Description

Design

ASUS raised the number of precision machined holes on the lid from 8,279 to 18,710 and included an option for AniMe Matrix LEDs, similar to the Zephyrus G14. The AniMe Matrix variant is slightly thicker and weighs 2.3kgs, whereas the non-AniMe Matrix model is around 2.1kgs. You can draw all kinds of shapes and patterns or experiment with the default settings. The lid can be opened all the way to 180 degrees and features the ErgoLift hinge, which elevates the chassis off the surface to boost fresh air intake for better cooling.

Display

The new ROG Nebula HDR tiny LED display is the most noticeable upgrade for the 2023 Zephyrus M16. It replaces last year’s 165Hz QHD panel, which was already rather amazing. It has a great matte finish and up to 1100 nits of peak brightness, 1024 dimming zones, a 240Hz refresh rate, up to 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, and Display HDR 1000 compatibility. Aside from that, the new 16-inch panel supports Nvidia G-Sync with a 3ms reaction time, Dolby Vision, and is Pantone verified for accurate colour reproduction.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The Zephyrus M16’s keyboard has a single zone RGB backlighting rather than per key, which is disappointing for a laptop at this budget. Furthermore, the lighting is irregular (particularly the secondary key legends), and I detected light leaking beneath the keycaps. The arrangement remains the same as last year, with four dedicated media keys above the function key row. With 1.7mm key travel and a pleasing clicky sensation, typing is a pleasant experience. The huge glass trackpad is well-designed, with a pleasant touch, quick and accurate response, and silent click operations. This is something the business has improved in a number of ROG laptops this year, and I applaud the effort.

Performance and Software

The internals of the 2023 ROG Zephyrus M16 have been updated significantly. First and foremost, we have the latest 13th-generation Intel mobile processors. In India, ASUS offers the top-tier Core i9-13900H with either the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 or 4090 mobile GPU. There is also 16GB of 4800MHz DDR5 memory in dual channel, both of which are user accessible and ideal for future upgrades. According to ASUS, the CPU supports up to 64GB of DDR5 memory at a maximum clock speed of 5200MHz.

Battery Life

The battery backup, like that of other high-end Intel gaming notebooks this year, is unimpressive. The Zephyrus M16 2023 has a 90Whr unit, which is plenty for a laptop of this size, but even after tweaking the performance mode and lowering the refresh rate to 60Hz, I couldn’t keep it operating for more than 3-4 hours.