Following their recent announcement at CES 2023, the latest batch of hardware is going on tour and even an actual release. To that end, ASUS has set its sights on 2023 variants of its line of gaming laptops featuring the latest batch of hardware, including RTX 40 Series GPUs and 13th-gen Intel CPUs. To that end, I’ve been testing one of the most anticipated 2023 models, the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, and let me dispel any doubts right away by saying this is a very, very impressive laptop.
But, here’s the thing, it’s not just the more powerful hardware that makes this laptop great, it makes everything more glamorous (although it’s very impressive, and I’ll get to why later). No, it’s actually the display, and it’s arguably the best display I’ve seen on a laptop. This QHD Mini-LED display has a brightness of 1100 nits peak while having 100% DCI-P3 coverage in 1024 dimming zones and is HDR 1000 certified using Asus’ Nebula HDR Engine, which effectively means It’s a very, very, very vibrant and crisp display. The really impressive part is that this display can also work at 240 frames per second with a blazingly fast 3ms response time.
In the past, I’ve generally pointed out here that these specs often cancel each other out, as the hardware either prioritizes compelling visuals over frame rates and performance, or vice versa. But, that’s where the aforementioned “impressive” new hardware enters the equation, as the GeForce RTX 4090, 13th Gen Intel i9-13900H CPU, and 16GB of DDR5 RAM all combine to create a system that succeeds Achieving high frame rates efficiently while running the game on the most demanding graphics settings.
Before I start flipping through some bits, let’s get straight to setting some records. Since the Zephyrus M16 is QHD, games run at 1440p here instead of native 4K. Again I’m using the new shiny DLSS 3 rendering technology hoping to get performance jumps where it’s available and from what I’ve seen it does add some extra performance without further overclocking or severing the system Apply excessive pressure.
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Ultra High Quality Frame Rates without DLSS3:
- Destiny 2: Average 120 frames per second
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: 130 fps average without ray tracing / 75 fps average with ray tracing
- Deathloop: Average 110 frames per second
- Days Gone: Average 95 frames per second
- Apex Legends: Average 105 frames per second
- God of War: 85 FPS average
As a comparison, at the lowest quality possible, Apex Legends is usually limited to the monitor’s 240 fps limit. Also, as a second comparison, my personal desktop PC (using an RTX 3090, 11th gen i9-11900KF, and 64GB of DDR4 RAM) usually averages around 120 fps when playing Destiny 2 on high graphics settings, rather than my test Zephyrus M16 Ultra. Essentially, after so many years of saying that laptops can’t compete with desktops in a performance sense, the RTX 40 Series is looking to change that narrative. immediately.
And, for those wondering how successful DLSS 3 was, here are the average frame rates when using the technology.
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- Deathloop: Average 135 frames per second
- Marvel’s Spider-Man: 83 fps average
As you can see, this laptop means business. It’s very powerful and capable, more powerful than I’ve personally seen in a gaming laptop, and most importantly, its display is second to none. So, what are the downsides? There are a few caveats, but none so overwhelmingly drastic that they seriously affect my opinion of the system. But they are worth noting anyway.
Running all the latest hardware at its limits is expensive in many ways. For one thing, the battery life just bleeds so badly that it’s almost impossible to use this laptop without carrying a charging cable with you. And it’s not just when gaming, as the bulky hardware always seems to take its toll, draining the life of the device even at low stress.
But assuming you game a lot, are plugged in and don’t have to worry about battery life, it’s worth noting that the Zephyrus M16 isn’t a particularly quiet machine. I’ve heard louder laptops, but so far it’s not a device you’d describe as conservative or subtle. But fans are the common enemy of hearing-sensitive gamers, so you’re probably used to it. What you may not be familiar with is a laptop system that gets so hot that it does become uncomfortable to use, as this is a point where the Zephyrus M16 can reach. ASUS has packed this laptop with a bunch of cooling solutions aimed at solving this problem, including the use of a liquid metal thermal compound, a triple threat fan combination to maximize airflow, all atop a full-width heatsink , but that doesn’t seem to handle the issue very well, which makes me wonder what the Zephyrus M16 would be like without one of these features.
You’d think that with all these cooling solutions and the latest batch of hardware, the Zephyrus M16 would be a pretty big laptop, but that’s not the case. Sure, it’s not particularly small, but it does have compact dimensions and doesn’t have such an overtly “gaming” chassis design that it sticks out like a sore thumb. No, in fact, the laptop is sleek and uncluttered, and uses a moving matrix of AniMe animations on its cover (which can be customized using the pre-installed Armory Crate software) to create one of the most unique light shows I’ve ever seen- This is coming from someone who generally keeps RGB to a minimum. All this technology does mean that the Zephyrus M16 is quite heavy, weighing around 2.4kg.
But even if it does have some kinks, I can safely say that this is one of the best gaming laptops I’ve tested. The display is so crisp and bright, the internal hardware is so powerful that I can really see the argument for choosing a laptop over a desktop, and it all looks so sleek, uncluttered and elegant it’s hard not to gawk at it. The best way I can describe how the Zephyrus M16 feels to use is like the Ferrari equivalent of a gaming laptop: yes, it’s not an ideal device for traveling or commuting (leave that work for the laptop – or for the sake of this analogy, Volkswagen), but if you want to play the best of the latest games (or, again, 60-2.5 in 0 seconds for the sake of analogy), the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is the way to go. no doubt.
