Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 review (GU604VY model – i9, RTX 4090)

51 Comments

  1. hubek

    February 20, 2023 at 10:10 pm

    Performance
    3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 14234

    Turbo
    3DMark 13 – Time Spy (DX12): 18347

    I'm in shock. I'm in real shock. Never before, in any laptop, has there been such a gap in the results between turbo and performance profiles, usually it is a few percent, maybe 10, often on the basis of a measurement error. And here we have a real gap

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 21, 2023 at 9:41 am

      what's so shocking? Turbo is 145W TGP, Performance is 80W TGP

      • PHVM

        February 21, 2023 at 5:05 pm

        i9-13900H = 6 P-cores / 8 E-cores

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 21, 2023 at 8:14 pm

        right, thanks. updated

      • Martin

        February 23, 2023 at 8:14 am

        Is it possible to have GPU TGP inbetween e.g. 100W? Thanks

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 23, 2023 at 4:57 pm

        There's no such option in the software. Not sure if this could be achieved with 3rd party software

      • JJ

        March 9, 2023 at 12:27 pm

        Are there custom fan profiles>

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 9, 2023 at 1:27 pm

        of course. all ROG laptops offer that in the Manual profile

  2. Nero

    February 21, 2023 at 9:43 am

    Thanks for the review, do you think the MiniLED panel is worth it over the IPS one? You reviewed the Blade with the IPS which I assume is the same/very similar to what the M16 can ship with so your insight would help a lot

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 21, 2023 at 9:48 am

      Derek reviewed the Blade, so I don't have first hand experience with it.

      The miniLED is somewhat nicer for movies and gaming than the regular IPS, due to its better blacks and contrast. Hard to say how much I would be willing to pay for it if given the choice.

      Thing is, most likely you won't get a choice. Asus will offer the miniLED on the top configurations, and the IPS on the others. In theory, the 4080 M16 will be available with either the IPS or the miniLED display, but in practice, that choice might not be available in most markets.

      comparing the Zephryus M16 with the Blade 16 is a more complex discussion. The Blade is an HX platform, so faster in CPU loads, and a higher GPU TGP as well. The Zephyrus has the miniLED display on its side, arguably better inputs, and a somewhat lower price for the same specs.

      • Nero

        February 21, 2023 at 10:15 am

        Oh my bad I didn't notice there were several reviewers doing the latest reviews my bad.

        Actually where I live I do have the choice between the IPS VS the MiniLED panel for the M16 4080, with 200 to 400 euros of difference between them (the regular IPS has a 5% discount at some places hence the range) that's why I'm trying to get as much info from people who've experienced both. I'm really used to OLED so I'm afraid regular IPS will look disappointing, but the discounts + potential better battery life it would offer are also worth considering. Decisions, decisions…

        The Blade is just stupidly expensive in Europe so i'm not really considering it. 4599 euros for a 4080 with regular IPS where I live it's genuinely insane.

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 21, 2023 at 10:24 am

        Got it. Given you're used to OLEDs, I'd probably favor the miniLED panel. But don't expect things to look just like on OLEDs, there's some glowing/blooming on the miniLED that you're not getting with OLEDs, due to how the zones work. This is noticeable around high-contrast content: like on white subtitles on a dark background, etc. It's the same as on Samsung QLED TVs, if you have any experience with those?

        Now, 200+ extra just for the miniLED is a bit steep, but when you factor in that the total cost of the laptop is 3k+, it might not be that much.

        Is there a way to see the miniLED screen in some local store? Perhaps that would help.

        If not, since you're in Europe, you probably have the option to get the laptop and return it free of cost if you don't like it, right? In that case, I'd get the IPS and see if it's good enough. If not, just return and then get the miniLED.

      • Nero

        February 21, 2023 at 10:34 am

        I appreciate you taking the time to help with this :)

        Yeah I'm aware of the blooming, it was a bit distracting on the flow x16 I got some time back and I returned the laptop because of that. But I assume that with a straight doubling of the dimming zones it should be fine, I've seen some miniLED macbooks in stores and the blooming didn't bother at all on these (but the response time sure did…).

        Yup the price increase feels bad but looking at the fact I'm going to be dropping 3500k+ regardless, It's a sacrifice i'm willing to make if it's genuinely a much better display. I can get the IPS one for 3799€ thanks to the discounts and the miniLED one for 4199€, so the gap is fairly significant.

        I think checking in store might be the right course of action here, with all the new laptops coming out with pretty much the same displays I should be able to find them at local stores even if it's not exactly the same laptop!

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 21, 2023 at 10:50 am

        Yeah, the glow is better with this gen, but I still noticed it. MacBook screens are different, because they have more miniLEDs and a denser array of zones – they're also much slower, as you mentioned.

    • NikoB

      February 25, 2023 at 1:12 pm

      Today's best eye panel for casual using is LG "IPS Black" with a native contrast ratio of 2000:1. All miniLEDs have a clear drawback – light halos around the text due to the fact that the backlight is not pixel-by-pixel, as in AMOLED. Halos will be visible in any high-contrast borders of objects.

      MiniLED owners, where it is supported by hardware, even turn off multi-zone backlighting due to this defect.

      Everyone is waiting for microLED, but it still does not leave the walls of the laboratories (although they already promise 5000ppi on new versions, where the subpixel scheme has been changed to 3D), although they allegedly appeared in some TV series.

      MiniLED is essentially a crutch between the backlight camps of conventional lamps and per-pixel backlighting in a flickering and always glossy AMOLED screen. In addition, with a 1.5-2 times worse resource for burnout and poor hardware calibration, which has been proven by many reviews.

      I hope humanity will close the topic of screens with the advent of MicroLED. Which will not flicker, will not be glossy, will have excellent viewing angles without black crush and color shift problems and will have a resource of at least 15k hours to a 50% drop in brightness. And it will consume very little. And of course the time response to G2G/B2W will be no more than 3ms, like on AMOLED. It is "holy grail" of monitor building…

  3. Jade Empire

    February 21, 2023 at 4:52 pm

    Thank you very much again for such a detailed review Andrei:) Here in Denmark we have the top specced version that you reviewed and its insanely expensive but I'm in love with it compared to the ROG 18 4090 that I also want but those idiotic status LED's ruin it for me.

    This Zeph 16 seems like the perfect laptop. Muted, professional design, able to tear through any game on max settings for years to come. I'm just so afraid that the blooming on the MiniLED will ruin it for me. I mainly watch series and movies and occasionally games. But I want the 4090 GPU for when Elder Scrolls 6 come out and Dragons Dogma 2 and Diablo 4 in June 2023.

    Do you think based on your review that gaming and movies will look much worse on the miniLED than on a regular IPS? I know the blooming from the Samsung TV's look absolutely horrendous. Will it be the same here?

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 21, 2023 at 4:59 pm

      it looks OK to me. the blooming it's not quite as on TVS, because the screen is much smaller and the array of zones much denser. I still notice it around subtitles on a dark background, though.

      But, you can always disable multi-zone lighting and then this will work like a regular IPS.

      • Jade Empire

        February 21, 2023 at 5:00 pm

        Thank you:) Would you say that I will be future proofed gaming-wise for maybe 3 years with this laptop configuration? I plan to keep it in 5 years.

    • Björn Bidar

      February 22, 2023 at 5:35 pm

      I agree with most of the points except that the slightly weaker CPU is an issue to me.
      However depending how good the case, keyboard and the availability of it's competitor the Razer Blade 16 is this might be less important.
      One major downside for me as a programmer is that it is hard to get the variants with US/Ansi keyboards here in Nordic countries.

  4. Andrii Zagorodnii

    February 21, 2023 at 7:24 pm

    Do you have 4070 variant for test?

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 21, 2023 at 8:14 pm

      why don't you read the review, it's mentioned that I do not at this time

  5. rationalistfaith

    February 25, 2023 at 9:38 am

    Excellent review! 🤲
    I'm super curious about the price of the miniLED sku in the US. BestBuy has it as sold out so I'm refreshing hoping to see it listed soon.

    I just got a hold of a 2022 model (12900h/3070ti) at a really good price so not ready to jump yet. Especially as I'm not a gamer so the gpu bump isn't as important.

  6. ctlva02j

    February 26, 2023 at 6:13 am

    >coil winning
    You use this word in other reviews, are you referring to "coil whine(coil whining)"?

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 27, 2023 at 10:54 am

      Ha, yes. Thanks for pointing this out! Edited.

  7. Martin

    February 26, 2023 at 9:49 pm

    Thank you for the review, it is very helpful as I have been thinking of ordering this laptop furthermore this year and been looking for reviews. I thought it would be the complete package for a laptop (power+portability) and the review perfectly sums up my thoughts.
    Really the only downside is this battery life, it is really disappointing. I hope it is because of the display, though hopefully, the IPS only option would still cover the same colour gamut (for someone who works with colours). I hope I find the zephyrus with a satisfactory price and rtx 4080 throughout the year, but I really hope you would update the review if you ever get the chance to try one model with a conventional screen! Cheers

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 27, 2023 at 10:55 am

      The IPS runs more efficiently. I've tested it in the very similar Zephyrus G16, which will be published this week

  8. César

    March 15, 2023 at 3:10 am

    excellent review andres, please it would be nice if you review the 4070 model, in the USA I can get it at Beat Buy for 2000 and I think it is a good price for the value it offers. The idea of ​​dissipated heat going directly against the laptop's panel scares me a bit. Do you think it could be a real problem in the long term? Thank you.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 15, 2023 at 10:44 am

      Those temperatures are within the design parameters, but still not an ideal design. I'd at least use the laptop on a cooling pad for serious work or gaming sessions, to help lower the temperatures

  9. Sascha Wolf

    March 16, 2023 at 8:18 am

    Hi,
    I have a ROG Flow X16 2023 Version. When I add a second m.2 SSD the wifi Speed is very slow (around 100Mbits). When the second SSD is not installed, I have a normal wifi speed (around 500Mbits)
    The Board design of the M16 and X16 is very similar, is it possible to test a second SSD in the M16 and check the Wifi Speed? The problem is the same if the original SSD is attached to the second Slot.

    Kind regards, Sascha

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 16, 2023 at 2:11 pm

      Interesting. You mean when you add an SSD on the slot on the left, the one over the wifi slot?

      I've tested a few Asus laptops with dual-ssds and never noticed that. I'll make a note to give it a try on the X16 2023 that I'm currently working on

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 16, 2023 at 4:59 pm

      Sascha, I gave it a try on my X16 units. I put another SSD on the slot above the wifi slot and I'm seeing no negative effects over the WiFi speeds when testing right next to the router (mine is a TYF AX82U).

      Edit: After further testing. I'm seeing the same drop at 5-7-10 m away from the router.

      • Sascha Wolf

        March 16, 2023 at 10:32 pm

        Hi,
        thanks for your testing. When I am sitting in my office room with one SSD the wifi speed is around 500mbits, when I add a the second one above the wifi card it is slowing down to 100mbits, and the speed is not consistent. After removing the second SSD I got my 500mbits. I also tried it with the original SSD, it is not a problem to swap it from Slot 1 to Slot 2 – but the problem is the same. .
        Maybe it is a problem only with my unit.

      • FlyingPen

        June 26, 2023 at 3:41 pm

        Any further information on this Wi-Fi drop?

      • Andrei Girbea

        June 29, 2023 at 9:00 am

        haven't heard anything back

  10. Sascha Wolf

    March 20, 2023 at 7:53 pm

    Hi Andrei,
    today I got a second ROG X16, but the problem is the same. One SSD = Wifi Speed is 500Mbits. If I took this SSD to the other Slot the Wifi Speed is around 100-120 Mbits. The position is the same, around 6-7 meters from the Accespoint with one wall between.
    I think I will go for a Legion Pro 7 now and hope the best.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 20, 2023 at 7:59 pm

      I'll ask Asus about it. Something's clearly interfering with the wifi chip, but it's weird that I'm not seeing this on my unit. I tried with a WD Blue SSD in the 2nd slot, but that should matter in any way.

      • Sascha Wolf

        March 20, 2023 at 9:12 pm

        Hi Andrei,
        my SSD in the second Slot is a WD Black pcie 4.0.
        If I took the original Asus SSD from Slot 1 to Slot 2 it is the same problem. This SSD is although a pcie 4.0 type. Is your WD Blue pcie 3.0?

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 20, 2023 at 9:17 pm

        It's a WD Blue SN500 500GB, so yes, gen3. It's also single-stacked and only has memory chips on the part that goes opposite to the wifi chip, so no memory chips right close to the wifi module. Not sure if these make a difference, but perhaps they might?

        If you can wait, I'll give it another try with a gen4 SSD (tomorrow, or by Wednesday).

        Also, are you seeing the drop in speed right next to the router as well, or only at 6-7 m? I only tested at around 1 m away from the router with mine, and not further away.

  11. Sascha Wolf

    March 20, 2023 at 10:19 pm

    My WD Black is a SN770 1TB. It is although single stacked, but has memory direct over the wifi module.
    In my X16 units the original SSD is a WD with the same layout. So you can swap it 1 to 1.
    In general the Wifi Speed on the X16 is not as stable as the Wifi on my ThinkPad X1 Extreme. Near the router the drop in wifi speed is not that much with two SSD's, but it is slower than using one.

  12. Sascha Wolf

    March 20, 2023 at 10:27 pm

    My SSD is a WD Black SN 770 1TB. It is a single stacked design, but it has memory direct over the Wifi card.
    In my units the original SSD was although a WD with the same design. So you can swap it 1 to 1 and you should have the same problem.

    In general the wifi Speed is not as stable and consistent that the wifi on my ThinkPad X1 Extreme. With the swapped SSD or with 2 SSD's near the router the speed is slower but not that bad which it is when you 5-7m from the router.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 22, 2023 at 3:23 pm

      Sascha, I have it a nother try with two different SSDs.

      The wifi speeds are fine at about 1-3 m away from the router. But once you move further away at 7-10 m with walls in between, they drop to 100-150 Mbps, in the same way as on your unit. I'll reach out to Asus on this aspect and see if they have anything to say about it.

      • Sascha Wolf

        March 22, 2023 at 8:45 pm

        Hi Andrei,
        thanks for your testing.

        just to be sure how is the speed if you remove the second SSD and test it in the same place. I have a distance of 6 meters with a wall (only 15 cm thick, no concrete)

        I'm curious what Asus has to say about this.

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 23, 2023 at 10:04 am

        the speed is fine without the second SSD.

  13. Sascha Wolf

    March 23, 2023 at 9:33 pm

    That sounds good :)

    • Vladimir Surkov

      March 25, 2023 at 7:37 pm

      It's strange that notebook check said that there is pwm. You said that is no. How you did your own tests ? Pwm is very important for me.

  14. Aldertonghen

    March 31, 2023 at 6:51 am

    Can you compare the M16 with the Flow x16? I posted in Derek’s comparison article between Blade and Flow and he said that you have both units. The M16 4080 is priced at $2699- honestly decent for a 4080, and 4090 is $3499. The Flow 4070 is likely going to be similar to the 3070 ti at $2599- so it competes directly with the m16 4080- they also have same screen mini led, same weight, but m16 is faster and flow is more convenient.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 31, 2023 at 12:45 pm

      Not sure if I'll have a comparison in the near future, as I'm swamped with a few more reviews. You have both reviews on the site and can judge the performance, construction, etc.

      In just a few words, the M16 offer better performance for the money, but also runs noisier and pushes hot air into the screen. The performance of the 4080 on the M16 is around 90% of the 4080 on the Scar (reviewed here: https://www.ultrabookreview.com/62826-asus-rog-scar-16-review/ )

      The Flow is a more balanced option but you need to be aware of the choked air intakes when performing anything demanding on it. And then there's the 2-in-1 format and the touchscreen that are not available with the M16.

  15. keepcoffee

    October 31, 2023 at 3:37 am

    Hi,I puzzled with this about the game test.why the cpu power is about 40W when run game.but the rog strix G16 is about 60w when run games.
    https://www.ultrabookreview.com/62973-asus-rog-strix-g16-review/

    • Andrei Girbea

      October 31, 2023 at 5:11 pm

      the g16 is a different chassis with beefier cooling and higher power settings

      • keepcoffee

        November 1, 2023 at 9:00 am

        Thanks.
        So the M16 power is restrained by power profile(factory setting) when gaming?And can I tuned it high up to 60W manually when gaming as G16,although I know the M16 chassis cannot bear,I just want to confirm the power profile can be modified.

        And why when gaming the G16 CPU usage is low(0.4%),but the power is some little high(60W)?

        And still the M16 game scores seems higher than G16,with low powered CPU(30W),just because it has a higher level GPU?With lower power CPU(about 30W),then beat G16?

      • Andrei Girbea

        November 1, 2023 at 3:56 pm

        What are we comparing? The tested G16 is an RTX 4060, the tested M16 is an RTX 4090. Of course the 4090 is going to score higher.

        And no, you cannot modify the way the profiles work. Not in a simple way, at least.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *