Asus recently debuted the Gaming V16 laptop. Renowned for launching spectacular gaming laptops at various prices, the brand surprisingly struggled to attract performance-centric users looking for an entry-level 16-inch laptop. With this new series, it seems Asus has discovered the antidote to this issue. The first laptop of this series is powered by the Intel Core 5 210H and equipped with the Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU. Most importantly, it remains a lightweight laptop with all these bells and whistles. At the price of Rs 89,990, it seems quite an attractive package. However, is it worth it? Read my review to find out.
Asus Gaming V16
Rs 84,990
What Is Good?
- Immersive viewing experience with vibrant colours
- Amazing, reliable performance with good thermals
- Feature-rich trackpad
- The keyboard is satisfying to use
- Lightweight structure
- Good value for money
What Is Bad?
- Keyboard placement is weird
- A visible flex on the keyboard while typing
- The speakers don’t get loud
- The ethernet jack is lacking
Design and Build Quality
When a laptop is marketed as a “Gaming Laptop”, it is generally fitted with unique elements like an RGB light strip anywhere on the body, like the Lenovo Legion Pro 7. This way, it is easy for consumers to differentiate between a gaming laptop and a regular productivity machine.
But I guess the designers at Asus had woken up with a different zeal on a random day, convincing themself to overrule this entire notion. The Gaming V16’s shell resembles any run-of-the-mill laptop. Besides the offset “Asus” logo on the lid, it bears a semi-glossy black colour all across the body.
That said, the laptop’s ordinary appearance brilliantly masks its gaming genes. Some people may find this trait beneficial. It can encourage them to sneak a gaming laptop into the office without getting reprimanded.
| Design | Specification |
| Dimensions | 35.70 x 25.07 x 1.80 (WxDxH in cm) |
| Weight | 1.95kg |
| Ports (Right side) | USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A |
| Ports (Left side) | HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, DC-in Jack, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, and 3.5mm audio jack |
| Connectivity Options | Wi-Fi 6 2×2 and Bluetooth 5.3 |
Since its body has a semi-glossy texture, the lid invites many smudges. Therefore, it requires regular cleaning with a rug. If left unattended, a tough smudge builds up over time, making it difficult to wipe away.
An assumption always looms over gaming laptops that they must be pretty hefty to carry around in a bag. Given that many laptops weigh 2.3 kg or more. The Gaming V16 also breaks this convention. It weighs 1.95 kg; however, Asus nailed its weight distribution. Its weight makes it a cakewalk to carry in the backpack, especially during commuting hours.
You can lift the lid with one hand and tilt it 180 degrees. Therefore, if you are working on an assignment with your peers, you can lay the screen flat. This allows those on the opposite side of the table to view whatever is displayed on the screen without requiring you to rotate the laptop.
Typing on the Gaming V16 instantly highlights a visible flex on the keyboard. However, the silver lining is that the entire structure feels durable enough to survive any accidental drops.
The laptop has almost every necessary port on either side. But it doesn’t comprise an Ethernet port, which is unusual for a gaming laptop. This is more useful for gamers who are involved in first-person shooters like Counter-Strike 2, Valorant, and more.
Many PC enthusiasts play first-person shooter games, so eliminating latency issues, which can be a huge mood-killer, becomes essential.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The Gaming V16 has a full-size keyboard with a numpad on the side. Surprisingly, the spacing is not compromised. I never felt cramped typing documents on it. Moreover, the key travel is satisfying, so writing multiple articles on it was a delightful experience.
It features a backlight, ensuring that completing projects in the dark is never difficult. To add a unique flair, the WASD buttons are translucent, appearing different from their counterparts.
In addition to a numpad, the keyboard has dedicated multimedia control buttons. These are genuine lifesavers when you want to adjust settings like brightness or pause the music immediately.
During a week of using the laptop, I noticed a peculiar trait of the Gaming V16’s keyboard. It appeared to be positioned slightly above my hands’ natural resting area. So, I had to extend my hands a bit further on the palm rest to ensure that my fingers could comfortably reach all the keys.
The primary reason for the keyboard’s unusual placement is the large trackpad. However, do not let its size distract you, as it also packs some impressive features. Swiping your finger vertically on either side allows you to adjust the brightness and volume levels.
Display and Audio
The Gaming V16 has a 16-inch display with 1920 x 1200 resolution, running at a 144Hz refresh rate.
| Display | Specifications |
| Type | IPS display with Anti-glare coating |
| Size | 16-inch |
| Aspect ratio | 16:10 |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1200 pixels |
| Refresh rate | 144Hz |
| Screen brightness | 300 nits |
| Tested brightness | 241 nits |
| Camera | 1080P FHD with Privacy Shutter |
Watching many YouTube videos and the Solo Leveling anime left me grinning since everything felt immersive. The colours were vibrant, and the viewing angles were amazing.
Indoors, you can comfortably consume content at 80 per cent brightness. However, the best part is that whatever you do on the screen, harsh lighting won’t ruin your mood. That’s because it has an anti-glare coating, significantly reducing the intensity of light’s reflection.
Talking about the holistic multimedia experience, the speakers fell short. They never got loud enough to hear my colleagues pleading to turn down the volume. Since they were bottom-firing, the table might also be cancelling out its loudness.
Moreover, the thumping bass was absent, and the snare sound was less prominent in the drum-heavy songs. That said, if this laptop’s primary purpose is gaming, you will probably use headphones.
Performance and Gaming
The Gaming V16 is powered by two recent Intel processors: Intel Core 5 210H and Intel Core 7 240H. My testing unit has the former one.
These new chipsets are paired with 16GB DDR5 RAM and 512GB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. On a side note, the storage capacity is sufficient for non-hardcore gamers. However, it can’t hold more than two modern AAA games. To compensate for this issue, Asus has given the option of upgradability.
| Hardware | Specification |
| CPU | Intel Core 5 210H, 4.8GHz, 8 cores, 12 threads |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU |
| RAM | 16GB DDR5, 5600MHz |
| Storage | 512GB, M.2, PCIe NVMe SSD |
| Expansion slots | 2x DDR5 SO-DIMM slots, 1x M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0×4 |
This laptop was a breeze to use in my daily routine. I never encountered any lag, be it opening more than 10 tabs on the Google Chrome browser or dodging a barrage of bullets in Apex Legends. The fans made their presence felt occasionally, though it didn’t annoy me. Its loudness was bearable in most scenarios.
The Gaming V16 nearly reaches 11,000 points in Cinbench R23’s multi-core test and scores 1723 in the single-core test. Compared to the Infinix GT Book, which is powered by the Intel Core i5-12450H, the Core 5 210H inside the Gaming V16 leads the race by a margin. However, the former is priced relatively lower.
The HP Pavilion Plus 16 and Omen Transcend 14, featuring the Intel Core i7-13700H and Ultra 7 155H, respectively, outscore the Gaming V16 in single-core and multi-core tests.
While the laptop is advertised to function at 70W of TDP, it reached the max TDP of 71.4W while running the Cinebench R23 benchmark.
You can head to this video for more information on the Gaming V16’s performance in benchmarks.
Since the Gaming V16 is a gaming laptop, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU handles the graphics-intensive tasks. It comes with 6GB VRAM and 65W TGP. It excels at running nearly all AAA games without breaking much of a sweat and delivers adequate frame rates at the native resolution.
The Gaming V16 gives an average frame rate above 130fps in first-person shooter games like Counter-Strike 2 and Apex Legends. It hits 81.59fps while running Dying Light 2 in the “Ray Tracing” preset.
In comparison to the RTX 4060 GPU within the Asus TUF Gaming A14 and the RTX 4070 GPU inside the Aorus 16X, you will notice a significant difference between each laptop.
Black Myth Wukong, one of the latest AAA games, runs smoothly at 49 fps. In contrast, the Aorus 16x, equipped with the RTX 4070 GPU and Intel Core i9-14900Hx CPU, achieves playable frame rates of 61 fps.
The laptop also allows you to edit 1080p videos while moving the playhead smoothly on the timeline. Render times are also minimal, even if the project boasts many PNGs and animations.
Battery
In our PCMark battery test, the Gaming V16 lasted eight hours and five minutes. The result was recorded when the GPU profile was set to “Standard” and the brightness was adjusted to 50 per cent.
For context, the Aorus 16x performed slightly underwhelmingly. However, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 took the cake with its staggering run time of almost 10 hours. I regularly used the laptop for over three hours without plugging it into the “Standard” GPU profile. However, if you plan to use it for over a day, consider making space for its charger in your bag.
The 150W charger takes two hours and 21 minutes to charge the Gaming V16 from zero to 100 per cent.
Verdict
If you are on a budget and want to explore gaming while managing essential tasks, the Asus Gaming V16 can be a good choice.
The display offers a great viewing experience, especially for gamers. The double combo of the Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU and Intel Core 5 210H CPU delivers an amazing, reliable performance with good thermals. The keyboard and trackpad are satisfying and have nifty features, such as adjusting volume and brightness with a flick on the trackpad. Moreover, its lightweight structure makes it easy to carry around in your backpack.
Before purchasing the laptop, you should note its compromises: The keyboard is placed slightly above the natural resting area, making using the function row somewhat inconvenient. Moreover, there is a visible flex on the keyboard. The speakers don’t get loud when they need to. While the laptop has almost every essential port, it lacks the ethernet jack, which is important for low-latency gaming in first-person shooter games and similar activities.
Ultimately, these are all-minute nitpicks. At Rs 89,990, it is a very appealing product. But, look out for upcoming sales to find an even better deal on this laptop.
