We started our gaming laptop reviews this year with a model that, to be honest, doesn’t have the most aggressive design we’ve seen in recent months. In fact, this Asus has a more “serious” design although, both by name and by specifications, it is created to play.
This is the Asus ROG Flow X16, a laptop that was launched a few months ago and that we have had for several weeks both for work and play. Just looking at its features (with the RTX 3070 Ti and the latest from AMD) it is clear that it is a powerful laptopbut what I liked the most is not the average frames per second, but how good the games look.
And it is that, It has a mini LED display. with one of the highest brightness we’ve seen on the market, and that’s one of the keys why playing on this device is something out of the ordinary.
But well, all this, together with some not so positive points, I will tell you about in this analysis of the Asus ROG Flow X16.
The review of the Asus ROG Flow X16: analysis, test and opinion of HobbyConsolas:
Characteristics and technical sheet of the Asus ROG Flow X16
Asus ROG Flow X16ProcesadorAMD Ryzen 9 6900HSTarjeta gráficaAMD Raderon 680M
Nvidia RTX 3070 TiMemory RAM32 GB DDR5 at 4,800 MHz Display size16″ with MiniLED panel
Touch panel
DisplayHDR 1.000
3ms response
FreeSync Premium Pro
Dolby Vision support
165 Hz refreshmentStorage1 TB SSD PCIe4Operating SystemWindows 11 HomeWireless connectivityWifi 6E
Bluetooth 5.2 Physical connections HDMI 2.0b
USB-C 3.2
2 x USB-A 3.2
ROG XG Mobile Interface
UHS-II card reader
3.5 mm jack Battery 90 Wh
200 W adapter Dimensions 35.5 x 24.3 x 1.94 cm
2,10 kgExtrasCámara 720p30
IR System for Windows Hello
4 speakersPriceFrom 1,999 euros
Premium design wherever you look at it
As always, we are going to start the analysis talking about the design. First of all, I am not very clear if it is a computer to play. By technical specifications and the ‘ROG’ of the name yes, It is clear that it is a gaming product, but its design does not make it so clear to me.
To begin with, it is a 2 in 1. This means that the hinges, which I found to be of quality despite their size, allow the screen to be rotated completely.
This will allow you to use the laptop as if it were a tablet like so many convertibles that we have seen in recent years. And it is that, in addition, its screen is touch.
flow gallery x16 (4 images)
In addition, the design is not one of those that screams the word ‘gamer on board’ either. It has a distinctive design with a striped pattern on both the chassis and touchpad, but it’s not a laptop you’d see in an office environment, for example, and be out of place. In fact, I find it quite elegant.
Nor is it excessively chubby to be a gaming laptop and the truth is that it is well served in ports.
On the right side we have the power button and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, as well as a UHS-II microSD reader. It has great speed, but if you put a card reader, make it full size.
On the left side is the power port, the ROG XG Mobile port to connect an external device at high speed (a GPU, for example), an HDMI 2.0b, the 3.5mm jack, and a USB-C 3.2.
As I said, I think it is served in ports, but in a gaming laptop, no matter how well the Wi-Fi works, I miss an RJ45 for Ethernet.
Finishing with the design, we have the keyboard and the touchpad. I think that, considering the ventilation slots, the keyboard makes good use of the available space and each key has RGB lighting.
The touch is good (somewhat rubbery) and silent. I have been very comfortable both writing and playing, really, and the touchpad is generous, precise and has also given me very good feelings during my weeks of use.
miniLED panel with a rare format to play
If we turn to the screen, we have one of the strengths of this laptop, although, to be honest, due to technology, I expected it to be a tad better. It is a 16” panel that has a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels.
If you think it’s weird it’s because… it is. And, the aspect ratio is 16:10. For games it is somewhat strange because most titles have no problem and adapt, but others like Death Stranding, curiously, show black bars at the top and bottom because they adapt the game to 16:9.
It is a miniLED panel and it has one of the highest brightnesses we have seen on a computer: 1,100 nits with DisplayHDR 1000 certification. It is a real madness that, in addition, is distributed great throughout the panel thanks to a very careful backlight.
It’s Pantone Validated, has Dolby Vision, 100% DCI-P3 headroom and it doesn’t look like a gaming laptop screen, but rather a design and editing laptop. I like that it has FreeSync, it has a 165 Hz refresh rate and the gaming experience is fantastic.
Now, if I get a bit picky, I think the white balance could be a little better, since it tends, at least in my unit, to be warm. But hey, I already said that it is something minor and, to play, it is an excellent screen.
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Asus ROG Flow X16 Screen
As for the speakers, we have a pretty impressive setup for a laptop. It has two tweeters and two woofers. and the quality is quite interesting. They are compatible with Dolby Atmos and the truth is that it seems to me that it is one of the ‘best-sounding’ laptops on the market.
You will be able to listen to music with a good volume, videos and movies, but if you want to play without headphones, things get complicated because the fans ‘blow’ a lot. Even so, it is appreciated that Asus has taken care of the audio in this way.
To work on demanding apps or games, the Ryzen 9 6900HS is amazing
But hey, let’s go to the chicha, the internal hardware. Here we have beastly components for both work and play. I am very happy to see so many TOP range models mounting the Ryzen, since they are processors that have proven to be more up to the task for the most demanding tasks.
Here we have the Ryzen 9 6900HSan 8-core processor with 16 threads, a TDP of 35 W and a base frequency of 3.3 GHz with a turbo of 4.9 GHz. Consumption is quite contained thanks to the 6-nanometer FinFET lithography and it has an integrated GPU , the Radeon 680M.
Test sintéticos Flow X16Geekbench 5Single-Core: 1.458
Multi-Core: 9.040PC Mark6.675Cinebench R15CPU: 2.111
GPU 126,11 fpsCinebench R204.285Far Cry 656 fpsRed Dead Redemption 239,7 fpsShadow of the Tomb Raider71 fps
This GPU is the one that comes into play when it is not necessary to activate the RTX 3070 Ti that accompanies this processor. It has 32 GB of DDR5 RAM and a PCIe4 SSD that literally flies.
The 6,756.23 MB/s of reading and the 4,304.61 MB/s of writing They are noticeable on a day-to-day basis in any task we do, but also when running games or loading games. I really want the Microsoft technologies used in Series X to start coming to Windows 11, really.
For the rest, as can be seen in the tests, we have high scores in terms of processor, but also in synthetic tests that involve the GPU, such as Far Cry 6, Shadow of the Tomb Raider or the one from Red Dead Redemption 2.
Regarding autonomy, the 76 Wh battery gives for what it gives. If you play you will have an hour away from the plug, but if you use it for office automation you will be around three hours.
The RTX 3070 Ti behaves like a beast
Given the synthetic tests, let’s go with the game tests. In this case, I have analyzed the Flow X16 with these titles:
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Gameplnay Asus ROG Flow X16
The reason is because they use RTX or DLSS and Overwatch is a CPU hog which also allows me to test Wi-Fi stability. Here is the table with the average FPS in each game:
FPS de media ROG Flow X16Control50 fpsOverwatch 2112 fpsSpider-Man59 fpsDeath Stranding114 fpsQuake RTX41 fps
You can already see that the performance is very good and it is achieved with DLSS in the cases that allow it and with all the graphic parameters at maximum, including raytracing.
Also, the HDR screen is a real hoot in games like Overwatch, Control, Death Stranding or Spider-Man and it will make you enjoy video games a little more.
Powerful dissipation system that suffers in games to the maximum
However, the price to pay is the noise of the fans. For the CPU we have an encapsulation with liquid metal (like the one in PS5, wow) and GPU and CPU have their own active heatsink. There are generous air inlets and outlets and I think the results of the system are good.
Grados de CPUGrados de GPUControl8783Overwatch 27980Spider-Man8285Death Stranding7474Quake RTX8582
However, the noise emitted by the fans when they are at maximum power, something that occurs practically when starting any moderately demanding game, will force you to play with headphones.
But well, I think that the dissipation, beyond the noise, is very effective, and that is something that is appreciated in a laptop.
Versions, offers and price of the Asus ROG Flow X16
Let’s go with the versions of this model. We have the same processor configuration, but both the RAM and the GPU change. The ROG Flow X16 starts at 1,999 eurosbut the base model can be found at PC Components at a price of 1,799 euros.
If we go to the model that we have tested, with the 3070 Ti and 32 GB of RAM, we have a price of 3,300 euros.
Asus ROG Flow X16, the opinion of HobbyConsolas: is it worth it?
We reached the end of the analysis of the Asus ROG Flow X16 and the truth is that It is a laptop that you can put few ‘buts’. It has a very premium design, with good materials and lines that move away from what we understand as a gaming laptop.
I like the keyboard, the texture and precision of the touchpad and the performance is excellent with a screen resolution higher than the usual FullHD. The hardware is amazing, with a Ryzen 9 that performs great in any field, but what I liked the most is the screen.
The miniLED, despite the white balance, is spectacular for enjoying HDR games thanks to the high brightness of the panel. It could have a little more contrast, but the pixel density is high and, in the end, the combination between screen and internal components gives us a very good result.
The sound is also of quality and, to highlight the negatives, I think the price is high, the glossy finish of the panel is not the one I like the most and the fans blow a lot when we are playing.
In addition, the GPU expansion port does not contribute much in the 3070 Ti model, but hey, in the end, buying the module with the RTX 3080 depends on each user and is not mandatory.
The best
Performance and user experience Quality of the speakers Brightness and resolution of the panel Design and materials
And the worst
Fan noise Panel white balance Screen glare Expansion port is unnecessary for an RTX 3080
