The laptop we’re reviewing today is the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 2022 model, which has a new 12th Gen Core i9 CPU and the latest RTX 3000 series Ti GPU.
The new 2022 Zephyrus M16 delivers a higher level of gaming experience, but the weight remains the same. Its thinness and lightness help maintain the aesthetics of the ASUS ROG series. The laptop also features a 16-inch display, but with higher specifications. For gamers looking for a gaming laptop with a large screen, the 2022 Zephyrus M16 is a great choice.
The model we received for review has an Intel Core i9-12900H CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti GPU. It has 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD. The laptop is suitable for both office work and gaming.
All aspects of the ROG Zephyrus M16 (2022) are reviewed in detail below the specifications sheet.
Specifications
| Screen | 16-inch WQXGA (2560 x 1600), 16:10 anti-glare display, DCI-P3:100%, Refresh Rate:165Hz, Response Time:3ms, IPS-level ,Adaptive-Sync, Pantone Validated, MUX Switch + Optimus, Dolby Vision |
| Processor | 12th Gen Intel Core i9-12900H Processor 2.5 GHz (24M Cache, up to 5.0 GHz, 14 cores: 6 P-cores and 8 E-cores) |
| Wireless Connection | Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) + Bluetooth 5.2 (Dual band) 2×2 |
| Graphics card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070Ti 8GB DDR6 Laptop GPU, ROG Boost: 1085MHz* at 120W (1035MHz Boost Clock+50MHz OC, 100W+20W Dynamic Boost) |
| Memory | 16GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM On-Board, 16GB DDR5-4800 SO-DIMM Memory, Max Capacity: 48GB, Support dual-channel memory |
| Storage | 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, Micron 3400 |
| Ports | 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack 1x HDMI 2.0b 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort™ / power delivery 1x RJ45 LAN port 1x Thunderbolt™ 4 support DisplayPort™ / power delivery 1 x card reader (microSD) (UHS-II) |
| Battery | 90WHrs, 4S1P, 4-cell Li-ion Battery with 240W AC Adapter (20V/12A) |
| OS | Windows 11 Home Edition |
| Weight | 2.0 kg (4.41 lbs) |
Appearance and Design
The Zephyrus M16 (2022) has a slim body, and its display cover is made of metal with 8,279 CNC holes punched in specific areas. These CNC holes appear in rainbow colors when exposed to light. In the corner of the other area is a mini ROG logo plate, also with a mirror effect.
When the laptop is opened, we can see a 16-inch IPS LCD display. It is worth mentioning that the Zephyrus M16 (2022) has a maximum opening angle of 180°. There is an extra curved bezel at the bottom of the display, which gives the laptop body some height from the surface and also plays a crucial role in the cooling system.
Overall, the ROG Zephyrus M16 (2022) comes in an all-in-one black design (covering both the business and gaming segments), giving it a relaxed and modest feel.
Display
We already mentioned that the new Zephyrus M16 (2022) features a larger 16:10 IPS LCD with 2.5K (2560 x 1600) resolution and a 165Hz refresh rate, which is perfectly in line with the current generation of gamers. It is worth mentioning that ASUS ROG has officially named this display “ROG Nebula Display”, presenting even more powerful display specifications.
Some other highlights of this display include a 3ms response time, a 100% DCI-P3 wide color gamut, 500 nits peak brightness, Adaptive-Sync support, and a 94% screen-to-body ratio, which provides a larger viewing area. The display is also Pantone certified, ensuring superior color quality, which is a significant advantage for graphic designers purchasing this notebook. In addition, the 3ms response time plays a crucial role in providing a silky smooth graphic display experience.
To test the screen, we used Datacolor Spyder X:
- DCI-P3: 97% color gamut coverage and 105.9% volume ratio
- Adobe RGB: RGB: 80.8% color gamut coverage and 104% volume ratio
- sRGB: 99.8% color gamut coverage and 149.5% volume ratio
The color gamut is pretty good for a gaming laptop display. The display also features an infrared camera and a microphone port for Windows Hello facial recognition, which helps sign in to Windows faster and more securely.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The new Zephyrus M16 (2022) features a backlit Chiclet RGB keyboard with 1.7 mm key travel, and it has the good feel of a mechanical keyboard. The RGB backlight supports single-zone 3-level backlight intensity adjustment. The power button is located at the top right of the keyboard.
We found something different on the keyboard: shortcut keys located at the top left. These keys perform simple operations, including volume up, volume down, and microphone mute. When the fourth key is pressed, the new Altron Intelligent Control Center will open.
Below the keyboard is an integrated touchpad with the following dimensions: 130 x 85 mm (20% larger than its predecessor). On the left side are branded stickers for Intel Core processors and NVIDIA graphics.
Ports, RAM, and SSD
On the left side, the laptop has a charging port, an HDMI 2.0b port, an RJ45 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, a Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The right side of the notebook has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port and a TF card reader.
As mentioned, the Zephyrus M16 (2022) has 16GB DDR5 RAM clocked at 4800MHz. There is also a slot for RAM (dual-channel memory), so we installed 32GB of RAM to determine the additional functionality of the laptop. It is worth mentioning that the memory can be upgraded up to 48GB.
For the memory tests, we used AIDA64 memory and cache benchmarks. The test results were as follows: read speed is 67,217 MB/s, write speed is 64,360 MB/s, and copy speed is 63,407 MB/s. The latency rate is 88.6 ns. These results are a bit higher than any gaming laptop with a 12th Gen Intel Core processor.
The laptop also comes with a 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, which also has thermal pads so that the heat generated by the SSD can be quickly transferred to the bottom cover.
The company provides an additional slot for this laptop, allowing users to add an extra SSD. To test the speed of the SSD, we used CrystalDiskMark, and the results were as follows: Sequential Read Speed: 6,570.90 MB/s, Sequential Write Speed: 4,996.86 MB/s. The benchmark score is close to that of high-end PCIe 4.0 SSDs.
Battery and Charging
The Zephyrus M16 (2022) comes with a 90Wh Li-ion battery. In addition, the laptop comes with a 240W (20V/12A) AC adapter for charging. Even if you lose the AC adapter, you don’t have to worry. The laptop also supports 100W fast charging via Thunderbolt 4 (Type-C) port.
CPU and Benchmarks
The new ASUS Zephyrus M16 2022 (GU603) features the latest Intel Core i9-12900H processor. The processor is based on Intel’s 7nm process and has 14 cores, 20 threads, and 24MB of cache. It is worth mentioning that the performance cores have a turbo frequency of up to 5.0 GHz, while the energy-efficient cores have a maximum frequency of 3.8 GHz.
We also did a short benchmark of the CPU using CPU-Z and Geekbench 5. The results are listed below:
- CPU-Z: 812.5 Points on Single-Core and 8475.5 Points on Multi-Cores
- Geekbench 5: 1946 Single-Core Score and 14288 Multi-Core Score
Compared to the i9-11900H’s scores, there appears to be a significant difference between the scores and the speeds.
GPU and Benchmarks
The Zephyrus M16 (2022) features an RTX 3070 Ti 8GB GDDR6 mobile graphics card. The GPU is based on the GA104 core with 5888 CUDA cores, 96 raster units, and 184 texture units, and it has a 256-bit width.
We also did a benchmark and rendering test on the GPU to check its performance.
Adobe Premiere Pro: For testing, we exported a 480p resolution video with 60fps and a length of 11 minutes and 15 seconds. With the GPU’s Hardware Acceleration turned on, it took only three and a half minutes, a lot quicker than when only the CPU was used (i.e., 14 minutes).
3DMark: The benchmark scores below indicate performance in discrete display mode and mixed mode..
- Fire Strike: 27,199 in Mixed Mode and 27,568 in Independent Display Mode
- Fire Strike Extreme: 13,377 in Mixed Mode and 13,369 in Independent Display Mode
- Fire Strike Ultra: 6,741 in Mixed Mode and 6,826 in Independent Display Mode
- Time Spy: 10,385 in Mixed Mode and 10,565 in Independent Display Mode
- Time Spy Extreme: 5,082 in Mixed Mode and 5,136 in Independent Display Mode
- Port Royal: 6,512 in Mixed Mode and 6,524 in Independent Display Mode
It can be seen that there is a significant performance difference between the mixed and independent display modes.
Gaming Test
As a gaming laptop, gaming tests are essential for the Zephyrus M16 2022. We conducted a short gaming test on two famous games, which are described below with their gaming benchmarks:
Cyberpunk 2077: To test this game, we enabled ray tracing and set it to Ultra, and also set DLSS to Ultra. With these settings, we achieved 68fps at 2K+ (2560 x 1600) resolution and 88fps at Full HD+ (1920 x 1200) resolution.
God of War 4: We tested this game using the following settings: picture quality was set to Ultra High, and DLSS was set to Normal. At 2K+ (2560 x 1600) resolution, we got 63fps, and at Full HD+ resolution (1920 x 1200), we got 74fps.
Thanks to the new DLSS technology, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 (2022) runs all games at a higher 2K+ resolution with excellent image quality and smoothness.
Heat Dissipation and Stress Testing
The new ROG Zephyrus M16 (2022) features Glacier Cooling Architecture 2.0. The cooling system uses Arc Flow dust-free fans and the new Thermal Grizzly Liquid Metal Thermal Compound on the CPU to maintain low temperatures. There are also six flat heat pipes and four air vents. The entire cooling system is quite impressive.
We used the AIDA64 to test the CPU and GPU. After 10 minutes of testing, the total power output reached 140W. The CPU temperature was 80°C, the frequency was stable at 2.4GHz, and the temperature was 40°C. The GPU temperature was 74°C, and the power consumption was 100W.
Overall Testing
This was the last test we conducted, testing all the primary and basic features of the laptop. PCMark 10 was used for this test, and the results are as follows:
- 11,288 points in common basic functions, including web browsing, video calling and application startup
- 11,397 points in Productivity Project Test
- 12,286 Points in Digital Content Creation, including video, photo editing, graphics rendering and related stuff
- 20,835 Points in Gaming Test
The results show that the laptop performs well as an all-around device.
Final Evaluation
After a thorough review, we can say that the new ROG Zephyrus M16 has high-end hardware that delivers a fast, smooth and great gaming experience. If you are looking for a large screen laptop (either for gaming or office use), the ROG Zephyrus M16 (2022) is the best choice.