Customer Ratings & Reviews

The laptop is very thin and very light with a nice satin finish. Overall build quality is high with the exception that the screen is a little flimsy, not problematic, just be aware of it. The screen is wonderful, HDR, OLED. Does ok in light, no glare protection film. Processor speed is kinda ridiculous for the form factor. You are compromising a little on software compatibility, if you're unfamiliar look up ARM architecture. I haven't run into compatibility issues myself and emulation has come a long way anyway. 48GB of ram is insane in this market and should be future proof for a long time. Only downside on performance is that the GPU is just alright. Definitely enough for light gaming, and that situation should improve as Qualcomm becomes more of a market consideration for game developers. Battery like is great but not best of the best. For so much processing power you can really get a lot of life out of this thing. It will go about 8-10 hours of web browsing. Running full tilt you'll probably get 2-3 hours away from the wall. Not quite as good as other ARM laptops can offer, but that's the price you pay for so much performance. Also have noticed the battery drain during sleep is really low due to Qualcomms experience in the mobile industry. S0ix sleep ("Modern Standby") doesn't leave your laptop burning up in a bag like it can on traditional Intel and AMD based laptops. Though they have also improved in recent years. Overall very happy with the laptop. If you are a professional that needs CPU performance but doesn't want to lug around a heavy 'desktop replacement' style laptop then this is an impressive option. Just be aware of the fee small caveats.

Over the years, I’ve tested a lot of premium laptops, and ASUS is one brand that continues to impress me. This time around, I got my hands on the Zenbook A16 with the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, and it’s easily one of the most well-rounded laptops I’ve used for both productivity and entertainment. It’s clearly built for people who want a large, immersive display and strong performance without giving up portability. So, let’s get into what the Zenbook A16 brings to the table. Specs as tested: Processor: Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme RAM: LPDDR5 48GB Graphics: Qualcomm Adreno Display: 2880 x 1800 (3K) 120Hz OLED Touchscreen Storage: 512GB SSD One of the first things that stood out to me was the color—I absolutely love the Zabriskie Beige finish. It gives the laptop a clean, premium look that feels a bit different from the usual options. On top of that, the portability is seriously impressive. At just 2.87 lbs. and about 0.65 inches thin, this 16-inch laptop is surprisingly easy to carry around. Whether you’re commuting, working remotely, or just moving from room to room, it doesn’t feel bulky at all. You’re getting a large display for multitasking without sacrificing that lightweight feel. The display is easily one of the highlights here. The 16-inch 3K OLED touchscreen is beautiful and vibrant, with rich colors, deep blacks, and excellent contrast. Everything just looks better on it. Powered by the Qualcomm Adreno GPU, visuals feel smooth and polished across the board. For productivity, that means crisp text and a comfortable viewing experience during long work sessions, plus the added convenience of touch. For entertainment, it really shines—movies and shows look cinematic, with sharp detail and colors that pop. And even though this isn’t a gaming-focused machine, it can still handle light gaming surprisingly well. I was able to run Horizon Zero Dawn at 1080p smoothly without any hiccups, which was a nice bonus. Performance is another area where this laptop really delivers. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor paired with 48GB of LPDDR5 RAM makes everything feel fast and responsive. Multitasking is effortless—I had multiple apps, browser tabs, documents, video calls, and even some light photo and video editing running at the same time, and it never felt like it was slowing down. It’s the kind of performance that just stays out of your way and lets you get things done. Battery life is also a big win here. The 70Wh battery, combined with the efficiency of the Snapdragon platform, easily gets you through a full day of work with room to spare. And when you do need to recharge, the fast charging is super convenient—getting up to 50% in about 30 minutes makes a real difference when you’re short on time. The 512GB SSD keeps things running fast, with quick boot times and snappy file access. That said, this is probably the one area where some people might run into limitations. Since the storage isn’t upgradeable, 512GB can fill up pretty quickly if you’re working with large files, media libraries, or games. It’s manageable, but you’ll likely end up relying on cloud storage or an external drive over time if you’re a heavier user. Ports: USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A SD Card Reader HDMI 2.1 2 x USB 4 Type-C Audio combo jack Overall, this is the kind of laptop that just fits seamlessly into your daily routine. It’s powerful enough to handle demanding productivity, efficient enough to last all day, and immersive enough to double as a great entertainment device when you’re ready to relax. Aside from the fixed storage, everything else feels thoughtfully designed and well-executed. If you’re looking for a sleek, future-ready laptop that can handle both work and downtime without compromise, the ASUS Zenbook A16 is an easy recommendation.

I've been using the ASUS Zenbook A16 for just under a week and it's already replaced my old machine as my main work laptop. That decision usually takes me a lot longer. The Ceraluminum chassis is insane. I've owned plenty of laptops and can't remember one that felt this good in hand. The matte finish is smooth in a way that's hard to describe until you touch it and by the way, a 16-inch laptop this powerful has no business being this light. There's a bit of screen wobble if you go looking for it, but nothing that worries me. I can toss this in a backpack without feeling like I packed a brick. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is the real story. Apps open almost instantly, and I've run AI-heavy PowerPoint and Excel sessions with several tasks processing at once while the laptop barely seemed to notice. My benchmarks came in at 3,202 single-core, 27,295 multi-core, and 37,654 OpenCL. That's crazy. Good amount of RAM too, so no slow launches, no fans blasting because I opened one more spreadsheet. I live mostly in the Microsoft ecosystem, so I can't vouch for every specialized Windows app, but the ARM chip hasn't caused me a single problem. Copilot+ works fine. I just don't see the appeal of locking myself into one AI system, and it's not why I'd buy this laptop. The 16-inch 3K OLED display is gorgeous, with deep blacks and text sharp enough that I can fit more on screen for photo editing and document work without squinting. It's a touchscreen too, but who needs that? The keyboard is comfortable and doesn't make me change how I type. The touchpad is excellent and maybe a little too big. I sometimes have to reposition my wrist to right-click in the lower corner. My real gripe is the missing number pad. A 16-inch laptop has room for one, and I'm in spreadsheets constantly. Battery life hasn't been a worry across normal workdays, and the machine stays cool and quiet even under heavy workload. I haven't heard the fans kick on the way they do with Intel or AMD laptops. Gaming was the frustrating part. Cloud gaming through Xbox Game Pass worked, but my 140GB download of Modern Warfare III wouldn't launch offline. I didn't have time to troubleshoot, so I can't say for sure it was the laptop's fault, but it reminded me why I prefer consoles. The performance is there for gaming; the software support needs to catch up. The six speakers are good for a laptop, the webcam and mic handle video calls fine, and the ports cover HDMI, USB-C, USB-A, and an SD card slot. Both USB-C ports sit on the left, though, so charging from the right side isn't an option. The 512GB SSD is the biggest hardware letdown on a machine this capable. Business users, creative pros, and heavy multitaskers should love this thing. Gamers may want to wait for better ARM support unless they're comfortable troubleshooting or streaming. The missing number pad, small SSD, and left-only USB-C are annoying, but they don't come close to outweighing what this laptop gets right.

I first used a Windows ARM laptop a couple of years ago when Qualcomm released its first Snapdragon X Elite chip. Back then, I thought it was a promising start, but there were still some software compatibility issues, and battery life couldn't quite match the competition. Fast forward to the new ASUS Zenbook A16: with the new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip, ASUS has made a 16-inch laptop so thin, light, and powerful that it's almost beyond belief. It's basically a perfect mix of design, weight, performance, and battery life, which is an increasingly rare thing given the skyrocketing costs of computer components these days. However, I do have concerns about the long-term durability of the unique "Ceraluminum" material that ASUS used for this laptop. === PROS === - This is, without question, the most lightweight 16-inch laptop I've ever seen or used. I almost didn't believe it when I opened the box. It weights just 2.6 pounds, which is lighter than most modern 14- and 15-inch laptops. - The design and build quality of the Zenbook A16 are mostly excellent. The light "Zabriskie Beige" color resists fingerprints, but to me, it's not as sleek or professional as a black or gray laptop. The hinge feels strong and the display is easy to open with one hand, but there is a bit of screen wobble. Amazingly, there is basically zero flex to the keyboard -- it is very solid when you push down - The display is beautiful. It's an OLED with a 2880×1800 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. Colors are rich and vivid with a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut. It gets very bright, up to 1100 nits in HDR content. The 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling through documents, webpages, and photographs feel seamless with no lag. This particular model also features a touch screen. - The trackpad is large and very good given its mechanical diving-board design. It's not too hard to press and has a satisfying click. You can click about two thirds of the way up the trackpad, while the top third doesn't click. - The specs of this laptop are almost unrivaled at this price point. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is an incredibly powerful chip that uses unified RAM with 228 GB/s of memory bandwidth. Paired with the powerful Adreno X2-90 graphics chip and the massive 48 GB of RAM, you have yourself a powerhouse of a laptop for pretty much any type of productivity work. This laptop is perfect for photo and video editing, assuming your preferred software is ARM compatible. I have not encountered any compatibility issues in the applications I use (Adobe suite, Blender, Gimp, Microsoft Office, and others). - Battery life is seriously impressive. In my testing, I was able to get roughly 10 hours of battery life (emails, Word documents, video calls) with the screen brightness around 50% and putting the laptop in "whisper" mode. I probably could have managed a couple of hours more if I reduced brightness even further, but the A16 will easily get you through a full work day. - The A16 has a decent selection of ports, with two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and an HDMI 2.1 port. There's also a full size SD card reader. The laptop also supports Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, so the connectivity here is relatively future-proof. - The speakers are decent, but they are not up-firing (they are placed on the bottom of the machine, so sound is directed down towards your desk or lap). The speakers sound fine, especially when the laptop is placed on a flat surface. But I did notice some distortion at loud volumes, and the speakers seem just a bit "tinny" or flat to me. - The laptop charges via USB-C and not some proprietary barrel charger. It also includes a very powerful 130-watt USB-C charger. === CONS === - The "Ceraluminum" material is what makes the laptop so lightweight, but as soon as I unboxed it, I noticed a glaring defect. On the top of the laptop near the "Asus Zenbook" logo is a shiny/oily looking spot where the Ceraluminum material doesn't appear to have been properly applied (or maybe some sort of coating rubbed off during shipping). It looks like a large smudge or fingerprint mark that won't go away no matter how I try to clean it. Not a huge deal, but it's doesn't give me much confidence in how well this material will hold up over the years. I've included some pictures. I reached out to ASUS about this issue but I never received a response. For this reason alone, I have to deduct a full star from my rating. - I don't understand why ASUS doesn't include haptic trackpads in more of its laptops. The mechanical trackpad on this A16 is nice enough and gets the job done, but it pales in comparison to the haptic trackpads used on other premium laptops. Haptic trackpads are more durable, allow for customization, and allow you to click anywhere on the trackpad (even the very top). The mechanical trackpad here just feels outdated and not very premium. - This model of the A16 only includes 512 GB of storage, which seems like the bare minimum these days. Luckily, it uses a standard M.2 SSD that can be easily upgraded. - The OLED display is stunning, but it is very glossy and is a fingerprint and dust magnet. - I love that the laptop charges via USB-C, but only the left side of the laptop has USB-C ports. So depending on where your power outlet is located, you might have to reach the cord around to the opposite end of the laptop. === OVERALL === The Zenbook A16 is an incredibly powerful and lightweight laptop, but I was disappointed to see the defect in the Ceraluminum material on a brand new machine. This certainly makes me question how well the laptop will hold up over the years. It seems like it might easily scuff or scratch during normal use, which is a shame for a laptop that is otherwise excellent. I've contacted ASUS support about this defect but have not received a definitive response or resolution. I also wish ASUS would have included a haptic trackpad -- maybe in next year's model. If you're considering this laptop, you may want to try and see it in-person before purchasing so you can get a feel for the color and Ceraluminum material -- if you constantly place your laptop in a bag without a sleeve, maybe this isn't the best choice. If cosmetic defects or wear don't bother you, then the Zenbook A16 is hard to beat.

After being a little disappointed with the first generation of Snapdragon CPUs, I'm a lot happier with this X2 Elite Extreme. The 48GB of RAM also makes it a pretty great local LLM powerhouse. As an extra bonus, this thing can even game a bit. Overall, it's a great laptop in a small package and I'm quite happy with it as a development machine. Setup is as easy as any Windows setup. It's annoying. But you aren't going to get any better with a different Windows laptop. It'll take a long time to update. It'll require a Microsoft account. It's not fun but it's necessary. When you're finally done, you're ready to go, though! Bloatware is pretty much non-existent. I didn't have to remove McAfee or Norton or any other extras installed by ASUS. This laptop did have Microsoft 365 in 3 languages I removed (and for whatever reason, each one takes a really long time to uninstall). But other than that and a couple of links in the start menu (Adobe Promotion, WhatsApp, Dropbox and LinkedIn), there just wasn't any bloat. Performance has been really good. Especially for such a small/thin/lightweight laptop. The combination of a new generation of Snapgragon CPU and Windows on ARM not being super brand new anymore really shows. Things respond snappy. Things run quickly. Multitasking is great with the 48GB of RAM. This is a development machine for me and it's specced really well for that. With a nice pool of memory, running local AI models was definitely an interest and I'm happy to report positive results. Using Quallcomm's GenieX software, you can pull any GGUF model from huggingface and run it more optimized for their CPU/GPU/NPU. Running Qwen3.6 35B at about 14 tokens per second felt really quick and easy to use for coding assistance or general chatting. I still have a lot of testing to do with more agentic workflows but I was very happy with my initial AI testing. Copilot still feels pretty meh. It runs faster on this system but it's not the computer. It's just the model and the software wrapped around it. It feels very generic and bland and I prefer my own models instead. Having a key on my keyboard doesn't make me want to use it more, especially when pressing that key takes a few seconds to load or isn't consistent. I hope Windows stops trying to push the Copilot+ computer thing and just accepts including it as a small extra thing since that's all it currently is and I don't for see that changing any time soon. Gaming was a little more surprising to me because it does a decent job without any dedicated NVidia or AMD GPU. It has it's own Ardreno X2-90 GPU and it seems to do a pretty good job even with whatever CPU translation is required for more games these days. For my tests, I used Cyberpunk 2077 like I always do and didn't expect it to blow me away. You're not going to be running it at ultra raytracing but you can pull off high settings with respectable (and very playable) frame rates without raytracing. If you really need raytracing low settings, you can expect fps around 30 which is still pretty good. I would say it's best to not expect great raytracing performance but for me (and most people I've talked to), that's not a huge concern. I also threw in a test of Satisfactory and got around 80 fps on ultra settings. So while gaming is not a primary focus of this machine, you can definitely take some breaks from work with most modern games with some small setting concessions. The build quality is quite good. The laptop is small, thin and lightweight and feels well made. You don't get a plastic feeling behemoth here. It's sleek. The keyboard feels nice to type on (I'm typing this review on it as we speak). The trackpad is huge and feels good to use when you need to use it but I have noticed some false positives of my palm. Hopefully I can clear those up with some software tweaks or settings. Speakers sound good but it's a laptop so you're not rocking the house or anything. Battery life will depend on what you're working on. I would say, heavy and intensive use, you can probably get through a workday. But with just light use, my battery is currently at 85% and Windows says I have about 14 hours left. So if you're just doing some light browsing and text editing, you'll get plenty of time away from the plug. All in all, this is a great laptop. It's nice to look at and can do a lot of work while staying alive through all of it without a plug. It can let you take breaks for some gaming and run local LLM models quickly. I'm a big fan of what it has to offer and am glad ARM on Windows finally feels good to use. If you're looking for a fast and energy efficient laptop that probably costs less than similar offerings by AMD and Intel, give this one a good look.

This Asus UX3607 is literally one of the best laptops I’ve used in my ~38 years, and I’m a pretty big x86 fan. When ARM first came to a couple of extremely limited/lame devices, I thought for sure that it would never amount to much. In just the last couple years, I went from thinking it was a possible ultraportable/ultra power efficient option for a mid/low performance device, to now seeing it with my own eyes, that x86 has a real competitor on their hands. (In everyday computing with multiple tabs open, and a few different open applications, flipping around between them is SO fast and snappy) Build - Top notch build quality, I haven’t seen many Windows devices that match this overall fit/finish/and impressive weight all working in an extremely attractive and light package. Like seriously, how did they get this thing so light and slim while still looking great and performing amazing! The keyboard is quite good, and the backlight has great brightness for typing in the dark. Performance - The unfortunately named X2E-94-100 is an awesome chip. It lays some absolute smackdown to every other mobile chip I’ve used, and it does it while remaining fairly cool (other than in cinebench) The GPU doesn’t measure up to the CPU though, while its still quite good for an iGPU, it’ll need to have better drivers or something to really compete with the competitions solid current gen iGPUs. (I ran FH6 benchmark just for fun, actually ran at 68fps on very low with FSR, but the biggest issue was the massive frame dips that you can see in the included chart from the benchmark, not playable at all) Screen - the OLED in this unit is STELLAR, gets so bright, the colors just pop like crazy, and its 2880x1880 and 120hz! Looks so great and is so smooth, and the touchscreen is a great addition too, even though I do not use it much. Memory/storage - the LPDDR5x is crazily clocked at over 9500MT/s, and even in the current RAMmageddon prices, you’re getting a very sizable 48GB! They skimped a bit on size with the 512GB SSD, but at least it's a speedy Samsung OEM unit. (peaked at almost 6.9GB/s reads and around 5.7GB/s writes in crystal disk mark) If you’re looking for a premium feeling Windows device that can get around the *very few* caveats of ARM with Windows, and you do not need a pile of GPU, this Asus will work great even for the most power hungry users while remaining a fairly good value!

I have a kid headed off to college who has been eyeing my laptop, so for this reason I found myself taking a jump from my current touch screen laptop to the ASUS Zenbook A16. This review is based on a week of use both at work and in my home office.  TL:DR - This Zenbook gives other top line productivity focused laptops some strong competition. The build is sleek, refined looking, while still being robust without being heavy. The performance for productivity tools is top notch, not bogging down and not blowing through battery life. The OLED touchscreen monitor may be the best laptop touchscreen you've ever seen and the processor took every big task I threw at it without even the slightest lag. Pros: I love the keyboard weighting and layout. The keys are soft, quiet, and the perfect weight. The design is a great mix of sturdiness and polish so it looks and feels high quality. This may be the first time I've ever considered laptop speakers a pro, and while these still have opportunities for depth, they aren't bad. I can fill a medium sized bedroom room with music, or watch a movie without headphones and still enjoy the audio quality.  The ASUS control panel puts key settings and functionality controls in one spot for quick setting adjustments. This may be the best laptop on the market for power consumption versus performance.  Cons: Being really picky, I wish the screen would lay flat or have a tablet mode versus go to ~140 degrees. The volume booster setting is complete garbage, and takes speaker performance back down to being flat and overdriven. In the box is the Zenbook, instructions, and power cable. Setup is fantastically quick, no bloatware to load, just the normal Windows workflow and optional ASUS registration. Moving on to the performance, starting with the obvious, this OLED immediately grabs your attention at 3k resolution, 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits brightness. The A16 build spec is such that you don't have to trade off battery life for brightness or touchscreen response for graphics performance. The real estate is well used, with a large touch pad, decent key spacing, and adequate ports around the perimeter (HDMI, 2 x USB-C Thunderbolt, audio jack, USB-A, and a card reader). The built in camera and microphone perform well for video conferencing, and the camera resolution (1080p) far exceeds expectations. Note that this is all packaged into a laptop that weighs in under 3 lbs. The Qualcomm ARM-based Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip is a powerhouse for energy efficiency and AI tasks, since this isn't really a gaming build, I ran a web based stress testing tool to see if I could find performance gaps because I could not get this laptop to bog down when running macros while using 3d printing software. During the stress testing I found was that if I had the keyboard backlight on full power, the keyboard got hot and the laptop base had a small amount of heat but zero signs of processor stress (lag, apps not responding or crashing) or what I consider to be unacceptable levels of overheating. What surprised me was there was almost no fan noise. When I turned off the keyboard lighting the heat was reduced and the laptop cooled relatively quickly once I stopped the stress test. Bottom line, the entire package screams quality, efficiency, and a build that doesn't back down to your toughest multi-tasking needs. This laptop gives me the confidence to run a 3d print render while working on an excel workbook and chatting up the Copilot+ AI tool and not think twice about crashing any of the applications. 

Design & Build Quality The design of this Zenbook is genuinely impressive. The laptop lid is the thinnest I’ve ever seen, and the entire machine is remarkably slim without feeling fragile. Despite its thin profile, it includes all the essential ports: HDMI, two USB C ports, USB A, an SD card slot, and a headphone jack. It’s refreshing to see a thin-and-light laptop that doesn’t sacrifice usability. The build feels premium, and the minimalist aesthetic gives it a sophisticated look that stands out without being flashy. Setup Experience Setup was straightforward and similar to other Windows laptops. One thing I don’t love — and this is a Windows issue, not an Asus one — is how Microsoft forces you to sign in with a Microsoft account. There’s no obvious option to create a local account. I read online that skipping Wi Fi might allow it, but I was already past that point. Once setup was complete, the Zenbook updated the OS quickly and was ready to go. Display & Audio The OLED display is stunning. It’s noticeably brighter than my external monitor, and the colors are incredibly vibrant. Even simple tasks look better on this screen. The thin black border adds to the modern feel, and watching YouTube or Netflix is genuinely enjoyable. The display is also a touchscreen, which is a nice bonus even though I don’t find myself using it often. The speakers are surprisingly good for a laptop this thin — clear, loud enough, and not tinny. Performance Performance on this Zenbook is excellent. Every application launches quickly with no noticeable delay. I opened more than five apps at once to push the Snapdragon X2 and 48GB of RAM, and it still ran smoothly. Apps actually open faster than on my all in one desktop with an Intel Core 7 150U, which was a pleasant surprise. For everyday productivity, multitasking, streaming, and general use, this laptop feels fast and responsive. Keyboard & Usability The keyboard is well-sized with large, easy-to-read lettering. The three-level backlighting is bright and clear — noticeably better than the backlit keys on some of my other laptops, which can be hard to read in dim lighting. The trackpad is smooth and responsive, and the overall typing experience is comfortable. Battery Life While I’m usually near an outlet when using a laptop, the battery life on this Zenbook has been solid. The efficiency of the Snapdragon chip definitely helps, and casual use doesn’t drain the battery quickly. Final Thoughts Overall, the Asus Zenbook is an outstanding laptop. It’s lightweight, beautifully designed, fast, and equipped with one of the best displays you’ll find in this category. I haven’t found a single thing to nitpick — it simply performs well across the board. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a sleek, modern laptop that delivers excellent performance without unnecessary bulk.

The ASUS Zenbook A16 stands out with a great combination of Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, 48GB RAM, 1TB SSD and a 16" 3K OLED touchscreen, all packed into a laptop weighing under 3 lbs. This is my first laptop with 48GB RAM, and naturally I was curious to see what I could do with all that memory beyond my normal productivity apps. I started playing around with my Adobe content creation software (Firefly) along with Copilot and my usual work applications to see how far I could push it. Having used both Intel and previous-generation Snapdragon Copilot+ PCs, I was particularly interested in the new X2 Elite Extreme. The first-generation Snapdragon laptops impressed me mostly with battery life and power efficiency. With the X2 Elite Extreme, Qualcomm seems to be pushing much harder on performance and AI while still keeping the efficiency advantage of the Snapdragon processor. What Stood Out Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme + 48GB RAM: The 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme comes with an 80 TOPS NPU for AI workloads. The 48GB RAM is what caught my attention right away. I typically have Teams, multiple browser windows, Excel, PowerPoint, ChatGPT, Claude, and Copilot open at the same time, and 48GB gives you plenty of room for this kind of multitasking. I also used my Adobe content creation software to put a little more load on the system instead of just testing Office applications. Content creation is where the extra memory starts to make more sense, especially when you are working with larger photos or video files while still having other applications running in the background. This is the kind of use case where I would rather have 48GB than the 16GB that is still common on many premium laptops. The 80 TOPS NPU gives the laptop a lot more dedicated AI processing capability. Features such as Windows Studio Effects, Live Captions and other supported AI functions can run on the NPU instead of putting everything on the CPU. For me, that is the real value of the NPU supported AI features can run in the background while I continue working on everything else. Interestingly, while monitoring the NPU in Task Manager, I rarely saw utilization go beyond about 25% during my normal mix of productivity and background AI applications, which suggests there is still plenty of room for more demanding AI workloads. 16" 3K OLED Display The 2880 x 1800 OLED touchscreen with a 120Hz refresh rate is easily one of the highlights of this laptop. The vibrant colors and sharp text make it great for reviewing dashboards, presentations, photos and watching videos. The 120Hz refresh rate also makes scrolling through webpages and documents noticeably smoother than a regular 60Hz display. I really like the larger 16-inch screen for productivity. There is enough screen space to keep two applications open side by side without immediately looking for an external monitor. It is very useful when working on PowerPoint, Excel, dashboards or Adobe content where the extra screen real estate makes a difference. The OLED display also complements the content creation side of this laptop. Photos and videos look great on the 3K screen, and having a touchscreen is handy for quick navigation. Lightweight Design For a 16-inch laptop, the weight is probably the biggest surprise. At under 3 lbs, it feels more like carrying a 14-inch ultrabook than a traditional 16-inch laptop. I travel quite a bit and usually like having a larger screen or a portable monitor, but I don't like carrying a 4-5 lb laptop + monitor around. The A16 gives me both. The Zabriskie Beige finish is also a nice change from the typical gray or black laptops I currently own, and it gives the laptop a sleek, premium look. AI, Productivity and Content Creation The combination of the 80 TOPS NPU and 48GB RAM is what makes this laptop more interesting to me than just another thin Copilot+ PC. For normal productivity, 48GB is probably more than most people need today, but once you start adding content creation, AI applications and heavier multitasking, that extra memory becomes useful. For my use, this is a good combination for Teams, Office applications, Copilot, browser-heavy workloads and Adobe content creation. The full-size SD card reader is another nice touch as I am constantly transferring photos and videos from my Drone and Osmo. Connectivity and Ports • 2x USB 4 Type-C • USB-A • HDMI 2.1 • Full-size SD card reader • 3.5mm audio jack • Wi-Fi 7 • Bluetooth 5.4 I like that ASUS kept the HDMI, USB-A and full-size SD card reader. I travel with enough adapters already, so having these ports built into such a thin laptop is definitely useful. Things to Be Aware Of This is still a Windows-on-ARM laptop, so I would check compatibility if you rely on older or specialized software. I couldn't get my 4 year old canon laser printer to run on this laptop due to driver compatibility issue. Mainstream Windows applications have come a long way on Snapdragon PCs, but there are still some legacy applications and games that may not work exactly the same way as they do on an Intel or AMD laptop. The newer Adreno graphics make this much more capable for gaming than the first-generation Snapdragon PCs, but I am still using this primarily for productivity, 3D design software and video editing software. Overall Impression The Zenbook A16 has a great balance of performance, display size and portability. It’s a powerhouse for productivity, multitasking, content creation and AI applications. What impresses me the most is that ASUS managed to put all of this into a 16-inch laptop weighing under 3 lbs. For someone who travels frequently, wants a large OLED display and runs a mix of productivity, Copilot and content creation applications, this is a very compelling laptop.

I have been testing the ASUS Zenbook A16 with the Snapdragon Elite 2 ARM processor. The hardware is incredibly impressive, but it comes with a major dealbreaker if you rely on a specific OS workflow. What I Loved - The power efficiency is incredible and easily gets through a full day of work. - The system is super responsive with no lag during daily tasks. - The 3K OLED 120Hz refresh rate makes everything look fluid, and the colors are beautiful. - It is shockingly lightweight and easy to carry around for a 16-inch laptop. The Big Limitation - No Snapdragon X2 Eli Linux ARM support: This is the biggest drawback. If you use Linux, the Snapdragon platform does not currently support native Linux on Snapdragon X2 Elite ARM. You are strictly locked into the Windows ecosystem for the foreseeable future.

--- SETUP --- The Zenbook A16 was easy to set up. Plug in and let it charge while you are installing updates and adjusting your settings. For me, it was a 30 minute setup after all upgrades. --- PERFORMANCE AND EXPECTATIONS --- This laptop has stood out to me and those around me in more than one way. I carried it around for work, which for me, meant walking to different rooms and being asked to sit away from electric outlets. That’s when I discovered how well the battery lasts. After a full workday of 8 hours, the laptop didn’t require constant charging. I left the work day with about 20% of the battery life left. One day, I forgot to charge it overnight. A quick 30 minute charge got me up to 50% and that was enough for another recharge during lunch. I brought it with me on gamenight with some friends. As soon as I took it out, people made comments about how nice it looked. A friend of mine carried it and she immediately noticed how light it felt. Compared to my actual work laptop, it is lighter, yet bigger. Though this isn’t a gaming laptop, it still works to host games like Jack Box Party Pack. Choosing games was made easier because of the touchscreen, which works very well. Using this laptop for editing in CapCut Pro was very exciting. Though I usually work from home when editing, using it while traveling surprised me because it has an extra large touchpad. This allows me to have extra scrolling space when watching videos to make cuts or edits. Face log in is a feature I enjoy. This way, I don’t have to remember passwords often. This computer also has a feature where it detects if you are nearby or leaving, allowing the computer to respond by becoming active or inactive. Works well for me in my office space that doesn’t have a lot of people circulating about. --- APPROVAL --- Overall, this laptop is one of the best laptops I have used for work and light play. It has officially replaced my previous personal model and I will be using it often when traveling.

Bought this ASUS Zenbook A16 at Best Buy for $1,369. It was on sale from $1,899. It has a 16-inch touch screen, 48GB of memory, and 512GB of storage. The color is a light beige. I like it. The screen looks really good and it is easy to carry for a bigger laptop. It feels fast for normal stuff like the internet, email, photos, and videos. The battery lasts all day for me. Face login works and the keyboard is comfortable. It comes with the charger. It did not come with a case, so I would get a sleeve for it. Overall a good laptop for the price. I would buy it again.

No hiccups so far. Speed on the laptop is top tier. Build quality feels great. Screen display is crisp. Price is reasonable on a sale in this day and age.

Been using this laptop for the past two months. I am very happy with the light weight and excellent screen. Coming from a MacBook Pro 16", the speakers are worse, but not bad still. Keep in mind that the HDMI, despite being marked as 2.1, is 2.1 TDMS, meaning it cannot output at 4K 120 Hz.

Battery Life- Amazing Speed- Lightning Fast Display- Beautiful OLED, with High resolution

I was surprised how light the Zenbook A16 was, but it's held up well in travelling and the extra RAM gives it some oomph when processing and multitasking..

This laptop is fantastic, the best is the battery and the performance. I only wish to have a numeric pad and the touch pad smaller.

Excellent computer, fantastic screen and very fast processor

satisfied speed, good quality, max gb, good display

Fast, screen superb, build ok (compared to ms and apple) only issue is compatibility with some windows apps