They Ruined my Favorite Laptop - ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) Review

The ROG Zephyrus G16 was supposed to be the best 16" gaming laptop of 2024. That's what I had hoped because of the Zephyrus G16's battery life, claimed performance, size and weight. Especially when it comes to performance versus the Blade 16 from 2024. But this G16 review proves you can have all the specs in the world but still fail.
Buy items in this video from Best Buy at the links below:
Zephyrus G16 RTX 4070 - bestbuy.7tiv.net/G16RTX4070
Zephyrus G16 RTX 4080 - Not Available Yet
Check out the TT Tower 300 (Sponsor) - geni.us/Tower300
GET MERCH ►hwcstore.com
SUBSCRIBE ►bit.ly/SubHWC
Timestamps
0:00 - I was wrong….
0:39 - ROG G16 2024 Specs & Price
1:53 - Sponsor Spot
2:23 - RTX 4070 vs RTX 4080 Cooling
2:53 - We Found a BIG Problem
5:46 - G16 Battery Life
6:15 - CPU Power, Clock Speeds & Temps
6:48 - That ANNOYING whine….
7:41 - Real World Benchmarks
8:33 - 1600p Gaming Results (Yikes!)
10:10 - Build Quality & Design
10:58 - Keyboard & Trackpad
11:31 - Best in class Speakers...but do you Care?
12:01 - A Decent Webcam
12:43 - Pretty Good Ports
13:27 - I’m sold on OLED Gaming!
14:08 - Limited Upgrade Options
15:12 - A Swing and a BIG Miss
Review unit provided free of charge by ASUS. This video is sponsored by Thermaltake. As per Hardware Canucks guidelines, no review direction was received from manufacturer. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
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#zephyrusg16 #gaminglaptop #intel #nvidia

[@bwztec]

The fact that you cant get 32 gb of ram unless you spend $2.7k is atrocious lol

[@HardwareCanucks]

Technically you can in SOME regions. The RTX 4060 spec technically allows it. But it'll still cost you....

[@bwztec]

@@HardwareCanucks fair enough, didnt know that! In the us you cannot (i believe). still feels like a way to make you get the next step up and pay more than you want to. but regardless, if it wasn't soldered it wouldnt be an issue.

[@jeremyflowers8908]

If you think that is bad.. go look at Razer 18. You can't have QHD drive if you want 64GB memory, largest m.2 SSD or the Mercury fiinish case... And you can't even get Windows 11 Pro when purchasing.

[@UltrasonicNostalgia]

Apple's fault. Fcking trendsetters on the priceladder strategy. Now a lot of these PC brands start to think they can also get away with it.

[@bwztec]

@@jeremyflowers8908 nah they are just as bad lol. totally agree.

[@Gallardo994]

Asus never figures it out. I have Scar 17 2023 with 7945HX and it's still a buggy mess with zero fixes. Worst experience I've had with any laptop in years, and those bugs are universal to all users.

[@whitest_kyle]

My 2022 Flow X16 still has software bugs too. I often have the keyboard and mouse stop working or the screen change orientation because of how it handles accelerometer input.

[@OblivionPrime]

My Asus g15 advantage edition had many problems, but it was the best laptop at is price range when i got so i just dealt with it...

[@ThroughFallenEyes]

We fixed essentially all the issues with my wife's 2022 g14 by uninstalling armory crate and getting an open source version. Took 2 years before I found it, but very worth it. That thing was a disaster before we uninstalled it. I cannot believe Asus continues to push that garbage software.

[@Mido_]

what bugs are you talking about?

[@Gallardo994]

@@Mido_ the device won't wake up from sleep unless you disable literally everything related to sleep. Sometimes keyboard will be unresponsive for several seconds. Sometimes GPU fan will go full blast for no reason reporting 0 RPM. Loud coil whine. The list goes on and on.

[@justjoey1420]

2022-2023 models are the best options in 2024 so far.

[@yeepchiu2510]

especially 2023 m16, it has 2upgradable ram💯💯

[@mcslender2965]

Eh. The m16 has terrible battery life and the g14 2023 is awfully close to it in performance

[@KelvinCrag]

​@@mcslender2965 I easily get 5-6 hours of screen time on medium use (80%-20%)

[@Andorski]

2022 and 2023 has terrible battery. 2024 had soldered RAM. It's always one step forward, one step backward with Asus.

[@ppbomber_]

@@Andorski2023 has 8h battery my guy ur crazy

[@philalicious27]

It's annoying when OEMs push out products that are "unfinished" to say the least. I'd be interested in seeing a follow-up video on this G16 to see when/how they fix the issues.

[@EvanDonut]

Is every laptop this year a downgrade or what??

[@atypicalnihilist]

Pretty much. No new GPUs, new CPUs are just rebranded and higher wattage versions of older ones, excluding ultra H ones which have this unreliability issue and cause cpu bottleneck in several games. So the only selling point was "sleekness" and OLED display which comes with higher temps, lower wattage limits (which defeat the purpose of newer gen CPUs) and extremely high cost.

[@XieRH1988]

Even if its not a downgrade, its likely a ripoff due to no new GPU models. With GPUs being the main bottleneck for gaming, a new gaming laptop doesn't properly live up to being 'new' unless it also comes with a new GPU model. This is why CES at the beginning of the year will usually serve as an indicator of whether to even consider a new gaming laptop released during that year, because if no new GPU models are announced, then you might as well just buy last year's models. Heck even if new GPU models are announced, if they are incremental upgrades (i.e. like Ti or Super models) with no architectural change, it is likely still more economical to go for last year's models.

[@CJTheTokay]

Eh the 2024 g14 is the perfect laptop for me personally

[@heliumfreak5364]

If you don't release a stinker then how are you meant to make your next product seem awesome.. Like the Nvidia 20 series to the 30 series

[@crestofhonor2349]

The Lenovo and Razer blade laptops aren’t that different from last year

[@Z020852]

I wouldn't mind soldered RAM if they actually sold every unit with 32gb minimum at a reasonable price. Maybe in 10yrs it should be 64gb minimum, maybe, but right now it should be 32gb. I mean what is the point of even making 16gb? If you work AND play on the same machine you need at least double than what YT vids on "how much RAM do you actually need for gaming (only)?" say because you might want to keep some apps open in the background. Even on a CPU without eCores I don't see a difference benchmarking/playing Total War or Skylines etc with two Excel spreadsheets and Chrome open or not at 32gb, so it really is way more a matter of RAM than core count+power.

[@andyH_England]

The problem gaming OEMs had with modular RAM was that people were buying the base and upgrading themselves. This means OEMs suffer drops in margins and in a highly competitive market can be devastating for the business. The other unforeseen consequence is that market data suggests the majority of people buy 16GB or 32GB versions, hence why they do not offer higher RAM configs in soldered variants. So, to compensate for buyers getting the cheapest RAM versions OEMs have had to increase prices, and another knock-on for consumers is that as few people bought 64GB (as they were upgrading themselves), many OEMs no longer offer that amount. That is why I am in favour of soldered RAM. If people accepted it then prices would settle down and we would get higher specs. Sadly, looking through comment sections, people still want to buy cheap and upgrade themselves and that has repercussions as we must accept an equilibrium between consumers and OEMs for both to fairly exist.

[@AnujeetRoy09]

@@andyH_England you have used two separately sourced problems to conflate into an anti-consumer behavior. Soldered ram isn't inherently bad, but they are offered the way they are simply as an extension of the business practice that Apple standardized... getting customers through the gate and making them comfortable with unreasonably priced upgrades with the subconscious argument that "if you are going to spend this much already, then might as well get the one with the higher memory, etc" There is no effective difference in an OEM offering their models with completely custom RAM through SODIMM slots. The entire argument about customers upgrading base models and upgrading is a narrative to gain sympathy for an otherwise malicious business practice. In a proper business spec, the products shouldn't be differentiated based on trivial differences. The trivial difference should simply add the additional cost for it and not require an update to other core specifications. In this case, Asus would have lost nothing if they allowed people to buy laptops with as much RAM as they want on whichever model they wanted, thus leveraging a sense of Choice Deprivation bias to force people into hardware spec they do not need or want.

[@gorjy9610]

@@andyH_England margins can be excuse in cheapest lineup of laptops, not here.

[@pi4795]

It's a disgusting practice that is specially visible with RAM and storage in PCs, but this happens everywhere. We can't have nice things without being ripped off it seems

[@elderman64]

Would love to see an update on this laptop in like a month or two regarding the issues about the "tug of war" between armory crate and the system and the fan issues.

[@karanvora2674]

I have a G16 2023 model. RAM slot was such a lifeline. The very first thing I did after unboxing was to add another 32GB stick to make my laptop a 48GB model. I need that for my machine learning workflow. also ports on 2023 model is far better vs 2024 model. Why no one is mentioning the missing ethernet port.

[@valeriikb]

Which type of memory in it? DDR4 or DDR5?

[@karanvora2674]

@@valeriikb DDR4.

[@frena_dore4382]

@@karanvora2674how about the thermals and battery

[@karanvora2674]

@frena_dore4382 I'm running ML models training and inference so I'm on charging most of the time. But yeah it's a gaming laptop battery life is going to be abysmal and because of the ML part it is going to run toasty. But I don't see it as an issue.

[@frena_dore4382]

@@karanvora2674 what would you recommend this or a lenovo legion slim 5 with ryzen 7 and 4060

[@Lychegsye-nc6td]

I got mad with Asus givin us just one upgradable RAM slot that I just bought Razer. Razer is expensive but at least they always give me all da options. Asus gave us one slot in 2022 and now 2024 again. like wtf?

[@JoshCravesTech]

Agreed but the G16 is a much thinner and lighter laptop. Basically like a MacBook in comparison. I think they should’ve still continued with the 2023 M16 design for those who wanted upgradeable ram but still have a thin-ish design.

[@SJZ00]

so youre telling me, instead of paying for the Asus with max Ram options, which is not that much more, you went and shell out thousand more for a Razer? LMAO =))) what a dumb argument. Razer isnt without its problem, Razer is known to have crappy software as well, ask anyone using their Synapse app =)))). Overprice piece of junk.

[@dhineshkumars8007]

In my country only one variant available, Core 7 ultra with RTX 4070 and 16GB RAM IPS display.

[@mcslender2965]

That's even worse. If you don't need portability just get sth from Lenovo or sth

[@why_tho_]

@@SJZ00 ikr? Lenovo makes a lot more sense in regards to upgradeability and price. Though they do have their share of problems/caveats.

[@AY-bm3gu]

recently got the g16 with 32gbram, 1tbssd, ultra9 185h, rtx4060 in white, upgraded from a lenovo legion 5 pro with amd5800h, rtx3070 and MAN this laptop is insane for media consumption, and some "light" gaming. its so portable and I LOVE it.

[@Burbanana]

oled or ips? getting 32gb here in west eu is expensive af

[@PKperformanceEU]

Its a peice of shit especially next to any 16inch macbook pro👑.

[@plaintext7288]

​@@PKperformanceEUbro's asking for beef

[@PKperformanceEU]

@@plaintext7288 no beef, i win 10/10 times 👑

[@ArturPawowski-uz2zv]

I just bought today in Thailand the same with RTX 4060 and 32GB for around 2100 USD. I will get extra tax refund for it on airport so finaly around 2000 USD. Much more better price than in US or EU

[@beyonder2kplays813]

Wanna point out that the thermal paste on the gpu is very bad on my m16 2022 rtx3070ti After repasting both cpu and gpu with ptm7950, performance increased tremendously. Do Check the temps of gpu and gpu clock while gaming

[@AnujeetRoy09]

I JUST returned my M16 2022 because the fans were ramping up strangely and the laptop would immediately thermal throttle when trying to play any games. Probably going to follow the news on the 2024 G16, and see if I wanna buy it in a few years.

[@JoshCravesTech]

I never experienced any of the issues you did on my G16 (4090 model). And that was 2+ months of heavy use daily driving, benchmarking, etc. I also cross-referenced my benchmarks with other owners on Reddit to make sure they were in line, so I’m definitely puzzled! Did you run all your benchmarks in dGPU mode or Optimus? Did you poll any other G16 reviewers to see if they experienced something similar? The only weird quirk I found is that sometimes my benchmarks in Optimus were higher than they were in dGPU mode. This also seems to translate to the Alienware X16 with the same CPU, so there very well could be some optimization missing on the Intel Core Ultra, which could just be an Intel thing, not too sure. However, like others have pointed out, 99% of everything here would be fixed by simply uninstalling Armoury Crate and using G-Helper instead. I did every benchmark multiple times with both AC and then again after installing G-Helper to verify both were identical. No major disparities. But to anyone having issues, I’m sure that would be all they needed. But yeah, this just caught my attention since I’ve had nothing but positive experiences with the laptop so figured I’d drop a comment for those concerned!

[@tsung-hanlin6150]

Josh we need your review asap!

[@JoshCravesTech]

@@tsung-hanlin6150 yeah this has definitely motivated me to get it done as soon as possible! It will be a much different tone, I took an extremely deep dive into this laptop!

[@HardwareCanucks]

I think we have fundamentally different approaches, not to mention laptops. If you grab a 4070 or 4080 version you'll notice the RTX 4090 firmware path is very different. We tried both Optimus and dGPU (otherwise known as Ultimate) without any difference since this is a fundamental CPU centric power bottleneck that randomly pops up. We have reached out to others and most simply haven't tested enough to answer. Since these are loaners we can't verify either since they've (for the most part) been sent back. That said ASUS themselves confirmed our findings, after which we were issued two custom (not publicly available) firmwares which solved nothing and triggered many comments you see in the video. We always give manufacturers a right of response. This video is not different. You might believe GHelper would change things but it doesn't. We tried. It uses the same backend firmware communications as Armory Crate so the fundamental comms hiccups and successes are carried over en masse. Hope that helps. If you want to discuss more we love to hear from you. Reach out over Twitter. ♥️

[@JoshCravesTech]

@@HardwareCanucks I’ll try and look into this further, I do believe something is awry here but idk about how there would be a difference between the 4080 and 4090 model especially when the CPU seems to be the culprit of the issue. And I feel like it would be a good idea to also talk to Alienware X16 owners which have the same setup, because what if this is simply an Intel or Nvidia thing? Appreciate the reply though! I’ll reach out on Twitter with anything else

[@HardwareCanucks]

@@JoshCravesTech I think you're missing the major point in a number of our posts: ASUS has been able to recreate our findings with a number of their 4070 / 4080 lab samples. Our hope is they'll issue a fix in the future. Perhaps BIOS 319 was a first attempt but it didn't have any effect. Secondarily, if you need to use third party software to fix first party issues in an app that's mission critical for a lot of the system's functionality....well, that causes the G16 to fail even harder. Though its nice to know there's a fallback plan for people who spent over two grand.

[@moxley914]

I got one of these a few weeks ago and really wanted to love it, but it had 5 bluescreens within the first week and constant annoying coil whine, which made me not even consider getting a replacement device.

[@Os_E_L]

Never had any of these mentioned issues while using G-Helper. I switched pretty early from Armoury Crate and it's done wonders compared to everyone out there complaining about power issues and temperature problems. Really wish Asus's software wasn't so buggy all the time because this laptop truly is incredible, especially with the vapor chamber in the 4080.

[@TheRonBarcelo]

never even used AC, just changed to G helper from the get-go, not an issue in the world, actually one of the best laptops I ever owned, it runs games to my standard and its portable as hell.. And the scree...omg...the screen... so yeah as this comment said, just use G Helper

[@soldarknezz]

This. After getting my G14 2022 I did a fresh install and went with G-Helper right away and never looked back.

[@HardwareCanucks]

We tried. This is an intrinsic Firmware / Root driver issue that G-Helper cannot fix.

[@TheRonBarcelo]

@@HardwareCanucks a new BIOS came in yesterday for me , 319 dont know if that has something to do with my stable sistem

[@Os_E_L]

@@HardwareCanucks I wonder why I haven't experienced any of these problems then. Your tests showed this problem exists in both the 4070 and 4090 models. If it really is a root problem, I'll take this as a chance to look into whether there really is a minor variance in performance that I am not noticing.

[@JohnnMug]

Hi, Did you have issue with high DPC latency? I seem to have it especially on battery power and silent mode. I started using Ghelper instead of Armoury Crate which seems to make the machine more reliable but maybe its just placebo.

[@ItsMeProday83]

Gj, and thanks for all hard work to make this review asngood as it is! Just one question, have you tried to uninstall Armory crate and install G-helper instead?...mby that solves porformance issues.

[@BrVendan]

I got a 2021 G14 a few years ago and I had a ton of issues, especially when Windows 11 first released (I waited until after they released the patch for AMD CPUs’ performance issues). I had crashes, I had this weird issue where the display would have like a white ring around it sometimes, and some other issues. Needless to say, after that, I kinda decided that, when it’s time to upgrade, I’ll probably try another brand to see if their driver support is any better. Also, kinda annoying I have to install third party software because Armory Crate is so jank.

[@SirBlicks]

Things to fix next year: 1. Thicker Chassis for cooling 2. Lower Prices 3. Give 32Gb of RAM in more regions

[@pedro4205]

32GB should be baseline for soldered ram

[@ali_leo7868]

16G is enough for years.

[@alyousuf]

​@@ali_leo7868my phone has 16GB and yes its enough, not for a laptop unless all you do is browse.

[@pedro4205]

@@ali_leo7868 I run over 16GB easily playing Baldur's Gate 3 with not much opened in the background

[@rakeshravindran3147]

Noway. For me, nowadays I am looking for 64G memory. For an engineer running few containers and at times another Linux VM, I hover between 20G - 38G. I was hoping there would be Laptop this year to get out of the Mac ecosystem.

[@pitzkale]

got the 4080 G16 Really enjoying it so far. My only gripe is actually in the fact that the Fn keys can't be swapped with media keys meaning I have to hold down the FN key every time I want to dim the keyboard/screen or pause/play media. Other than that the performance has been great and it's also very quiet in day to day use. for a 16" it also fits in much smaller bags than I would have imagined.

[@JoshCravesTech]

Install G-Helper, there’s an FN lock!

[@sachafievet3131]

As someone who has an original g14 from 2020 that still has (and will continue to have) major battery and dgpu issues with a history of a thousand different bugs etc., I am not surprised by this one having software issues.

[@banyanyas839]

The fact that g14 come close and sometimes outperform the g16 in overall aspect is pretty impressive for the g14, considering the smaller size

[@VarjoPira]

Nice to see a review that breaks away from the mold. Appreciate the work, folks!

[@elderman64]

I wouldn't mind the non-upgradable ram at all if only they had 32 gb of ram by default and had a 64gb variant and most other issues do seem to be fixable easily. This laptop was so close to being the perfect sleek gaming laptop

[@FoxxFire]

It is nice that Asus put all fast ports on this device. I've seen some high end laptops this year with usb c ports at 3.2 gen1 speed, which is unacceptable for a usb c port, nevermind usb a. So the fact that even the usb a ports are all at gen2 speeds, and we get uhs-ii speed on the sd card reader, AND it's a full size reader; that is all refreshing. What isn't refreshing is the fact that you gave Asus multiple weeks to give a substantive response to the power management issues in games, and they came up with crickets? You would think they would send another sample, but they must know that the issue is not unit specific but rather persistent across all units. And I agree with you that it feels like Asus got so much positive publicity from the early reviews of this device that that is good enough for them, and they are on to developing and testing for the next generation instead of fixing whatever issue may be occurring with this device. And the fact that it is a software issue that seems to be fixable, that is a quite disheartening....

[@ctaylor960]

I had one but had too many bugs and issues when playing games or doing things on external monitors...if you only use the descrete gpu then its fine but on external monitors using the integrated and switching to descrete is an issue. Dont even think of using a TB4 dock...I have the Caldigit TS4 and it kept trying to charge the laptop while it already had charger in the laptop. It also does not charge it at the top level it needs to perform fully so its annoying using it unless doing light tasks. After a week of having it, I loved looking at it and playing games on its OLED screen but when using for real productivity on an external monitor it was annoying. I ended up trading it for a 4080 Super and 7800X3D desktop build...I only really need a laptop for light web development not gaming so I will prolly get an LG Gram 17 inch or something for that...

[@aras_aras_aras_aras]

How does the 4070 model compare with Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i? Especially in terms of speakers, performance, and fan noise under load and when idle? I think this would be a nice comparison because both are thin and light and have great screens and speakers. Asus has OLED with better colors and deep blacks, but Lenovo has higher brightness and resolution. Asus has a nice, centered keyboard, whereas Lenovo has a perfect numpad with Home, End, PgUp, PgDwn buttons at proper locations.

[@parthslays]

is coil whine normal? my laptop also has but here is a thing i got thermal paste applied on that grey colored square box just above cpu chip and gpu chips on motherbooard. the grey thing which acts as powersupply for both chips. please let us know your thoughts is it my luck that whine disappeared or its logical ? please please answer. love from india

[@gorjy9610]

Not logical as temperature rarely influence coil whine inside inductors (little "grey things" :)) but cooling them can only help prolonging life od the laptop. Something Asus should take care about during design, not you as end user but...bright new world we're living in.

[@kennardi09]

Hi, What is the best RTX 4060 and i7 laptop currently? Is it the Legion 5i Pro?

[@guyarnaultmfoumbi8876]

Thanks for your video, very nice. At the end of the day, do you recommend this laptop or suggest another one

[@thatzaliasguy]

Turned my 2021 Zeph 14 with 6900HS + RTX 3060 into my OTG Linux gaming laptop, and havent had any issues since getting rid of Windows.

[@Ashrathon]

wouldnt uninstalling armory crate, disabling it in the BIOS, and installing ghelper help solve the tug of war you described? Also I saw posts about flashing the bios with a bios from a higher wattage machine that provided more performacnce than the original 125 watt limit.

[@HardwareCanucks]

Not YET. Because G Helper has issues recognizing the GPU Mux on this laptop and also exhibits power plan conflicts. G Helper is a simplified version of the program, it doesn't completely rewrite it, nor does it change baseline firmware issues. We have however reached out to see if the G Helper devs have any insight. This isn't about overall performance either, so a BIOS flash likely wouldn't solve it (though ASUS did send us other BIOS files)

[@NIkon32x-om8dy]

@@HardwareCanucks I have the 2024 G16 w/4090 & 32mb ram. I flashed the vbios with that of the 2024 Strix Scar 4090 and was able to get a Time Spy score of 18390 by a mixture of undervolting and overclocking at 175w fully unlocked. That being said, its not sustainable for long-term gaming fully maxed out like that. I find it much more sustainable around 150w and undervolted to play games that are very graphic intensive to keep the fan speed down. Armoury Crate is horrible, full stop. G-Helper does work significantly better for the dgpu, but yeah I haven't been adjusting the CPU at all. I think turbo mode really only impacts fan speed and settings you can preset. If you can show me where turbo mode changes anything else I'd be surprised. I just have to disagree with your take that this ruined the G16 series. This laptop is a huge step towards cooling technology and efficiency. It's a laptop that can get 9-10hrs battery life off-power for productivity work, come home and get massive fps for gaming when plugged in at 4k, and it weighs 4.30lbs. I will say that doing all the fine tuning myself took a lot of time, but I'm getting very similar performance of much more expensive laptops, and have the portability of a macbook.

[@AMALJITH.A]

​@@HardwareCanucks as far as i know ghelper dev said it's best to not poke around the powerplan while using GHELPER. The app should run with default windows powerplan to properly work. You guys should try a clean windows install and try using GHELPER from the start

[@wtfamidoingwithmylife1569]

G-helper uses the same ArmouryCrate service that Armoury crate uses. Unless asus does something about the service, G-helper will give the same damn issues.

[@NIkon32x-om8dy]

@@wtfamidoingwithmylife1569 I went from 13800 stock Time Spy to 18390. That's over 33% performance improvement by doing all I did. After trying to tweak with AC. It's multiple factors here, but just has a lot of bloatware so I uninstalled it and opted for G-Helper.

[@soldarknezz]

It would be really nice if you could swap armory crate for G-Helper and do the tests again. G-Helper is basically a life saver for the G devices ...

[@HardwareCanucks]

It is and we tried it but no difference. Remember the devs of GHelper straight out say it doesn't change any baseline firmware hooks.

[@mcslender2965]

​@@HardwareCanucksthe main GHelper dev just claimed in the comments section that he has never received contact from you guys though

[@jerryk.1889]

Can you disable the e-cores? That might help with performance consistency.

[@falgunprajapati5273]

What about G14, is your view still the same about that or it has changed too like G16???

[@VividMac101]

I have an Asus ROG Strix G531GT from a few years ago. It's been a pretty good laptop overall with some caveats. I have a similar issue with Armory Crate and windows power options fighting each other often. Every reboot reverts the windows power option to Power Saver and all power plan options are missing until I create a custom plan then switch back to High Performance. I have a USB mouse connected to it and when moving it the laptop always emits a kind of whine or something which could be coil whine but I don't know. The fans in it are decent but selecting High Performance in Armory Crate lets the fans get pretty loud and if I select Turbo then all hell breaks loose. I've considered getting a higher spec gaming laptop recently but gaming laptops just seem to have too many compromises especially with noise levels. It just doesn't seem worth it to me.

[@vedantdesai1]

I got the G16, and love it. I got it to replace my MacBook Pro for work. The subtle design, impeccable display and build, perhaps the best speakers, and a very familiar keyboard makes it a productivity powerhouse. The battery lasts a good deal too for work… I haven’t even charged it in 2 days and it still has some juice (only used it for 3 hours each day though). Gaming is a bit disappointing (but I know that the 4070 is disappointing to begin with)- but not impossible or bad. Was averaging 60FPS on RT High at native resolution CP77 without frame gen. I got it mainly for casual games like sims 4 on the go, and get 120+FPS. I never saw a dip from 140FPS in COD at balanced settings, native resolution. Heck I am also averaging 80+ FPS in Flight Simulator at Ultra 1600p. Now in no way is this my gaming machine, I got it for its portability and power. I already have a 4090 desktop. But it’s still respectable in performance, and will more than suit my needs when I’m away from home on trips and travel. In summary - the G14 and G16 are both MacBook killers in the office and school workspace. And they also do gaming which is far fetched on a productivity machine even running windows, let alone macOS

[@rudstar64]

I’ve been looking at buying a MacBook for productivity (video editing, audio and 3d softwares) for some time now, and I only just found out these things exist, whats the comparison between these two laptops? Does one perform better than the others? It’s pretty hard to find comparisons between Apple and Windows hardware that’s easy to understand. Thanks for the help.

[@theconfusedllama9405]

Is the G14 4070 32GB RAM (2024) still worth it? Because I just ordered one and it's currently in the mail

[@heroninja1125]

Seeing how virtually every gaming laptop producer and workstation laptop producer has been shooting themselves in the foot lately, it makes me even more happy to have gone for a framework 16. This thing is absolutely amazing and has no forced RGB gimmicks either.

[@MnemonicCarrier]

Does it come with 32GB of fast RAM? And does it run Linux?

[@rickystafford7433]

so is the blade 16 4090 worth it to avoid the headaches?

[@NickDaqqers]

I did buy this laptop. A couple of questions. How do you enable vrr? And do you think the armoury crate updates will come to this laptop? Or just the next one

[@heickelrrx]

I’m actually looking for 2023 G16, with 4060, is the battery any good?

[@karanvora2674]

Its decent. I have the same model

[@TheRuiner84690]

I know you guys have to test these things with the software they have out of the box, but I recently found G-Helper for ASUS laptops. It seems to stop any of the power option issues stemming from Armoury Crate and also has a much better interface for tweaking settings. You can even set a temp limit and manually adjust fan curves. I had a STRIX G15 Advantage that ran great until the liquid metal TIM shorted out the GPU. ASUS replaced it WELL outside of warranty with a TUF F15, awesome customer support. Pretty decent upgrade from my old machine too, but sometimes the performance was lacking. Even when plugged in the power settings would act up and I'd be CPU limited like crazy, resulting in lower performance than the machine it replaced. Armoury Crate is the worst software on the market and ASUS should adopt something simpler and lightweight like G-Helper.

[@ryanantonio3145]

I have one on order and have a week to decide with out return hassle! I was reading you can disable Armoury crate and use G-helper? Anyone’s thoughts on any other Asus laptops? Using for mobile unreal engine work.

[@ethanj4479]

I picked mine up like 3 weeks ago. It is a big purchase but I was searching for 2 months because I want powerful laptop that would last a while since my 2018 spectre crapped out. So far I say there is no problem with mine. I have the 4060 32gb g16 and it’s fine. Fan noise isn’t that loud, games run fine, screen is amazing as well as keyboard and speakers. It does get hot but not a problem you will feel as the keyboard isn’t affected. The purpose I got mine for is light gaming and data analysis and so it’s amazing. Assuming you are wearing headphones I’m sure you’ll be fine.

[@ethanj4479]

At the end of the day all these reviewers still need clicks. Their information is def valid but best you can do is open it up, make sure there is no factory defects, uninstall uneeded programs, and stress test with high demanding games and decide from there.

[@ryanantonio3145]

Returned the G16 and Bought the G14 on sale! Super happy with it!

[@yagerq]

Still using my 2021 G15, 5900hs+3080, no reason to upgrade, mayyybe when rtx 5000 series come out. Thanks for review.

[@aras_aras_aras_aras]

I would like to hear more about the power plan conflicts. Does the power allocated to the CPU and GPU change randomly over time? Or do you get unexpected power limits when you change a power plan only? The fps results you showed don't seem that bad. Given that it is thinner and lighter than many other laptops, one expects some compromise in performance. Does the power plan issue exist in the G14 as well? Also, it would be nice to hear the fan noise of the two models (with 4070 and 4070) to hear the difference between the 3-fan design and the vapor chamber. Are they both high-pitched compared to other laptops like Razer Blade 16? What about the fan noise during light use?

[@JoshCravesTech]

I tested this laptop (4090) for over two months with none of the issues mentioned in the video. I also cross referenced my benchmarks with other owners on Reddit and no one I know had a these issues either. So I’m not sure if it was his review units or something else! I used both Armoury Crate and G-Helper and found no differences or disparities

[@aras_aras_aras_aras]

@@JoshCravesTech Good to hear this. Will you upload a review video for G16?

[@JoshCravesTech]

@@aras_aras_aras_aras I will be very soon, yes!

[@razorgcy]

I wonder what the pixel substructure is like on these laptop OLEDs? RGB? Triangle? Certainly not QD OLED. Noone seems to mention this...

[@MKR3238]

similiar to qd oled, rgb but a different layout with a very big blue subpixel

[@JoshCravesTech]

S-Stripe. It is apparently one of the best for text clarity and burn-in prevention from what I hear

[@PureBavarian]

What's an acceptable price for the 4080 model? May grab on BF

[@onigirimerchant]

Hey there HC, I did just purchase a G16 4070 version a few weeks ago. I'm not sure if this helps but in only 3 weeks I've already had 3 BIOS updates from ASUS via MyAsus. Currently I'm sitting on version .319 ... wondering if you guys used the same BIOS version for this testing? if not, perhaps you can repeat and let us know please?

[@HardwareCanucks]

We tried official and unofficial versions but can confirm 319 was the latest public version we tried.

[@eVzxiLLuSioN]

You use armory crate, so you already have a big problem there. Every Zephyrus laptop owner who knows how to setup their device install G Helper instead to mitigate most of the problems you point out. I know you have to review devices "out of the box", but you could at least have mentionned it.

[@HardwareCanucks]

G Helper does not overcome fundamental firmware related communication issues between software and hardware. They use the same firmware hooks as Armory Crate, though in a streamlined format.

[@eamy9960]

That RAM situation is a big bummer, hopfully they fix that and other performance issues so i can upgrage from my g15 advantage

[@patelshome806]

is the HDMI port hooked up only to the dGPU?

[@MrJoker-uu6qg]

The lack of upgradable option or atleast ram slot is an easy skip. Guess i have to stick with lenovo thinkpad p16

[@AlexMobley]

How are others "playing it safe"? The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i has the same Intel Core Ultra 9 185H with Nvidia 40 series GPU. What do you mean at 1:31?

[@cameronbosch1213]

And 64 GB of RAM as an option.

[@mikerahl123]

Interesting. I bought the 32gb 4070 model with the core ultra 9 185 and it works flawlessly . I run benchmark tests using time spy, cinebench r23 and cinbebench r24 with various power modes and they're quite consistent. Done 2-3 of each mode so far over the last few weeks. No high pitch whine anywhere to be found. I get a timespy score of around 11900+- on turbo (sometimes will get to 12050 or so, but mostly hovers around 11900), cinebench I forget the scores but they were consistent. Overall, I'm extremely satisfied; I love this laptop

[@mercival]

I just got the I7 4070 version with 32 gb RAM (1999 euro incl tax). Your main gripe seems to be in how the I9 interacts with armory crate leading to all sorts of evil. However, do you think this may be very different in an I7 version? I havent seen any reviews on the I7 but so far no complaints, was playing Total War Warhammer 3 and it was a delight.

[@samehelgendy1022]

What would you recommend otherwise instead of it if i want something as slim with as good or better battery life n good build quality and screen good for photography editing and 3d rendering n gaming?

[@HardwareCanucks]

Razer Blade 16....but you'll pay for it. Otherwise the Legion 7 series is a great option, just get it with a good add on warranty.

[@ppietropiccolo]

can someone please tell me how to find the video playing on the screen in the background 🙏🏻🙏🏻

[@matthewkeller1696]

I own the 2024 4080 g16 model and am not experiencing these issues at all. Performance has been great and consistent, I set my windows default power modes all to max and just make sure it open armory crate after booting and switch to turbo. Not a concern for me, it’s just like toggling icue on my tower

[@BattoEnstien]

14:30 Soldered ram is a full-stop deal breaker.

[@spitzy1963]

I just got my g16 4080 model the other day and I must say this laptop is more of a productivity and everyday use laptop. Light gaming is possible and media consumption is by far the best part about this laptop. The screen is hands down the best laptop screen on the market currently. I got this laptop for school and productivity purposes, if your main use for this laptop is gaming I would stick to something more gaming focused such as the strix series.

[@andyH_England]

I agree, and I think that is where ASUS is pushing it now. Competing in the Macbook demographic covering creators, pros workflows and people that will pay extra for a premium laptop. There are many better gaming laptops or even a desktop if your user case allows it.

[@cameronbosch1213]

The Strix series has piss poor battery life though.

[@aryavchanduka8861]

how would be gaming on the 16gb ram variant?? I want gaming performance to be the best , but do i really need to spend 700$ more for 32 gb ram??

[@martmeister]

Waiting and doing further investigation into these issues was definitely the move. We know that typically means lost views but hopefully you can make it up with a follow up review once/if ASUS resolves these issues.

[@A4Louisdebou]

No mention about yoga pro 9i in your intro ? It’s def not the only device with Ultra + 40 RTX series This device definitely has competitors, they are just less advertised

[@keirux]

I missed not having the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 2024 in this comparison as it has the same ultra9 and 4070 option.

[@akasection]

at this point, laptop manufacturers should have and facilitate RAM resoldering officially (or even better - with trusted partners) without voiding warranty. Its okay the price is slightly higher than regular SODIMM but at least the upgrade path is there

[@PreludeSon]

Respect!!!! I love it when the reviewer goes back and addresses the issues that they found and corrected their claim from earlier review. You're doing us a great favor!

[@jeevandsouza2769]

Which processor is better Ryzen 9 8945HS or Core ultra 9 185H ??

[@TechnicolorTube]

Asus may add an AMD sku of the g16 later this year. That may be the perfect version of this laptop. Appreciate the review guys.

[@AFH9]

I have G16 4070 and I just received BIOS update v319. Maybe this will help.

[@theammar]

maybe sth to include in these benchmark situations is the standard deviation value

[@miniDrew4]

Hopefully they fix the armoury crate issue. Instant buy once that's sorted.

[@spareroomtech]

Soldered RAM makes it a hard pass for me. I know several companies are doing that, but that's not a small loss in terms of flexibility and future proofing.

[@ponmuthu..4796]

16 gb is crazy ,as there is no upgrade option

[@praiseplatinum32]

That's not how you show a correlation. We don't see anything with bar graphs. I suggest a scatter plot with the x axis being the power [W] and the y axis being the frame rate [FPS]. Each point on the plot represents a run then you put a dotted line to show the upward correlation

[@kurtbilinski1723]

I don't understand the drive toward really thin laptops - especially when it seems to come at the expense of expandability (i.e. memory, WIFI, etc).

[@andyH_England]

Some people value thinner and lighter over upgradeability. It seems perverse that people want upgradeability to get faster RAM and storage in five years. Yet, if performance is essential, the bottleneck for performance after five years will be far more significant on the older CPU, GPU and neural engine!

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@andyH_England CAMM2 though. And there's a point of diminishing returns. Just look how badly consumers are treating the 2024 XPS lineup, and for good reason!

[@NinjaKirikoJedi]

Can they make G16 with AMD then its a buy. Asus should reduce their product lines (like Apple) and so the engineer can really spend time to refine the software

[@SCA84]

They will according to the Computex leaks. But it'll only be available up to the 4070 model.

[@NinjaKirikoJedi]

@@SCA84 great news, hopefully there a 32g option with the 4070

[@SCA84]

@@NinjaKirikoJedi It will come with 32GB of RAM according to a leaked South African listing.

[@cameronbosch1213]

​@@SCA84 Can ANYBODY make a good 4080 laptop this year!?

[@Meistor]

Hey there, firstly, thanks for this in-depth review! I always enjoy these type of quality reviews. I have to say, I am a bit confused with this review, though. It feels like the verdict is quite negative (title says it all, lol). On the other hand, no real competitor in this 16inch thin gaming segment gets mentioned to be superior. The verdict seems a bit too harsh in my opinion. Especially since the only real alternative is a Blade 16, which costs even more and is tank in comparison. Yes, the wobbly screen and some armoury crate issues are known. But the performance issues you faced seem super odd to me. I have literally watched every review about this device on YT, and this is by far the most different one when it comes to performance evaluation. I am wondering whether you got two bad units or every other channel is not telling the truth in their review about said performance evaluation. According to you, what would be a better alternative? After all, there are no real competitors to this device but the Blade. The build quality, display and performance in this form factor is practically unbeaten - Hence why I think the title is a bit too harsh ...

[@HardwareCanucks]

We're glad you brought this up. The 16" thin gaming segment is very much an emerging category that won't be fully fleshed out until well into 2025 with Strix Point and Lunar Lake laptops. We have to remember 16" 16-10 screens are still in their infancy so it will take a while for the market itself to catch up. Right now you have a few options. The Legion 7/5, Zephyrus G16, Blade 16 or Omen Transcend. None of which we would recommend due to the leaps forward coming later this year into next year on the CPU side. Hope that helps!

[@isramen4756]

is the issue been fixed?

[@zipzeolocke2]

The performance issue sounds easily addressable with driver updates, right? they can fix the Windows fighting with the armory crate for performance right?

[@JoshCravesTech]

They may have already. Never experienced any of this on my unit

[@HardwareCanucks]

We remained updated with Asus (who were able to reproduce our issues) until a few days before this video went live. There were no changes. We've been at this for the better part of 15 years now and we understand when there is an inherent Windows / AMD / Intel issue that a good partner doesn't want to divulge. This has all the hallmarks of that....

[@AquaticBagpipe]

Your first issue was keeping Armory Crate installed

[@jondavid4747]

Glad they were immediately sold out on launch. I was really hoping for better.

[@MHRSHXD]

please make a video in case they fix these problems i am considering buying this amazing loptop but now im a bit worried

[@JoshCravesTech]

I’ve never had any of the issues he experienced. I’ve also cross-referenced with many other owners and this is the first I’ve heard of it was this review

[@MHRSHXD]

​ @JoshCravesTech what about the web cam sound jittering problem cuz i do a lot of video call and meetings that's one of the most concerning issues for me and you say the processor is ok and there isn't that much of a problem?

[@JoshCravesTech]

@@MHRSHXD yeah never experienced that either, and yeah processor was never a problem

[@eTiMaGo]

At least it seems just a software issue, that can be fixed or worked around... but the price point o_O

[@williammurdock3028]

funny Dell/Alienware software does the same thing, I have had to use XTU to override PL1, PL2 and duration Turbo to control the meltdown syndrome.

[@anony3289w]

Did you test an actual product model?

[@jeromebrown20]

This is why I wait for reviews before I buy. JustJosh review said similar things. I think the next surface laptop with snapdragon will be the real game changer this year. It's a shame because this laptop looks great

[@dav2one]

I think I am having a similar issue with the 2023 model. Albeit with a lower performance delta. It appears to me that before the last armoury crate update (which coincides with thee release of W11 23H2) the power plans no work in tandem with those set by windows. This is actually quite annoying as it makes it more complicated to properly set a power plan. My findings show that the three windows power plans (Best P Efficiency, Balanced and Best Peformance) are now not overriden by armoury crate. If anyone has an idea on a solution that would be great ! Because of this tandem power plan thing, there are now three times the amount of configurations which is quite the headache. I know this for sure because armoury crate doesn't warn about conflicting windows power plans anymore.

[@eos001]

This is why I don’t buy a laptop until it’s reviewed by Hardware Canucks! ❤

[@master_uniquely_xd7998]

That's true

[@dixinc.5507]

I bought the G14 2024 model instead because I found the G16 screen to be too wobbly and the battery life wasn't as good I am guessing because of the Intel CPU they opted for.

[@s3cr3td00rindar00m]

God damn, I cannot believe here in Europe they charge you 3,500 EUR for the 4080 version.

[@blackbirdpctech]

Great review … the fact that you ran 15 tests for each game is very impressive … I know how much time that takes and I appreciate it

[@niko1even]

I understand the latency and speed benefits of LPDDR5X, but for a gaming laptop, I think that I would easily sacrifice the small framerate improvements for user upgradable ram. Any gaming laptop over 2000 USD should automatically come with 32GB of RAM IMO. (most people would probably argue that at an even lower price point).

[@vmafarah9473]

6:30, where are the GPU wattages on different modes?

[@Endys22]

I bough Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2022) in December and I am more than happy with the choice. Sometimes a bit louder. But cooling system works and I can play basicay everything. On it's 16" display I don't need every DLSS+ sh*t's ON in RDR2 or something like that. For my work and web browsing and playing games it works still amazing. I was sceptical at first, because I never had a laptop before. But due to my job and traveling I just had to. Happy with my choice so far and I would not change my pick if I could. Only negatives are for me heating loud system. But it works. Yes, it's hot af in the center right abow the keyboard when you play something that requires power. But everywhere else it's cooling really well. And for this reason I have another negative and it's USB slots. You get only two of'em. One on each side. So you can plug in mouse, then headphones and that's it. But nothing some poor reduction cannot solve. Dsiplay, sound, power, it's all really good. I understand there are people withh money who need the best option every single year. But not me I guess. Not for 3K or even 4. And another thing was that in my country they are not selling 2024 models and you was not able to find 2023 models as well. Only M14 models I think.

[@tibodoz383]

Do you use a cooling mat so the laptop doesn’t overheat?

[@Endys22]

@@tibodoz383 I have it. But since it has only 2 usb ports and I am lazy to cary on myself expanders. I don't use it as a cooler but just as a stand xD No needed to be honest. I can play rdr2 on almost highest settings for many hours and laptop is doing just fine. I know nothing about how it works. But from what I heard from some tech friends... cooling mat is not working as you think it should be. I was told that it's just helping for the laptop to create some cold air that can absorb or something to cool it itself. but if I use it my way... just as a stand for my notebook. It's still better than having it placed on table on worse on matrace if you take it in the bed or something. Just because you cover most filters that absorb the air to cool it down. My english is not on the level so I can explain it to you the way I would like to. Basicaly I am using it just as a stand for my notebook almost all the time so it has free space under the notebook. That's it

[@Alexandru1996_]

i bought a g16 zephyrus 2023 model with i7 13620h, 16gb ram and rtx 4060 and i am more than happy with it. Even if the screen is not oled , it looks and runs fine. Plus it is more upgradable, i can add one ram stick and make it 32 or even 48 gb. Thanks for the review.

[@RoderickMonroe]

I took mine back and got the Lenovo 7i 16. I had huge issues with Lightroom lagging and chrome constant crashes. Protools wouldn't function at all.

[@mechakoush]

is this something that can be fixed by a firmware update? what do you think?

[@VadimMarchenko]

The first thing they need to fix is to give us back the matte scene option. I don't care about OLED and mega blacks.. All I care about is not to see reflection and glare when I am working/playing in normal lit room.

[@andyH_England]

Yes, all the hyperbole about OLEDs yet in reality they need to be placed carefully to avoid a light source and when out and about can be a pain for viewing. There are good reasons Apple refuses to use the current OLED panels and developed its own; poor max brightness and the glossy displays are two of the many reasons. I much prefer miniLED then IPS.