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For the longest time, buying a gaming laptop meant making a bunch of compromises. You could get incredible power, but you had to lug around a machine that was as heavy as a Buick and sounded like a Buick (anyone else have a Buick century for their first car? The velvet interior was very nice).
If you want something sleek and portable, you have to sacrifice performance…or do you?
The 2025 ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) Zephyrus G16 is here to prove you can basically have it all (including a depleted bank account) in what is one of the absolute best gaming laptops on the market today.
If you've got the funds on hand and want an astoundingly good gaming laptop, this is it.
The Zephyrus G16 packs some of the most powerful gaming hardware you can find into a body that's so thin, light, and stylish you could tote it between your computer lair, a coffee shop, and a corporate office without anyone batting an eye.
Asus Zephyrus G16: One Paragraph Review
Pros
- So sleek
- Processing power galore
- Beautiful display
Cons
- It's worth it, but it's expensive
- It can get HOT
- Fan sometimes loud
You don't compromise on anything with the Zephyrus G16. The display, the performance, and the keyboard are all the absolute most premium any gamer can hope for. Beyond what you can normally expect is how sleek this thing is. A gaming laptop is never normally this slender. However, this thing can get very warm when you're playing with the highest performance settings. While it can handle the heat, a cooling mat is probably a good add-on.
This Specific Model
Asus sent me this model for review purposes (and didn't get to see the review or offer any feedback or input, so you're getting my authentic thoughts and impressions).
The model they did send me is specced out beyond anything I have ever experienced in a gaming laptop. For reference, when you're reading this review, know the model I'm using is the top-tier:
- Intel(R) Core Ultra 9 (285H) processor
- NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5080 GPU with NVIDIA Advanced Optimus
- 64 GB of RAM
- 16 inch, 2.5K Resolution OLED ROG Nebula Display with NVIDIA® G-SYNC
- 2 TB Storage
I'm in Canada, and this exact configuration is $5,200. Truthfully, this is more than I could personally spend on a gaming laptop (I'm just not hardcore enough of a gamer to be able to justify that price). Having said that…wow, what an absolute treat this has been to test this machine. I had no idea a gaming laptop could be this good.
A Design That Doesn't Scream 'Gamer' Unless You Want It To
One of the best things about the Zephyrus G16 is that it looks and feels incredibly premium. ASUS has built this laptop with a CNC aluminum unibody chassis.
Does this matter?
Well, instead of a plasticky feel (which was a gripe of mine about the Zenbook A14 when I reviewed it), you get a laptop that is super rigid and feels incredibly high-end. It's the kind of quality you expect from a top-tier device.
It comes in two finishes: Eclipse Gray and Platinum White. You can pick the vibe that suits you best.
While the design overall is understated, there is still some gamer flair. On the lid, you'll find the new "Slash Lighting" array. It's a customizable LED strip that gives the laptop a futuristic look by choosing from several different preset lighting effects. The best part? If you need to fly under the radar, like during a work meeting, you can just turn it off for a more subtle, professional appearance.
And for a gaming laptop, this thing is incredibly portable. At its thinnest, it's just 1.49 cm thick and weighs under 4.5 pounds.
I've also been using it for production and editing. It's a powerhouse no matter what tasks I throw at it (multiple tracks of 4K, 3D graphics in After Effects, editing and processing multiple tracks of long-form audio in Audition). And far more portable than anything this capable should be.
A Display That Will Ruin All Other Screens For You
I've never owned a really, really good gaming monitor before. It's an area I cheap out on because I convince myself that my eyes won't know the difference until I spoil them by getting a good one, and at that point I'm ruined forever.
If you get this laptop, consider your eyeballs ruined forever. No other laptop monitor will compare.
The Zephyrus G16 features a ROG Nebula Display with an OLED panel, and it is a game-changer.
If you've never gamed on an OLED screen before, you're in for a treat. The colours are incredibly vibrant, and the blacks are truly black, making every game world pop in a way traditional screens just can't match.
Here are the specs that really matter for gaming:
- Jaw-dropping Clarity: It has a 2.5K resolution (2560x1600), so every detail in your game will look incredibly sharp and crisp.
- Buttery Smooth Motion: With a 240Hz refresh rate, the on-screen action is ridiculously smooth. For fast-paced competitive games like esports titles, this high refresh rate can give you a real advantage.
- Zero Ghosting: The screen has a lightning-fast 0.2ms response time. This basically eliminates that annoying motion blur or "ghosting" effect you sometimes see on lesser displays.
- No More Tearing: It's one of the first OLED laptops to feature NVIDIA G-SYNC. In simple terms, this technology syncs the screen's refresh rate with the graphics card, which gets rid of screen tearing and stuttering for a perfectly smooth visual experience.
This display is so good it might just spoil every other screen in your life.
All The Power You Could Ever Need
A gaming laptop is nothing without serious horsepower, and the G16 is packing some of the most powerful components on the market.
- The Brains (CPU) At its heart is up to an Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 285H processor. With 16 cores, this CPU is more than ready for the most demanding AAA games out there, and it will keep you ahead of the curve for years to come. It even has a dedicated AI Boost NPU, which helps optimize artificial intelligence tasks.
- The Brawn (GPU) This is where the real magic happens for gamers. The G16 can be equipped with up to an NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5090 Laptop GPU. This is part of the latest 50 Series of graphics cards, which are absolute monsters. These new GPUs support some incredible technology to make your games run better and look prettier:
- DLSS 4: This is like having an AI wizard inside your laptop. It uses artificial intelligence to massively boost your frame rates—by up to 8 times, according to NVIDIA—letting you crank up the graphics settings to max without your performance taking a hit.
MUX Switch with Advanced Optimus: This sounds complicated, but it's a brilliant feature for gamers. The MUX switch lets the powerful NVIDIA graphics card talk directly to the display, bypassing the less powerful integrated graphics. This reduces lag and can give you a big performance boost in games.
The best part is Advanced Optimus, which automates this whole process for you. You don't have to restart or fiddle with settings; the laptop just intelligently gives you the best performance for whatever you're doing.
Device-Specific Software: MyAsus and Armoury Crate
The MyAsus app is a pretty handy place for monitoring performance and adjusting settings for performance vs battery life.
On that note, battery really can vary a lot (to the point of being only a few hours (like less than 4) in the maximum performance settings. For "normal" use I would get a full day (12 ish hours before wanting to plug it in), but just be warned that the beefy specs and slender form may make you want to lug the bulky power cable with you when you're on the go.
From within the MyAsus app, you can also enable something called ScreenXpert which allows a lot of configuration options when switching between windows, choosing additional info to display that could be relevant when gaming (bluetooth device status, FPS/performance counters, etc.) and to adjust fan & performance settings quickly. You can also configure microphone and speaker settings to tap into (or bypass) AI audio enhancements depending on how you're going to use the laptop.
It's worth spending a bit of time in the app to configure the machine exactly how you want.
If you've used the ROG Ally (or Ally X), you're probably familiar with Armoury Crate, which also is a great place for you to dial in precision gaming settings and profiles for specific titles. On the Zephyrus G16, it's also where you'll be able to customize settings for the slick-looking "slash lighting" LED cover on the lid.
The Verdict: Is the Zephyrus G16 Worth It?
So, is the 2025 ROG Zephyrus G16 the ultimate gaming laptop?
It makes a ridiculously strong case. It's got a sleek, premium design that you can take anywhere, a display that is simply breathtaking, and more than enough power to chew through any game you throw at it.
Gaming Greatness
Asus Zephyrus G16 (2025)
Geeking Out Shop
With an incredible display, top-notch processor and graphics card, and a sleek form this laptop is an absolute powerhouse. Even though it's slender it doesn't skimp on ports making this great for plugging into all your gaming peripherals and accessories. It can get a bit warm and it's a bit pricey, but if you can justify the cost, this is an unbeatable gaming station!
When you open it up to the maximum settings it can become pretty warm (despite the ROG intelligent cooling system which is supposed to keep it about 13 degrees cooler than without) and you can burn through your battery quite quickly when the settings are dialed up (and when those fans kick in it can be louder than you'd expect).
All things considered, If you're a gamer who wants a machine that does it all—offering top-tier performance without the bulky, flashy design of traditional gaming laptops—the Zephyrus G16 is an absolute marvel. Between the display, specs, and look, It could well be the ultimate gaming machine of 2025.
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