If you’re after a really powerful laptop with a fabulous screen, the simple answer is yes. The Asus ROG Flow X16’s mini-LED display is exception, its CPU and and GPU serve up massive performance. It’s very well built. And even has decent battery life.

Flow X16 laptop review: 2-in-1 gamer with mini-LED Asus ROG Flow X16 laptop review: 2-in-1 gamer with mini-LED

The convertible mechanism will be a boon for lots of gamers. Flip the display into a tented or propped-up position and you can use the Asus like a little TV screen and play with a controller. Fully rotate the screen and it’s perfect for touchscreen games on the sofa. Thing is, the performance difference between these three scenarios is within a few percent, so the only noticeable benefit of the Manual mode is the fact that it allows a decrease in temperatures, something worth considering if you’re going to run demanding CPU loads for long periods of time on this device. An updated generation of the 2023 Asus ROG Flow x16 series is available in the meantime, with updated specs and display options. Here’s our detailed review of this 2023 Asus ROG Flow X16 update. Design and construction

Input Devices - RGB backlit keyboard with 1.7 mm travel

In the same vein as the ROG Strix Scar 17 SE, this laptop comes with two display options: a Mini-LED QHD display, with a resolution of 2560 x 1600 and a refresh rate of 165Hz. This variation can reach up to 1,100 nits, according to Asus, as well as a contrast score of 100,000:1.

Flow X16 GV601RW 16” Touchscreen 165Hz Gaming Laptop ASUS ROG Flow X16 GV601RW 16” Touchscreen 165Hz Gaming Laptop

On to more demanding loads, we start by testing the CPU’s performance by running the Cinebench R15 test for 15+ times in a loop, with a 1-2 seconds delay between each run. Move it all the way around and it’s a large tablet for touchscreen gaming, or use it in portrait mode and it’s great for reading or web browsing – as long as you can cope with the increased size when compared to the average iPad. Ramp the rig up to its Turbo mode and heat levels remain high and the noise is even louder, although the fan output isn’t ruinous. On the other end of the scale the Silent mode does a great job, albeit with reduced gaming output – it’s well-suited to casual gaming. Rivals are slightly better, with increased depth in darker areas, but that won’t hinder gaming in any serious way.

Transform for Anything

Battlefield V, Cyberpunk, Doom, Witcher 3 – recorded with Fraps/in-game FPS counter in campaign mode; As far as I can tell at this time, the Flow X16 is a potentially popular addition to the ROG lineup. Specs aside, Asus offer the standard four power profiles in the Armoury Crate control app for this laptop: Silent, Performance, Turbo, and Manual, with various power settings and fan profiles between them:

ROG Flow X16 (2023) | Gaming Laptops｜ROG - Republic of Gamers

For the RAM and storage options, the laptop offers two accessible memory DIMMs and two M.2 SSD slots. Our unit shipped with 32 GB of DDR5-4800 RAM in dual-channel and a single mid-level PCIe gen4 Micron 3400 SSD. This is gen4, but only a mid-level performer and not one of the fastest gen4 options available out there. We’ve already reviewed this panel on the Zephyrus Duo, and I’ll refer you to that article for more details, as well as Derek’s more recent Flow X16 review, with the miniLED panel. It’s also important to mention that this design blows the hot air away from the user through the exhausts positioned behind the screen, thus hot air never blows into the display, unlike on the clamshell ROG Zephyrus designs of the past years. Don’t worry if you’re an esports fan, either. The X16 ran through Rainbow Six Siege at 230fps, so it’s got ample speed to sate the 165Hz display and to output to faster panels. You’ll also get a bit of extra pace from this portable if you deploy its Turbo performance mode.In principle, the ROG Flow X16 is a mix of the smaller Flow X13 and the Zephyrus M16:The distinctive fluting on the iron-gray plastic lid of the former has been replicated, as well as the general shape and silhouette, which are only in a larger size. The base unit, including the baseplate, resemble the Zephyrus M16. ROG GameVisual software offers six expertly tuned graphic modes designed to optimize your visual experience for specific game genres. First Person Shooter (FPS) mode, for example, enhances visibility in dark environments, allowing you to get the drop on any enemies lurking in the shadows. Use GameVisual to get the best experience for every game in your library. One thing I’m a little concerned about is the digitizer layer that we’ll be getting here, since pen support is mentioned. From past experience, digitizers can cause a graininess effect over white content, visible when editing texts and browsing, and I’m hoping this will not be a concern here. We’ll know more once we get to review this. I’m looking forward to spending more time with this for the review, and sharing my findings with you.