Verdict

The Asus ZenBook Pro 16X organic light-emitting diode is a top - notch creative laptop computer , print with its incredible screen , huge power and great biotechnology . It ’s lowering , though , and it has mediocre battery life – the MacBook Pro beats it in those department .

Pros

Cons

Key Features

Introduction

The Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED has a retentive name , but the key acronym come at the end – because this laptop ’s OLED panel promises to turbo - load its originative ability .

That ’s no wonder whenOLEDdisplays go beyond their generation with pixel - perfect engineering and incredible line , and the relief of this laptop is quick to assist originative workloads thanks to huge processing magnate and invention design .

It ’ll have to be at the top of its game to take on theApple MacBook Pro 16 , though , and it ’s got to absolve a sizeable exercise set of price – it ’s $ 2,999 in the US , £ 2,999 in the UK and a hefty € 3,299 in Europe . Can the latest ZenBook garner a spot on ourbest laptopchart ?

Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED keyboard raised off the chassis to improve airflow

Design and Keyboard

The OLED panel sits inside a CNC - milled aluminum natural enclosure with slick , good - looking figure , and beyond the unclouded edge you ’ll find impressive flesh quality that matches Apple ’s ironware . At 2.4 kilo and 17.8 millimeter thick , though , it ’s much heavier than the MacBook and a number duncical .

The left - hand edge of the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X organic light-emitting diode has twoThunderbolt 4sockets and a full - size of it USB 3.2 Gen 2 embrasure , and the correct - hand bound has an SD Card Express 7.0 referee , anHDMI 2.1output and a headphone labourer . That ’s comely connectivity for a originative machine – the MacBook gets free of the full - size USB port but does add more thunderclap connectivity .

The Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED is a posh social occasion on the inside . The ZenBook has dual - bandWi - Fi 6Eand Bluetooth 5.2 , and the 1080p webcam supportsWindows Hello . There ’s a fingerprint referee in the power button . The audio kit is great : the six speakers produce bold , sea bass - filled sound that easily match the MacBook . The only feature missing is wired cyberspace .

Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED keyboard raised off the chassis to improve airflow

Look below the keyboard and you ’ll find something that the MacBook does n’t have : an Asus Dial . It ’s a big , round button that sits to the left of the trackpad . Swing your fingertip across Dial ’s Methedrine surface and you could adjust scene in Adobe tools like Lightroom , Photoshop , Premiere Pro and the rest of the Creative Suite .

The Dial ’s central button can select and corroborate selections in apps , and outside of Adobe ’s instrument it ’s helpful for scroll web page , adjusting arrangement volume and more – its functionality is entirely customisable .

The Dial is a slick addition to this creative laptop computer and it can speed up your workflow . Sadly , though , it does n’t have specific app accompaniment beyond those Adobe putz – the Dial is great , but it could be so much better .

Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED keyboard raised off the chassis to improve airflow

The keyboard innovate , too . get to the laptop computer and a mechanism angle the typecast hardware towards the substance abuser at a seven - degree slant , which makes the keyboard more comfortable to use – and means the internals get some superfluous cooling .

And , true to form , the keyboard is super comfortable . The angle helps , and the clit are large , exact and crisp , with decent travel . It ’s a top - notch unit and will keep up with busy professional use .

Elsewhere , the keyboard has per - key RGB LEDs that flash different colours when your personal computer get notice and warning signal , but there ’s no identification number pad – somewhat disappointing on a 16 - inch productivity laptop .

Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED keyboard raised off the chassis to improve airflow

The tactile touchpad is antiphonal , exact and huge , so it ’s a good companion for originative workplace . While it ’s one of the better examples of a Windows touchpad , though , you still get more functionality from a MacBook pad of paper .

Screen

OLED displays utilize single pel to produce backlighting and colors rather than the expectant but less - sophisticated backlighting arrangement you ’ll find elsewhere – and the difference is obvious .

Because those pel can turn off completely , it means you get perfect black levels – the depth on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED is unique . demarcation is myriad , color are bold and vivacious , and there ’s Brobdingnagian refinement and detail .

This OLED ironware is marginally better than theMini LEDtech inside the MacBook Pro ’s Liquid Retina XDR screen because Apple ’s LEDs still rely on slur zones . So while there ’s purportedly around 10,000 miniskirt - LEDs with about 2,500 zones in the MacBook Pro , the OLED covert has more pixel - sized luminousness – which mean more nuance and dominance .

Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED keyboard raised off the chassis to improve airflow

The ZenBook ’s OLED impresses beyond its depth and direct contrast . Its 0.89 Delta eastward ensures picture - perfect truth , and it return 100 % sRGB reportage and tier of 97 % and 98 % in the Adobe RGB andDCI - P3gamuts , so it ’ll cope with every task , from picture - editing and video workplace to tough innovation scenario . The jury is Pantone - formalise , too .

The resolution of 3840 x 2400 is needlelike , slightly higher than the MacBook Pro , and ideal for crispiness in originative prick . It also means you get hatful of space for spreading out multiple window .

This is one of the best screens on any laptop , well unspoiled enough for creative work , and a little good than the excellent screen in the MacBook . The only downside is the maximal brightness tier of 366nits , which is n’t high enough for all outside post – in that respect , Apple ’s notebook continue magnate .

A view of the Asus dial on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

Performance

It ’s no wonder that Asus power the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED with an Intel Core i9 - 12900H processor . It ’s get six Hyper - Threaded phosphorus - Cores and support 20 threads in total , and it ’s got a idealistic peak Turbo speed of 5GHz . There ’s 32 GB of dual - channelDDR5memory in this laptop , and a 2 TB SamsungSSDwith tremendous read and write speed of 6,153MB / sec and 4,832MB / sec .

Those centre components issue telling carrying out . In Geekbench ’s single- and multi - core benchmarks the ZenBook make 1712 and 12,318 – huge scores that think the Asus can tackle almost any creative project , from photo - editing to 4 K video recording rendering . Multi - tasking and everyday work load are no issue , either , and you ’ll only need more power for workstation - level apps .

Those scores liken well to Apple ’s machines : theM1 Proinside more affordable MacBooks scored 1,745 and 12,520 , and theM1 Maxchip was slenderly quicker . The differences between the three element are so tiny that they may as well not exist .

A view of the Asus dial on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

Intel ’s performance looks even well when you appear at Apple ’s pricing . Buy an M1 Pro MacBook with 32 GB of storage and a 1 TB SSD and it ’s always going to be pricier than the ZenBook – and the col is wider with 2 TB SSDs . Unsurprisingly , M1 Max laptops are even more expensive .

Nvidia ’s GeForce RTX 3060 is a mid - range graphic chip , but it still deploys theNvidia Amperearchitecture , 6 GB of consecrated memory and 3,840 CUDA cores . Combine that with optimise Nvidia Studio drivers and you ’ve acquire enough graphical power to contend with most any creative workload .

There ’s footling to select between the RTX 3060 and the 32 - core M1 Max GPU that you ’ll find inside the priciest MacBook Pro theoretical account , and it ’s far faster than the 16 - core parts inside brassy Apple rigs .

A view of the Asus dial on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

It ’s only middling for gambling . At 1080p it averaged 72fps inHorizon Zero Dawnand 203fps in Rainbow Six Siege , so you ’ve got enough power for mainstream games and esports titles at adequate speeds . Do n’t expect to play any game at any high solvent , though , and peculiarly not at the ZenBook ’s native result . And do n’t trust on this laptop for any serious eSports competition , either , as the screen has amazing quality but a modest 60Hz refresh rate .

Happily , the innovative Asus innovation and comparatively undemanding GPU mean I have no caloric concern when it comes to this notebook computer . There ’s only a slight buff noise even in exact position – any eminent - death gaming outfit will be much louder . scarce any interior heat made its way to the outside panels , either , which seduce the ZenBook easier to oversee .

Battery

Asus has crammed a 96Wh battery inside the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED , but its longevity levels remained second-rate in most tests . In an unremarkable work bench mark the Asus extend through 5hrs and 27mins of employment , and in an easier video trial it playact 7 hours of media .

Both of those trial ran with the covert at 150 nit , though , so expect poorer results if you rage up the brightness levels . likewise , trim down those results back if you campaign the internals in ruffianly workload .

Ultimately , you ’ll manage half a day of body of work out of the ZenBook at best . The MacBook is naut mi better here : in less - intensive tasks it ’s potential to get 21 hour out of the Apple laptop , and the MacBook well go through a working sidereal day . Even when pushing the computer hardware , its six - hour lifespan will easy survive the ZenBook .

A view of the OLED panel on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

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Should you buy it?

The OLED exhibit is a game - record changer for creatives , the Intel processor will do almost anything , and the Asus has good connectivity and bioengineering – it ’s very various .

The ZenBook ’s assault and battery only hold up for a few minute , so Apple ’s machine have it beaten there . The MacBook Pro is almost a kilo lighter than the Asus rig , too .

Final Thoughts

The OLED screenland provide exceptional tone for creative workloads , and elsewhere the Asus has huge power , great ergonomics and plenty of connectivity . It ’s a professional powerhouse , although it ’s not the laptop computer to buy if you want great bombardment life or a light chassis .

Trusted Score

How we test

Every laptop we review goes through a serial publication of uniform check designed to gauge key things including material body quality , performance , filmdom calibre and battery life .

These include formal synthetic benchmark and scripted tests , plus a serial of material humankind checks , such as how well it lead when running a AAA plot .

FAQs

This simulation of the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X organic light-emitting diode cost £ 2999 .

It has the required specs to play secret plan at 1080p , although its downhearted 60Hz refresh charge per unit could be problematic if you want a laptop primarily for gaming .

Test Data

Full Specs

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As part of this mission , whenever we survey a product we send the company a series of interrogation to help us gauge and make see-through the impact the gadget has on the environment .

you’re able to see a detailed dislocation of the enquiry we call for and why in oursustainability info page . In position of answer each of these questions , Vivo has provide us with its companySustainability Report .

A view of the OLED panel on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

A view of the OLED panel on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

The rear of the laptop

The rear of the laptop

The rear of the laptop

Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED keyboard raised off the chassis to improve airflow

Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED keyboard raised off the chassis to improve airflow

A view of the Asus dial on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

A view of the Asus dial on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

A view of the OLED panel on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

A view of the OLED panel on the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED

The rear of the laptop

The rear of the laptop