ROG Zephyrus M16 Gaming Laptop: SA Price, Specs, & Everything You Need to Know

Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) has officially launched the brand-spanking new Zephyrus M16 in South Africa, which is undoubtedly going to shake up the gaming laptop market with its impressive 16-inch display and a powerful new Intel processor inside an ultra-slim 15-inch chassis.

What is it?

The Asus ROG Zephyrus M16 is the latest entry from the highly-acclaimed brand, bringing new hardware, a sleeker finish, and larger screen for some immersive gaming at home or on-the-go.

Display

The 16-inch display combines a high WQHD resolution with a fast 165Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, and Adaptive-Sync for silky-smooth response times when gaming or working. It’s also ideal for content creation thanks to a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, Pantone-validated colours across 100% of the cinema-grade DCI-P3 colour gamut, and Dolby Vision support for richer visuals.

The company has also redesigned the ultra-narrow bezels to measure only 4.6mm on all four sides, thanks to a revised display cable that allows the bottom bezel to be as slim as the others. Altogether, this design delivers an immersive 94% screen-to-body ratio. 

Under the hood

In terms of punching-power, the Zephyrus M16 features the 11th Gen Intel Core i9-11900H, 48GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, an SSD with 2TB of storage, and a GeForce RTX 3070 laptop GPU, so there’s more than enough oomph to deliver anything you need in terms of content creation and enough to handle the latest games on higher settings with ease.

The Core i9-11900H processor in the top configuration clocks up to 4.9GHz, delivering awesome performance. With eight cores and sixteen threads, it’s fully equipped for game streaming, video rendering, and creative projects. The Zephyrus M16’s advanced system design allows the CPU to run on up to 45W of sustained power when the GPU is active and 80W on its own.

Audio is important too, and the Zephyrus M16 includes a six-speaker system with dual force-cancelling woofers to produce clear, deep audio enhanced by Dolby Atmos technology. There is also a 3D mic array and Two-Way AI Noise Cancelation to capture your voice clearly and cut out any ambient background noise.

While packing some serious specs, the Zephyrus M16 still offers true portability, with a slim and light body that’s only 19.9mm thin and 1.9kg. 

Keep ’em cool

Gaming laptops are always faced with a common problem: cooling. Thankfully, the Zephyrus M16  features a full suite of ROG Intelligent Cooling technologies to allow high performance, quiet acoustics, and cool temperatures to come together in the slim and light chassis. Exotic liquid metal thermal compound, applied with ROG’s patented process, reduces CPU temperatures up to 10°C compared to the traditional thermal paste. Six heatpipes transfer heat away from the CPU and GPU to dense heatsinks in the flanks, where it’s pushed out by airflow from dual Arc Flow fans.

Cooling requirements change based on the task, so ROG offers multiple modes tuned for different situations. Silent mode reduces speed slightly to keep acoustics low, which is ideal for everyday tasks. Performance mode provides the horsepower required to push high frame rates in games without excessive noise. Turbo mode takes the CPU up to full power with a louder fan profile.

Users can switch between operating modes manually with a quick keyboard shortcut or automatically with Scenario Profiles, and can be customised using the ROG Armoury Crate utility to create Scenario Profiles to activate different modes for specific games or applications.

True portability

Besides being extremely light, the M16 also houses a capacious 90Wh battery, giving you up to 10 hours of video playback, with fast charging technology via Type-C to allow it to replenish to 50% in only 30 minutes.

The updated 180-degree ErgoLift hinge offers new possibilities too. This hinge raises the rear of the laptop the lid opens, which places the keyboard at a more comfortable typing angle, gives the cooling vents more room to draw in air, and lets the downward-facing speakers deliver more volume. The hinge can rotate back until the M16 sits flat, so users can position the screen at the optimal angle.

Bells and whistles

The M16 features Thunderbolt 4 port drives that can connect to two 4K displays at 60Hz or a single 8K monitor, and a separate Type-C port and a pair of Type-A USB ports provide ample room for gaming peripherals and more.

WiFi 6 capabilities and an Ethernet jack allow for whatever connection you see fit, and the microSD card reader makes it easy to access media from cameras and other devices.

The M16’s Stealth Type keyboard has a desktop-style layout that feels familiar, and typing noise stays under 30dB, so users can work and play without disturbing anyone nearby. ROG has also increased the size of the touchpad by 20% compared to the last generation, and faster processing delivers greater accuracy for an improved tracking experience.

An integrated webcam and fingerprint sensor offer convenient tools for logging in and staying in touch, and the Zephyrus M16 blends 2DNR and 3DNR technology to ensure your video calls or streams look good even in low-light environments. The fingerprint sensor integrated into the power button offers an especially seamless Windows Hello experience. It briefly caches the user’s fingerprint when they turn on the laptop and then automatically logs in with the correct account, which is super handy.

Availability & Price

The ROG Zephyrus M16 will be available from 19th August in South Africa from Evetech starting at R33,999 for the RTX 3050ti model and R47,999 for the RTX 3070 model. Please contact your local ASUS representative for further information.

Full specs

Processor: Up to Intel Core i9-11900H (4.9GHz)
Graphics: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
Display: 16-inch WQHD (2560 x 1600), 165Hz/3ms, IPS-level, 100% DCI-P3 display with Adaptive-Sync, Pantone validation, and Dolby Vision technology
Memory: Up to 48GB DDR4 3200MHz
Storage: Up to 2TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
Keyboard: Stealth Type keyboard with one-zone RGB or white backlight | 1.7mm travel distance | Overstroke technology | Fingerprint sensor on power key
Audio: 6 speakers with dual force-canceling woofers and smart amp; Dolby Atmos technology; Hi-Res certification; 3D mic array with Two-way AI Noise Cancelation
I/O ports: Thunderbolt 4 (Type-C) with DP1.4 and PD 3.0 support | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DP 1.4 and PD 3.0 support | USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A | USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A |  Micro SD (312MB/s)HDMI 2.0b 3.5mm combo Audio jack | Kensington LockRJ45
Webcam: 720p HD at 30 fps video recording
Connectivity: WiFi 6 (802.11ax 2×2) | Bluetooth 5.2
Battery: 90Wh with Fast Charge technology
Dimensions: 355 x 243.5 x 19.9mm
Weight: 1.9kg

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