The all-in-one – Introducing the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16

In May, ASUS announced the ROG Zephyrus M16 and S17 gamer laptops, which are already machines based on the new Tiger Lake-H processors. Even then, it was felt that the Taiwanese manufacturer was preparing for a massive launch with these models. But what makes these machines so unique?

If I can use a strange analogy, it reminded me of the M16 that it is exactly like the machine gun of the same name, which, in a somewhat simplified way, solves all your problems in times of war. Well, the Zephyrus M16 does the same because although the acronym ROG in its name suggests that it is primarily a gamer machine, it can be deployed on many fronts and performs excellently due to its extra features.

ASUS engineers were exposed to this by pushing this 16-inch machine into a 15-inch housing, the frame of the Zephyrus G15, which meant that the display of the Zephyrus M16 became increasingly widespread 16:10 aspect ratio. On the other hand, the coffees around the display are virtually gone, with 94% of the top being provided by the screen itself. Nevertheless, somehow even the built-in webcam was solved, which is already a brilliant performance, especially since it is a 2-megapixel piece. And then we weren’t talking about what the display itself knows!

The model we had was WQHD (2560×1600) with 165Hz image refresh and Adaptive-Sync, which is more than adequate for gaming. But not only for gaming, as the panel is Pantone certified and has 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage. It is also perfectly suitable for video cropping and image editing tasks. The brightness of the display is also good. Even in bright sunlight, everything can be easily seen on it, so it is not a problem to use it while traveling.

In this respect, the Zephyrus M16 is a real all-rounder, which is already radiated by its design. The existence of a Gamer machine has a relatively clean, elegant design, RGB colors do not flash on it everywhere, and the aluminum frame gives it seriousness, so no one will be surprised by it, even if we come up with it a meeting. Of course, the nicely rounded curves and the matte black color are tossed up a bit so that the machine’s lid iridesces in the rainy color in the perforated part as we move, but just enough to keep the taste within limits.

The M16 isn’t one of the lighter pieces in its category anyway with its 2kg weight, which is understandable, as here we get a more prominent display in return. Of course, it’s still plenty in the comfortably portable category. The keyboard is enjoyable to use. The size and layout of the keys are also excellent. The critical path is also pleasant, so it recommends more extended typing. The touchpad is responsive and the correct size. If we had a complaint, it would just be that the cover of the inside quickly collects the fingerprints. We got ourselves on it more than necessary to remove the stains and smudges from it.

Compared to its size, the Zephyrus M16 has been thoroughly ported, especially if we add that no connection could be made to the rear, as it is entirely occupied by the thermal conduits of the Arc Flow fans. However, on the left, a Thunderbolt 4 and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (that is, USB-C charging is supported), a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, an HDMI, a gigabit Ethernet connector, and a jack for headphones is located. At the same time, on the right, you will also find a USB 3.2 Gen 1 USB and a microSD card reader, which can come in handy for the image and video editing jobs already mentioned.

What will give the machine a breath, because it has impressive power. As mentioned, it features a 45-watt Tiger Lake-H CPU, of which a Core i9-11900H (2.5 GHz) ticked in our model, an RTX 3070, 16GB of DDR4 RAM (expandable to 48GB), and an A 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD drive was provided. The already mentioned ventilation outlets and liquid metal cooling are also suitable for such performance. Of course, the machine still heats up at maximum load, but I think we can forgive him for that.

Because the Zephyrus M16 doesn’t deliver anything! With Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Ultra settings, it knew 44 fps at 1600p, so the Viking adventure looked fantastic on it. The previous act, Odyssey, wasn’t ashamed either, as (Ultra, 1080p) the machine squeezed 59 fps out of it, and the GTA 5 didn’t even tickle it: At very high settings and 1080p resolution, the average was 86 fps. I want to emphasize that the sound of the machine is delightful, which is ensured by the six speakers with Dolby Atmos support. Okay, good, the bass could be a little flattering on it, but anyway, the M16 is a delightful experience even for listening to music.

And suppose we’ve talked about video editing capabilities above. In that case, it’s also worth remembering that the M16 transcodes 4K videos to 1080p in a matter of minutes, making it far superior in its category, even though it’s not the fastest data transfer SSD (567 Mbps) spinning in it.

The battery is quite suitable for this, it can be used for about 6 hours with intensive use, but as a great solution in Armory Crate, we can manually set (or automatically entrust it to the machine) whether the M16 uses an Intel GPU or RTX card so, for example, if you’re going to be in an office for which the Intel graphics unit is enough, you can extend the uptime thoroughly.

Depending on the equipment, the Zephyrus M16 will be available for about 2,220 USD to 3,500 USD sometime from the end of the summer.