Asus ROG Flow X16 review (GV601VI model – i9, RTX 4070)

45 Comments

  1. John

    March 29, 2023 at 2:21 pm

    I'm very curious about the 4060 version review, since it'll probably be what most people will aim for.

  2. Leroy

    March 29, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    4070 in Performance mode seems to be much better than 3070 Ti in the same mode. My graphics scores at least are like 20-30% lower. And if you add DLSS 3 as a significant bonus, it’s a bit harsh to say it’s not an upgrade. Or is everyone using Turbo (jet engine benchmark mode)?

    A 4080 would be a new higher tier in general IMHO which would have been great. This is a missed opportunity for sure. And the feet should have been higher.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 29, 2023 at 6:06 pm

      Well, Turbo is the reference of what these systems can do imo, especially on this one that runs quieter than mostly everything else. But yeah, Perf and Silent modes are very interesting here, and there's also the DLSS part.

    • H Singh

      March 30, 2023 at 12:05 pm

      Great article, will you be doing a review of the x13 2023 model and ideally a comparison against the z13 2023 model as I'm struggling on which model to go for!

  3. federick

    March 30, 2023 at 9:19 am

    Hi,Has Asus improved the hinges in the 2023 model or are they the same as before? 2-can we expect better battery life maybe 1-2 hrs more with non mini led and 13700h model(theoretical)? battery is very important for me 3- do you test the pen? how is feeling maybe like slim pen 2? thanks

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 30, 2023 at 9:44 am

      1. the hinges are the same.
      2. read the battery life section
      3. It's an Asus pen 2.0. You'll find details about it online. I haven't used it much, I don't have enough experience with pens to post proper feedback on it. It works, but I can't tell whether it's better or worse than other options.

    • william ogle

      April 1, 2023 at 10:12 pm

      I just received my GV601VI and love it. My only gripe is that I do not see a pen included in the box. Am I the only one that did not receive a pen?

  4. tom

    April 1, 2023 at 8:48 am

    Hey Andrei,I am curious to know which country you are from? You review laptops much earlier than others.well done

  5. Rudi

    April 1, 2023 at 9:24 am

    I have neither the 2022, nor the 2023 variant. Could you please give your personal opinion if generally 2023 is worth the buy? Found the maxed out version of 2022 for 2600 bucks and I understood the story with the new GPU too being meh. Thanks in advance🐣

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 1, 2023 at 9:52 am

      Better screen and better CPU performance with the 2023 model. Slightly quieter and better temps with the 2022 model. I'd go for the 2023 if they're roughly the same price for the 4070 2023 vs 3070Ti 2023.

      • Rudi

        April 1, 2023 at 9:56 am

        Thanks alot. I also have the FHD Webcam in mind right now since I communicate alot on video and the futuristic thunderbolt and USB 4 together with the double multizones number for the screen compared to last year model. I finally can take a decision. Thanks🔥

  6. Juha Kolari

    April 2, 2023 at 11:01 am

    In which country is this made?

  7. William Ogle

    April 3, 2023 at 6:23 pm

    Hi All,

    An important note. The review says the pen in included however at least in the US it is not included. Just received mine Saturday and there is not a pen. I called Asus and they said it is not included. Love the laptop however this is the first pen display laptop I have purchased that does not include the pen. Should have been included.

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 3, 2023 at 6:39 pm

      Thanks for the update! Mine came with an included pen in the box, here in Europe. Also two chargers, main and USB-C. I'll have an update in the article.

      • William Ogle

        April 3, 2023 at 7:02 pm

        Cool, thanks Andrei!

  8. Aurelio

    April 5, 2023 at 10:15 pm

    I am not a gamer (my gaming days – on 486 machines – have been long gone), but…
    …if I was, I am always wondering on the battery section if it wouldn't be more interesting to have a different entry as well (like you have 2 video entries e.g. YouTube + NetFlix).

    I imagine if I was a gamer what would be the circumstances I would like to game on battery:
    – maybe at the University, between classes
    – maybe commuting on the bus or on the train or on a long trip
    Either way, it is likely that gaming on battery would be considered "very casual gaming" and therefore all kinds of compromises would be acceptable:
    – lower resolution
    – lower specs/quality modes
    – lower screen brightness, like 30% (still very acceptable on some laptops under shade or at night)
    – lower performance modes
    – lower fps

    My question is:
    Isn't there a way to game on battery (with lots of compromises) that would allow for more than these somewhat "typical" 1 hour limits one these machines?
    For example, something on this x16 that would result in a consumption level of 35 or 40W instead of the listed 85W?

    Also (and I know this is a stretch), lots of buses, trains and airplanes (and their respective terminals) now have usb ports available on the seats for you to use.
    So, another curiosity of mine would be:
    How much longer could you possibly take this "gaming on battery" experience if you connect a charger on these somewhat limited usb ports?

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 6, 2023 at 9:13 am

      That's a good question, but I never quite got into running these sorts of tests. I will look into it at some point, but not sure when I'll find the time.

      As for those USB ports, they're most likely not providing power via USB, so can't be used for charging.

    • Simon H

      September 14, 2023 at 9:36 am

      I own the 2021 rog flow x13. I went camping off grid and brought my 20000mah powerbank with PD 2.0 18W. It extended my Netflix binge sessions significantly (a few more hours of battery life, when connected to my smartphones 4g hotspot). I think the laptop maxes out on 28W PD, when connected to a 3rd party charger. I guess if you could find a high wattage PD powerbank, you could extend your gaming sessions while on battery.

  9. Spaghetti lover

    April 13, 2023 at 7:35 pm

    While I understand why the same panel of (now old) games are tested on every laptop, it might be beneficial to run newer games especially ones that are starting to use more than 8 GB VRAM- such as The Last of Us part1. We’re buying new laptops to play the newest games- if new games crash/ run at unplayable frames, there’s no point buying. Hardware Unboxed showed the 3070 basically unable to run RE 4 remake and the last of us. Now we do not have a laptop comparison though, so this would be highly appreciated if you incorporate these metrics.

    If the 4070 laptop behaves the same as 3070 desktop that HUB reported, then I respectfully feel this is not worth it- 4060 for entry option is reasonable, and then 4080 with 12 GB VRAM is reasonable. In that case, the Flow x16 with its $2500 tag in the US is simply not worth a recommendation if it cannot run new games in QHD (it’s native resolution) at all- either the 4060 Flow (cost) or the 4080 m16 (performance) are decent alternatives. What do you think?

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 14, 2023 at 11:30 am

      Which newer games? I update the games that I'm testing once or twice a year, adding new titles.

      PS: I'm adding RE 4 to the batch of tested games for the next review.

      • Spaghetti lover

        April 15, 2023 at 6:20 pm

        All at QHD:

        1) Last of Us part 1
        2) RE 4 remake
        3) Plague tale Requiem ray traced
        4) Callisto protocol ray traced

        Below is the link by hardware unboxed which goes over these. 8 GB VRAM is basically unplayable for all of these, and these are all new, AAA games that one would expect a 2023 laptop to run reasonably well (especially at the 4070 version of the laptop which would likely cost $2500+). This is especially egregious as the RX 6800 desktop and even the laptop 6800M (12GB VRAM) on the Asus G15 advantage edition can play all of these (with ray tracing) at 30-60 fps, and the laptop costs $1400 now (even lower on sale).

        https://youtu.be/Rh7kFgHe21k

        IMO 4070 laptop is in a tough spot (unlike the 4070 desktop which has 12GB VRAM).

    • s y

      April 18, 2023 at 9:41 pm

      Thank you so much for bringing this to attention, I was literally sold on this model, literally just waiting for a good price, but this is a total dealbreaker. The problem is the models that do carry 4080 mobile or 4090 have their own issues, and lack the touch and digitizer functions of this model…I may have to wait out this year as well.

      • HSB

        April 19, 2023 at 11:00 pm

        What's the deal breaker here sorry?

      • s y

        April 20, 2023 at 1:40 pm

        What's the dealbreaker?? This is a premium grade GPU of the latest generation, yet it's already obsolete being unable to run multiple AAA titles properly on 1080P high quality with RT(certain cases can't even run medium quality properly). No amount of rasterization is going to fix that. Having watched that video I will not settle for less than 12GB VRAM in 2023 and 2024, or less than 16GB if I have to spend over $3000 total on the device. If anyone's to blame, it's the gaming studios for optimizing resource consumption of textures so poorly, but also Nvidia for rebranding a 4060 as 4070 on mobile and being so stingy on the VRAM.
        The quickest fix is for Nvidia to release a 12GB version of 4070 mobile, but I'm more hoping that Asus will pair this chassis with a 4080 mobile or 4090 mobile. I'll go for whatever's top tier.

      • Andrei Girbea

        April 20, 2023 at 5:25 pm

        I doubt they'll have a 4080 configuration for this X16 generation. 4080/4090 are only available on the Zephyrus M16 model.

  10. s y

    April 14, 2023 at 7:08 pm

    Hi, very helpful review but I don't think it got to an issue that's quite important for all these ROG hybrids: Does the keyboard still work, or can it be set to work, in tablet mode? Because if one buys one of those GPU docks, it will have to be connected to an external display for maximum efficiency, and in that case basically the only logical form of the computer would be tablet mode, so that the screen doesn't get in the way, but most tablet modes automatically disable the keyboard.

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 15, 2023 at 8:57 am

      the keyboard is disabled in tablet mode. But, you don't want to use the device in tablet mode for anything demanding anyway, because that mode covers the air intakes. Instead, have the laptop in a vertical stand with he screen closed, and connect and external keyboard/mouse.

      • s y

        April 16, 2023 at 3:23 am

        Thanks for the reply, but that really takes 2-3x the desk space required compared to just having the device in tablet mode on a typing stand with the keyboard active. Considering the overall cost and how cumbersome the solution is, it strongly deters against buying the 4090 dock. The air intake shouldn't be much of a problem since the GPU's work is entirely offloaded to the dock and the screen is off.

  11. Ben

    April 15, 2023 at 10:55 am

    Hi Andrei, have you heard back from Asus regarding the Wifi issue with second SSD slot populated? I plan on using the second slot, but if Wifi is handicapped as a result then it'll be a deal breaker unfortunately.

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 15, 2023 at 11:02 am

      We're still back and forth on this one. They weren't able to reproduce the issue on their models, so I'm trying to get back the unit that I had for some further tests.

      If you can get the unit with the possibility of free/easy returns, it would be helpful to give it a try and see if the same problems happen for you. At this point, I'm trying to understand if that's widespread or isolated to a few of the early-batch models (the one I and Sascha had)

      • Ben

        April 19, 2023 at 8:27 am

        The 2023 X16 is not yet available in my region so I'm still camping as it's currently on top of my list. The Wifi result is definitely interesting, and it may affect my purchase decision. Please do update whenever you have the outcome.

      • L

        May 1, 2023 at 5:52 pm

        Hi Andrei, thanks for the thorough review, did Asus get back to you on this? I am on the same boat and it would be good to know if it is individual units or more a widespread problem

      • Andrei Girbea

        May 1, 2023 at 8:21 pm

        I don't have any other updates at this point

  12. Joel

    April 17, 2023 at 1:46 am

    Great review, Andrei. I'm a filmmaker (10 films at Castel in Bucharest!) and do a lot of 4K video editing but also a lot of tablet sketching. Love the versatility of this machine but wondering if you think it can handle 4K video editing (Adobe Premiere)? I'm not a gamer.

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 17, 2023 at 12:25 pm

      Yeah, should be a good option for Premiere, preferably with 32 GB of RAM. I haven't run the Puget Premiere tests on this one at the time, but for what is worth, expect around 1300 points. You'll find what this score means and how it compares to other laptops on Puget's website.

  13. Michele Gabriele

    May 9, 2023 at 9:46 pm

    It would be interesting to know how performance are with an eGFX enclosure that provide 100W of PD on the TB4 ports, with a desktop GPU in it; in this case the 100W of PD by TB4 should mainly feed the CPU cause the external GPU will have its own PSU.

  14. HERNAN

    October 30, 2023 at 6:43 pm

    What digitizer comes with this Asus Rog Flow x16? Is it a Wacom EMR?

  15. Bruce

    May 7, 2024 at 8:44 pm

    Roughly how far do the rubber feet protrude in mm?

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