Asus has an all-new 16-inch ROG Zephyrus M16 (GU603) to show off, and not only does the gaming laptop come equipped with Intel 11th Gen H-series CPUs and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU, but it also boasts a QHD 1440p at 165Hz display panel.
Impressively, Asus has fit the laptop's 16-inch display onto a slim 15-inch chassis, which the company claims to equate to a 94% screen-to-body ratio. Asus has piqued our interest, but the Zephyrus M16 also features a few other perks. The laptop will be available in North America from the second quarter of 2021.
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Asus ROG Zephyrus M16
One of the most notable additions to the new ROG Zephyrus M16 is the next-gen Intel CPU. The 11th Gen H-Series processor has been seen hitting up to 238 frames per second when running Hitman 3, so we're expecting a jump in gaming performance from previous Asus laptops.
The Zephyrus M16 will be paired with an RTX 3070 GPU and up to 48GB of RAM. along with a 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe Gen 4 SSD. This 16-inch gaming laptop is looking to be quite a beast.
Design
Those familiar with Asus' ROG Zephyrus M15 will see a few subtle differences with the Zephyrus M16, but nothing too major. The biggest difference is screen size, as there is now a 16-inch display panel on the laptop's 15-inch chassis. Display bezels are extremely thin to make the most out of the screen.
The lid features an asymmetrical dot matrix design with a prismatic film that offers a unique look when looking at it from different angles. The M16 comes in Asus' signature Prism Black color design.
Asus claims it is 5% lighter and smaller than its M15 predecessor, with dimensions of 355 x 243.5 x 19.9mm (13.9 x 9.5 x 0.7-inches) and weighing 4.2 pounds.
Display
The Zephyris M16 boasts a 16-inch 1440p QHD display that supports a 165Hz refresh rate with a 3ms response time. To fit this screen, the laptop sports a 94% screen-to-body ratio with ultra-slim bezels on all four sides. Asus states it offers pro-level color accuracy and 100% DCI-P3 color coverage.
Ports
The Zephyrus M16 has an impressive number of ports, and even supports Thunderbolt 4 connectivity.
Expect two USB C ports — one with Thunderbolt 4 — supporting DisplayPort 1.4 and USB Power Delivery 3.0, two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A ports, a MicroSD slot, HDMI 2.0 output, an RJ45 Ethernet port, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
Battery
The Zephyrus M16 comes with a 90 watt-hour battery, which can easily be charged with the Thunderbolt 4 Power Delivery. With this power, we're hoping the M16 delivers a hugely extended battery life, but only time will tell once we get our hands on it.
Webcam
The M16’s integrated webcams use a blend of 2D Noise Reduction (NR) and 3DNR technology, reducing noise for images across sequences to get the "best of both worlds." Laptops aren't known for their stellar webcams, so we hope this tech makes users look a lot less grainy on video calls.
Bottom line
While Asus has yet to announce the release date or price for the new Zephyrus M16, we're excited to test out its 16-inch display with super-slim bezels.
We're sure the mix of Intel's 11th Gen H-Series CPU with an RTX 3070 will impress. Whether it will make it on our best gaming laptops page? Only time will tell.
