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Customer reviews

Rating 4.6 out of 5 stars with 187 reviews

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  • Battery Life

    Rating 4.4 out of 5 stars

  • Speed

    Rating 4.6 out of 5 stars

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    Rating 4.6 out of 5 stars

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92%would recommend to a friend

Customers are saying

Customers often highlight the AERO X16's premium build quality, portability, and impressive battery life. Users also appreciate its gaming performance and processor speed, noting that it delivers desktop-class performance in a portable design. However, some users have mentioned concerns about fan noise and heat dissipation during intensive tasks. Overall, the AERO X16 receives positive feedback for its design and performance capabilities.

This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.

The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 2 Showing 21-40 of 187 reviews
  • Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Don't buy from best buy

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    If I got the laptop I paid for Maybe I would leave a better review. But seeing how I paid for a laptop with a nvida 5070 GPU and got one that said on the box that it has a RTX 5070 8G 1st red flag. Funny enough there is a sticker on the laptop for Nvidia GPU 5070 studio version. In the system settings and device manager it says I have a AMD 860m. I know next to nothing about GPUs But I know That's not what I ordered. I know that's not what was on the listing I know that's not what was on the box I know that's not what was on the sticker. Possibilities other than a bait and switch. System update didn't go properly drivers didn't install properly. So I tried Best buy support that was an absolute nightmare Maybe it's just because it's after hours But after wasting 30 minutes saying seven different ways that there was a discrepancy with the GPU they finally understood that there was a discrepancy with the GPU and that was my issue. And that's pretty much where the help end it after waiting a total of 76 minutes I got tired of waiting for any continued help and for them to keep doing their research to figure out what was going on after providing model number and serial number. I gave up Now I have to drive an hour out of my way to return this or wait days or weeks for the return laptop to get back to them to receive my refund and then buy a new one and wait for that one to get back to me and hopefully that one is what I actually paid for. Since if I go through online shopping I am 100% going to buy from Amazon instead of Best buy it probably won't be that big of an issue with the new laptop coming to me anyway. But I guess that was my mistake in the beginning buying from Best buy Why buy anything from Best buy when you could get a better price on Amazon better customer service on Amazon Just overall better experience on Amazon and guess what they don't use FedEx like Best buy FedEx is the worst delivery company in the world used by apparently the worst tech business in the world

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
  • Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    By far the absolute worst laptop I've ever owned.

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    Posted . Owned for 3 months when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The laptop had issues from the start and I initially wondered whether I'd received something refurbished. I'm disappointed as this is the most expensive PC I've owned, other than Macs. The issues included glitchiness during bootup and initial setup which I initially brushed off. Unfortunately the laptop went into Advanced Mode twice after 4 months of use and during the second instance it gave a "disk not found" error that couldn't be fixed at home. All of this follows a separate instance where it didn't boot up for about 30 minutes for reasons unknown, even when plugged in. All of this happened within a span of about 2 months, and again I've only owned this laptop 4 months. Worst I've ever had. Literally a piece of junk. Even if Geek Squad can fix it, I'm still going to look into a replacement with a different brand.

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
  • Rated 1 out of 5 stars

    Crippled hardware. Racecar idling in a school zone

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    Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    No computer should ship needing a bios update that falls on the customer. And no computer should ship with secure boot disabled because windows requires TPM to be enabled for windows 11 and if secure boot is disabled then TPM could be enabled all it wants to be but it's definitely not going to be enforced. So you get a laptop and don't even know initially that you're vulnerable. And the secondary m.2 sot is only half depth meaning you're stick with a 1 sided SSD AND the secondary m 2 connector is half the speed of the primary and the NPU doesn't even have anywhere near a mature software stack. Co-pilot only uses max 3-4% of the potential of that 50 TOPS NPU. Oh, and the fact that there isn't even change logs or release notes for the new bios update? I could be bricking my own laptop over CVE's that I don't even know that gigabyte even patched. I think I'll just stick with Hardened Fedora with NIX in a venv and detachable kernel hooks and immutable flags set. I'm not bricking something I bought that shouldn't have even been sold like this.

    No, I would not recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Overall performance, Processor speed
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    The sweet spot for performance and value

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This is my first ever GIGABYTE product, the Gigabyte Aero X16 Copilot Laptop and I have been using it for around 5 days now and I really like it due to it being sleek, its feel, performance and a good quality screen. This will become my daily driver. Note: The packaging can be removed from the box to construct a sturdy laptop stand... Pretty neat! -- Design -- With the addition of above, The chassis on this laptop is quite compact. It is very susceptible to smudges from fingers when picking it up or just touching it but its not as bad such as gloss material. Its hinges on the screen are sturdy with very minimal rocking, Ergonomics feel great along with the keyboard and mousepad placement. Do note that there is no numeric keypad on the keyboard. The only small minor thing I wish was included on this (and highly suggested for GIGABYTE to consider in the future) is a LED indicator light for the SSD (formerly known as the HDD) Indicator LED. The SSD LED helps if Windows ever happens to freeze and your curious if the SSD is doing something such as installing updates, working in the background, etc. It does have a charging LED that shows orange when charging and then white when its completely charged along with a Power white LED indicator that indicates if the laptop is on or not. I hope that on future GIGABYTE laptops, they put the SSD LED light beside the other 2 lights that are located on the side which I hope they do not get rid of those either. -- Display -- The screen on this laptop is a nice 16 inch. matte 165HZ IPS with a resolution of 2560x1600. Sure, it's no OLED, however, the picture quality is subjectively good with rich colors and sharp content and its bright for the content displayed on it. I like the screen and found no problems with it at all. -- Performance -- This laptop feels like a great powerful laptop weather its for office usage, gaming usage or both. With its AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (Krackan Point) 32GB of DDR5 Ram 5600MHz which is upgradable to 64GB and a integrated Radeon 860M GPU. Also packs the main NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 with 8GB of GDDR7 VRAM and then a dedicated NPU. It performs great with system benchmarks I ran and there were no problems with running multiple programs, dozens of tabs open. No delays, no stutters that I noticed. Trying out a game, Cyberpunk 2077 with RT on Overdrive, DLSS 4.0 - DLSS Balanced, MFG on 4x, Ray Reconstruction On, Path Tracing on, around 55-60FPS avg which was ok for me, but to some, it may be a drawback, considering 8GB of VRAM on the 5070 which in todays standards, 12gb of VRAM should be the minimum. Also do not forget, This is also considered a Copilot+ PC with a dedicated NPU, enabling Windows 11 features like Recall, which uses snapshots to help you find content via natural language search. It also includes the updated Paint app with Copilot, allowing AI-based image generation, background removal, and editing and then you can blur your background with the webcam and it has Windows Hello for automatic sign in without the worry of PIN codes and passwords to remember. -- Connectivity -- For charging, this has a proprietary barrel plug for the charging port on the left side, then it has its fair selection of ports on the sides. Starting with the left side of the laptop, (1) RJ45-(Really nice to see this on a laptop!) (1) HDMI 2.1 port, (1) USB-C 4.0 with Power Delivery, (1) 1x USB-A 3.2, then on the right side, you get (1) USB-A 3.2, (1) USB-A Gen 2 & (1) 3.5mm Audio/Mic Combo Jack. If your looking for the newest Wi-Fi standards then you might be disappointed as this does not have PCIe Gen5 support nor Wi-Fi 7. It has Wi-Fi6E AND Bluetooth is V.52, my laptop has the Realtek 8852CE Wi-Fi chip inside. Didn't have any problems with WiFi what so ever. Fast speeds and Bluetooth worked without any problems with my Xbox One Controller. -- Interface -- The keyboard layout is cozy, I noted it earlier but again, no number pad so it might be a deal breaker to some but typing on this feels excellent with great feedback and very quiet, may I dare say, quiet actuations. The keys are backlit with RGB, bright and good lighting LED's. While looking through the settings, I see its only a single zone RGB control over the keyboard RGB and not for each individual key but im ok with that as I usually set it to my favorite color, a mid tone blue. The touchpad is large which most laptops now days have large touchpads, It could be a smaller, just a wish as sometimes when im typing, my palm will accidently swipe to something else on the screen. -- Battery -- Battery life is alright with this, its a 76 Wh, with the 150 W power adapter. A full charge takes about a 1 hour and 30 minutes and 80% in 45 minutes. But using it on battery. With a full charge, I got around 8.5 hours of usage with no gaming, just casual browsing, doing work, playing a video here and there. Then with a 2nd charge with a game running at max settings, 1 hour average before the battery is depleted and needs to be recharged again. -- Sound -- The speakers are good, better then what I have tried out on other laptops in the past year, with hearing clear voice and music and action in games, it could be a bit louder though with a bit more bass. Again, not bad overall. Would like to see some improvements in the future with more punch to the speakers. -- Suggestion -- For the next GIGABYTE models, please DO NOT GET RID OF THE LED INDICATOR LIGHTS! ADD A SSD INDICATOR LED Light also! SD Card readers are a must and last, improve the first time setup/Windows update experience as it seems to hang/take a long time for these updates to install, about 2 hours and there were many times I thought it had just stopped/froze compared to my other PC which I have done a factory restore on it, does updates and gets done within 30 minutes. -- Conclusion-- As this is my main daily driver laptop, it has a great display, great keyboard, plenty of ports, good sound/speakers, and performance beast, I would recommend purchasing it if your debating it. I am looking forward to continue using this for work, play while lounging around. GIGABYTE did pretty good with this laptop.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Fan noise, Processor speed
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Quiet. Powerful. Needs more VRAM.

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    TLDR: An excellent gaming laptop hindered in performance by NVidia's lack of VRAM. PROS Energy Efficient Ryzen Processor 32GB RAM / 1TB SSD RTX 5070 Graphics Very Quiet CONS Flimsy Keyboard Lacks VRAM to Reach Full Potential (8GB / 7.38 Useable) No OLED Display KEY SPECS Ryzen 7 AI 350 CPU (8C / 16T) up to 5GHz 32GB DDR5-5600 RAM NVidia RTX 5070 GPU 1TB Gigabyte-branded nVME SSD PORTS 1 x RJ45 3 x USB-A 1 x USB-C (Video Out from Ryzen 860M) 1 x HDMI 2.1 (Video Out from GTX 5070) INTIAL SET-UP This is the third Gigabyte computer I have been fortunate enough to review. However, like the previous 2, this one also suffered from issues during the initial boot-up and installation. The laptop refused to update itself to the July 2025 Windows 11 update. After waiting over an hour to update, I gave up. Not only would it not update, but the laptop was also incredibly slow and sluggish. Thankfully, Microsoft made the Windows Media Creation Tool available. I was able to download a pristine copy of Windows 11 directly from Microsoft and create a bootable thumb drive. Only after wiping the drive and installing a fresh copy of Windows 11 did the laptop finally feel like it should. Responsiveness was vastly improved, and Windows downloaded and installed the July 2025 update in less than 10 minutes. I’m not sure what is going on with the Gigabyte laptops, but every one I’ve received needed a fresh install of Windows to work properly. GAMING PERFORMANCE How does the new NVidia 5070 GPU game? It has a ton of gaming power, unfortunately it is severely hampered by its lack of NVRAM. Raw computer performance is there; it just quickly chews through the limited amount of RAM when you turn up all the goodies. Ray tracing and quality settings eat up the available RAM too quickly. Once used, frame rates drop. Still, the 5070 has great power and can turn out some decent frames. My testing included the above Gigabyte Aero X16 hooked to an LG UltraGear 49” 120Hz OLED Gaming Monitor. Below are my go-to games that I play on a regular basis: FORZA HORIZON 5 4k Extreme w/ DLSS – 58fps 4k Extreme w/o DLSS – 49fps 4k Ultra w/o DLSS - 68fps 1440p Extreme w/ DLSS – 103fps 1440p Extreme w/o DLSS – 82fps 1440p Ultra w/o DLSS – 97fps MICROSOFT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 2024 4k Ultra w/o DLSS – 35fps 4k High End w/o DLSS – 40fps 4k Medium w/o DLSS – 52fps 1440p High End w/o DLSS – 67fps 1440p Medium w/o DLSS – 67fps INDIANA JONES & THE GREAT CIRCLE 4k Ultra with & without DLSS – 12fps 4k High with & without DLSS – 12fps 1440p High w/o DLSS – 22fps 1440p High w/ DLSS – 25fps 1440p Medium w/o DLSS – 52fps 1440p w/ DLSS – 67fps DOOM DARK AGES 4k High with & without DLSS - 12fps 1440p High w/o DLSS – 80fps 1440p High w/ DLSS – 180fps 1440p Ultra w/o DLSS – 83fps 1440p Ultra w/ DLSS – 182fps 1440p Ultra Nightmare w/o DLSS – 79fps 1440p Ultra Nightmare w/ DLSS – 180fps F1 2024 (Doesn’t support DLSS in 50-series cards) 4k Ultra High w/o DLSS – 37fps 1440p Ultra High w/o DLSS – 63fps STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT 2 (Doesn’t support DLSS in 50-series cards) 4k Ultra w/o DLSS – 15fps 440p Ultra w/o DLSS – 40fps Gaming performance varied wildly during my testing. Some games were highly optimized and took full advantage of the 5070 and its frame generation prowess. Both Forza and Doom benefited from the DLSS tech, especially Doom. Other games like F1 2024 and Star Wars, both from EA, would not recognize the 5070 and only offered DLSS support for 40-series NVidia cards. So, I was unable to test the differences in performance using frame generation. I’m guessing it would have been a substantial improvement in performance as both games had plenty of overhead remaining. Then, you have games like Indiana Jones & The Great Circle. The 5070 had plenty of power for the game, but the textures and quality enhancements ate through the available VRAM leading to atrocious frame rates, leading to no other option, but to either lower resolution or texture qualities until the card could keep up. One thing that I absolutely must mention is the improvements Gigabyte has made with cooling and noise control. Of all the gaming laptops I’ve been lucky enough to test, the Aero X16 is substantially quieter than the others. The Aero X16 is much nicer to game on than Gigabytes of just a year ago. Noise is far less, and thermals are much more controlled. So much so, that if not gaming, the X16 is silent or there is barely a whisper from the fans. I’ve never used a laptop with this kind of processing power that is this quiet. Does it get loud? Yes. But way less than many others. It's often as quiet as my 2-in-1's when not gaming. The new Ryzen chip is very energy efficient, and Gigabyte’s thermal management is top notch. NEGATIVES First. The is a substantial droop to the middle of the keyboard when being used. There is not a lot of support in the middle of the laptop. Second. This is now the third Gigabyte laptop I’ve reviewed and the third one that needed a complete reinstall to keep it from feeling laggy and sluggish. The X16 had to get a reinstall of Windows just to update properly. Third. Even with decent RAM and processing power. The laptop scores low on Passmark tests. I have DDR5 RAM in other computers, and nearly every single one scored substantially higher on memory bandwidth testing. Same with the Ryzen 7. There is a bunch of computing power onboard, but single core, single threaded tests are quite weak. Lastly. This is not a Gigabyte fault, but a NVidia fault. The lack of onboard DDR7 VRAM SEVERELY hampers the 5070’s full potential. Look at Indiana Jones’ numbers. A perfect example. Overall GPU utilization was only 60%, but the 5070 was completely out of RAM and couldn’t muster any more frames. CONCLUSIONS Would I recommend the Aero X16? Yes. It is a very nice gaming laptop. The 5070 combined with the Ryzen 7 processor has a bunch of processing power and potential (once I installed a clean copy of Windows 11). Gigabyte's thermal management is top notch, and they should be recognized for their efforts. When not gaming, the X16 is either silent, or virtually silent. Quieter than nearly every other laptop I've reviewed. If it wasn't for the lack of VRAM hindering overall potential and having to start a Windows installation from scratch just to get the laptop to operate properly, I would easily give it 5 stars, but due to the memory constraints and Windows issues, I will give it 4.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Cons mentioned:
    Connectivity
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 3 out of 5 stars

    Stylish laptop with all the latest

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    My first impression of this laptop is that it looks really nice. At an average weight, it feels sturdy in my hands and has an aggressive, gamery design that sets it apart from other laptops. I like the RGB lights behind the keyboard, the angular design elements, and generous cooling vents that allow for near-silent fan operation at idle or for simple tasks. The keyboard feels easy to use and the trackpad is large and responsive. The power button is easy to find: front and center above the keyboard. On the other hand, it feels like wasted space because there are no other dedicated buttons above the keyboard. Adjusting the volume or brightness requires multiple key presses to access functions buried in the keyboard keys. Another weirdness that I noticed right away is that the sheen on the screen seemed to pick up really bright reflections at certain angles. The RGB lights from the keyboard created distracting reflections across the bottom of the screen. I am always interested in audio quality, even though I’ll probably usually use headphones. It’s nice to have decent built-in speakers just in case. And I’m always baffled by manufacturers that put speakers on the bottom. It sounds fine if the laptop is sitting on a flat hard desk, but sitting on a lap or an uneven surface there’s a good chance that the speakers will be blocked and muffled. I would much prefer speakers on top, above the keyboard, where they would provide consistent and direct sound. So, a laptop that you can’t hear when it’s on your lap? It might not make a difference because this laptop runs so hot that it’s almost impossible to hold it on your lap. Yeah, I know, this is true for almost every high-performance PC laptop (except for the newer Snapdragon designs). And this one does have a really great cooling design with quiet fans to dissipate all that heat quickly. I didn’t see performance suffer from overheating, but my legs definitely suffered. Before I get to performance, let me say that I am not highly versed in the latest specs and software. So a power user may be able to get a better experience by customizing settings and installing/removing particular software packages to take advantage of the specific hardware included with this laptop. But my out-of-the-box experience with a few different games was underwhelming. Don’t get me wrong, this is a powerful and capable computer, but it didn’t make me want to get rid of all my other computers in favor of this one. Doing basic tasks and watching videos works very well, though as I said the laptop gets hot quickly. Battery life is great until I start doing things. Even playing simpler games will drain the battery in a couple hours or so. Fortunately, charging is just as fast. I have a friend who is much more familiar with PC (desktop) gaming, and I had him try out a few of his favorite games. We found that graphics performance was consistently sketchy. Frame rate was impressive most of the time, but responsiveness would glitch or drop out from time to time, interfering with the best gaming experience. We tried turning the settings down as well as turning them way up, and the glitches were more or less the same. When it wasn’t glitching, frame rates were quite impressive even with all the graphic settings maxed out. This makes me think that the problem is with Windows, not with the laptop hardware. There were probably things going on in the background (even with gaming mode turned on), possibly related to all the AI nonsense that gets included with the OS these days. We also noticed that performance was significantly better with the laptop connected to external power. Again, there’s probably settings to improve performance. I am not a well-versed power user when it comes to Windows 11. Nor did I try to dig into the settings to try to figure out what was going on. So your mileage may vary. I have heard other people blaming the low amount of RAM for the GPU (only 8Gb), so that may be part of the problem. But my first impression was that this laptop is performant in most situations, even for heavy duty gaming, but nothing that blew me away. Since many of the hardware features included here are cutting edge, software may grow into the hardware and give a better experience for newer games. Similarly, for power users or LLM software developers, all the extra hardware power could be very useful. For an average user, many of these features may go underutilized, but day to day use feels very nice regardless. What I like: Sturdy, angular design. Trackpad is big and responsive. Bright screen with great viewing angles. RGB keyboard lights are fun. Nice pack of stickers. Quiet and powerful fans. Nice cardboard packaging. What I don’t like: The screen has a weird semigloss sheen that picks up bright reflections at certain angles. Runs hot. Proprietary charger plugs into the center of the side. Only one USB-C port. No dedicated buttons for volume or screen brightness. Speakers are on the bottom. Lots of built-in AI-powered nonsense that slows things down.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Processor speed
    Cons mentioned:
    Screen brightness
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    AERO X-16 = All around Excellent Machine

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The Gigabyte Aero X16 laptop most perfectly suits nearly all of my computing needs, be it graphically GPU intensive high-end gaming, working on the business, consuming or creating media, and as a secondary surveillance monitor when not actively in use. The screen is big and bright, albeit not OLeD but sharp and crisp nonetheless. By default display is set to 100% brightness, which I find blinding when logging in middle of the night, despite a meager 400 nits max brightness rating. Fortunately function F5 quickly dims the screen without squinting looking for sliders. I was initially concerned with a high-end gaming laptop and anything but an intel processor, but this AMD Ryzen 350 processor does not disappoint in the least. It handled every task I attempted in spades. Perhaps I unfairly perceived AMD processors well behind Intel in performance, (years past, I’m old school) but clearly this is no longer the case. Under the hood the GeForce RTX 5070 steals the show and is an absolute beast. I’ve read others had minor issues with Ray Tracing, maybe I didn’t push it hard enough because this was not the case for me at all. Forza Horizon 5 looked and played so smoothly it felt like a dedicated gaming console , à la Xbox series X running on an OLED display (sans color vibrancy) Nvidia applications suite even offers different tunings, optimized for gaming, media creation, etc. This machine should appeal to hard core gamers and general users alike, with high-end specs, and expandable, yet remains affordable. The only improvement I can imagine would be an OLED screen, yet would jack up the price. PROS +top-notch specs 32 GB DDR5, 1 TB SSD, 5070 +color shifting backlit keys +super comfortable layout, fell in love first usage +trackpad super accurate and responsive (Mac like) +super slim design lighter than it looks +near bezel-less screen, edge-to-edge video +plethora of ports 3 USB-A, USB-C, HDMI, RJ45 +Dolby Atmos on-board ( via Realtek Audio) +GiMate Application Suite is nice +Nvidia AI powered chat local LLM CONS -backlit keyboard does not wake on trackpad touch -fan noise though less than other Nvidia gaming rigs -webcam could be higher resolution -400 nits max brightness but feels brother -side-by-side USB 3.2 and 2.0 easily confused CONCLUSION The Gigabyte GiMate AERO X-16 is a phenomenal all-around machine. It’s compact , feature packed, has high-end specs galore, and is equally adept at gaming, media creation and consumption, and everyday general computing tasks. Recommended BUY

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Processor speed
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    The return for the Gigabyte Aero Laptop!

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The Gigabyte X16 Aero 1WH is a high-performance laptop from Gigabyte. It sports an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 processor and an NVIDIA RTX 5070 (85W) GPU. It is a Copilot AI PC. It weighs 1.9kg and is 20mm thick. The case has a metal keyboard deck, and the entire laptop is a matte black with a smooth coating. The keyboard's RGB lighting is subtle and not overdone. The trackpad is large and not prone to false touches while typing. The keyboard keys themselves have a good feel with nice travel and springback. The speakers sound good, make sure you load the newest Realtek drivers and the Dolby Atmos drivers from the gigabyte support site to get the best sound. In fact you can use the GiMate utility to check for the latest drivers and perform changes to the Mode, adjust battery charging, perform live updates. Links are included for many apps and the Nvidia and Dolby atmos control panel. RGB can be controlled with Windows Dynamic lighting. The webcam is 1080p and includes Windows Hello technology for fast, password-free sign-in. The video is clear and good for video conferencing. The display is 16 inches with a 2560x1600 IPS panel and a 165Hz refresh rate. The colors are bright and the characters crisp. Character movement in games is very smooth due to the refresh rate. The matte finish of the panel is great, and it has virtually no reflections. The IPS screen means no burn-in. CPU: A Ryzen AI 7 350 powers this laptop. Its multithreaded results are similar to Core Ultra and Ryzen 9 units in testing benchmarks, making it great for video editing and 3D tasks. The AI engine is ready to handle your AI tasks. GPU: The Nvidia mobile RTX 5070 GPU has a max TDP of 85W and 8GB of GDDR7 memory. It handles modern games at 1600p/High to Ultra settings well, allowing you to play all your favorites at respectable frame rates. Memory: This laptop packs 32GB of DDR5 5600 memory, expandable to 64GB. This is enough for all current games and memory-intensive AI tasks like video upscaling and inpainting. This is also great for content creation. Storage: The laptop has two M.2 PCIe Gen4 slots, one populated with a Gigabyte 1TB NVMe SSD with sequential read speeds up to 5,000 MB/s and sequential write speeds up to 4,600 MB/s. You can upgrade this laptop with dual M.2 Gen4 NVMe drives, each up to 2TB. Ports: Packing 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x USB4 Type-C (which includes Thunderbolt 4 capabilities, DisplayPort 1.4, and Power Delivery 3.0), 1 HDMI, 1 Ethernet port, 1 audio jack, and 1 power jack, you have all you need. Battery: The 76 WH battery equates to about 6 hours of heavy gaming on max brightness. If you want the 12 hours Gigabyte claims, turn down the brightness and put it in eco mode. You can charge the battery fully in about 1.5 hours. My system's 3DMark benchmark backs up real-world gameplay. My Heaven benchmark was able to reach an average of 171.2 on high settings at full-screen resolution. This configuration of the Gigabyte Aero 16, with its AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 processor and next-gen NVIDIA RTX 5070 GPU, combined with a high-quality IPS panel, is a great choice for creative professionals and gamers alike. It offers a powerful alternative to Intel-based systems, potentially with better multi-core efficiency and strong future-proofing with its AI capabilities. The IPS panel, while having less contrast than OLED, provides excellent color accuracy and other benefits. If you're looking for a cutting-edge laptop that leverages the strengths of AMD's latest processors and NVIDIA's next-generation graphics, and you appreciate a high-quality IPS display, this Gigabyte Aero 16 configuration is a highly recommended option.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Cons mentioned:
    Connectivity
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Power meets portability!

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    For about five years, I’ve solely used a custom AMD build consisting of a Ryzen 5 3600 6-core CPU along with a Radeon RX 5700 XT GPU. It’s lasted a long time but with the new updates in graphics and gameplay, I figured it was time to upgrade. I especially had learned this hard lesson when I spent about three hours downloading Doom Dark Ages, only for it to boot me out and say that I didn’t have Raytracing 7. So, that’s when I realized I needed to upgrade. Gigabyte’s Aero X16 was the exact solution to that problem. Who knew a laptop would replace a Desktop! When I first received the package it was in pristine condition. In a separate area was the charger and power converter. Everything came properly secured and looked pristine. Gigabyte even threw in a few stickers, for good measure. When I lifted the laptop from the box itself I was shocked on how light it felt. I had almost thought that I accidentally grabbed a piece of cardboard instead of the actual laptop! Overall, it was an amazing unboxing experience and everything feels "premium", overall. When setting up the laptop, everything seemed to go well. The only issue I encountered was when creating a profile for the laptop, the internet connection kept disconnecting from the Wi-Fi. I managed to resolve this issue by simply plugging in an Ethernet cable, which may have updated those drivers during the initial Windows and Gigabyte updates. After logging into both my Steam and Xbox accounts, I downloaded Cyberpunk 2077 and Doom Dark Ages (along with the drivers for the Nvidia Card via the Nvidia App) Cyberpunk 2077, being the first game I played, ran INCREDIBLY after getting the settings set accordingly. Thankfully Cyberpunk has a Benchmark Tool to help show what the FPS looks like on the current settings. According to the Benchmarking, it hit the lowest at 180 FPS with the highest being 215 FPS and the average was 190 FPS. My jaw dropped with how the settings were pretty maxed out. Walking throughout Night City connected me directly into the game with how it looked and ran. Next, to Doom Dark Ages (DDA), I would say it ran pretty smoothly. You can set the graphics higher, but it does need more of a balance between graphics and smooth gameplay for this game, specifically. The Raytracing, however, made every little action feel so much more in tuned with every click of the keyboard. For a laptop this thing is absolutely brutal (in all the best ways!). It’s a better workhorse than most desktop builds I’ve seen! Coming to the issues - I would again simply say that you’ll wanna make sure your Wi-Fi driver is updated, so be sure to have an Ethernet cable handy. Another problem is that if you want to run games with intensive graphics be sure to have the laptop propped up so there is more airflow from underneath and behind. It does run a bit hotter if you aren’t careful. Really, the only other con would be the limited amount of VRAM for a 5070 Nvivia chipset. This only has 8GB, which can hamper higher graphical settings a bit - especially on the more demanding games and even moreso when using Raytracing. For the 5070 series, I feel that 10GB or 12GB VRAM should be the MINIMUM. Other than that, this laptop has ran smoother than any other previous build I’ve ever had. Overall, the Aero X16 blew my expectations out of the water. Not only was the initial packaging very exciting, the product itself delivers with a punch. Do you want to play a beautiful AAA title with higher-end graphics? This will provide that experience, happily. Do you want to have a solid PC build that you can take near anywhere? This has definitely got you covered...just be sure to have updated your drivers before you go somewhere with it. While I am a little bummed with only having 8GB VRAM on a 5070 card, I would still highly recommend this product and give it a 4.5/5 stars. Hoever, since this review system does not allow half-stars, I will go ahead and score it a 5/5, as I don't see anything major that would really hold this system back aside from the few small things I've mentioned.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Battery life, Overall performance, Portability

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Impressive value and performance

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    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Impressive value and performance in a lightweight package. I recently picked up the Gigabyte Aero X16 (32GB, open box), and I’ve been very happy with the purchase. The laptop arrived in excellent condition, no visible wear or issues at all. I needed a machine that’s portable yet powerful enough for creative workflows, and the RTX 5070 makes this a solid choice. The lightweight body and compact charger make it easy to carry around without straining my back. The build quality feels premium, and the understated design gives it a professional look while still being capable of gaming-level performance. Battery life has been around six hours for my typical use, which is a step up on my previous laptop and enough time to get close to a wall outlet. For the open-box price (around $1,100), this has been great value for a laptop that balances performance, portability, and design. My only small wish would be to have an extra USB-C port or a micro SD card slot for added convenience. Overall, the Aero X16 has been an excellent purchase, and I look forward to exploring more of its creative capabilities in the coming weeks.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Fan noise, Overall performance, Portability

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Descent Performance, Great Value at Discount

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I picked up this GIGABYTE AERO X16 at the $1299 discount, and I can confidently say it is a very good laptop, especially after that discount. My primary use is gaming, and the combination of the Ryzen AI 7 350, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and the RTX 5070 is powerful. The GeForce RTX 5070 is nice, handling modern games beautifully at the 2560x1600 WQXGA resolution. However, for future-proofing and high-fidelity textures, I would prefer higher VRAM than what's included. The 16-inch screen is big enough for a laptop, and it's plenty bright, but it's important to note the lack of true HDR support. The light build is great for portability, though the overall build quality isn't the best, a fair trade-off for the low weight. Thermals are generally well-managed; the fan noise is very low when doing light tasks like browsing. Given the top-tier specs, this machine represents very good value for the price I paid.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Cons mentioned:
    Screen brightness
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 4 out of 5 stars

    Lots of hot aero, but decent for work & play

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    TL;DR: The Gigabyte Aero X16 is primarily targeted at creators and gamers, with a strong emphasis on productivity. Although a good machine for these purposes, some drawbacks prevent it from being a perfect 10/10. Unboxing was a great experience. Gigabyte used mostly cardboard packaging, which doubles as a laptop stand with airflow cutouts. It also included stickers. Gimmicky but cute, and although too bulky for travel, the effort is nice to see. The laptop itself looks good, but is quite "gamer-y" at a glance. The iridescent Aero badge is subtle and pretty, but doesn't prevent the Aero X16 from standing out in most office settings with both the gamer™ RGB and keyboard font. Also, nitpicky as it is, I wish the "space grey" color was more similar to Apple's classic colorway, as it's much closer to charcoal. Performance while plugged in is strong. I'm not a hardcore gamer by any means, but my two favorite games are Slime Rancher 1 and 2, which both performed pretty well: ON BATTERY SR1: 45fps (↑44↓37) SR1 [OBS]: 31fps (↑33↓27) SR2: 67fps (↑77↓52) SR2 [OBS]: 40fps (↑42↓31) PLUGGED IN SR1: 120fps (↑141↓93) SR1 [OBS]: 118fps (↑170↓80) SR2 [max settings]: 72fps (↑84↓60) SR2 [tweaked]: 109fps (↑133↓90) SR2 [OBS]: 71fps (↑99↓42) FPS doesn't tell the entire story, but as you can see, performance drops with OBS recording game footage in the background, even while plugged into the wall. Performance while plugged in was considerably better even with OBS running, and for gamers not looking to stream/record gameplay, you can get well over 30fps with the right games and settings even on battery. In addition to having the horsepower to run intensive creative programs, the Aero X16 boasts a 100% sRGB IPS screen with Pantone validation. At 2500x1600 and 165 Hz, the 16:10 screen is great for productivity and gaming alike. Though not suitable for highly color-sensitive work requiring greater coverage of Adobe RGB and Display P3 color spaces, it's good for doing digital creative work like editing videos or photos. That said, the screen didn't blow me away. The matte finish adds a slight grain and dullness to the colors. The brightness is, in my opinion, the bare minimum for acceptability at 400 nits peak, and the IPS panel means you won't get the high contrast and inky blacks of OLED. Though this didn't detract from my experience working or gaming on it, I don't find it ideal for consuming content as a primary use case. Speaking of consuming content, the speakers are alright for a laptop. They're down-firing, so expect some muffle, but they get surprisingly loud and sound better on the cardboard stand. Dolby Atmos didn't noticeably improve anything for me, either with the speakers or through headphones, but that may be more the fault of the 2W speakers than Dolby. The webcam, although 1080p, looks blurry to me, but is good enough for Zoom calls and supports Windows Hello. Still, if you are looking to stream with it, you will be sorely disappointed, even with Studio Effects. The microphone is just barely good enough for online meetings, though. Note that there is no privacy shutter or button to disable the webcam, although there is a button to mute the mic. Like many gaming laptops, this is a solid chonker. Though a mostly plastic chassis, it does feel rigid with little to no flex. At a little over 4lbs (2kg), this is a bit heavy to be "lightweight" compared to true thin and lights, but it should still fit in a backpack and isn't overly bulky. With these specs, the Aero X16 necessitates a barreljack charger, but note that the large charging brick does add a decent amount of heft to the entire kit. (The charging port is also located smack dab in the middle of the left side of the laptop, which is...fine, but just weird.) The keyboard is okay, albeit cramped. It won't beat a good mechanical keyboard, but it's okay for what it is. My biggest gripes with the keyboard are the arrow keys and cheap-looking RGB. The touchpad, similarly, is mediocre, though I did have occasional issues with right clicks not registering properly. I/O is satisfactory. A gigabit Ethernet port and DisplayPort are nice surprises, but I wish I could trade DP for another USB 3.0 port instead of the USB 2.0 port. You get two USB 3.2 Type-A ports and one Type-C, though, so you won't be hurting too badly despite that. The biggest perk of this laptop is its upgradeability: you can add up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM, with two M.2 slots available for added storage. The default 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD configuration is already great for both gamers and professionals, but having the headroom is great. Battery life is poor for gaming, lasting about an hour, and middling for light tasks, netting around 6ish hours of writing or websurfing. Charging from 30 to 80% took just over an hour, and the GPU shuts off on battery to help conserve power, which does improve battery life considerably. Overall, a gaming laptop is going to be plugged into the wall for maximum performance while gaming anyway, but you can lug this into a café and work for a few hours safely. Sadly, fans do get quite loud under load, yet the thermals are still objectively bad. I measured around 57 decibels in balanced mode, and Steam reported an average of 55°C and a peak of 68°C temps on the GPU while gaming. Even just websurfing, temps hover around 40-50°C. This makes me concerned for the longevity of the laptop, and although it doesn't get dangerously hot (yet), the heat is hard to miss. Finally, the included GiMATE software has very mixed utility. System monitoring is helpful, and the GiMATE chatbot can find system settings (though it can't change them directly). The AI apps are a mixed bag. GiMATE creator is clunkier than Copilot+ image features — without getting into the weeds, you have to make an account with a separate service, generate an access token, set permissions for that token, and then download the fairly large (20+GB) models before doing any generation at all. On the plus side, it doesn't refuse copyrighted requests like Copilot, and you can fine-tune outputs and get custom images in just about a minute...but if you're already this inclined towards AI image generation, you'll probably already be using software like A1111 or ComfyUI, which offers way more customization and the ability to use custom models and LORA. NVIDIA Canvas seems to be discontinued, despite being listed in the GiMATE app. NVIDIA NIM seemed interesting but mostly geared towards devs, and the in-browser preview was slower and less impressive than ChatGPT or Gemini. NVIDIA Broadcast was by far the most useful of the apps, and it still came with considerable caveats: 1) it sucks up quite a bit of system resources; 2) because of #1, you can't use some effects while doing intensive tasks like gaming or streaming; 3) it doesn't fully fix the problems with the built-in webcam or mic. Where Windows Studio Effects is technically functional but lacking in certain areas, NVIDIA Broadcast does somewhat improve upon...but not perfectly. As an example, the eye contact fixer does kind of work, but it turns my (Asian, naturally dark) eyes into a light blue/grey color, which looks extremely unnatural. It also sometimes warps my glasses frames. Studio Live does a great job of making the built-in mic sound better, but it takes up around 30% of the GPU while running, and even with noise removal enabled, it cannot hide the laptop fans or keyboard sounds. Ultimately, NVIDIA Broadcast is the only software I would actually use and it's still only really useful for creative work if you're using better external equipment. Overall, this is a capable machine for creative professionals and gamers. The upgradeability is a huge plus, and while it's neither ultra-portable nor silent, it works perfectly well for my needs as a creative professional who enjoys gaming on the side. The biggest pain points are the battery life, poor thermals, and lack of VRAM, but in return you get a 100% sRGB screen, decent performance, and upgradeability.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Portability
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Well Rounded! Powerful and Portable

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Powerful and Portable! This was my first Gigabyte laptop, and overall, I’m impressed. This system is well a well-rounded and powerful system suited perfectly for gaming and creative projects. The build quality is quite impressive. The system is very light weight (~4.3 lbs), surprisingly sturdy, and highly portable. In my opinion, this is system would be a great option for professionals, college students, and gamers especially those looking for portability without compromising performance. Overall I was very happy with this system and would happily recommend. Pros: - Lightweight and Portable, especially for a 16” laptop. - Excellent build quality, very sturdy (very little flex / wobble, when jostled) - Great temperature management / fan control – system remained cool to the touch, while playing MSFS24 - 16” WQXGA Display with fairly accurate color representation – perfect for photo/video editing. - Copilot+ features worked perfectly – Copilot+ Recall is going to be a game changer! Copilot+ Cocreator (MsPaint) was a fun distraction for my nieces. Cons: - Some of the GiMATE applications, were either incompatible with newer drivers, retired, or not available for RTX 5070 GPU. - System needs more RAM to run local AI models. Note: they will run… just not at a level where I would consider them as a viable alternative to online tools. - Lacks numeric keypad (10key)

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Portability
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    A discrete treat.

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    When Clark Kent stopped by the water cooler at work, it was remarkable that no one recognized the hidden power that was contained below two layers of disguise. The Gigabyte Aero X16 under review is also disguised, as in nothing is screaming, hey, I’ve got some superpowers to show off! But, it does. The cleverly and efficiently designed compact shipping box not only contained the laptop and power supply, but also contained a thin fabric protective sleeve for the laptop, many Gigabyte brand stickers, and of course, regulatory and instructional paperwork in numerous languages. The last bit of mystery for me was the seemingly modestly-sized power supply. At 150 watts, although probably plenty capable, seems to be on the smallish size considering the components used inside this laptop. Other gaming and creative type laptops I’ve used recently seem to be sporting power supplies of 200 plus watts, but maybe they are just not as efficiently designed as this one! I recall lugging a 240-watt power supply with its 17” CAD-capable laptop around a campus for a few years, and that was pretty heavy, so on the positive side, this combination is mercifully light in comparison. Below its dark gray slim exterior, lies a very capable AMD Ryzen 7 AI 350 processor conspiring with 32 GB of DDR5 RAM (64 GB Max) and a one terabyte M.2 (PCIe) SSD drive (four TB Max) for your data to roam around in. The captive window to all this action is a 16.0” IPS WQXGA HD+ screen (2560 x 1600) that can be refreshed so often (165 Hz, 3ms) by the GeForce Nvidia RTX 5070 8G that you’ll be tempted to look around the back just to make sure that what you are seeing on the screen isn’t real. Coincidentally, the Windows 11 Home operating system with Copilot+ PC also shines brightly with reality, although with an increasingly more artificial variety, via its ever-more capable Copilot application channeled through Gigabyte’s GiMATE interface. Awe progress! For on-board audio, there is Dolby Atmos processing, but I am a little skeptical that a laptop’s meager speaker complement can do all that much with it. External speakers will fare much better. The touchpad is average for a gaming laptop, very large and average responsiveness, but gets the job done. The typing experience is smooth, with a slightly above-sized key stroke depth compared to most laptops with something they call, “Golden Curve Keyboard” which optimizes a number of factors for gaming and general productivity. The back-lit keyboard is a nice touch with multiple colors and effects, but the font used on the keyboard was not my favorite for readability. Build quality of the laptop itself is an eight out of ten for me, as the case, although purportedly constructed of metal, seems very thin, but surprisingly withstands a decent amount of deck flex. There is a fair amount of ventilation via two, very smartly controlled fans built within the case that can expel warm air efficiently without sounding too dramatically loud. But make no mistake, it gets really hot in there, especially if you are ripping through some fast-moving games. So, be sure not to lay this laptop on fabric or any material that can block the bottom vents that help draw air in. The startup/setup was pretty typical for a windows device and after many updates and choices to make regarding Microsoft services and data usage, we were off to get to the part that everyone's been waiting for, how does it perform? Well, at the start of my play-testing, I kicked it off with an easy to run game like Rocket League, which performed average… huh? Something was off. I soon realized after doing some inspecting, that the laptop was using the internal Radeon graphics processor instead of the powerhouse Nvidia RTX 5070 for its graphics processing due to a hybrid approach from the laptop’s designers to better handle extending battery life versus performance! Thankfully, it was just a matter of opening the included GiMATE software and switching to “Gaming” mode to enable the use of the Nvidia 5070 instead of the lesser-capable, but less power-hungry, internal Radeon graphics engine (the latter being far, far worse for gaming). Other settings to choose from include, Balanced Mode, Creator Mode, Power saving and Online Meeting Mode. To verify and further tweak the settings, you may need to go to a game’s settings to finalize the maximum refresh rates, etc. After some research, I believe that it does switch over automatically for some games, but just as a warning, make sure to double check. With the Game setting now on, I saw drastically better results. Running Rocket League at its highest settings, in the laptop’s screen’s native resolution of 2560 x 1600, I saw an average of 270 FPS, which is phenomenal. On a more graphically intense game like Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Sieg, I ran it on the “very high” settings preset at native resolution and its graphics benchmark test reported around 170 FPS on average, which is still great considering the 165 Hz refresh rate. Overall, I was superbly impressed by the gaming performance, but the fans do blast away (as expected) at full speed when under a heavy load. Thankfully when doing normal web browsing tasks, they are at a tame, low, hum, if noticeable at all. In terms of performance through regular mundane tasks, I found that the typing experience is smooth, with a slightly above-sized keystroke depth compared to most laptops and the touchpad was average for a gaming device, getting the job done. This would be a great laptop to crush any task, but the price of admission is a little steep, so consider if you're willing to pay that price. There is just one model higher in this series that includes the same great Nvidia graphics engine, but also includes the Ryzen 9 processor. Think Superman with Infinity Stones. Now that’s a combination.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Battery life, Overall performance, Portability

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    Really nice laptop

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    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    The 16" screen is bright, sharp, and perfect for both work and entertainment. With the Ryzen AI 7 processor, 32GB of RAM, and the RTX 5070, everything runs incredibly smooth—whether it’s gaming, video editing, or heavy multitasking. It’s surprisingly slim and light for how powerful it is, and the cooling system keeps performance steady without too much noise. Battery life is better than expected for a laptop with this much power. Overall, it’s fast, powerful, and well-built—great for both creators and gamers. Definitely worth it.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Battery life, Fan noise

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    It is everything I asked for, and more.

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    Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    I bought it for school at a crazy deal (that at the time of writing, the deal is still going on) It has all the features I wanted, high resolution screen, and amazing power for gaming when I have time for it. The keyboard is big, and while I do wish there was a number pad, if it was there it would make the keys smaller overall and that would play against its features. The keys are spaced out well enough that it's a breeze to type on. Without any gaming, I can use it at full charge for about 3 days before needing another charge. Gaming is a different story, but for actual schoolwork, it's amazing. By default the computer will turn off the GPU when it is not connected to a power outlet, so you're relying just on the APU/NPU that's in the chipset. When gaming this thing will inhale power like a blackhole, within 2 hours on average I can kill it from full charge. Even faster with more demanding games. The other day I managed to squeeze about 4 hours out of Hollow Knight, but that isn't particularly demanding. I think one thing that really contributes to the power draw is being connected via bluetooth, which when my earbuds are connected it again drains power like there's no tomorrow. It's fine, I can just listen to music on my phone. Besides that, the computer is everything I wanted. It's sleek, it's quiet when I'm using it for school work. The only time it has sounded like a jet engine was when I was updating BIOS but that's it. Surprisingly light as well! Overall, an amazing purchase. Really happy with my choice, I spent a lot of time trying to choose, but the price to performance, the build quality, and the size/sleekness of the laptop are what make me satisfied with this purchase. The complaints I've mentioned kinda come with the territory, and to me don't detract from the reasonable expectations.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Battery life, Portability

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    For a mix of Gaming and Portability

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    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Pros- Excellent battery life. I consistently get at least 7 hours on battery with power saving mode and Eco on well under a consistent load. Excellent specs for the price. Solid build quality, and very lightweight for a 16-in laptop. For those who hate to have the obvious gaming laptop, this one is quite stealthy. With the ryzen AI 7 350 and 32 gigs of RAM expect very quick responsiveness when multitasking across several programs. Cons- Only a 130W power brick leaves a lot of performance on the table when plugged in. Ties into the previous con, but the CPU and GPU are both underclocked to compensate for the better battery life and smaller power brick. Only 8gb vram. Honestly embarrassing for laptops in this range is still below 12 gb. Overall I would recommend this for somebody who wants a mid-range laptop that plans on using it for work/school as well as light to medium gaming. Just don't expect the same gaming performance as some of the brand names. If you fall into that category though, and it's on a decent sale, this could be an excellent choice for you. I would honestly give it four and a half stars if I could, but since I fall into the aforementioned category I feel obligated to give it five.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Fan noise, Portability, Processor speed

    Rated 3 out of 5 stars

    Solid but with QA issues

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    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Short summary so I can save you some time reading- You get a lot for the money (even more so on a deep sale) but know what you are buying. The screen isn’t vibrant and the 85 watt limit (with Nvidia gpu boost) on the 5070 leaves a lot of performance on the table. Also the cpu is heavily power throttled in gaming due to its smaller 150 watt charger (around 20-25 watts going to the cpu when under GPU when under gaming load) so there is a big hit in some games. This laptop is a jack of all trades but a master of none. Why I decided this laptop ultimately wasn’t for me- Setup took what seemed ages. For whatever reason I had so many issues updating gigabyte drivers and software. Tons of failed installs and 7-8 restarts until it eventually resolved itself. Windows and Nvidia seemed to take longer as well because Gigabyte constantly informing me to wait until all gigabyte updates were completed. Almost 4 1/2 hours later, I finally could start installing software and games for testing. If you aren’t tech savvy, then be prepared for a really painful setup process on day one. What caught my attention first even upon first startup was the screen. while a solid performer on paper, it simply leaves a lot to be desired. Colors feel dull and to me it had this weird green tint to most of my content. Gigabyte states that it is Pantone certified out of the box but at least in my model, that proved to be rubbish. Lowering the green slider in windows color management about 4 points made my unit significantly more usable. For a “creator laptop” the color blandness isn’t something I would consider editing a clients video on and wouldn’t trust my personal color correction while using this panel. Reminder that this is how my unit shipped so your mileage may vary. If you don’t plan on more than the rare photo or video edit, you might be okay with its performance. It’s high refresh rate and QHD makes this totally usable for firing up cyberpunk for another playthrough. I could have worked with it but the light bleed on my unit was crazy. You can tell that a majority of the light bleed is due to mounting points as pressing around the back of the monitor frame where light bleed exists fixes the issue. Of course the problem comes right back when you remove your finger/reverse applied pressure. really keeps its thermals in check but there is a reason. it’s honestly fantastic temperature wise and then you realize why. The GPU is getting its advertised power and I constantly saw up to the 85 watt limit. There is more in the tank but this laptop is limited on power. The Ryzen ai 350 is snappy in everyday use. I achieved some respectable results in cpu benchmarks and didn’t see much hiccups in everyday tasks. With 4, 5th gen cores, and 4 gen c (lower boost clocks=efficiency cores) it all works well and you don’t notice many hiccups. Plenty usable until I booted up my first set of gaming tests. This is where I also ultimately discovered the gaming performance was not only held back by an underpowered gpu, but also a cpu bottleneck due to its limited power when under GPU load. Lots of frame rate issues in heavier cpu games and some downright stalls in some titles. Jarring bad in some cases. I dug into settings and realized that gigabytes power profiles doesn’t actually change everything to high performance. You have to enable windows high performance as well as checking that the ADDITIONAL function key for fans is also in high performance mode (yes the fan control does actually increase or hold back wattage) no clue why a simple gigabyte toggle/mode doesn’t enable all 3 but it’s an easy enough work around. Just be sure to check all three separate functions when lowering or raising performance profiles. While this didn’t fix all of my gaming issues, it did help. An extra 5-10 watts to the ryzen 350 did make a good difference in frame stability. The gaming experience became more usable and temps are still excellent despite the slightly higher fan noise. Keyboard is excellent and the trackpad is easily one of the best mechanical trackpads I have ever used. Bravo Gigabyte! Speakers are usable and there is tuning options available in external software to bring out more from them. Yes they are downward firing but they do a good enough job. Not much bass but doesn’t sound awfully muffled like some other windows laptops. My unit had a bit of chassis rattle when at high volumes but this was only at full volume out of the box. Backing off the 200-300hz range solved the issue in Eq settings in my unit. All of the good- the build quality for this price feels great and I was honestly blown away by presentation upon unboxing before powering it on. Slight keyboard flex but it’s usable. Screen wobble isn’t bad and it opens with a single hand. The laptop is light weight and feels sturdy enough. Smaller charging brick (150 watt) also doesn’t take up much room. Excellent everyday backpack/ traveling laptop.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Overall performance, Portability

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    So far great for the price.

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    Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    Despite being a creator/gaming laptop the laptop is relatively thin and light-weight. The design is not flashy at all, which I like. The performance is also not bad. Here are the lists of games that I've tried and their average fps: -CS2: 250-320 Avg on 4:3 Medium Settings -Valorant: 300+ on any setting and native resolution. -GTA V: 150+ on high settings w/o DLSS -RDR2: 40-50 fps on ultra, 100 fps on low/customized settings. w/o DLSS -Minecraft: 300-600+ fps on Fancy graphics depending on chunk setting. Drops drastically with shaders <110. -S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: 60-80 fps on medium settings. So far I am pretty satisfied with the gaming performance. It's pretty portable, display and speakers are also solid. The material doesn't feel cheap and the keybords don't bend or bulge inwards.I haven't had a chance to test the battery yet. I've been using it plugged in since day 1. The only thing that I do not like is that you can not control the mux switch, not in the GiMate app or in the BIOS. Other than that I feel like this is a steal for 1200 dollars.

    I would recommend this to a friend
  • Pros mentioned:
    Overall performance
    Tech Insider Network Member

    Rated 5 out of 5 stars

    As good as it gets!

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    Tech Insider Network Member
    Posted .
    This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.

    This is without a doubt the best gaming laptop I have ever used! That is a very big statement to say with all the great laptops out there, but the GIGABYTE Aero X16 brings the goods. Speed, storage and video quality are all outstanding within their respective areas of performance. Let’s start with the looks of the X16. It’s matt space gray shell with the GIGABYTE name in a gloss holograph is very modern looking and does not feel cheap. The touch pad is generous and measures 5.25” x 3.75”. The area to set your hands on, on either side of the touch pad, is also quite large, allowing you to set your hands comfortably. The keyboard is very easy to type on with good reaction while typing or gaming. The keys are backlit and cycle through greens, blues, purples, oranges and yellows. The X16 has you covered with all the peripherals you might need. On the left side of the X16 you have the power socket, an internet Cat six jack, an HDMI output, a USB-a and USB-c inputs. On the right side of the laptop 2 USB-A interfaces and a headphone jack. As for the specifications, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 @ 2.00 GHz is more than enough power to game like a pro. 32 GB of RAM ensure that you never glitch while gaming or viewing video! The SSD 1 terabyte hard drive is more than enough to store your games. NVIDIA’s RTX 5070 Chip with built in 8GBs and GeForce Game Ready Driver, bring gaming and video quality to a new level. Details are sharp and clean with no video lag at all on the beautiful 16” screen. While playing games the cooling fan goes on and off, but it is never loud or distracting. One area that really surprised me was the sound quality for a laptop. The inclusion of Dolby Atmos for the laptop’s speakers really impressed me. The sound was full and had a spatial sensation that I hadn’t expected. This is about as good as it gets when it comes to gaming laptop performance. The X16 is really that good!

    I would recommend this to a friend
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