Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 (2021) in review: A classic gaming laptop
A TEST REPORT from Dominic Lux 
on February 07, 2022, 8:00 | Write a comment
ROG or also Republic of Gamers is the gaming division of Asus. This is where gaming accessories and hardware are sold. This also includes the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 (2021). What can this one do? We tested that!
Technical information
First we come to the technical data, these refer to my test device.
| Operating system | Windows 10 Pro (Update to Windows 11 possible) |
| Processor | Intel® Core™ i9-11900H Processor 2.5 GHz (24M cache, up to 4.9 GHz, 8 cores) |
| graphic card | NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070 Laptop GPU |
| Display | 16 inch WQXGA (2560x1600) 16:10 Anti-Reflection Display |
| RAM (working memory) | 16GB DDR4 onboard |
| Storage | 2TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD |
| I / O | 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack 1x HDMI 2.0b 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, supports DisplayPort™ and "Power Delivery" 1x RJ45 LAN port 1x card reader (microSD) 1x Thunderbolt™ 4, supports DisplayPort™ and "Power Delivery" |
| Keyboard | With white LED lighting |
High-end performance
With an RTX 3070 and an 9th generation i16 processor, this is of course no problem. No matter what program or game, the ROG MXNUMX easily got through everything I ran on it.
Of course, the ROG M16 is in a completely different class than that ZenBook 13OLED, which I tested last. But that's not a big problem if you can get used to loud fans and another point of criticism. The ROG M16 runs at a relatively high speed when running a current game title. The highest fan speed is more for headphone users with noise canceling. Performance needs to be cooled well. It got accordingly warm, despite the powerful cooling.
But these are the cons of all gaming laptops. One disadvantage that I personally found a little annoying was the contact surface for the palms of the hands. In gaming, for example, you can sweat quickly in intense matches. And the rubber-like surface of the ROG M16 is not exactly resistant to and then shines strangely in the light. Here I would have found another material, which is less susceptible, better.
Battery life, display and speakers
This performance also requires quite a bit of power. Therefore, you won't be able to avoid the socket under load with a current game. For example, I was able to play Just Cause 4 in full resolution for a good two hours. That's "still" okay. But since this is more of a "desktop replacement" device, you can get over this.
Not much can be said about the display, it is an LCD display in 16:10 with 165 Hertz and a WQXGA resolution. No OLED, but that doesn't have to be the case. After all, a gaming laptop is all about responsiveness.
I wasn't expecting much from the speakers. But despite all that, they didn't sound bad, at most a little quiet. But you could hear everything loud and clear. A good standard I would call this.
Conclusion after four weeks of intensive use
As already mentioned, every modern game runs on the ROG M16 without any loss of performance. The only points I had to criticize are the fan noise and the "strange" choice of surface for resting the palms of your hands. It currently holds its own with the best gaming laptops, even in 2022. If you can overlook the minor criticisms, can I recommend the ROG M16 without further problems? Not quite, because there is still the price. Asus wants just under 3000 euros for the ROG M16 in the top configuration that I tested here. That's a lot of money, of course, but you get top configuration for it that should be among the best for several years. By the way, there is already a version for 2022, which actually only differs in the processor, one of the twelfth generation from Intel.