The ASUS ROG Strix G16, introduced back in CES 2025, packs serious power with the latest Intel processor and NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti graphics, but its biggest upgrade is a new toolless design that makes upgrades and maintenance effortless. Combined with a sharp 16-inch Nebula display and advanced cooling, it’s a laptop built to deliver high performance today while staying flexible for the future.
Table of Contents
Asus ROG Strix G16 Specifications
| Name | ASUS ROG Strix G16 |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (2.7GHz up to 5.4GHz, 8 Performance Cores, 16 Efficient Cores) |
| Neural Processor | Intel AI Boost NPU up to 13 TOPS |
| GPU | Intel UHD Graphics NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop 12GB GDDR7 MUX Switch + NVIDIA Advanced Optimus |
| GPU Wattage | ROG Boost: 1565MHz at 140W |
| Display | 16″ 2560 x 1600 WQXGA (16:10 aspect ratio) 240Hz 3ms response time (G2G) 170° viewing angle up to 500 nits of brightness, 1200:1 contrast ratio 100% DCI-P3 ROG Nebula Display |
| RAM | 16GB DDR5-5600 1 additional slot for SODIMM Max supported memory of 64GB |
| Storage | 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 1 additional slot for SATA/NVMe M.2 |
| LAN | 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be triple band) Bluetooth 5.4 Wireless Card |
| I/O Ports | 1x 2.5G LAN port 2x Thunderbolt 5 with support for DisplayPort / PD / G-SYNC 3x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1080p FHD IR Camera for Windows Hello Built-in array microphone 2-speaker system with Smart Amplifier Technology 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack |
| Display Output | 1x HDMI 2.1 |
| Keyboard | Backlit Chiclet Keyboard Per-Key RGB With Copilot key |
| Audio Tech | AI noise-cancelling technology Dolby Atmos Hi-Res Certification Smart Amp Technology |
| Battery | 90 Watt-Hours, 4-cell Li-ion Fast Charging 0-50% in 30 minutes |
| Security | BIOS Admin Password and User Password Trusted Platform Module (Firmware TPM) |
| Power | Rectangle Conn, 280W AC Adapter 20V DC 14A, 100-240V AC, 50/60 Universal |
| Software Freebies | McAfee 30 days free trial Xbox Game Pass for PC (3 months) |
Unboxing and Overview
The Asus ROG Strix G16 comes with a cardboard suitcase-style box with the Strix design in front, a side featuring its motto of “For Those Who Dare”, then the back containing its specifications and technical details. To prevent the laptop from falling out when unboxing, it is best to put the box lying flat and opening it like how you would open the lid of a laptop.
Opening the box, the Strix G16 sits on top, slightly elevated as you lift the lid. Underneath, the packaging is divided into three compartments: the left holds the included ROG Strix Impact mouse along with the 100W USB-C charger, the center contains the manual and warranty papers, and the right side houses the larger 280W power adapter.
Underneath the lid, ASUS adds a nice touch with blueprint-style design of the Strix G16. It shows off some of the key design elements like the full-surround RGB lighting, ROG Intelligent Cooling system, and the tool-less upgrade access. You also get a look at the thermal system with its vapor chamber design, plus a small performance graph labeled “ROG Lab’s Latest and Greatest.”
They have also changed the design of the AC charger from the typical circular port into a rectangular one. This ensures that the charger is snug-fit and would not plug out of the port easily.
Keyboard Design
Unlike the typical laptop keyboard layout, the ASUS ROG Strix G16 moved its FN key to the left side of the spacebar between the left CTRL and Window keys. The right side of the spacebar features the right ALT key, PRT SC key, and a dedicated Windows Co-Pilot key. On the rightmost part of the keyboard layout lies the media control keys like Play, Stop, Previous, and Next.
Since there are dedicated keys for media control, the F-keys functions are grouped based on what they generally do. F1-F4 keys are volume mute and keyboard/laptop illumination. F5-F8 are for screen brightness, cooling performance toggle, and a quick access button for the Snipping Tool. F9-F12 are more of the laptop connectivity settings like projectors, enabling or disabling the touchpad, sleep mode, and airplane mode.
Above the F1-F4 keys are additional macro keys or M-keys for increasing/decreasing volume, enabling/disabling mic, customizing the cooling performance (same as the F5 key), and a quick access button for opening the Armory Crate software. These M-keys are customizable on the said software.
In the alphabet keys, there is a noticeable dot marker in the W key. ROG added this marker as a finger reference on for WASD-based movements on top of the additional F and J underline markers.
The Strix G16 packs a generously sized 130mm x 85mm glass trackpad, which feels smooth under the fingers and makes everyday navigation a lot easier. The extra space means multi-finger gestures are more reliable, and it’s comfortable enough to use for long stretches if you’re working on the go without a mouse.
16″ Display and ROG Nebula Technology
The ROG Strix G16 comes with a 16-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) panel that strikes a nice balance between sharp detail and smooth performance. The taller 16:10 aspect ratio gives you a bit more room to work with compared to a standard 16:9 screen; handy when you’re scrolling through code, timelines, or even just web pages. Gamers will also appreciate the 240Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time, which keep motion clear and snappy in fast-paced titles.
ASUS also gives this display its ROG Nebula badge, meaning you’re getting 100% DCI-P3 coverage and up to 500 nits of brightness. In practice, that translates to vivid, accurate colors for creative work and enough punch to stay visible in brighter settings. Paired with adaptive sync, the panel feels just as at home in competitive shooters as it does in slower, cinematic single-player games.
Tool-less Upgrades
The ASUS ROG Strix G16 introduces the tool-less bottom cover for opening the laptop. Unlike opening with screws, this laptop only needs to have the bottom cover unlocked from the laptop before sliding it out. This introduces all the components that are changeable or upgradeable like storages, RAMs, and the 90-watt hour battery. The cover also reveals the massive cooling system and allows the user to unscrew it and change the thermal paste of the processor and the graphics chip.
Benchmarks
As measures before benchmarking, the free McAfee antivirus is uninstalled, and any other unnecessary background apps like CoPilot and OneDrive are closed. For the graphics driver, we have used Nvidia GeForce Game Ready Driver v580.97. There were no changes in CPU and GPU clocks to prevent misaligned results between the same laptop units.
Synthetic Benchmarks:
- Cinebench R24
- 3DMark – Steel Nomad
- 3DMark – Time Spy
- 3DMark – Time Spy Extreme
- CrystalDiskMark
Game Benchmarks:
- AAA titles – GTA V, Cyberpunk 2077, Doom the Dark Ages, Hogwarts Legacy
- Online Multiplayer – Dota2, CS2, VALORANT, Rocket League
- Simulation titles – MSFS 2024, Cities Skylines II
Synthetic Benchmarks
All synthetic benchmark tools were run three times, then averaged the results.
Cinebench R23 is a CPU-only benchmarking tool that tests both single-core and multi-core workloads, making it a standard for evaluating raw processor speed and efficiency.
| Cinebench R23 | Single Core | Multi-Core |
|---|---|---|
| Run 1 | 2,167 | 32,731 |
| Run 2 | 2,174 | 32,627 |
| Run 3 | 2,181 | 32,611 |
| Averages | 2,174 | 32,656 |
The Cinebench 2024 is the latest version of the benchmark. It provides a better measure of both CPU and GPU performance in content creation and 3D rendering tasks.
| Cinebench 2024 | Single Core | Multi-Core |
|---|---|---|
| Run 1 | 131 | 1,724 |
| Run 2 | 132 | 1,730 |
| Run 3 | 132 | 1,734 |
| Averages | 131 | 1,729 |
Next on our suite is 3D Mark Steel Nomad, Time Spy Extreme, and Time Spy. Steel Nomad is 3DMark’s latest benchmarking tool that pushes graphics cards with next-gen visuals, complex lighting, and heavy workloads. It’s designed to show how well a system can handle the latest and upcoming AAA games at ultra settings.
On the other hand, Time Spy and Time Spy Extreme are the last-generation benchmarking tool of 3DMark. They are only capable of testing both CPU and GPU performance of DX12, non-ray tracing games. Time Spy benchmarks in 1440p gaming while Time Spy Extreme does it at 4k
| Steel Nomad | Time Spy | Time Spy Extreme | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run 1 | 3,940 | 16,998 | 8,701 |
| Run 2 | 3,935 | 17,114 | 8,694 |
| Run 3 | 3,929 | 16,980 | 8,710 |
| Averages | 3,934 | 17,030 | 8,701 |
Lastly, CrystalDiskMark is used to benchmark how fast are the read and write speeds of the M.2 NVMe SSD attached to the ASUS ROG Strix G16. In this benchmark, we’ve ran 1GB, 4GB, 8GB, and 16GB file testing. Although it is easy to open the bottom cover, there’s no label on the NVMe SSD to determine what is the brand and how it affected the benchmark.
Game Benchmarks
Games were tested on a 15-minute in game run (or in Rocket League’s case, 5 minutes). This ensures of what FPS to expect when getting this laptop. Cutscenes are skipped whenever possible to prevent skewing to higher results.
Video / Graphics settings were set to Ultra (or best possible) preset, 2560 x 1440p resolution, borderless windowed. Some of the games (Cyberpunk 2077, MSFS 2024, Doom the Dark Ages, Hogwarts Legacy, and Cities Skylines 2) have enabled NVIDIA DLSS and set to Performance mode.
In MSFS 2024, the Strix G16 shows just how big of a difference DLSS makes compared to TAA. With TAA on Ultra, the sim hovers around 22 FPS and can even drop to the 18 FPS, which feels choppy and hard to enjoy. Switching to DLSS Performance mode completely changes the experience, pushing past 100 FPS on Ultra and around 120 FPS on High, while keeping things smooth and responsive, making it the obvious choice for flight sim fans who value both detail and playability.
While benchmarking the games, there’s no noticeable heat dissipation on the side of the keyboard. Most of the heat is dispersed in the back of the laptop. The fan is also on the highest possible speed to keep the internal temperatures at bay. This is very helpful especially on long hours of gaming session.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The ASUS ROG Strix G16 is a great hardware with small software hiccups. With software updates from Armory Crate as well as its BIOS updates in the future, it can perform great and not cause battery degradation. Its 16″ 1440p display with ROG Nebula technology can easily be seen even at outdoor settings.
Paired with an RTX 5070 Ti, this creates a crisp graphics while gaming. Although not on all-Ultra settings. a High/Very-High would work just fine. An alternative would be enabling DLSS frame generation, this uses AI to create additional frames between the frames already rendered by the game. This is best utilized when playing with single-player titles as frame generation would increase input lag.
If you’re mostly using the laptop for work or light tasks while traveling, the 100W USB-C charger is the smarter pick. It’s lighter, easier to carry, and still gets the job done. But if you plan on gaming or doing heavier workloads for long stretches, you’ll want the 280W brick with you, since the smaller charger can keep the battery topped up but won’t deliver full performance on its own.
The ASUS ROG Strix G16 isn’t built just to max out every game setting, it’s designed to strike a solid balance. You get strong all-around performance, a sharp Nebula display, and tool-less upgrades that make it easier to live with long term. At ₱189,995, it’s definitely a premium buy, but the mix of desktop-class power, future-ready hardware, and a screen that looks just as good for work as it does for play makes it a laptop you can count on for years.
Where to buy this laptop: Link
Previous ASUS laptop review: ROG Strix SCAR 16
