ASUS introduced its 2024 lineup of new ROG Zephyrus and STRIX SCAR series laptops recently. The ROG STRIX SCAR series represents the brand’s flagship gaming lineup, and we have the ROG STRIX SCAR 16 with us for review. This gaming beast is equipped with the latest 14th-generation Intel Core i9 processor paired with an NVIDIA RTX 4080 GPU. The gaming laptop certainly packs top-of-the-line hardware and demands a princely sum, starting at Rs 2,89,990 in India. In this review, let’s find out if the gaming laptop can really deliver a performance worthy of its ultra-premium price.
You can check out our video review of the device (by Florence George):
Table of Contents
Design & build
Let’s start this review with the design and the build quality. The SCAR 16 is a bulky device that weighs 2.65kg and is around 23mm thick. The chassis is made out of sturdy plastic, which has minimal flex both on the keypad and a very slight screen wobble, which is something to be appreciated. Despite the plastic construction, the laptop feels robust and premium, so points for that.
The laptop is unapologetically designed for gamers, with its RGB accents on the display logo, the RGB keyboard and the RGB band that surrounds the edges. The design certainly looks very appealing and has a funky vibe to it, but is largely unchanged compared to the previous iterations. There are smaller ROG logos and a smaller “Republic of Gamers” text on the back panel. The keypad area is also semi-transparent, which adds a unique touch.
The machine features big exhaust vents on its sides and a wide exhaust vent on the back, positioning all the I/O ports on the sides of the laptop. These exhausts are designed to efficiently cool down the powerful hardware packed within the device, and they do look quite nice. For connectivity, you get two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports on the right edge, an RJ-45 Ethernet port, dual USB-C ports, an HDMI 2.1 output, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack on the left. One of the two USB-C ports is a Thunderbolt 4 output, while the other one is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, and both support DisplayPort output along with G-Sync compatibility for external monitors.
In terms of audio, there are two tweeters placed just below the display panel, along with dual down-firing speakers on the rear panel of the laptop. The speakers are substantially loud, so the sound output is quite good, and they come with Dolby Atmos support, with which you can tweak the sound as per your preferences. There’s also an HD (720p) webcam, but it lacks a privacy shutter and protective glass, which is a bit disappointing.
Display
The gaming laptop features a 16-inch Mini LED panel with a resolution of 2,560 x 1,600 pixels (QHD+), 16:10 aspect ratio, 240Hz refresh rate, and 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage. The response time of the panel is a quick 3ms (Grey-to-Grey), and the peak brightness is rated at a whopping 1100nits (500nits sustained brightness). The panel is also Pantone-validated with Dolby Vision, HDR, and G-Sync support.
The display comes with a matte anti-glare finish, which makes it easy to use outdoors or in bright lights, and works well in tandem with excellent brightness levels. The pre-calibrated display offers great colour reproduction with good contrast and deep blacks. The display easily holds up for a variety of use cases, be it for content creation, content consumption, or good-old gaming and will leave you impressed.
Keyboard & trackpad
The keyboard and trackpad of the new Scar 16 are, well, not really new. The design remains largely the same as the previous iteration, but not in a bad way. As is often said, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. The keys offer pleasing tactile feedback and have a good travel experience with dedicated audio, Armoury crate launcher, and fan speed keys.
Performance
Now, onto the meat of the matter, or in this case, the performance. How well does the laptop really hold up in synthetic benchmarks and real-world tests? We conducted all the performance benchmarks (excluding video playback and the PC Mark test) using the Ultimate GPU mode with Turbo performance mode enabled to determine just how capable this gaming machine is at its finest.
With the benchmarks, you can observe that the SCAR 16 puts up a strong fight against the other laptops we compared it with (the MSI laptops feature a superior RTX 4090 GPU and more RAM), which are almost double the price of the SCAR 16. The performance output is only slightly behind the MSI offerings, which dominate the benchmarks currently. Now, that concludes the synthetic benchmarks, but what about the gaming performance, you ask? We played a selection of different games at the maximum possible graphical settings on the laptop’s native resolution (QHD+). Here are the results:
- GTA V offered an average frame rate of 158FPS on the highest graphical presets.
- Cyberpunk 2077 averaged around 77FPS on the Ray Tracing overdrive settings.
- Forza Horizon 5 gave an average of 128FPS on the extreme graphical preset and Anti-Aliasing at 2x.
- Alan Wake 2 played at an average of 59FPS with a high graphical preset and high ray-tracing mode.
- Red Dead Redemption II averaged around 102FPS with all graphical settings cranked to the maximum.
- Valorant averaged around 535FPS at the maximum graphical settings.
Considering the thermals, the laptop holds up quite well. It incorporates a triple fan setup and Thermal Grizzly’s liquid metal cooling solution for both the GPU and CPU, which maintains the thermals in the long run. Even when performing in Turbo mode, the laptop’s internal temperature peaked around 80 degrees Celsius (for CPU), which is quite satisfactory given the high-performance components it incorporates and its demanding cooling requirements.
Software
The laptop comes preloaded with Windows 11, which is standard nowadays. The real highlight, however, is the Armoury Crate app, which allows you to fine-tune your usage down to the smallest details. With the app, you have constant access to your CPU and GPU temperatures, fan speeds, GPU modes for optimisation, and a lot of other features. You can also select and customise performance profiles to suit your preferences, and you can even adjust the display response time as you see fit.
Battery life
A 90Whr battery powers the laptop, which is paired with a 330W power adapter for quick charging. Generally, gaming laptops are not known for their battery life and often only average around 3–4 hours of unplugged battery use, which is also the case for the STRIX SCAR 16.
What is important to note, however, is that 3 to 4 hours of average battery life is an impressive output for a device of this calibre, which packs multiple power-hungry modules, such as the high-voltage CPU, GPU and RGB lights. You can also improve the battery life by reducing the screen refresh rate to 120Hz from 240Hz, and it will definitely improve your battery’s run time.
Verdict
The ASUS ROG STRIX SCAR 16 is one of the best gaming laptops currently available for purchase. Talking first about the negatives, the 720p webcam seems unimpressive, particularly since it lacks protective shielding. Many users would appreciate the inclusion of a 1080p webcam instead. The device also does not feature a fingerprint scanner or other biometric security measures, which is a missed opportunity, as it could have offered users a quick and convenient method for secure login.
On the positive side, the laptop’s display not only caters to the needs of regular users but also meets the demands of professional image and video editors. The device incorporates a 90Wh battery to sustain the heavy power consumption, offers great thermal management with liquid metal cooling and a triple fan setup, and offers flagship-level performance at a comparatively lower price. Considering the premium price point, the use of a plastic body leaves room for improvement and may not provide the desired level of durability expected from such a high-end device.
To conclude, for its asking price of Rs 2,89,990, the STRIX SCAR 16 is undoubtedly a highly recommended choice. It offers one of the best performance-to-price ratios currently available in the market and is sure to please gamers and enthusiasts alike.
Editor’s Rating: 8.5 / 10
Reasons to buy:
- Excellent display with vibrant colours and deep blacks
- Flagship-level performance thanks to powerful hardware
- The device offers great thermal management with good peak temperatures while gaming
- An eye-catching design with RGB lights everywhere
Reasons not to buy:
- The laptop only comes with an HD (720p) webcam
- No fingerprint scanner or biometric unlocks
- The laptop has a plastic body, which raises questions about durability
