ROG Strix G16 (2025) Gaming Laptop, 16” ROG Nebula 16:10 2.5K 240Hz/3ms, NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5080, Intel® Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32GB DDR5, 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, Wi-Fi 7, Windows 11 Home, G615LW-AS96

I am very happy with this laptop! It plays everything I throw at it without a hiccup. I really like the oversized touchpad - I usually turn it off, but when I do use it I appreciate the extra room for my fat fingers. The Amazon page claims that this does not come with a camera, but I can assure you that it does. This is my second Asus G16 system, the first of which I gave to my wife since her original laptop died. Other than some really superficial details, it is hard tell them apart at first glance. All in all I am glad I found the ROG line from Asus!

Great laptop BUT ships with bad default settings that cause crashes. BEFORE you think your PC is broken: 1. Set TDR timeout to 60 seconds (Google how to change TdrDelay in registry) 2. Go to Nvidia Control Panel → Set default GPU to your dedicated, not auto-select Do this DAY ONE or every game will crash and you’ll think you need to RMA. Hardware is amazing once you fix ASUS’s lazy configuration. Do better ASUS.”

Avoid this product. It's the most disappointing laptop I've ever had. Tl;dr: The laptop mostly functions as expected, but there is something seriously wrong with the networking that I believe is software related. This was fixed for me by reinstalling Windows. The installation it came with had some kind of networking issue that I couldn't resolve without wiping the pre-configured drive. The other major issue is the keyboard malfunctions by periodically cutting out for 30 seconds at a time every 30 minutes or so. This is kind of weird because I didn't have this issue initially. The keyboard issue may be related to firmware. It may only have issues at lower power states, but I'm not sure. All firmware and drivers are up to date though. Pros: It's powerful, has a good battery life, moderate weight, etc. Cons: Armory create is pretty terrible. I have heard people complaining about it for years and now I see why. It came installed with McAfee spyware. Why do that? I can't figure out what the problem is yet, but SMB file transfer speeds are impossibly slow. I can move files between PCs at 20MB/s at best (often 5-10MB/s). Usually I can only use about 150Mbps of bandwidth. I was hoping to get close to the 2.5Gbe speeds or the Wifi 7 speeds, but no... it's profoundly useless to move large files. Every other PC I have on the network is blazing fast, but this laptop operates at 20 year old speeds. Iperf3 shows fast speeds, which I admittedly find confusing, so maybe there is some kind of significant SMB configuration issue that I don't understand with the OEM windows installation/configuration. I'm going to try to reinstall windows and figure out how to at least get 10 year old network speeds. That'd be an improvement over how it is now. I would avoid this laptop as it's been a painful experience to have incredibly terrible networking on a laptop. I'm thinking about trying to RMA it if reinstalling Windows won't help, but I'm afraid with Asus' RMA reputation, it's worth just selling it at a loss if there are issues. Update: I was able to get the networking to work better by wiping the primary drive and reinstalling Windows without whatever bloat it came with. The Wi-fi is still trash, with super low speeds, but the ethernet port is working properly after wiping the Windows installation it came with. Unfortunately the other major issue I've run into is the keyboard stops working periodically, and this happens often (roughly every 30 mins). It'll cut off to where no key works for roughly 30 seconds then functions normally again. There are many people complaining about that for years, so I think it's a widespread issue. I don't have a solution to this problem yet, so I'm thinking about starting the RMA process to try that route.

I use this laptop exclusively for AI/ML work in a professional setting — no gaming. Performance is outstanding and a clear step up from my previous Dell XPS 16 (i7, 64GB RAM, Nvidia 4GB). Tasks that used to drag now run smoothly and quickly. The fan is louder than I’d like, but the productivity gains far outweigh this minor drawback. The camera is good, and the microphone with Nvidia Broadcast is excellent for calls and recordings. The screen quality is very good; coming from OLED, I was worried, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The keyboard feels great, and I really like the layout. The power supply is quite large — not an issue for me, but worth noting if you travel often. Overall, this is an exceptional machine for professional AI/ML workloads.

This is an extremely fast gaming laptop, and has fulfilled its duties admirably. I did add a second SSD for more storage, but other than that it's in its original form. Pros: - Fast, responsive screen with a good size and good quality. No ghosting and good color. Fully supports variable refresh rates. - Fast GPU/CPU combination when using the dGPU (5080) for games. More than fast enough for everything else when using the iGPU (built-in Intel graphics). - Easy to access the slots/sockets for adding RAM and SSDs. This also helps if you have to maintain the laptop or repair it. Makes it easy to clean out the dust and hair. - The ports for connectivity are good enough. It doesn't add a ton of separate HDMI and DisplayPort connections, but there's enough to use it as a desktop replacement. The USB ports are fast and provide enough power for every peripheral I use. Cons: - Asus Armory Crate is pretty much required for performance mode switching, RGB selection, fan modes, etc. It's VERY intrusive, and is defaulted in the BIOS to automatically install in Windows. You can turn that setting off, but you'll still need the software if you want to control that stuff. It might even be a form of spyware, so be careful and do your research. - No HDR for the built-in screen. Yes, HDR works on a monitor, but the included display doesn't support it. - It gets HOT when gaming. At max performance mode, run the fans at max speed and keep it off your lap. - It WILL build up dirt/dust/debris in the fan. Keep it clean or you'll have to replace the fan eventually. - If you plan on running Linux on it, the sound output through the built-in speakers can eventually become an issue, as the Linux drivers seem to get confused due to the GPU's drivers for passing sound over HDMI. Yes, this is very technical, but if you plan on using Linux, I expect you'll be able to understand the issue. I bought this for less than it costs now, since the prices have increased due to GPU/RAM/CPU silicon is being earmarked for AI server farms. Value at the time was absolutely great. Now? Everything costs too much. You might be happier with a slightly-slower GPU like a 5070ti in a major sales event like Memorial Day. Right now, it's probably just too expensive. I can't really call it a good value when it's $500+ more expensive than it was a year ago.

Bought as a gift for my friend who is a gamer. She loves it. She plays World of Warcraft and the NVIDIA 5060 has no problems running WoW at highest quality settings.

Best laptop for everything.

I'm a daily gamer and this pc is the best!