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At first glance, the Asus ROG Flow X16 looks like any other gaming laptop. On closer inspection, however, it becomes clear that this machine has other things on its mind. Yes, it’s billed as a gaming laptop, but the 360-degree hinge that allows it to operate in various form factors makes it unique among this company.
Introducing flexibility into a device often limits its potential in one or more disciplines. In this instance, we were surprised to find the punchy Intel Core i9-13900H under the hood. However, the X16 is modestly specced in other areas compared to the other machines in this test. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card is a mid-range rather than a high-end model, for example. If graphics performance is an issue, you can always opt for an external GPU for increased performance–the ROG XG Mobile external GPU dock is available in both NVIDIA and AMD trim. Rounding out the spec list are 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage.
The X16 is no mobile gaming powerhouse, but where it does excel is its ability to be all things to all people. In ‘kiosk’ or ‘tented’ form, it’s a fantastic multimedia entertainment workhorse. It’s also the only machine here that can function as a giant screen with a controller or a touchscreen gaming device for casual, sofa-based play.
So, while it can’t hope to compete with the most powerful gaming machines out there, it does offer an awful lot of options for those who want an all-round entertainer for the kids, to take away on holiday or as a machine that can handle all but the most processor-intensive games but also turn its hand to music, movies, intuitive touchscreen web browsing, and even the odd spreadsheet. Provided the hefty price tag doesn’t put you off, of course.
