Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 Review: Effortlessly caters to two demanding worlds

Talking about gaming laptops and without referring to ROG laptops seems incomplete. The company has rightly acquired this synonymity by constantly pushing power-packed gaming laptops into the market over the years. This time, I have the latest Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2025), a machine that’s built to appeal to both gamers and creators. Having used previous models in this series, expectations were high. I’ve spent the last few weeks testing it on gaming, creative workflows, and portability, and here’s what I found.

Design & Build

Asus has nailed the aesthetic game with the Zephyrus G16. At just 1.49 cm thin and weighing 1.95 kg, it’s an ultra-slim and portable laptop, especially considering the kind of high-end components it’s housing. The body is carved from CNC-machined aluminium, giving it a premium and robust feel. But what really stands out is the slash design at the back of the display — a scar-like LED accent that brings personality to the machine. It’s not just for show either; it’s customizable via Armoury Crate, allowing users to tweak lighting patterns, brightness, and behaviour for that extra flair.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G16
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan

While the laptop itself is relatively easy to carry around, the 240 W adapter it comes with adds a bit of bulk to the backpack. It’s something to factor in if you’re constantly on the move — portability is excellent, but the complete carry package feels heavier than expected due to the power brick.

In terms of ports and buttons, Asus has been generous. There are 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DisplayPort, G-SYNC, and Power Delivery, 1x Thunderbolt 4 port (up to 40Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.1 FRL, 1x 3.5mm combo audio jack and 1x SD Card Reader (UHS-II). Power button placement is subtle yet accessible, and it doubles up with Windows Hello via the 1080p IR webcam for fast logins.

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Display

The display is where this laptop makes a serious statement. A 16-inch 2.5K OLED ROG Nebula Display with 240Hz refresh rate and a lightning-fast 0.2ms response time means it handles everything from competitive esports to 4K colour grading with finesse.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G16
| Photo Credit:
Haider Ali Khan

The DCI-P3 100% colour gamut, Pantone Validation, and DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification make it a dream for creators, while G-Sync support ensures smooth gameplay. Combined with MUX Switch and NVIDIA Advanced Optimus, the performance toggling between integrated and discrete graphics is seamless.

Keypad & Touchpad

The keyboard on the G16 features per-key RGB lighting, allowing for full customisation through Armoury Crate. The tactile feedback is satisfying with well-spaced keys and a good travel distance. It’s great for both typing and gaming, and the lighting adds that signature ROG flair without being over the top.

The touchpad, on the other hand, is large and very responsive — excellent for gestures and general navigation. However, the generous size can sometimes be a nuisance, especially while gaming for typing for long periods. Accidental touches can happen, and it may get in the way if your palms aren’t positioned just right. A minor gripe, but noticeable.

Performance

This year’s Zephyrus G16 comes armed with the new Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor with 16 cores and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 GPU with 16 GB GDDR7 VRAM. Whether it’s rendering, compiling, encoding, or gaming, this machine handles it with composure.

AAA games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Hogwarts Legacy run at ultra settings with ray tracing, and DLSS 4.0 kicks in for performance boosts. For creative users, the RTX 5080 offers dedicated 4:2:2 decoding hardware, making video editing snappy and colour-accurate.

Multitasking is buttery smooth thanks to 32 GB LPDDR5X-7467 RAM, and the 2 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD ensures plenty of room for heavy files while keeping boot and load times practically instant.

Packing this much performance into such a slim chassis requires thoughtful thermal management, and Asus delivers. The ROG Intelligent Cooling system, with liquid metal, dual fans, and Arc Flow 2.0 tech, works quietly and efficiently.

Even under GPU-intensive tasks like 4K exports or long gaming sessions, the laptop stays within safe temperature thresholds. You’ll hear the fans ramp up, but they’re not distractingly loud, and more importantly, the palm rests stay cool, which is a big plus for comfort during extended use.

Windows & Smart Features

The G16 ships with Windows 11, and Asus has leveraged the OS’s AI capabilities through both hardware and software integration. Thanks to the Intel AI Boost NPU, you get up to 13 TOPs of AI performance, which helps in accelerating AI-powered applications — be it content generation, image upscaling, language processing, or even battery optimisation through smart resource allocation.

On the software side, features like live captions, background blur in video calls, and auto-framing are all enhanced through onboard AI. Asus also incorporates its own intelligent noise-cancelling tech that filters out background noise during calls using machine learning — something remote workers and streamers will appreciate.

Audio

The 6-speaker Dolby Atmos system is rich and immersive, giving the laptop an edge in both entertainment and work. Whether it’s ambient gaming audio or acoustic-heavy video edits, the clarity and spatial depth are impressive.

Battery

Packing a 90 Wh battery, the G16 offers decent battery life for a laptop with this kind of hardware. I averaged around 6–7 hours during light productivity (web browsing, typing, media playback), which drops significantly under load, as expected. Thankfully, Asus includes support for USB-C PD up to 100 W, which means you can charge it with a compact charger on the go if you don’t want to plug the 240 W adapter.

Verdict

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 (2025) is a laptop that caters effortlessly to two demanding worlds — creative professionals and hardcore gamers. It’s powerful, portable, premium, and smartly engineered. Sure, it has its quirks — the oversized touchpad and the weight of the power brick — but these are small trade-offs for what is otherwise a well-balanced, forward-looking machine.

If you’re someone who doesn’t want to compromise between performance and portability, the ROG Zephyrus G16 should be at the top of your list. Asus ROG Zephyrus G16 starts at ₹3,59,990.