Verdict
The incredible AMOLED display , hefty internals and top - mountain pass keyboard make the Gigabyte Aero 16 XE5 a decent creative familiar , but a terrible absence seizure of features and wretched battery life mean it wo n’t suite every professional
Pros
Cons
Key Features
Introduction
For lots of people there ’s only one choice for a creative laptop computer : buy a MacBook . But the Gigabyte Aero 16 XE5 tries to crash the political party with telling specifications and sinewy part .
You might be surprised by the price conceive the Aero ’s 4 K presentation and Intel Core i7 CPU . You ’ll only have to shell out $ 1799 for this getup in the US , and in Europe its € 1,999 price rest tempting . It ’s more expensive in the UK , at £ 2,399 , but that still compares well with Apple ’s notebooks .
It ’s time to find out if the Gigabyte Aero 16 XE5 can overhaul theApple MacBook Pro 16and become a top originative alternative – and if it can earn a spot on ourbest laptopschart .
Design and Keyboard
The Gigabyte Aero 16 XE5 look like it should stand toe - to - toe with Apple ’s laptops . It ’s made from CNC - milled aluminium admixture in the same shade as a MacBook , and Gigabyte ’s figure has some bang-up touches : a protruding sassing makes the eyelid easy to give , the milled loudspeaker grilles look great , and the display has tiny bezels . The concealment and radical are hardy , too – it ’s a full-bodied rigging .
It ’s also an impressive ergonomic performing artist . The sunken keyboard has loads of travel , and the buttons are large , crisp , fast and robust – they provide a stellar typing experience . The buttons are n’t loud , they ’re backlit , and they ’ve got a clear font . There ’s no issue pad , but that ’s not unusual , and this keyboard is just as in effect as anything you ’ll find on a MacBook .
The trackpad is just as good . It ’s large and responsive and has two of the fastest and most comforting buttons I ’ve ever used in a laptop pad of paper . It ’s not put too far to the left , either .
In some department , though , the Gigabyte is n’t quite as sleek as the laptop that go forth from Cupertino . There are too many seeable seams and screws . At 2.3 kg on the scales and 22.4 millimeter thick , the Aero is gruelling and large than its central competition .
The Aero ’s connectivity could be better , too . Positively , the Aero has twoThunderbolt 4ports and a sole USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type - C link . Its fair 720p webcam supportsWindows Hello , and internally you getdual - isthmus Wi - Fi 6Eand Bluetooth 5.2 alongside security from TPM 2.0 .
There ’s plenty absent . There ’s no placard reader or HDMI output , and no fingerprint lecturer . There are no full - size USB ports and no pumped-up cyberspace on the laptop itself .
Gigabyte tries to solve this emergence by including a interface hub in the corner . It sequester to one of the Thunderbolt or USB - C porthole and bring HDMI , mini - DisplayPort , full - size USB and Gigabit Ethernet . But it awkwardly protrudes from the side of the laptop , its USB port peaks at a sluggish 5Gbps , and the HDMI and DisplayPort connection do n’t work simultaneously .
Several of these omissions remain disappointing despite the Gigabyte ’s comparatively low damage – Apple ’s entry - level MacBook Pro 16 may be costly , at $ 2499 / £ 2399 / € 2749 , but the price is worth pay if you get a sleeker , lighter and more various laptop .
Screen
The Gigabyte Aero 16 XE5 gains background in the display department . The 16 - inch AMOLED instrument panel has a result of 3840 x 2400 thanks to its 16:10 aspect proportion , and it ’s been validated by Pantone . It ’s a nifty start – that resolution even flummox the MacBook .
Quality layer are brilliant , too . The AMOLED computer hardware means you get consummate black levels and countless contrast , and the Delta E of 1.87 and colour temperature of 6,591 K are prodigious effect that insure near - flawless colouration .
The show renders 100 % of the sRGBgamut , 95.8 % of the Adobe RGB space and 98.6 % of theDCI - P3spectrum , and all three anatomy are high enough to enable productiveness in those environments .
This screen has the slug to take on any creative task – and you get a bit more nuance and profundity than with the Apple notebook computer ’s Mini LED hardware . The only other display I ’ve seen recently derive near is the OLED panel inside theAsus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED , and that fishing tackle is far more expensive .
The Gigabyte ’s panel only falls behind in pocket-size area . The maximum smartness of 397nitsis honorable enough for indoor and outside use of goods and services , but the MacBook ’s silver screen is a turn brighter . And while its refresh charge per unit of 60Hz is o.k. for everyday usage , it limits play potential and come behind the smoother motion provided by Apple ’s 120Hz adaptive pace . Neither issue is a dealbreaker for originative workloads .
Performance
It ’s no surprise that Intel ’s Core i7 - 12700H keep appearing in high-pitched - closing laptop computer : it has six multi - draw performance core that bill at 4.7GHz . Nvidia ’s GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is just as impressive thanks to 8 GB of consecrated memory , and it deploy 5,888 of Nvidia ’s Ampere cores .
Two 1 TB GigabyteSSDscombine to deliver 2 TB of storage , and their rearward and save speeds of 7,085MB / sec and 5,005MB / sec are excellent – easily fast enough for any originative work load . The only stipulation trip-up is the inclusion body of 16 GB ofDDR5 memory . That ’s fine for most creative workloads , but 32 GB is better for tougher software package . The memory is upgradeable , although twelve Torx turnkey take hold the base in place , so it ’s quite tricky to get at the internals .
There ’s no shortfall of power before you diddle with memory upgrade , though . The Gigabyte ’s Geekbench loads of 1722 and 11,112 are great , and they intend you ’ve got enough ability to tackle photo - editing , video - rendition and other originative workload . Its Cinebench R23 outcome of 12,938 is superb , too , and better thanApple ’s M1 ProandMaxprocessors .
imposingly , the Aero did an excellent Book of Job in thermal tests despite the power on offer . This laptop computer hardly makes a breath of disturbance even in the most thought-provoking workload , and the external panel become somewhat warm – but never worryingly hot . It ’s just as good as the MacBook Pro .
That can facilitate create a unagitated and focussed piece of work surround , but the Aero ’s thermic art does mean that the Core i7 C.P.U. ca n’t always stretch its leg . The Core i7 - 12700H can score more than 12,000 points in Geekbench , for instance , and its PCMark 10 answer of 6,807 also does n’t quite rival this CPU ’s likely pace .
It ’s a similar narration on the nontextual matter side . The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti does n’t run at its full exponent here , and its 3DMark Time Spy resultant of 9019 is low when compare to the GPU elsewhere .
That ’s not a disaster , though . Beyond the thermal benefits , the RTX 3070 Ti has enough power for any creative task , and it ’s miles better than the GPUs inside MacBooks .
It also means you have seemly gaming ability . At 1080p the Gigabyte ranHorizon Zero Dawnat 87fps and playedBorderlands 3at 78fps – both result far beyond rivals , and high enough for liquid play . average of 67fps and 54fps mean those games rest playable at 2560 x 1600 , although the Nvidia core ca n’t quite wield top titles at the rig ’s native resolve .
The Aero streaks ahead of 230fps in Rainbow Six Siege , too , although this machine is n’t bang-up foreSportsunless you output to a sieve with a mellow refresh rate .
There ’s another option if you ’d like even more oink . The Aero 16 YE5 admit a Core i9 - 12900H CPU , RTX 3080 Ti artwork core and 64 GB of memory , but it be $ 4299 / £ 3749 / € 3537 , so it ’s not exactly crummy . You ’ll get the amazing display , but the RTX 3080 Ti still runs at 105W and wo n’t be the firm model of that chip – and the Core i9 - 12900H is n’t that far forward of the Core i7 CPU .
There ’s no doubt that the dear variation will be degraded , but the higher cost brings its issues into starker focus . For that money or even less you ’ll be able to buy a MacBook with similar processing power , improved features and a screen that ’s almost as good .
Battery
The Gigabyte Aero 16 XE5 battery is n’t the best , either . In an everyday workplace test with the exhibit at 150 nit the Gigabyte lasted for 3hrs and 3 minutes , and its best result came in a video recording playback test – the Aero hold up for 5hrs 31 minutes . In a gambling test the Gigabyte only handled 78 minutes of playback .
If you ’re heedful with the components then you ’ll be able to ease this originative auto through to the early afternoon , but you wo n’t get that kind of life-time if you labour any of the internals – and that ’s what you ’re likely to do given this notebook computer ’s originative remitment .
Those results are n’t specially telling when compared to the MacBook Pro . That laptop routinely endure for an full day with capacity to spare , and if you ’re careful you could get 20 hours of employment from a single charge . Its poorest result , at six hours , still dumbfound the Aero .
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Should you buy it?
The AMOLED gore is bright and the internals are sinewy – and you get a slap-up keyboard too . That ’s impressive considering how Gigabyte ’s pricing compare to Apple ’s notebooks .
The Gigabyte Aero 16 XE5 misses out on several common features that are often found elsewhere , and its barrage is underwhelming – you wo n’t get a full daylight of use from this notebook .
Final Thoughts
The Gigabyte Aero 16 XE5 ’s sensational screen , powerful internals and top - notch keyboard make it a good companion for creative tasks , peculiarly if you do n’t want to drop MacBook money – but it ’s set by its poor battery and deficiency of features .
Trusted Score
How we test
Every gaming laptop we review goes through a series of consistent checks design to gauge central thing including figure quality , carrying out , screen quality and battery life .
These include formal synthetic benchmarks and scripted tests , plus a series of real world checks , such as how well it runs when run a AAA game .
FAQs
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is certainly powerful for gaming . Its 60Hz is n’t ideal for gaming , especially since you’re able to get gaming laptops with higher display speeds at a more low-cost price . So it ’s fine for gaming on the side , but not a great option if gambling is your principal precedency .
No , the Gigabyte Aero 16 does not boast a touchscreen .
Test Data
Full Specs
Sustainability
TrustedReviews ’ oblige the fact that global thaw is not a myth as a core value and will continuously endeavor to avail protect our planet from harm in its business recitation .
As part of this mission , whenever we look back a product we send the fellowship a serial of questions to assist us gauge and make transparent the impingement the gimmick has on the environment .
We currently have n’t received answers to the questions on this product , but will update this page the here and now we do . you’re able to see a elaborate crack-up of the questions we ask and why in oursustainability information page .
