ASUS are a key player in the laptop space. They offer a plethora of options catering towards gamers and enthusiasts, making gaming or working on the go a reality. A multitude of their high-end laptops offer some of the best components money can buy, providing you with excellent performance metrics in pretty much anything you can put them up against. But which of ASUS’ high-end laptops are the best options to buy?
In this article, we’ve put a multitude of high-end ASUS laptops through the wringer, assessing how they perform in the latest titles, while analysing the features that they offer at their given price points. We believe the options that we’ve chosen are best suited to a range of buyers and use-cases.
The Best High-End ASUS Laptops
1. ASUS Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED
The Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED is a feat of engineering, sporting two screens geared towards those looking to optimise their workflow. The primary display of the Zenbook Pro 14 Duo utilises a 2.8K OLED panel rated at 120Hz. This display is extremely colour accurate, covering 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space, while offering up 550 nits of peak brightness.
The second display utilises an IPS panel which is also touch screen. We found that the bottom monitor was highly responsive and very useful for changing settings on the fly. Whether you’re pausing your Spotify playlist, or editing a Davinci Resolve timeline, the second monitor is a great addition.
ASUS Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED | Specification |
---|---|
CPU | Intel Core i9 13900H |
RAM | 32GB LPDDR5 |
Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop |
Display | 14.5-Inch 2.8K OLED (16:10 aspect ratio) 0.2ms response time, 120Hz refresh rate 400 nits, 550 nits HDR peak brightness 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut (touch screen) |
Additional Display | 12.7-Inch 2880×864 IPS panel (touch screen) |
Storage | 2TB Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD |
USB Ports | 2x Thunderbolt 4 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A |
Networking | WiFi 6E |
Battery Life | 76WHrs |
This laptop offers up an Intel Core i9 13900H processor, a CPU ideal for tougher multi-core workloads. You’ve also got access to 32GB of DDR5 RAM, along with 2TB of Gen4 NVMe storage, which is plenty of room for hefty files. The rear IO is also excellent, providing two USB4 ports which offer insane transfer speeds. While we do love the Zenbook Pro 14 Duo, it isn’t geared towards gamers. This laptop is ideal for those looking to optimise their workflow, and utilise tasks like video editing on the go.
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2. ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 (2023)
The ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 is an awesome gaming laptop, sporting top-end specs. This laptop is geared towards those looking to enjoy unhindered gaming with all of the settings maxed out. The Core i9 13900H and RTX 4080 combo will allow you to push through the vast majority of triple A games, without experiencing many technical issues. Editing videos on the go shouldn’t pose any problems either. This further synergises with the solid rear IO options, which will allow you to plug in a range of peripherals, including external SSDs.
The 32GB of RAM increases the longevity of this system in gaming scenarios, but the 1TB of storage might not be enough if you’re looking to store all of your games. The most impressive features of the ROG Zephyrus M16 are the screen and the LEDs on the back of the laptop. The display utilises a 1440p resolution that is rated at 240Hz, so visual quality is both extremely crisp and clean. The AniMe Matrix LEDs on the rear also provide some visual flair for your setup too.
ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 (2023) | Specification |
---|---|
CPU | Intel Core i9 13900H |
Graphics Card | Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 |
RAM | 32GB DDR5 4800MHz |
Storage | 1TB Gen4 NVMe SSD |
USB Ports | 1x Thunderbolt4 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 |
Display | 16″ 2560×1600 IPS 240Hz |
Networking | WiFi 6E |
Battery | 90Wh |
Battery life is a bit of a sticking point with the ROG Zephyrus M16. The RTX 4080 and Core i9 13900H combo is extremely powerful and demands a fair amount of power from your system, resulting in a weaker battery life that is only going to last a couple of hours at the most.
3. ASUS ROG STRIX Scar 17
The ROG STRIX Scar 17 is a high-end gaming oriented laptop designed to provide unhindered gaming performance. Whether you’re playing Cyberpunk 2077 with the Ray-Tracing set to Psycho, or you’re looking to secure your next win in Apex, the ROG STRIX Scar 17 has you covered. The Ryzen 9 7945HX and RTX 4090 combo offers an excellent gameplay experience, while allowing you to push your system with some 3D rendering or video editing.
The screen that the ROG STRIX Scar 17 uses is pretty impressive. The IPS panel sports a 1440p resolution, rated at 240Hz. Gameplay with this screen is extremely fluid, while maintaining visual quality due to the higher resolution. On the IO front, you’ve got access to 4 ports in total, all of which are USB 3.2 options, ideal for high speed peripherals.
Key Specs | ASUS ROG STRIX Scar 17 |
---|---|
CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX |
Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 |
RAM | 32GB DDR5 4800MHz |
Storage | 2TB Gen4 NVMe SSD |
USB Ports | 2x USB 3.2 Gen1 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C |
Display | 17″ 2560×1440 IPS 240Hz |
WiFi | WiFi 6E |
Battery | 90Wh |
While gaming performance is extremely solid, the battery only being 90Wh will limit the amount of you’re able to play games without a charger. It will be worth carrying an external power source, as high intensity activities are likely to drain the ROG STRIX Scar quite quickly.
4. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023)
The best compact high-end ASUS laptop is the ROG Zephyrus G14. This sleek and small 14-inch model offers an impressive set of specs despite its small stature. This laptop offers Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU, working in synergy with the RTX 4090. This CPU and GPU combination will provide excellent metrics within triple A games with maxed out settings.
The display of the ROG Zephyrus is great, with this laptop sporting a 1440p IPS panel rated at 165Hz. The ROG Zephyrus display also offers great colour accuracy, covering 100% of the DCI-P3 colour space. This system does also provide a bountiful set of USB ports to choose from. The USB4 port is particularly worth highlighting, as it will allow you to plug in high speed drives or SSDs allowing you to shift any large files quite quickly.
Specifications | ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) |
---|---|
CPU | AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS |
RAM | 16GB LPDDR5 |
Graphics Card | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop |
Display | 14″ 2560×1600 IPS 165Hz |
Storage | 1TB Gen4 NVMe M.2 SSD |
USB Ports | 1x USB 4 2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A 1x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C |
Networking | WiFi 6E |
Battery Life | 76WHrs |
The RAM capacity is a bit weaker when compared to the other high-end laptops within this roundup. More RAM is starting to become a necessity for high-end gaming and workstation applications like video editing or 3D rendering, so the 16GB of DDR5 isn’t quite going to cut it across some applications.
How We Tested the Best High-End ASUS Laptops
Figuring out which is the best high-end ASUS laptop requires a range of different tests, and plenty of analysis. Each of these laptops has a dedicated review, with a full benchmarking section where we assess how well each system performs in various games and workstation applications. We do this while analysing the features, design aspects, and value-proposition. There are a number of considerations we take into account when testing each laptop, these are:
- Gaming and Workstation Performance
- Component Choices
- Battery Life
- Screen Quality
- IO Options
- Design
- Pricing
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Laptop and Desktop Graphics Cards the Same?
No they are not. They use entirely different silicon due to the thermal restrictions of laptops which reduces the performance capabilities of laptop graphics cards.
How Much RAM Do I Need?
For gaming 16GB or 32GB will be ideal, but 64GB will be ideal for intense applications.
Is 1TB of Storage Enough?
We’d advise most consumers pick up a laptop that has 2TB or more so you’ve got plenty of space for your OS, games, and any other applications.