Over the past week, I’ve been using the Asus ZenBook Pro 16x OLED, and I must say it’s one of the best laptops I’ve used in 2023. it boasts a stunning 16-inch OLED display with a refresh rate of 120hz delivering gorgeous visuals. It also supports pen input and comes with the Asus Pen 2.0.
Design and Build
The laptop itself weighs 2.424 kg. Including the power cord and 280-watt charger, the total weight is 3.208 kg. With the pen, it reaches 3.224 kg. The Asus Pro 16x is quite heavy, reflecting its powerful internals.
As far the ports on the left side you’ll find the power port and a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port along with two USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports for data transfer, charging and display output. On the right side, there’s a full-size SD card reader, a 3.5-mm audio jack, and an HDMI 2.1 FRL port. These ports offer a range of connectivity options and comes with an Ethernet port adapter enhancing its connectivity options.
The Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED features a user-friendly design with easy lid operation and well-built hinges. The Ergo Lift hinge elevates the keyboard when the lid is opened improving typing comfort and airflow for better cooling. The keyboard offers pleasant typing with adequate key travel and feedback and the backlighting ensures easy use in low light.
The touchpad uses haptic technology for smooth scrolling and precise gestures and also includes a numpad feature for quick calculations though some users might prefer a dedicated physical numpad. Asus has excelled in the functionality and usability of both the keyboard and touchpad.
Display and Speakers
The Asus ZenBook Pro 16X features a stunning 16-inch 3.2K OLED display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a resolution of 3200 x 2000. Its 0.2-millisecond response time and 120Hz refresh rate ensure smooth visuals, whether you’re gaming or navigating the OS. However, be aware that using the high refresh rate may affect battery life, which we’ll discuss later.
The display excels in color accuracy making it perfect for content creators using Lightroom, Photoshop and video editing software. It offers vibrant colors, deep blacks and high contrast typical of OLED screens with a peak brightness of 550 nits for sharp bright visuals. For SDR content, the brightness is 404 nits. Despite its glossy finish, glare and reflections are minimal due to its high brightness. The responsive touch layer enhances navigation and pinch-to-zoom functionality.
This laptop also delivers exceptional sound quality with its six-speaker system and Dolby Atmos technology ranking among the best I’ve heard in a Windows laptop recently.
Pen and Webcam
The Asus Zenbook Pro 16x OLED comes with pen support, and the Asus Pen 2.0 is included in the box—a valuable addition for tasks like note-taking, sketching, and creating diagrams. The pen functionality performs well, offering a seamless experience.
The webcam provides 1080p video at 30fps and also features an IR camera enabling convenient face recognition login through Windows Hello. There’s a dedicated camera shutter switch on the keyboard enhancing security and privacy. For those who prefer alternative authentication methods, a fingerprint scanner is available. These options provide flexibility in choosing your preferred authentication method ensuring convenience and security.
Performance and Gaming
| PCMARK 10 | 8,525 |
| GEEKBENCH 6 (Single-Core) | 2,802 |
| GEEKBENCH 6 (Multi-Core) | 15,589 |
| CINEBENCH R20 | 7,496 |
| CINEBENCH R15 | 3.081 CB | 204.62 FPS |
| 3DMARK Fire Strike | 34.304 |
| 3DMARK Time Spy | 16.941 |
Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED is powered by the robust Core i9-13905H processor, boasting 14 cores and operating at 45 watts. This processor comprises eight efficient cores and six high-performance cores delivering impressive processing power. These Benchmark tests clearly showcase its outstanding performance both in single-core and multi-core tasks.
| CINEBNCH R23 | Single-Core | Multi-Core |
|---|---|---|
| Asus Zenbook Pro 16x OLED Core i9-13905H | 2,034 | 18,869 |
| Dell XPS 15 9530 Core i9-13900H | 1,980 | 17,010 |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 Core i7-13700H | 1,891 | 14,855 |
| Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra Core i7-13700H | 1,853 | 14,457 |
| Apple MacBook Pro 16 M2 Max | 1,765 | 14,382 |
In the Cinebench R23 benchmark test, the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED showcased remarkable performance. It achieved an impressive single-core score of 2034, surpassing competitors like the Dell XPS 15, XPS 17, Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, and even the MacBook Pro 16 with the M2 Max. Additionally, in terms of multi-core performance, it excelled with a score of 18869, once again leading the pack and outperforming competitors such as the XPS 17, MacBook Pro 16, Dell XPS 15, and Galaxy Book 3 Ultra.
| Laptops | Time |
|---|---|
| Asus Zenbook Pro 16x OLED Core i9-13905H, RTX 4080 | 1:32 |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 Core i7-13700H, RTX 4070 | 1:47 |
| Apple MacBook Pro M1 Pro | 3:23 |
I was especially interested in testing the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED’s performance in 4K video editing, and I can confidently say it exceeded my expectations. When rendering a three-minute H.264 4K video in DaVinci Resolve, it completed the task in just 1 minute and 32 seconds. This performance surpassed that of the XPS 17, which took 1 minute and 47 seconds, as well as the Apple MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro, which took 3 minutes and 23 seconds. The ZenBook Pro 16X OLED truly proves to be a powerhouse for video editing tasks.
| Games | Low | Medium | High | 4K |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Witcher 3 | 433 FPS | 400 FPS | 322 FPS | 106 FPS |
| GTA V | 183 FPS | 181 FPS | 175 FPS | 138 FPS |
| Dota 2 Reborn | 205 FPS | 188 FPS | 172 FPS | 149 FPS |
| Cyberpunk 2077 | 143 FPS | 137 FPS | 125 FPS | 37 FPS |
The Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED laptop isn’t just ideal for content creation; it also offers impressive gaming capabilities, thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 with a total TGP of 160 watts. Testing reveals consistently smooth frame rates, even on popular titles. Even demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 ran smoothly with playable frame rates, even when not at 4K resolution.
Overall, it’s stands out for its exceptional performance, making it a top choice for both content creators and gamers.
It offers a mux switch, giving you the flexibility to choose between using the discrete GPU or switching to hybrid mode, which dynamically switches between the discrete and integrated graphics. This control is advantageous, allowing users to optimize performance based on their needs. Additionally, users can select from different fan modes such as performance mode, standard mode, and whisper mode in the fan profile of the My Asus app.
In terms of thermals, there’s positive news. During the Time Spy stress test, the laptop achieved an impressive passing score of 98.7 percent, indicating minimal to no thermal throttling under heavy load. This is a significant benefit, ensuring consistent performance even during demanding tasks. Moreover, even under heavy load, the surface temperatures of the laptop remained relatively cool, thanks to the implementation of vapor chamber cooling and liquid metal cooling, as specified by Asus.
However, it’s important to note that the fan noise can reach around 53-54 decibels in performance mode under load. While this noise may not be very noticeable during regular tasks, it becomes more apparent during gaming and similar activities. Despite the fan noise, the laptop delivers exceptional performance, making it a worthwhile trade-off for many users.
Battery Life
| Laptops | PCMARK 10 MODERN OFFICE | PCMARK 10 Video Playback |
|---|---|---|
| Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (UX7602) 96Wh, Core i9-13905H | 4 Hours 49 Minutes | 8 Hours 29 Minutes |
| Dell XPS 17 9730 97Wh, Core i7-13700H | 8 Hours 44 Minutes | 9 Hours 07 Minutes |
While the Asus ZenBook Pro 16X OLED boasts several strengths, there’s one area where it falls short: battery life. Equipped with a 96 watt-hour battery, it struggles to match the longevity of some competitors. For instance, in the PC Mark 10 Modern Office battery test, it lasted only 4 hours and 49 minutes, compared to the Dell XPS 17 9730, which lasted 8 hours and 44 minutes with a slightly larger 97 watt-hour battery.
When it comes to video playback, it performed slightly better, managing 8 hours and 29 minutes, while the Dell XPS 17 achieved 9 hours and 7 minutes. It’s worth noting that these tests were conducted with the 120-hertz refresh rate enabled. If you were to lower it to 60 hertz, you could expect better battery life, possibly an additional hour or hour and a half. However, it’s important to consider that gaming on battery power significantly reduces battery life, lasting only 2 hours and 14 minutes in testing.
Overall performance and feature set, its battery life stands out as a weakness. Users should be mindful of its limitations and plan accordingly, especially when engaging in power-intensive tasks or gaming.
ASUS Dial
The Asus Dial proves to be a valuable tool when working with software like After Effects or other Adobe applications such as Photoshop, Lightroom, and Premiere Pro. It facilitates smooth scrolling through the timeline and offers contextual features tailored to these specific applications. Moreover, outside of these software suites, the Asus Dial can be used to adjust volume or screen brightness when navigating the desktop or operating system. Its responsiveness is noteworthy, akin to the functionality observed with the Surface Dial, ensuring seamless integration with a diverse range of tasks and functionalities.
Conclusion
In my opinion, the Asus ZenBook Pro 16x OLED stands out as one of the best laptops for creators in 2023. Its stunning 16-inch OLED display with a 3.2K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and 0.2-millisecond response time truly impressed me. The performance delivered by its Core i9 processor and RTX 4080 graphics card was excellent, especially for demanding tasks like video editing.
However, the weak point of this laptop is its battery life. It didn’t perform as well in terms of longevity compared to the Dell XPS 17 that I recently reviewed. Nevertheless, considering that many users will primarily use it at a desk, its weight and portability are acceptable. Just keep in mind that you’ll need to have the charger handy as the battery won’t last for extended periods.
Despite this drawback, I believe the Asus ZenBook Pro 16x OLED offers an outstanding package for creators.
