ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026, GU606) review
Best for: Gaming and creative work on the go · Premium
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Pros
- Slim, light aluminium body for a gaming laptop
- Bright, fast 240Hz OLED with excellent colour
- RTX 5070 to RTX 5090 options
- Two SSD slots and Wi-Fi 7
Cons
- Memory is soldered
- Premium price
- RTX 5090 is power-limited in a slim chassis
Full review
The Zephyrus G16 has become the default recommendation for anyone who wants a powerful gaming laptop that does not look or weigh like one. The 2026 GU606 moves to Intel's Core Ultra 9 386H, a 16-core Panther Lake chip with a 50 TOPS NPU, and ASUS's spec sheet lists RTX 5070, 5070 Ti, 5080 and 5090 graphics, with the top two running at up to 160 W in manual mode.
The 16-inch 2560 x 1600 OLED runs at 240Hz with G-Sync and is rated by ASUS at 1,100 nits peak for HDR, so it suits photo and video editing as well as games. The aluminium chassis is 14.9 mm at its thinnest and weighs 1.85 kg in RTX 5070 form, or 1.95 kg with the vapour-chamber cooling used for the RTX 5070 Ti and above.
The spec list is strong across the board: Wi-Fi 7, a UHS-II SD reader, HDMI 2.1, USB-C charging up to 100 W and a 1080p IR webcam. Memory is soldered at 32GB or 64GB, but there are two M.2 slots for storage. As with any thin gaming laptop, expect the fans to work hard in the performance modes.
The RTX 5070 Ti or 5080 versions are the sweet spot; the RTX 5090 is held back by the slim chassis.
Full specifications
| Launch price (RRP) | Varies by retailer |
|---|---|
| Processor (chip) | Intel Core Ultra 9 386H |
| CPU cores | 16 cores / 16 threads |
| Graphics | NVIDIA RTX 5070, 5070 Ti, 5080 or 5090 (up to 160 W) |
| RAM | 32GB or 64GB LPDDR5X-8533 (soldered) |
| Storage | 1TB or 2TB SSD (two M.2 slots) |
| Screen size | 16" |
| Resolution | 2560 x 1600 |
| Panel / refresh rate | OLED 240Hz, anti-reflective, G-Sync |
| Brightness | Up to 1,100 nits HDR peak |
| Battery capacity | 90 Wh |
| Battery life (claimed) | Not published |
| Weight | 1.85 kg or 1.95 kg (by GPU) |
| Thickness | 14.9 to 17.9 mm |
| Ports | Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 10Gbps, 2x USB-A, HDMI 2.1, SD UHS-II, audio |
| Wi-Fi / Bluetooth | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0 |
| Webcam | 1080p with IR (Windows Hello) |
| Operating system | Windows 11 Home (Pro on some) |
| Backlit keyboard | Yes (RGB) |
| Launched | 2026 |
| Copilot+ PC | Yes |
| NPU | Up to 50 TOPS (Intel) |
| USB-C charging | Up to 100 W |
Spec check note: ASUS's spec page lists RTX 5070, 5070 Ti, 5080 and 5090. ASUS lists Bluetooth 6.0, which we show. ASUS's tech spec page does not state SDR brightness; the 1,100-nit HDR peak is from ASUS's product page. ASUS does not publish a battery-life claim.
Specifications checked against: ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026) tech specs, ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026) product page
How it compares with its rivals
| Feature | ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2026, GU606) | Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M5 Pro) | Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (M5 Pro) | Razer Blade 16 (2026, Core Ultra 9 386H) | Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 (16IAX10H) | ASUS ProArt P16 (H7606, Ryzen AI 9) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Gaming and creative work on the go | Video editing, 3D, music and coding | Pros who travel | Gamers who want long battery life | Maximum gaming frame rates | Photo and video editing on Windows |
| Price band | Premium | Premium | Premium | Premium | Premium | Premium |
| Launch price (RRP) | Varies by retailer | Not stated | Not stated | Varies by retailer | Varies by retailer | Varies by retailer |
| Processor (chip) | Intel Core Ultra 9 386H | Apple M5 Pro (M5 Max optional) | Apple M5 Pro (M5 Max optional) | Intel Core Ultra 9 386H | Intel Core Ultra 7 255HX, Ultra 9 275HX or 290HX Plus | AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 or Ryzen AI 9 365 |
| CPU cores | 16 cores / 16 threads | 18 (6 super + 12 performance) | 15 (5 super + 10 performance) or 18 cores | 16 cores / 16 threads | 20 or 24 cores (by chip) | 12 cores / 24 threads (HX 370) or 10 / 20 |
| Graphics | NVIDIA RTX 5070, 5070 Ti, 5080 or 5090 (up to 160 W) | 20-core Apple GPU (32 or 40-core on M5 Max) | 16 or 20-core Apple GPU (32 or 40-core on M5 Max) | NVIDIA RTX 5080 or 5090 (up to 165 W) | NVIDIA RTX 5070 Ti (140 W), 5080 or 5090 (175 W) | NVIDIA RTX 5060 up to RTX 5090 (by model) |
| RAM | 32GB or 64GB LPDDR5X-8533 (soldered) | From 24GB (up to 128GB) | 24GB, 48GB or 64GB (up to 128GB on M5 Max) | 32GB or 64GB LPDDR5X-9600 (soldered) | Up to 64GB DDR5-6400 (two SO-DIMM slots) | 16GB to 64GB LPDDR5X (soldered) |
| Storage | 1TB or 2TB SSD (two M.2 slots) | 1TB to 4TB SSD (up to 8TB on M5 Max) | 1TB to 4TB SSD (up to 8TB on M5 Max) | 1TB or 2TB SSD (second M.2 slot) | Two M.2 slots (one PCIe 5.0), up to 2TB each | 512GB to 2TB SSD (two M.2 slots) |
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