.99; $2,299.99 as tested) pairs an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with a beautiful 1600p OLED screen in a classy, sleek design. The slimline system looks sharp with exceptional build quality, but as with the Intel model, the thin chassis’ cooling and power limitations restrict its graphics performance. The Zephyrus’ gaming potential is still high, it delivers more battery life than its Intel sibling, and it’s all in an easy-to-love package, but you can get more power for your dollar elsewhere in this high-end tier: The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 16 still holds our Editors’ Choice award for high-end gaming laptops.
Configurations: Going Upscale Only
The G16 has several variations primarily related to processor and GPU decisions. The $1,999.99 base model combines an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU, 16GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The Intel model we reviewed a while back boosts RAM to 32GB and graphics to a GeForce RTX 4080 for $2,699.99. The AMD configuration seen here lands somewhere between those two: It includes a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU, 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and the GeForce RTX 4070 GPU for $2,299.99.
None of these SKUs is inexpensive—this is inherently a premium gaming laptop for hard-core players—but the base model represents the best deal. However, if you want the extra memory or prefer AMD silicon, our review unit is a decent value, while the RTX 4080 is available for more graphics power. As I saw while testing that system, though, if that’s your priority, you can find better RTX 4080 options, like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 16. Asus has even pricier RTX 4090 models available, but again, you should consider a larger laptop to get the most out of that GPU.
Design: Classy Styling for Every Gamer
The ROG Zephyrus G16’s design is fairly minimalist at first glance, but the quality of the build stood out once I spent some time handling the system. The dark gray color (Asus calls it Eclipse; we haven’t seen the Platinum White option) is handsome, and the aluminum-alloy chassis lends an especially premium feel. Given the cost, this is what you’d hope for, but many bulkier high-end gaming laptops still have plastic bodies, with prices primarily component- and feature-driven.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Here, you get the whole package of build quality and features. The only real (and possibly divisive) visual adornment is the “Slash Lighting” diagonal light array on the lid, which we’ve seen before on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 and the Intel-based G16. This LED strip can display customizable lighting patterns and animations, though you can get only so much out of one line of lights; the larger AniMe Matrix lid Asus formerly deployed on these laptops allowed for more complicated patterns and images.
The color, styling, and limited lighting add to a more professional-looking laptop than one that screams “Gamer, dude!” The Asus’ physical dimensions also contribute to this since this isn’t the traditional hefty gaming machine. Even with its 16-inch screen, it measures just 0.65 by 13.9 by 9.9 inches (HWD) and weighs 4.1 pounds. That’s exceptionally light for a gaming rig this size, though (as we saw with the Intel model) it imposes some limits on its performance headroom—more on that later.
Using the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Come for the Screen, Stay for the Connections
The 16-inch, non-touch screen itself is a beauty. It’s a 2,560-by-1,600-pixel OLED panel with a 240Hz refresh rate, a dream for enthusiast gamers. It looks terrific—vibrant, bright, and clear—and provides a high ceiling for smooth, sharp gameplay.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
The touchpad also stands out from the crowd. It’s especially roomy, responsive, and smooth to pan, making it a pleasure to use. While I’m not as positive on the keyboard, I have nothing negative to say either; the keys have adequate bounce and feedback but aren’t noteworthy.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
While thin, the chassis still houses a wide variety of ports. The left edge holds the power connector, USB Type-A and Type-C ports, an HDMI monitor port, and an audio jack. The right side has additional USB-A and USB-C ports, plus an SD flash-card reader. The webcam records in 1080p resolution—anything less would be disappointing for the price—and delivers clear video quality with decent lighting balance in my tests. A Wi-Fi 7 radio rounds out the laptop’s marquee features.
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Testing the Asus ROG Zephyrus G16: Steady On, RTX 4070
To gauge the performance of our review unit, I put it through our benchmark regimen and compared the results against those of the following laptops. (You may notice the absence of the Intel-based Zephyrus G16 and Editors’ Choice-winning Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 16, which were reviewed with our previous suite of benchmark tests and thus can’t be included here.)
This group consists of other high-end 16-inch gaming laptops, with the Alienware m16 R2 ($1,849.99 as tested) and HP Omen Transcend 16 ($3,009.99 as tested) also running RTX 4070 GPUs. Above and below those systems, we have the Razer Blade 16, which we reviewed in a super-expensive $4,199 GeForce RTX 4090 config and include here as a ceiling for premium gaming notebooks, and the Acer Predator Triton Neo 16, only $1,599.99 with an RTX 4060 GPU.
Before jumping into the results, know that we ran the tests in the Performance mode of Asus’ Armoury Crate setup software. The G16 runs pretty loudly under load in this mode, with the fans working especially hard to cool such a slim system during gameplay. I briefly tried the top-tier Turbo mode, but it proved even louder and hotter with only modest gains (a few frames per second in some titles), so I don’t think it’s worthwhile.
Productivity and Content Creation Tests
Our primary overall benchmark, UL’s PCMark 10, tests a system in productivity apps ranging from web browsing to word processing and spreadsheet work. Its Full System Drive subtest measures a PC’s storage throughput.
Three more tests are CPU-centric or processor-intensive: Maxon’s Cinebench 2024 uses that company’s Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene; Primate Labs’ Geekbench 6.3 Pro simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning; and we see how long it takes the transcoding freeware HandBrake 1.8 to convert a 12-minute clip from 4K to 1080p resolution.
Finally, workstation maker Puget Systems’ PugetBench for Creators rates a PC’s image editing prowess in various automated operations in Adobe Photoshop 25.
The G16’s AMD processor is one of the fastest in the batch, sitting near the top (usually behind only the Razer) in these processing tests. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is a quick and efficient processor for daily use, gaming, media editing, and content creation. This processor also suits the laptop’s professional styling and beautiful display.
Graphics and Gaming Tests
We challenge all systems’ graphics with a quartet of animations or gaming simulations from UL’s 3DMark test suite. Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Extreme (4K) use the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds. Steel Nomad’s regular and Light subtests focus on APIs more commonly used for game development, like Metal and DirectX 12, to assess gaming geometry and particle effects.
We also turn to 3DMark’s Solar Bay to measure ray tracing performance in a synthetic environment. This benchmark works with native APIs, subjecting 3D scenes to increasingly intense ray-traced workloads at 1440p.
Our real-world gaming testing comes from in-game benchmarks within Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and F1 2024. These three games—all benchmarked at the system’s full HD (1080p or 1200p native) resolution—represent competitive shooter, open-world, and simulation games, respectively. If the screen is capable of a higher resolution, we rerun the tests at the QHD equivalent of 1440p or 1600p. Each game runs at two sets of graphics settings per resolution for up to four runs total on each game.
We run the Call of Duty benchmark at the Minimum graphics preset—aimed at maximizing frame rates to test display refresh rates—and again at the Extreme preset. Our Cyberpunk 2077 test settings aim to push PCs fully, so we run it on the Ultra graphics preset and again at the all-out Ray Tracing Overdrive preset without DLSS or FSR. Finally, F1 represents our DLSS effectiveness (or FSR on AMD systems) test, demonstrating a GPU’s capacity for frame-boosting upscaling technologies.
In the synthetic tests, the G16 hung tight with the other RTX 4070 systems while the RTX 4090-based Blade shot out way ahead. This is what you’d expect, though you’ll see variety among systems; as always, individual testing is important to see how different laptops’ thermal solutions handle heat and harness the GPU.
In the real-world games, more separation revealed itself. The ROG Zephyrus G16 didn’t fare especially well, landing toward the middle or bottom of the pack, with some peaks and valleys. While it didn’t fare any worse than the other RTX 4070 systems, it fell a little too close to the less costly, RTX 4060-equipped Triton Neo 16 for our liking and even behind it in some tests.
Apart from head-to-head comparisons, some of this laptop’s frame rates will leave you a little cold for the cost. The G16 could not hit 60fps in F1 2024 at either resolution, even with the help of DLSS. Cyberpunk was playable at 1200p without ray tracing, but performance suffered at the highest setting (and at either setting at native resolution). These demanding titles are certainly playable with some tweaks, but I’d expect better for $2,300, regardless of the laptop’s lovely design or CPU performance.
If you’re not targeting cutting-edge games or don’t need the highest visual settings, it’s less cause for concern. Regardless, being nearly as thin as a 15-inch MacBook Air is clearly still a limiter on gaming performance.
Battery and Display Tests
We test each laptop and tablet’s battery life by playing a locally stored 720p video file (the open-source Blender movie Tears of Steel) with display brightness at 50% and audio volume at 100%. We make sure the battery is fully charged before the test, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.
To gauge display performance, we also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen’s color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).
Asus’ new gaming flagship posted a lengthy battery life result, outlasting all the other systems here. While it’s not visible in the chart, we can look back at the Intel-based G16 (which had a more power-hungry RTX 4080 GPU) and see colossal improvement; that laptop lasted less than six and a half hours.
Further supporting its use in content creation, the Zephyrus’ display posted outstanding color coverage results. Its brightness didn’t top the chart in the same way, but it’s a plenty luminous screen both empirically and anecdotally.
Verdict: A Premium Build That Puts Processing First
The AMD-based ROG Zephyrus G16 is a pricey gaming system for hard-core players or media professionals, but it checks most boxes. Our configuration delivers fast processing, steady gaming performance, long battery life, a dazzling display, and a luxury build. The RTX 4070 GPU and AMD processor may be the sweet spot for power, battery life, and price, depending on your needs, but the gaming frame rates do disappoint for the price.
Not all games are as demanding as our test titles, nor do you need to run them all at the highest settings, but you should expect to be able to run games at or near peak visual fidelity when paying this much for a laptop, and the G16 can’t quite get you there. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9 16 drives a much better performance-per-dollar bargain (if you can find it in stock), and the Alienware m16 R2 delivers similar power for less money.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2025, AMD Ryzen AI 9)
Cons
The Bottom Line
Powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 processor, Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G16 gaming rig is a beautifully built, quick performer, but its Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU is limited in this super-thin chassis.
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About Matthew Buzzi
Lead Analyst, Hardware
