ASUS – ROG Flow X16 16” Touchscreen Gaming Laptop QHD+ – Intel Core i9 with 32GB Memory NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 – 1TB SSD – Mixed Black

I am honestly a bit confused about this laptop…in a great way! I really don’t understand how it is not the most popular laptop model in the world? At least with a 4070gpu… I understand if users would want a higher 40 series but if you are aiming for around a 4070 with performance and price then this is the best laptop I hands down. I am an IT admin at a major architecture firm and we use “gaming/creator” laptops because of the software we run. We use MSI & MAC laptops there (with mostly 3080/3080ti/4070/4090 and M2 pro combos). The flow x16 KOs the MSI models we use in the 1st round. This is the best laptop I have ever seen when you combine the performance, screen, ports, and form factor together. I had the previous 2022 X16 version with a ryzen 9/ 3070ti and the 512 dimming LED screen. I traded that for a Razer and let’s just say that was a mistake. I missed the 2022 version so much that I was so happy when this one dropped and THIS NEW VERSION IS EVEN BETTER! Just for basic info I have upgraded my version to 64gb RAM and switched the SSD that came with the laptop out for a 2tb SK Hynix Platinum for my mine drive and a 4tb WD BLACK SN850x. -THE GOOD- *The performance you get from the i9/4070 combo is fantastic. The attached screen shots speak for themselves. The crazy USER BENCHMARK is awesome where the whole laptop rates as a UFO!!!! Hilariously awesome!!! It powers through any software (revit, skecthup, rhino, vray, enscape, lumion) thrown at it with ease and can play any AAA game on ultra/highest settings at 2560×1600 like butter. I stick mostly to shooter games like COD, Halo, Doom, hitman, Battlefield, and sniper ghost warrior. It easily plays the titles and for the most part I never get less than 110-120 fps with some getting into the easy 200’s. The one outlier is Red Deas Redemption and I get 95-105 fps on that. I would also like to note the benchmarks are done in performance and not even in turbo or manual mode (i do use the MUX so the iGPU is disabled and everything goes off the 4070). The thermals are surprising to me as well! It does not get real hot or loud at all. With that being said… I do play with mine on a very nice cooling pad. I think most gamers do that as well to help the health and life of the laptop. *The speakers could be better but are still extremally good in their own right. I have a surface laptop studio as my work laptop and the speakers on that are actually louder than the x16’s. And the MAC (which personally i hate) do have better speakers. But they are still very good and quite nice! *The keyboard and trackpad are an easy A. NUFF SAID!. This is not a huge thing for me as I am a controller gamer but the keyboard never gets hot even after several hours of gaming. The keys have nice travel and click and the trackpad is very smooth and responsive! *The ports are great. Not the best but great overall. You dont have a 2.5g ethernet like most gaming laptops these days but I am fine with it. Those other laptops also dont have an XG mobile connector so this laptop is future proofed for a few years at least especially with this screen (more on that later). The Micro SD slot is a welcome plus and get about 100mb read/write on average. I hear some gamers/creators complain it is not a full SD but it is just a straight bonus port for me. *The build quality is fantastic as well. Very sturdy with some nice accent placements on it. I like that the power port is close to the back left and does not get in the way of any ports. Had a G14 and M16 at one point as well and the power placement drove me crazy. *IMO the star of the show is the screen! I can’t even describe how beautiful it is other then I wish this screen was on every laptop I ever touch. It is the most beautiful screen I have ever had. So good that I no longer game connected to a monitor. I use the laptop screen now for gaming and it is tippy top notch good. I (and my co-workers) think it is even better then the MAC screens and the Surface pixelsense screens at work. It crushes any MSI screen like nothing. I can not say enough good things about it and with the XG mobile I know for sure that I would still love this laptop with the screen and using a 50 series GPU on it in a few years. I use a Surface pen to draw with while using the laptop in TENT mode and STAND mode and it is very smooth and wonderful to use. The screen should never have screen bled do it being MINI LED and this one does not get the halo type affects that some mini LED do. *I am not one to usually “test” the battery. I don’t understand when gamers complain about how their laptop batteries die very fast when trying to game and not use power…. DUH. I usually am always hooked up to power so don’t know how long it will last. I watch TV on it at night to fall asleep and it seems to be decent to me. I will put HULU on and fall asleep with the laptop on battery. The laptop is set to GO TO SLEEP after 3 hours so it runs my show for 3 hours and goes to sleep and when I get up and move it always has more then 60% battery still left. THE BAD *The only real thing that bothers me is that it is a fingerprint magnet. I am very careful about my personal laptops, so I must clean it a lot! It is pretty easy to clean with some screen wipes and a microfiber cloth, but you will need to do a bit and no one seems to make skins for this model of laptop. Oh well. *The other thing I was not expecting was when opening the laptop, it does not have the normal ASUS screw in the corner that does not come out and lifts the bottom part of the chassis up for you a bit so you can use a pick to pop it off. That was a bit weird and getting into the inside was harder then normal. Most gamers who have an ASUS laptop know what I mean. So, when opening this laptop make sure to go from one of the back corners or it will be easy to scratch the chassis. *The screen is glossy and not matte so there can be glare if you have light behind you. Does not matter to me but thought I would mention it. It is never an issue in my home. THE UGLY * I don’t actually have an ugly to add but to some the ugly would be the price. Yes, it is little high but way better than the M16 right now and beats RAZER in every category including price! I caught mine with a best buy discount and then got the 4tb WD BLACK SSD free because of the best buy points so I am fine with it! So if you are worried about spending that much I totally get it but once you pull the trigger you will be very happy. Also, REMEMBER THE XG MOBILE PORT!!! Future proofed for a few years at least so that made the price easier as well. To finish up like I said I really don’t know how this laptop is not so much more popular, but I am OK with having this hidden gem of a laptop for me! If you are thinking about buying, I really feel like any gamer or creator would love it! I know I do! IF bestbuy lets me put this link in check some more out on this laptop. If they don’t then boo.