Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) review: an AMD upgrade

Asus overhauled its ROG Zephyrus gaming laptops in 2024, giving them sleek, aluminum bodies and brilliant OLED screens. The Intel version of the ROG Zephyrus G16 looked like a potential MacBook Pro killer when it launched in February; it is thin, light, and powerful, but the Core Ultra 9 185H processor hampers battery life. Now that Asus has reissued the G16 with the latest flagship CPU from AMD, it has finally become an all-rounder with enough battery life to tote to the office.

This version of the Zephyrus G16 has the same Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU that powers Asus’ Zenbook S 16 to great effect. The better integrated graphics and improvements in efficiency and raw horsepower over Intel’s mobile Meteor Lake processors make the AMD model the clear winner. If only it weren’t so dang expensive. 

Our $2,300 review unit, with an Nvidia RTX 4070 mobile GPU, is one of four G16 variants with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU. There’s another 4070 model in white, with 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage for $2,300, while the least expensive version is $1,900 with an RTX 4060, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. More GPU power is only available on Intel models, with an RTX 4080 option at $2,700 and an RTX 4090 for $3,300. RAM is soldered to the motherboard, so it’s important to consider before purchasing.

Apart from the processor, and the jump to Wi-Fi 7 from Wi-Fi 6e, the AMD version of the G16 is nearly identical to the Intel version. Both use the same 0.59-inch-thick unibody aluminum chassis, ports, and 200-watt charging brick; the only visible difference is the Copilot key on the AMD model in place of the right-hand Ctrl key. The AMD version is also an ounce lighter at a scant 3.99 pounds. 

I have a solid basis for comparing the two G16s here. In search of a portable work machine I could also game on, I ditched my desktop and bought the Intel version of the G16, with an RTX 4070 and 16GB of RAM, in August. Since then, I’ve used it not only to work at home and in coffee shops but also to play all the games I’d normally play on my tower.

Brilliant display, semirestrained lighting

Whichever processor and graphics card is inside, using the G16 is a rock-solid experience. There’s very little chassis flex except for the plate in the dead center of the keyboard, the lid lifts easily with a single finger, and screen wobble is minimal. But the 2560 x 1600, 240Hz OLED ROG Nebula Display steals the show. Thanks to the excellent motion clarity, color accuracy, and contrast, it’s just about the best screen you can find on a gaming laptop. The smaller Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 uses a 2880 x 1800 OLED panel, but it’s only 120Hz.

Asus factory calibrates the screen in each G16 and claims an average Delta E of under 1, a peak brightness of 500 nits, and 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color space. These are bold claims, but they largely hold up. I measured 100 percent coverage of the sRGB color space, 97.2 percent of Adobe RGB, and 99.9 of DCI-P3. Although maximum brightness in SDR only reached 397 nits, that’s plenty bright enough to use outdoors in the shade. HDR is even brighter, reaching 644 nits in a 10 percent window. The average Delta E, the difference between an expected value and what was measured, came in at only 0.17. This is an astoundingly accurate display and good enough for color-sensitive work.

Apart from the floating volume controls and dedicated Armoury Crate button above the F row, the minimalist design and keyboard layout are a change from the 2023 model and now look much more like those of Asus’ own Zenbook line. While the keys aren’t mechanical, the 1.5mm key travel is enough to stave off fatigue during long typing sessions. The spacebar is a bit stiff and can skip if tapped at the furthest edges, but it doesn’t happen often enough to become a problem.

The Zephyrus G16’s appearance has taken a turn for the demure, but Asus couldn’t resist keeping some gamer flair. Gone is the addressable matrix of LEDs previously splashed across the back of ROG Zephyrus laptops, replaced with a diagonal strip of lighting that runs across the lid. Different Slash Lighting patterns are programmable in Armoury Crate, but the only color available is white. 

The effect is underwhelming, and that extends to the keyboard. Despite the $2,000 price tag, all versions of the G16 are equipped with single-zone RGB backlighting, meaning that all keys will always be backlit with the same color and brightness. Competitors like the HP Omen Transcend 16 and Razer Blade 16 both offer per-key lighting. The exclusion here, combined with the Slash bar, feels like Asus is trying to toe the line between slim studio laptop and full gaming aesthetic, but the result feels unlikely to please either crowd.

Gaming performance

Despite the identical looks, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU pulls ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H in every single synthetic benchmark. In most cases, it’s a small improvement in both single and multicore tasks, but AMD takes a whopping 20 percent single-core and 10 percent multicore lead in Geekbench 6.

That lead unfortunately doesn’t scale uniformly to gaming. It’s true that, at 1080p, where CPU differences are most obvious, the AMD version of the G16 puts up a commanding performance over Intel’s chip. Results are better across the board, with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 improving 14 percent in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, 13 percent in Cyberpunk 2077, and 12 percent in Returnal. 

Make no mistake, both the AMD and Intel versions of the G16 are capable gaming machines, and moving up to 1440p or the native 2560 x 1600 resolution erases any difference between the two. The bottleneck here is the GPU. While the RTX 4070 is still a capable mobile graphics card nearly two years after release, it can’t quite hit 60 frames per second in every game at maxed-out settings. Less demanding titles like Elden Ring will still run at 60fps on Ultra all day, but this midrange card shows its age in newer games.

Tweaking settings or enabling an upscaler like Nvidia’s DLSS in games that support it is a perfectly viable solution, and even the most demanding titles like Alan Wake 2 are playable on the 4070 versions of the G16, with compromises. Running around Coffee World as Saga midway through the game, neither the AMD or Intel version could crack 60fps at 1440p or native resolution, and enabling DLSS at the Quality setting only delivered about 50 frames per second. The game becomes much more playable when settings are dropped to medium or frame generation is turned on. 

Ray-tracing enthusiasts and those with 4K external monitors should consider the 4080 and 4090 models. Asus limits the RTX 4080 and 4090 to 115 watts of power draw to keep temps down, meaning a thicker laptop like the Razer Blade 16 with a 4090 in it will score about 10 percent higher in Time Spy than a G16 with a 4090, owing to its beefier cooling solution and higher power allowance of 175 watts. This is a negligible difference for most people, but diehards looking to wring out every ounce of performance will want to look elsewhere.

Integrated graphics and battery life

AMD consistently dominates Intel in the integrated graphics department, and that hasn’t changed with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. The AMD Radeon 890M is the most powerful integrated GPU on the market and can deliver solid 1080p gaming performance even on battery power — it’s no wonder that Ayaneo and other manufacturers are using the chip in their newest gaming handhelds. 

Playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 1080p on battery power using integrated graphics is a surprisingly great experience. The benchmark returned 40 frames per second with everything set to its maximum, and dropping the settings to high and enabling Intel’s XeSS upscaling netted 47fps. The APU — as AMD calls its CPUs with integrated graphics — pulls 42 watts with this setup, meaning about an hour and a half of runtime despite the G16’s large 90Wh battery. With a custom power profile that limits the APU to 25 watts total (more granular control is available with open-source Armoury Crate alternatives like G-Helper), the results were about the same but stretched the battery life to two hours. 

Even heavier titles like Cyberpunk 2077 are playable on integrated graphics. With the 25-watt cap in place, I recorded 47fps in the benchmark with everything set to Medium and AMD’s FSR upscaler set to Balanced and the same 1.5-hour runtime as Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The Arc Graphics on the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H will play 2D and lighter indie games just fine, but it can’t crack 30fps in the above games at the same settings. 

This makes the integrated GPU a compelling option if you’re away from wall power. Running Cyberpunk 2077 on the RTX 4070 with high settings at 1080p got a frame rate of 60fps and a scant 45 minutes of playtime. Locking the game to a 30fps cap and medium settings at 1080p results in one hour, 20 minutes of battery life. Gaming on integrated graphics might be the solution for those who want to leave the bulky 200W charger at home and travel with a USB-C wall wart (up to 100 watts) instead.

AMD pushes battery life further

Battery life outside of gaming is the main reason to consider the AMD version of the G16. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H model offers about six to seven hours of real-world use, which is fine for most people but won’t make it through an entire workday. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is simply more efficient, lasting about nine hours in real-world use. That extra three hours pushes the G16 out of the realm of typical gaming laptops and closer to productivity machines like the Zenbook S 16 or the Dell XPS 16.

A more efficient processor means less heat, which was (and is) the G16’s Achilles’ heel. Having lived with, gamed on, and typed more articles than I can count on the Intel version, I can confidently say that this is a spicy laptop — so much so that the underside gets uncomfortably hot when gaming on the 4070, even using the Silent power profile (which restricts power to the CPU and GPU and cuts fan noise accordingly), and the area right above the keyboard on the Intel version reaches a scorching 123 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 thermal throttles at 95 degrees Celsius like its Intel-based cousin when under load, but no point on the chassis registered over 120 degrees during testing. Running around the titular city in Baldur’s Gate 3 using the Turbo power profile no longer results in a burned lap. Cooler temps might let the CPU boost higher, but it would still be constrained by the relatively modest 200-watt overall power limit. 

Asus falls down on software

I’ve been singing the G16’s praises for most of this review, but the sacrifices Asus undertook to make a gaming laptop this portable are glaring, even if they might not affect day-to-day use. Repairability and upgradability are next to nil. Storage is easy to upgrade, and there’s a second 2280 M.2 slot, but the RAM is soldered to the motherboard in all versions. (Which is unfortunately the norm in laptops this thin. Look to thicker competitors with socketed DDR5 RAM, like the Alienware m16 R2, if you want the option to upgrade later.) If the 16GB offered by the base configuration isn’t enough, you’ll have to pony up an extra $300 at minimum for a model with 32GB and can’t go higher from there. 

Software has never been Asus’ strong suit, and Armoury Crate continues to be Armoury Crate: laggy but serviceable enough for most people. Manually disabling the dedicated graphics in Armoury Crate is the best way to optimize battery life, but often, it requires closing all programs using the 4070, trying again, then closing and reopening Armoury Crate to actually make the change. I’ve also noticed that the G16 sometimes fails to wake properly if set to hibernate while plugged in and then reawoken on battery. 

Speaking of the battery, the only way to enable Battery Care mode, which caps the battery at 80 percent charge to prolong its life, is through the MyAsus app, an entirely separate control panel you have to register for to use. Being prompted to sign up and make an account as part of the Windows 11 setup feels extra intrusive.

The G16 is the one to beat, if it’s on sale

Asus succeeds in delivering a great machine for gamers who don’t want their laptops to live on their desk, as well as content creators. The color-accurate, high refresh rate screen looks fantastic displaying any type of content, the speakers are just about the best you can find on a Windows laptop, and the port selection, especially the full-sized SD card reader, is good enough for photographers and video editors, though the lack of an ethernet jack is conspicuous.

The price remains the biggest sticking point for either model of the G16. I’ve seen the Intel version on sale for as low as $1,400, which undercuts less expensive, chunkier competitors with similar specs like the Alienware m16 R2 or the Lenovo Legion Pro 5i and even Asus’ own ProArt line aimed squarely at artists. A 16-inch ProArt P16 configured with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU, RTX 4070, 32GB of RAM, and 2TB of storage but a 4K, 60Hz screen and slightly thicker chassis costs $2,300, while the comparably equipped G16 has recently been on sale for $1,999. 

Not that $2,000 for a laptop with an RTX 4070 inside is an objectively good deal when 4080-equipped devices fall below that mark on sale. The Intel version of the G16 provides the best value, especially when it drops below $1,500. Best Buy frequently lists open-box models for as low as $1,100, even cheaper than the smaller G14 with an RTX 4060. Whether the extra three hours of battery life is worth up to $900 more is subjective and depends on how frequently you travel, though most people will be better served by saving that money and throwing a USB-C charger in their bag to keep the G16 topped off.

Of course, this might be a moot point. It’s rumored that Nvidia will debut its latest 5000-series RTX graphics cards at CES 2025, and manufacturers including Asus will launch revamped laptops soon after, although concrete details haven’t been confirmed yet. If the RTX 5070 isn’t a substantial improvement over the current generation and Asus launches a new version of the G16, keep an eye out for deep discounts on the 2024 models. Both versions of the G16 are objectively good all-around laptops, but at price parity, the AMD model wins out.