Gaming laptops are always a balance between price, performance, and portability. The Asus ROG Strix G16 manages to find a good balance between all three. Though a few more design updates would be welcome, its RTX 50-series graphics and Ryzen 9 9955HX3D processor form a potent combination that delivers good gaming performance for the money.

Asus ROG Strix G16 - Design and Features

If I asked you to picture a “gaming laptop”, there’s a good chance something like the Asus ROG Strix G16 would come to mind. A lot of its design plays into the stereotypes but falls into the middle with how far it takes them. It isn’t thin or light, measuring 13.94 x 10.39 x 1.2 inches and weighing 5.51 pounds. It has a bright RGB keyboard and front LED strip to paint your desk in colored light. And the style is aggressive with a big ROG eye on the lid and plenty of hard angles and “Republic of Gamers” debossed on the hinge.

Asus ROG Strix G16 (2025) Specs

Display

16” IPS (ROG Nebula Certified), 500-nits peak brightness

Resolution

2,560 x 1,600

Refresh Rate

240Hz

Processor

AMD Ryzen 9 9955HX3D

Graphics

Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

Memory

32GB DDR5-5600

Storage

2TB NVMe

Ports

2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x Type-C USB 4 (DisplayPort/power delivery/G-SYNC, 1 x Type-C USB 4 (DisplayPort/G-SYNC) 1 x HDMI 2.1 FRL, 1 x RJ45 LAN, 1 x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack

Networking

Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3

Webcam

1080p FHD

Battery

90WHr

Dimensions

13.94 x 10.39 x 0.89 - 1.20 inches

Weight

5.51 pounds

The system is beautiful, if a bit too similar to last year’s version. Big design changes are hardly a requirement for a great gaming laptop, but the Intel version of the 2025 Strix G16 has some meaningful upgrades that could influence which may be the best fit. While certainly not shabby, this version offers an improved selection of ports (Thunderbolt 5 and an extra USB Type-A), upgraded WiFi 7 compatibility, wraparound RGB lighting, and includes a larger trackpad.

The AMD system I’m reviewing comes with two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, two Type-C USB 4 ports, a full-size HDMI 2.1 video out, an RJ45 ethernet jack, and a 3.5mm audio combo port. Only one of the USB 4 ports can be used for charging, unlike the Intel version, and both Type-A ports are on the right side, which can get in the way of the mouse with trailing wires or larger dongles.

The AMD version is no slouch, either. Outfitted with a Ryzen 9 9955HX3D processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, it has both the brains and brawn to run the latest AAA games at a high framerate. It comes with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 2TB NVMe SSD for fast load times and speedy multitasking. Both the memory and storage can be upgraded and can be accessed easily by unscrewing and removing the back panel.

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The “X3D” in the processor is important and points towards the potential better gaming performance thanks to its 3D V-Cache design. Broadly speaking, you can think of a processor’s cache as its own personal RAM supply, keeping the most important information data available for rapid access. Usually, these memory dies are laid out on a flat plane, but the G16’s Ryzen 9 9955HX3D stacks them vertically, lowering latency for improved performance. Compared to the standard Ryzen 9 9955HX, the 9955X3D also doubles the total amount of L3 cache bringing the total to 128MB. In short, this variant can access more, and more quickly, which directly translates to better gaming performance.

Keeping that hardware cool is one of the most important factors in performance. Unlike the Intel model, which received a new vapor chamber cooler this generation, the AMD version features the same three-fan, heat pipe design as last year. It also uses liquid metal on the graphics card to help keep temperatures low. Air is drawn in through vents on the bottom and through the keyboard and exhausts out the back and sides. When the fans ramp up to full speed, you can definitely feel the heat on your mouse hand, but I didn’t find it uncomfortable.

While it would have been nice to see the same upgrades Team Blue received, the existing system works well enough to avoid thermal throttling. After multiple benchmarks, I recorded a peak CPU temperature of 85C and a peak GPU temperature of 87C in turbo mode. Though the system is capable of running silently at idle, it definitely gets loud enough while gaming that it may bother anyone sitting nearby.

There’s no OLED screen on the G16, which comes as a bit of a surprise given that many of its competitors do (see the Gigabyte Aorus Master 16 and Razer Blade 16). There’s no mini-LED either, so HDR isn’t an option. It still gets plenty bright at around 500-nits and offers vibrant and relatively accurate color reproduction, so everything from games to editing YouTube videos looks reliably good. If you don’t care about gaming in HDR or want to avoid burn-in risk, it’s a solid option and helps the price stay reasonable.

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Instead of OLED, the display offers a 1600p resolution and a fast 240Hz refresh rate. This resolution offers a middle ground between clarity and performance. At 16 inches, this translates to 189 pixels per inch (PPI), which appears crisp and detailed in both still images and games. It also doesn’t require an RTX 5090 or low settings to hit 60 FPS or higher in most games. It won’t compete with OLED in responsiveness, but its 240Hz refresh rate is certainly up to the task for competitive play and reduces motion blur and input lag that might give an enemy the advantage.

The keyboard and trackpad are just fine. The keys have good tactility and aren’t mushy, but lack the crispness of competitors like the HP Omen Max 16 or even Asus’s own ROG Zephyrus G16. They do offer programmable lighting and customizable macro buttons along the top row, though.

The trackpad is on the smaller side at 3.4 x 5.1 inches but is still large enough to easily use and allowed me to avoid activating it with my palms. The trackpad also features a built-in number pad option that can be activated by clicking the upper right corner. When pressed, a number pad is illuminated, allowing you to press numbers instead of moving the cursor. This can be convenient but more than once I activated it by accident and had to press multiple times to get it to turn off.

The speakers get relatively loud and avoid distortion at all but the highest level. They also offer a surprising amount of bass, so games and movies sound fuller and more rich than laptops typically are. A gaming headset will still offer a superior experience, especially if you’re trying to hear enemy footsteps, but you could definitely use the built-in speakers and have a good time outside of competitive games.

The system comes with a 1080p webcam, but it’s nothing special and doesn’t support Windows Hello facial recognition. While it’s not a make or break feature, it’s a nice convenience and disappointing to see left out here.

Finally, we come to battery life. The G16 comes with a 90 WHr battery capacity, so you won’t run into any issues taking it on a plane. To test its uptime, I put it through Procyon’s battery life test, which simulates mixed-use for productivity. In this test, it lasts five hours and 12 minutes. Gaming on battery is expectedly far lower, averaging around an hour and ten minutes. The system comes with a 220W power brick, which adds another pound or so to the system’s total weight, but if you’re planning on gaming, you’ll definitely want to carry it with you.

You can also charge the system through one of its USB-C ports at up to 100-watts. I found this to be very inconsistent, however. Even with the RTX 5070 Ti completely disabled, the system set to Silent and Eco GPU mode in Armoury Crate, and Windows set to prioritize battery life, it still wouldn’t charge consistently. After troubleshooting different chargers and cables, it appears that it may be a bug related to battery care settings in the MyAsus application, though I can’t be sure. I am certain that the system shouldn’t have been draining running potato settings with brightness set to minimum, though.

Asus ROG Strix G16 - Software

The G16 relies on a combination of Armoury Crate and MyAsus to customize its different settings. MyAsus is an application included on virtually all modern Asus laptops, even outside of gaming, and is designed to be beginner friendly. It gives you a quick overview of the system’s key stats and offers a number of diagnostics to pinpoint the root cause of different problems that may arise. The software also provides a range of options that are largely doubled-up in Armoury Crate, but are simpler toggles for things like Battery Care and Picture Modes.

Armoury Crate is where the bulk of the G16’s settings reside and it only takes a quick glance between the apps to see that it’s significantly more complex and feature rich. Within, you can see the same diagnostics but significantly expanded to include clock speeds and temperatures. The home page offers all of your most common settings, such as your current performance mode (Windows, Silent, Performance, Turbo, and Manual) and several shortcuts like disabling the Windows keep to get gaming faster. Clicking Manual mode allows you to dial in your own overclock, but like most laptops, there really isn’t much headroom outside of the preset modes.

Clicking through the tabs on the left, however, and you’ll find settings for lighting, remapping keys, configuring the GPU performance mode, changing the picture preset, and more. There’s even a wallpaper tool, a game launcher, and as an update tool so you can always be sure you’re running the latest drivers.

There’s a lot here and it’s not the best presented, but it’s also the exact same we’ve seen on ROG laptops for several years. If you’ve used it before, you’ll know what to expect. If not, prepare to take some time to explore each tab in depth.

Asus ROG Strix G16 - Performance

The Strix G16 has the on-paper specs to offer great gaming performance, but as with any laptop, there’s more at play than simple specs. Temperatures, wattages, clock speeds, and how long it’s able to maintain them all come into play.

To get an idea of what you should actually expect for performance, I ran the system through a battery of synthetic and real-world gaming tests. These tests are run on all of our gaming laptops and each is designed to assess a certain quality, like ray tracing performance with and without DLSS. All tests are performed at Ultra settings unless otherwise noted and are conducted at both native resolution and 1080p or the equivalent for its aspect ratio.

Beginning with synthetics, the G16 performs well, which isn’t surprising given the high its beefy processor. Its RTX 5070 Ti graphics are no slouch either, which is also represented here. Obviously, if you invest in a system with a higher-tier graphics card, you’ll see some gains, but the G16 sits in a sweet spot between price and performance.

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Looking at real-world gaming benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9955HX3D gets to flex its muscle a bit more. While the biggest benefits can be seen at 1200p, the G16 also sees a performance advantage at 1600p. As I’ve tested the system over the last several weeks, I’ve been able to do anecdotal testing with Ready or Not, Baldur’s Gate 3, and Battlefield 6. While I don’t have a standard Ryzen 9 9955HX to test against, the G16 averaged between 7 and 16% FPS higher than the ROG Zephyrus G16 and G14, each with the same GPU, when tested at the same resolutions in these games.

Given the charging issues I experienced, I had to carry the power brick any time I needed the system for more than a few hours without worrying about using power saving options which can lower performance. The weight of the system is already at the line for being too bulky and that pushes it over as a daily carry.

With that aside, the system itself is reliable outside of its middle-of-the-road battery life. The chassis is solid and the hinge is stable. The keyboard is decent enough that it doesn’t stand out negatively and the trackpad, while on the small side, works well. The screen and speakers are definite standouts, and with hardware at the level it offers, there’s little that it cannot do. It’s not a standout in some ways, but if you don’t need features like best-in-class battery life or extra ports, it’s a good pick for maximizing in-game framerates.

Christopher Coke has been a regular contributor to IGN since 2019 and has been covering games and technology since 2013. He has covered tech ranging from gaming controllers to graphics cards, gaming chairs and gaming monitors, headphones, IEMs, and more for sites such as MMORPG.com, Tom’s Hardware, Popular Science, USA Today’s Reviewed, and Popular Mechanics. Find Chris on Twitter @gamebynight.