ROG Zephyrus G16 (GU605) review: A leap in gaming and creativity

Underneath its polished exterior, the ROG Zephyrus G16 is engineered to impress, boasting features catering to demanding gamers and creative professionals. The laptop’s groundbreaking 2.5K OLED Nebula Display, with its 240Hz refresh rate and minuscule 0.2ms response time, offers an immersive viewing experience that’s hard to match. Despite the slim profile, the laptop’s advanced cooling system ensures that performance remains uncompromised, highlighting ASUS’s prowess in marrying form with function in the ever-evolving gaming notebook market.

A new era of elegance and connectivity

The ROG Zephyrus G16 sets a new standard in laptop design, marrying functionality with elegance. Its ultra-slim profile, at just 1.64cm thick and weighing a mere 1.85kg, is encased in a premium aluminium chassis, making it both durable and stylish. The laptop is available in two sophisticated colour options, Eclipse Gray and Platinum White, each designed to appeal to different user preferences. The choice of materials and colours highlights ASUS’s commitment to providing users with a powerful machine and one that looks the part in any setting, be it a gaming setup or a professional workspace.

The array of ports on the Zephyrus G16 is generously comprehensive, catering to various connectivity needs. It includes multiple USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and Type-C ports, Thunderbolt 4 support, HDMI 2.1 output, and a card reader that supports UHS-II, making it a breeze to connect to various peripherals, displays, and storage solutions. The thoughtful placement of these ports towards the back of the laptop’s sides enhances cable management, keeping your workspace neat and organised. This design choice contributes to the laptop’s sleek aesthetic and ergonomic appeal, allowing for an uncluttered and efficient setup.

Ergonomics play a significant role in the design of the Zephyrus G16, with ASUS going to great lengths to ensure a comfortable user experience. The keyboard is centred on the chassis, providing a natural typing position, while the extra-large touchpad offers ample space for navigation and gestures, enhancing productivity and gaming experiences alike. The laptop also boasts a sturdy build, with a spacious arm-rest area and blunted edges to prevent discomfort during extended use. The attention to detail in the design ensures that the laptop is not only a powerhouse in terms of performance but also a joy to use for long hours, whether for gaming, creating, or general use.

Moreover, the innovative Slash Lighting feature adds a customisable element to the Zephyrus G16, allowing users to personalise their laptops with unique lighting effects. While primarily aesthetic, this feature underscores ASUS’s understanding of the modern user’s desire for devices that reflect their personal style. The combination of a sleek design, comprehensive port selection, ergonomic considerations, and customisable lighting makes the Zephyrus G16 a standout in the crowded gaming laptop market, offering a blend of performance, style, and user comfort that is hard to match.

Visual and auditory brilliance redefined

The display on the ROG Zephyrus G16 is nothing short of breathtaking, featuring ROG’s first 2.5K OLED Nebula Display with a 240Hz refresh rate and a 0.2ms response time. This high-performance panel delivers crisp, vivid visuals and supports VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500, ensuring deep blacks and excellent contrast ratios. Whether you’re gaming, watching content, or working on colour-sensitive projects, the display’s 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut and Pantone validation ensure accurate and vibrant colours. The glossy finish of the OLED panel adds an extra layer of clarity, making every image and scene come to life with stunning detail.

In our tests, the ROG Zephyrus G16’s 2.5K OLED Nebula Display transforms the open-world seas of “Skull & Bones” into a mesmerising spectacle. With its 240Hz refresh rate and 0.2ms response time, the display captures the swift, fluid motion of battles and the serene beauty of calm waters with unparalleled clarity. The game’s vibrant world comes alive with the display’s 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, showcasing the rich blues of the ocean and the fiery explosions of cannon fire with striking vividness. 

Sound quality is equally impressive on the Zephyrus G16, thanks to its Dolby Atmos support and AI noise-cancelling technology. The laptop has a four-speaker system that includes dual force woofers and tweeters, providing a rich, immersive audio experience. Whether gaming, enjoying music or watching movies, the sound is clear, detailed, and enveloping, with intelligent amplifier technology ensuring that audio remains distortion-free even at higher volumes. 

Watching “Stranger Things” in 4K on the ROG Zephyrus G16 enriches the viewing experience with immersive, spatial audio that captures the essence of “Stranger Things”‘ eerie atmosphere and dynamic soundtrack. The haunting score and nostalgic ’80s hits are rendered with crisp, clear quality, while the sound effects of the Demogorgon and other supernatural elements envelop the viewer, enhancing the suspense and thrill of the series.

The three modes for the integrated microphone array enhance voice clarity, making it ideal for conference calls and in-game communications. This combination of high-quality display and sound makes the Zephyrus G16 a multimedia powerhouse, delivering an engaging and immersive experience for all types of content.

Unleashing unparalleled performance and innovation

The ROG Zephyrus G16 is engineered for peak performance, powered by up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060/4070 Laptop GPU. This formidable hardware combination ensures that the laptop can easily handle the most demanding games and creative tasks. The G16 is designed to deliver smooth, high-frame-rate gaming experiences and efficient, rapid rendering for creative projects. Whether editing videos, rendering 3D models, or diving into the latest AAA games, the Zephyrus G16 provides the computational power and graphical prowess needed to get the job done without breaking a sweat.

The laptop’s performance is further bolstered by its cutting-edge cooling system, which includes a vapour chamber, liquid metal thermal compound, improved heat pipes, and Arc Flow Fans 2.0. This advanced cooling technology ensures that the G16 remains cool and quiet, even under heavy loads, allowing the CPU and GPU to maintain high-performance levels without thermal throttling. The laptop also features up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD, providing ample RAM for multitasking and fast storage speeds for quick boot times and rapid file access. With these specs, the Zephyrus G16 is a powerhouse for gaming and a versatile tool for productivity and creative workflows, offering the speed and capacity to handle a wide range of tasks efficiently.

The verdict: ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (GU605)

In the competitive landscape of gaming laptops, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (GU605) stands out as a paragon of innovation, blending cutting-edge technology with an aesthetic that redefines what a gaming notebook can be. With its starting price of S$3,699, it is positioned as a premium offering that justifies its cost through a combination of high-performance components, such as the Intel Core Ultra 9 processor and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060/4070 Laptop GPU, and its stunning 2.5K OLED Nebula Display. These features, along with the laptop’s sophisticated design that distances itself from the stereotypical gaming rig, make it an attractive choice for both gamers and professionals looking for a powerful, versatile machine.

The Zephyrus G16’s appeal is further amplified by its comprehensive connectivity options, ergonomic design, and an advanced cooling system that ensures optimal performance without compromise. For buyers prioritising a blend of portability, power, and style, the G16 offers a compelling package that few can match. Whether it’s for dominating the latest games, tackling intensive creative projects, or simply enjoying high-definition entertainment, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 delivers on all fronts, making it a top contender for anyone in the market for a high-end gaming laptop.