Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 (2022) Review: Punching above its weight and size

Asus has officially unveiled new 12th Gen Intel gaming laptops in its ROG series. The launch of the new ROG Zephyrus M series follows the recent unveiling of the new TUF and ROG Strix gaming laptops. The Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 features a starting price of Rs 1,79,990 in India, although the model Asus sent us is priced at 2,41,990.

Asus sent us the ROG Zephyrus M16, a slim and light gaming laptop that is equipped with the latest 12th Gen Intel processing hardware and the new Nvidia RTX-30 series graphics. Asus has consistently delivered some of the best thin and light gaming laptops in its Zephyrus G and S series, although the M series has managed to live up to the expectations of its siblings. However, can Asus change that with the new Zephyrus M16; stick around and let’s find out.

Design and Build

The new Zephyrus M16 follows the traditional M series design formula. The laptop features a sleek and stylish design with a matte-black finish. The laptop has a nice business aesthetic, measuring 19.9mm thick and weighing around 2 kg. Additionally, there’s a ROG logo at the bottom of the lid and an asymmetrical dot matrix design that is achieved with a precision CNC milling process. There’s a layer of prismatic film under those microdots that give the lid a nice sparkle.

And while the lid here is made of aluminium, the rest of the laptop is made of sturdy plastic. The M16 also has a new 180-degree ErgoLift hinge that allows you to lay the notebook flat on a surface. When opening the laptop, you are treated to an RGB backlit keyboard, which has a nice matte finish and is soft to the touch. At first glance, the M16 did little to resemble a gaming laptop, it is only when you take a deeper look do you notice the gamer aesthetics.

Keyboard & Trackpad

Since we’re on the topic of gamer aesthetics, there’s really no mistaking the M16 for a business laptop when you open the lid. Inside, you are treated to a fully customisable RGB backlit keyword. However, the downside is that the backlighting is limited to one zone as opposed to per or four-zone backlighting. While the keyboard did have a low profile, I found the 1.7mm key travel rather comfortable for both gaming and typing.

Additionally, the N-key rollover ensures keystrokes are properly registered and the keys themselves have a lifecycle of over 20 million presses. The M16 also has a glass trackpad that has a considerably large surface area. It is equipped with Windows precision drivers and is easy to use for navigation in the absence of a mouse. Windows Gestures also worked like a charm on the M16’s trackpad.

Ports

The slim form factor of the M16 means it gets fewer ports than what you’d expect from a 16-inch laptop. Most of the ports are on the left of the M16, including an Ethernet port, a combo audio jack, a full-size USB 3.2 port, an HDMI port, and two USB Type-C ports, one of which supports Thunderbolt 4.0. On the right, there’s a MicroSD card reader and another full-size USB 3.2 Type-A port. Additionally, the charging port is located on the left and a Kensington lock is positioned on the right. The trade-off for a third USB Type-A port is a USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support, which is worth it in my opinion.

Display

The M16 impressively fits a 16-inch display in a 15-inch chassis. The 16-inch ROG Nebula Display has a matte finish and a tall 16:10 aspect ratio. The four bezels surrounding the screen are among the smallest I’ve seen on a gaming laptop to date. The 16-inch IPS screen features a WQXGA (2560 x 1600 pixels) resolution. The panel also has a 100 percent DCI-P3 and up to 500 nits of brightness. The screen is factory calibrated by Pantone out of the box and supports Dolby Vision. The one drawback here is the lack of G-Sync support, although Adaptive Sync is quite effective at preventing tearing.

Asus says, “Laptops that come certified with ROG Nebula Displays deliver users the reassurance of panels with high resolution, high refresh rates and an extensive coverage of the colour gamut.” The screen also gets plenty bright, it is almost too bright, which could make it an issue when working or playing in pitch darkness. The screen also boasts a 165Hz refresh rate and a 3ms response time, making it excellent for gaming. The panel also offers 100 percent sRGB colour coverage, making it good for light content creation work.

Performance

When it comes to performance, the Zephyrus M16 makes little concessions. Our model was equipped with the latest Intel Core i9- 12900H processor paired with 32GB of RAM. Our unit also came with the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti laptop GPU and a 1TB M.2 PICe Gen 4 SSD. The new M16 also has a MUX switch in the Armory Crate software that can help boost performance by at least 5 to 10 percent in the Discrete GPU mode.

First, let’s take a look at the Zephyrus M16’s performance in multiplayer gaming. In Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, the M16 managed an average of 140fps on high settings. The laptop was also tested in Battlefield 2042, which managed 90fps on average on high presets. In Doom Eternal on Ultra mode, the M16 managed 130 fps on average, while Overwatch saw 140fps on Epic settings. All games were tested in Quad HD resolution without ray tracing turned on.

#ApexLegends on the @ASUS_ROG Zephyrus M16 (2022).

12th Gen Intel Core i9 / RTX 3070 Ti#NoobGoesPro pic.twitter.com/kgIung3hhs

— Carlsen Martin (@Carlsen0491) April 9, 2022

I also tested some titles in single-player mode, including Battlefield V, which managed 80fps on high settings with ray tracing turned on. I also got 50 to 60fps in Far Cry 6 in the campaign mode on ultra-settings. The last title I tested in single player with the settings maxed out was Forza Horizon 5, which managed around 70fps on average. In terms of gaming, the Zephyrus M16 is shaping up to be a thin and light powerhouse.

#Battlefield2042 on the @ASUS_ROG Zephyrus M16 (2022).

12th Gen Intel Core i9 / RTX 3070 Ti#NoobGoesPro pic.twitter.com/2gACTWCMSF

— Carlsen Martin (@Carlsen0491) April 9, 2022

We also ran a few benchmarks, where the Intel CPU impressed. In Geekbench 5, we saw a single-core score of 1700 points and a multi-core score of 10240 points. In Cinebench R23, the laptop managed 1675 points in the single-core and 13099 points in the multi-core stress test. The regular single-core test in Cinebench R23 drew up a score of 1501 points, while the multi-core test yielded a score of 14434 points.

#CallofDutyBlackOpsColdWar on the @ASUS_ROG Zepyhrus M16 (2022).

12th Gen Intel Core i9 / RTX 3070 Ti#NoobGoesPro pic.twitter.com/mrgtxD5L8s

— Carlsen Martin (@Carlsen0491) April 9, 2022

The biggest drawback of a slim and light gaming laptop is cooling. And the Zephyrus M16 is no exception. The M16 handles the heat pretty well on the inside, but not so much on the outside. While gaming in Turbo mode, the CPU didn’t go past 95 degrees and the GPU stayed under 80 degrees for the most part. This is in part thanks to the liquid metal compound cooling and the Arc Flow fans and up to six heat pipes.

However, the story is not the same on the outside, where the M16 gets hot to the touch, which can get uncomfortable. But I rather have the laptop run hot on the outside than inside as performance doesn’t take much of a hit. Additionally, the fans also run loud in Turbo mode, I’d say loud enough to make you not want to use the in-built speakers. Overall, the M16 does an excellent job of pushing the limits of performance in this slim and light form factor.

Battery

The Zephyrus M16 (2022) fits a large 90Whr battery in a slim form factor. But size doesn’t quite matter here as the M16’s battery life was disappointing, considering the battery standards Asus has set with some of its gaming laptops. However, that could be down to the 12th Gen Intel chip. While working on MS Word and Google Chrome (Five Tabs) simultaneously, the laptop managed to deliver around four to five hours of battery life.

However, you’ll have to use the MUX switch to go into Hybrid mode. You’ll also have to lower screen brightness to 30 percent and put the system in Battery Saver mode. The laptop also ran for a little over 90 minutes in Raid: Shadow Legends without the charger. The power brick can fully charge up the laptop in a little over two hours. Battery life on the M16 is quite average but not unexpected, although an AMD CPU here might have delivered better battery life.

Audio & Webcam

For audio, the Zephyrus M16 features a six-speaker sound system that supports Dolby Atmos. The speakers get plenty loud for a thin and light laptop with balanced acoustics with Hi-Res certification. There’s a 3D mic array with Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation. I still preferred using headphones for gaming and external speakers for consuming entertainment, but that’s the case with almost every laptop.

However, the speakers here are more than good enough when you don’t have external speakers. It is nice to see that Asus is bringing webcams back to their laptops. The M16 has a 720p webcam that is good for video calling and also uses IR technology for unlocking the laptop using Windows Hello.

Verdict

The Zephyrus M16 (2022) is excellent for gaming and offers solid gaming performance while keeping the heat in check under pressure. To top it all off, the powerful hardware is complemented by a superb display, one of the best in the segment. To top it all off, there’s a comfortable keyboard and a nice assortment of ports. Everything you’d demand from a gaming laptop, cramped into a thin and light chassis. However, there are a few drawbacks here, like the heat that seeps into the surface of the laptop, which is rather uncomfortable. For a slim and light gaming laptop, I would have liked to have seen better battery life.

The M16 (2022) has all the makings of a gaming laptop and looks like a professional notebook on the outside. But considering how well last year’s Zephyrus G15 (Review) did on the battery front, the M16 could be better. There’s no doubt that the Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is one of the best slim and light gaming laptops we’ve reviewed when it comes to performance. But considering the price, I’d expect an all-metal build. If you are looking for a slim and light gaming laptop with superb gaming performance, then the Asus Zephyrus M16 (2022) is worth considering, although the new version of the Zephyrus G15 might pose a threat due to the M16’s shoddy battery life.