When ASUS announced the V16, it’s arguably the company’s most understated gaming laptop yet. Unlike its Republic of Gamers sub-brand with its flashy, souped-up machines, the ASUS-branded V16 is aimed at gamers who want something more affordable without all the extra trimmings.
Without the RGB blings and lighting theatrics, the V16 doesn’t look like a budget system at all. Instead, it carries a professional-enough vibe for work, while still sporting the hardware and subtle design cues to be taken seriously as a gaming laptop. My review unit is powered with an Intel Core 7 240H processor and NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU, and ASUS seems to have built it to handle everyday productivity, double as a capable gaming rig, and still keep the price tag approachable.
In some ways, the V16 reminded me of the Gigabyte Aero 16X that I’ve just reviewed. Both are closely priced and try to tone down the gamer excesses while still making sure you don’t forget they can run games. Where the Aero 16X leaned on a clean aluminium chassis and understated accents, the V16 embraces plastic but makes up for it with textures, finishes, and key highlights that look sharper than its spec sheet might suggest. It’s a gaming laptop that won’t look out of place in a classroom or office.
But ASUS couldn’t resist adding some gaming characteristics, such as a blue backlit for the keyboard and translucent caps on the WASD and arrow keys. In a sea of gaming laptops that either look like stealth bombers or plain office machines, the V16 sits in between. At 1.95kg and 22mm at its thickest, the ASUS laptop isn’t particularly heavy for a 16-incher – it’s almost the same as the slightly slimmer Gigabyte Aero 16X. ASUS claims close to 89 % screen-to-body ratio thanks to narrow bezels and in my opinion the build quality is fine for its price range (my review unit’s specs comes in at S$2,049).
For connectivity, the V16’s ports are spread mostly on the left: there’s a HDMI 2.1, USB-C with DisplayPort and charging, a USB-A, and an audio jack. On the right, you get another USB-A and that’s about it. No Ethernet, no SD card reader, and certainly no Thunderbolt. For wireless, the laptop depends on WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 It’s a practical but basic set, leaning on WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3 for most connectivity. For travelling light, the inclusion of USB-C PD charging up to 100W is handy, even though you’ll want to stick with the bundled 150W brick for heavy gaming sessions.
Overall, the V16 is mostly pleasant at a glance but when in use, you start noticing the compromises made to keep costs down.
The keyboard is standard ASUS fare, with a full layout including a narrow numpad. The keys’ feedback is on the softer side, so you don’t get a snappy or tactile feel. The aforementioned blue backlight is evenly distributed, and the transparent WASD keys give you a quick visual anchor when gaming in dim rooms – although I find them to be distracting at times. My biggest annoyance is arguably how the numpad shifts the main keyboard slightly off-centre, meaning your palms rest a little unevenly when typing. It’s not a deal-breaker but noticeable if you’re sensitive to ergonomics like me.
But the biggest downside of the V16 is its low-quality display. My review unit ships with an FHD+ IPS panel with a native 1920x1200 resolution and 144Hz refresh rate. While it’s sharp enough for productivity and gaming, its 300-nits brightness struggles under bright lighting and even sunny outdoor. Colours are noticeably limited and in some cases, they appear washed out too. The matte and antiglare display didn’t help as well.
| Model | ASUS V16 |
|---|---|
| Display | 16-inch FHD+ (1920x1200) IPS Display, 300-nits |
| Processor | Intel Core 7 240H |
| Memory | 32GB DDR5 |
| Storage | 1TB SSD |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Laptop GPU |
| Battery capacity | 63Wh |
| SRP | S$2,049 |
Gaming performance
When it came to gaming, the ASUS V16 was always going to have a tough act to follow. On paper, it sits closest to the Gigabyte Aero 16X, so I put them side by side across our usual gaming benchmarks – Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Total War: Warhammer III, and Cyberpunk 2077. The results show a clear pattern: the Aero edges out the V16 in every title, but the margins tell a more nuanced story.
Take Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The Aero 16X managed 128fps at the highest settings, while the V16 trailed at 114fps. That’s a difference you’ll notice if you’re chasing frame rates on a high refresh panel, but it’s not a gulf that makes the game unplayable. In Total War: Warhammer III, the V16 scored 77fps compared to the Aero 16X’s 82 fps. Again, the gap is not that pronounced in practice.
Cyberpunk 2077, however, tells us where the V16’s ceiling sits. At ultra settings, the Aero 16X pushed 71fps, while the V16 held at 63 fps. The difference here translates more directly into how fluid Night City feels, and the Aero 16X has a touch more headroom to survive massive street firefights. The V16 doesn’t quite struggle, but it reminds you that compromises will be required for a smoother game play; like toning down the visual settings down a notch for such demanding games.
Office Productivity and Content Creation
SYSmark 30 is a great benchmark as it measures and compares system performance using real-world applications and workloads – such as office suite-style applications, tasks like web browsing, file compression, and application installation, and photo and video editing applications, including multitasking. Here, the ASUS V16’s Intel Core 7 240H and the Gigabyte Aero 16X’s AMD Ryzen 7 350 show their different personalities, which explains why the results swing the way they do.
The small leads the Aero 16X posts in Office Applications and General Productivity are actually quite negligible. They’re more likely down to platform tuning and sustained behaviour: the Ryzen’s uniform Zen cores tend to deliver consistent, steady clocks under light, mixed workloads, and Gigabyte’s power/firmware profile seems to keep that curve stable. Where things flip is burstier content creation workloads. In Photo Editing, the V16 nudges ahead of the Aero 16X, and then it runs away in Advanced Content Creation. That lines up with how Intel’s hybrid Core 7 240H behaves: its Performance cores can spike hard and fast when an app asks for short, high-watt bursts (think Lightroom exports, filter passes, or encode steps), then drop back quickly. ASUS also seems to allow slightly more aggressive short-term power limits on the V16, letting those bursts land cleanly before thermals clamp down.
Battery performance
On paper, I’d expect the Gigabyte Aero 16X to last longer. After all, it’s got a larger 76Wh battery compared to the ASUS V16’s smaller 63Wh pack. But MobileMark 30 tells a surprisingly different story: the V16 managed 332 minutes (about 5 hours 30 minutes), while the Aero clocked out earlier at 280 minutes (just over 4 hours 30 minutes).
This isn’t just a quirk of testing. It reflects the different CPU behaviours I saw in SYSmark 30. The Aero 16X’s Ryzen 7 350 is built for consistent, steady performance, but that steadiness can mean it’s not as aggressive at down-clocking or power-gating when workloads are lighter. The Intel Core 7 240H inside the V16, on the other hand, benefits from Intel’s hybrid design. Its Efficiency cores seem to be doing more of the heavy lifting when you’re on battery (rather than the more power-hungry Performance cores), stretching the smaller battery further than you’d expected.
Final thoughts
The ASUS V16 is an interesting gaming laptop. It doesn’t try to outmuscle its flashier ROG siblings, and it certainly doesn’t match the polish of something like Gigabyte’s Aero 16X that I just tested not long ago. Even its compromises are obvious: the screen is underwhelming, the keyboard layout isn’t perfect, and you’ll sometimes need to dial back game settings to keep things smooth. But it also has strengths worth noting. Intel’s Core 7 240H gives it an edge in creator workloads, battery life outpaces what you’d expect from its smaller pack, and the overall design doesn’t scream “gamer” – a plus if you need one laptop that works for both the office and home.
The bigger question is whether the extra S$200 for the Aero 16X is worth it. If you value a sturdier aluminium chassis, a much better display, and slightly higher gaming headroom, the Aero 16X makes sense as the more refined option. But if you don’t need those extras and prefer to save a bit while still getting decent gaming and stronger creator performance, the V16 feels like the smarter buy.
At S$2,049, the V16 makes sense if you insist on looking for a gaming laptop with an RTX 50 Series GPU without breaking the bank. It definitely isn’t the obvious choice for hardcore gamers or serious creators, but as a balanced, no-frills option, I think it fits the bill – as long as you can live with the laptop’s drawbacks.
The ASUS V16 is now available at ASUS e-store, with price starting from S$1,699. Click here to buy.