ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 (GU604, 2023) review – gaming devices can’t really get any better

Name: ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16
Brand: ASUS
SKU: B0BYJF8BCF
Price: 3239.00 USD
Availability: InStock

LaptopMedia.com Reviews and Analysis ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 (GU604, 2023) review - gaming devices can't really get any better Page 9

From: Alex Iliev 29 March 2023 / 12:32 | 0

9. Verdict

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Verdict

Driven by the huge performance gains from Intel and NVIDIA, the ROG Zephyrus M16 (GU604, 2023) presents a big leap forward from its predecessor. It crushes through every game there is in 1080p, and in its native 1600p resolution.

One of the big things that help it achieve this is the MUX switch. This lets the NVIDIA GPU (in this case the RTX 4090) communicate directly with the fantastic display.

Speaking of which, ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 (GU604, 2023)’s 16:10 screen has a mini LED backlight, WQXGA resolution, and high maximum brightness. It has wide viewing angles, a good contrast ratio, and super fast pixel response time.

This bodes really well with the 240Hz refresh rate and the G-Sync support, resulting in a super smooth image. Furthermore, it covers 98% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and offers good color accuracy on top of that. Unfortunately, stuff is a bit weird with PWM.

If you are in for the future, you will be happy to hear that the laptop has two SODIMM slots that fit DDR5 memory, working at 4800MHz. Storage-wise, you get two M.2 PCIe x4 slots. They support Gen 4 SSDs but can retrofit Gen 3 too.

We’ve already talked about the AniMe Matrix last year. This is why it doesn’t feel that much of a big deal. However, what we find more interesting is the cooling solution.

ASUS has implemented a labyrinth of heat pipes, a huge support heat sink, and not two, but three fans. The third one is a bit small but does a good job of dissipating the residual heat from the VRMs, and other system components. It was about time that this simple desktop technology was brought to the laptop world.

Anyways, this device also has great speakers – six of them. They are 1W units but produce a very “vibrant” sound. We found them good for music, movies, and gaming, as you can simulate surround sound.

Well, something in the whole equation has to give, in order to achieve balance. The first thing we noticed was the battery life. We only managed to extract 5 hours of runtime from the rather beefy 90Wh package.

In addition, the middle of the keyboard gets pretty toasty when you play games for long periods of time, which is not ideal. Thankfully, the internals remain relatively cool (from a hardware perspective).

Nevertheless, it has some positives over its competitor – the Legion Pro 7 (16″, 2023). For instance, this one has a MicroSD card slot. Whichever of the two you pick, however, you will be happy.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-rog-zephyrus-m16-gu604-2023/