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Review unit on loan from ASUS Singapore

The ASUS ROG X16 Flow is a high-end gaming convertible laptop. Below are the configurations available for sale in Singapore.

Model GV601RE-M5024W with external GPU - SGD 6298

AMD Ryzen™ 9 6900HS Mobile Processor (8-core/16-thread, 16MB cache, up to 4.9 GHz max boost)
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050Ti
ROG XG Mobile (GC32L with AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT)
16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) 165Hz IPS touchscreen display
32GB + 32GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM
1TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4 SSD
Windows 11 Home
2 Years International Warranty

Model GV601RM-M5038W without external GPU - SGD $3998

AMD Ryzen™ 9 6900HS Mobile Processor (8-core/16-thread, 16MB cache, up to 4.9 GHz max boost)
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060
16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600) 165Hz IPS touchscreen display
16GB + 16GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM
1TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4 SSD
Windows 11 Home
2 Years International Warranty

My review unit is the one without the external GPU. In other countries, there's an additional option with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070.

Video review

Bottom line
The ASUS ROG Flow X16 is a powerful laptop amazing visual and audio quality for gaming. The mini-LED display is sharp, bright and runs at 165Hz. The convertible design allows you to fold the keyboard behind for a more immersive gaming experience.

The main downside is this laptop runs very warm while gaming even with the three cooling fans. So gaming with keyboard can feel uncomfortable but if you use a controller like me, no problems there.

Things included

These are the items included in the box:

ASUS Pen (SA201H)
Quick start guide
Power cable
240W power adapter

Having reviewed so many ASUS laptops that usually come with a laptop bag or carrying case, I was very surprised none was included this time.

The top has this nice parallel line design where you can also feel the texture. Overall build quality is solid. Weight is 2.1kg.

The parallel line pattern also appears on the bottom, and is repeated for the fan grilles. Located near the corners are two downward firing speakers for bass. Two other speakers on top beside the keyboard are for treble. The speakers support Dolby Atmos and the audio quality is excellent and has good soundstage. The only other laptop with better audio quality is the ASUS Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (UX7602, 2022).

These are the display specs:

Mini LED
1100 nits peak brightness
16:10 aspect ratio
165Hz/3ms
2560 x 1600 resolution
100% DCI-P3 colour gamut

This may not be an OLED display but it's still a stunning display.

2560 x 1600 resolution pairs well with a 16-inch display. Overall visual still look quite sharp.

This is a rather colour accurate display with measured colour support for 100% sRGB, 98% P3, 92% AdobeRGB and 89% NTSC. Creating visual content or gaming on this display is immensely satisfying.

There's also an anti-reflective coating which is quite effective.

This display has two downsides. The hinge is stiff and can hold the display lid position well when stationary, but the display is heavy and will move down when you lift the laptop too fast while the lid is open.

The other downside relates to the 512 local dimming zones of the mini LED backlight. There is blooming when there is content surrounded by huge areas of black. And when switching between bright and dark visual, the display brightness will shift gradually for a split second which I find distracting. Thankfully the local dimming zones can be turned off with the included Armoury Crate app. The display is already very bright and has good contrast ratio so the additional benefit to contrast provided by the dimming zones is just marginal.

The keyboard is fantastic. Keys have good travel and feedback. Function key shortcuts are useful. There are four additional buttons at the top for volume, mic mute and ASUS Armoury Crate app. Touchpad works well and supports finger gestures.

The parallel pattern design can be seen and felt on the keyboard top case too.

The treble speakers are in front. When playing music, it will sound like there's a small band playing on top of the keyboard which is really cool.

Note the smudges on keyboard top case. This laptop is very susceptible to finger prints.

Ports on the left are for power, HDMI 2, USB 3.2 gen 2 Type C with video and power delivery, ROG XG Mobile Interface and a 3.5mm audio jack.

On the right are power button, microSD card slot and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports.

The hot air from the exhaust at the right doesn't come out forcefully so your hand won't be blasted with heat while gaming with a mouse.

The included ASUS pen works great for writing.

Performance

General performance is snappy. Fans don't really rev or are audible unless you're doing processor intensive work, e.g. editing videos, or gaming.

The laptop is equipped with the AMD Ryzen™ 9 6900HS Mobile Processor (8-core/16-thread, 16MB cache, up to 4.9 GHz max boost). It's a powerful processor but it also drains battery faster. Average battery life for non-gaming usage is about 5-6 hours which isn't surprising for a gaming laptop.

Just note that since the processor is from AMD, video editing process will still be smooth but video exporting times will be noticeably slower due to the lack of Intel Quick Sync.

Gaming experience is good. With Red Dead Redemption 2, I was able to get 45 FPS and 55 FPS+ with high texture settings are 2560 x 1600 and 1920 x 1200 resolution respectively.

When gaming, the keyboard area can get warm and made me appreciate the keyboard on the ASUS Zenbook Pro 16X which doesn't get warm ever due to the prop-up design.

I don't have an external GPU to test so I can't say how that will perform for gaming. But based on what I've read online, you'll get higher frame rates and more importantly, the laptop will run cooler which means gaming on the keyboard will be a more pleasant experience.

Sound quality isn't as good when the laptop is used as a convertible during game. In convertible mode, the bass speakers face forward and the treble speakers face backwards. And for some reason, the fans will rev faster and are much louder too, affecting audio quality.

Conclusion

The ASUS ROG Flow X16 is no doubt a very capable gaming laptop that also looks great, and sounds great. Most of the issues I've mentioned affect the experience rather than the performance. Overall, I do enjoy using the laptop very much.

If you don't mind spending a bit more, consider the ASUS Zenbook Pro 16X instead which I have mentioned several times in this review. But that's SGD 4999, but you get 4K OLED, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD and Intel® Core™ i9-12900H.

Availability

If you're interested to get this laptop, consider supporting my blog by buying through the affiliate links listed below at no extra cost.

ASUS laptops are available from ASUS Singapore online store.

Here in Singapore they are available from Lazada SG and Shopee SG.

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