ASUS ROG Strix ROG Strix SCAR 16 2024

The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 16 is an obscenely fast, incredibly heavy gaming laptop with a showstopping Mini-LED display. If you can get it for around $3,200 and don't need to move it, it's a beast of a buy. Just keep the charger handy.

The ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 16 is a desktop replacement that laughs at the idea of portability. It packs Intel's Core Ultra 9 275HX and an RTX 5080 with 16GB of VRAM into a chassis that weighs over 5.3kg. The 16-inch Mini-LED display running at 2560x1600 and 240Hz is one of the best we've seen on any laptop right now.

It's built for creators and gamers who don't plan on moving it much. You get 32GB of DDR5, a 2TB SSD, and a port selection that covers everything except your lunch. Battery life is an afterthought. You'll be near an outlet most of the time.

Benchmarks place the CPU and GPU in the top few percent of our database. The Core Ultra 9 275HX shreds through rendering and compiling, and the RTX 5080 pushes 1440p gaming well past 100fps in most titles. The Mini-LED panel hits 100% DCI-P3, so colors are stunning whether you're editing video or exploring Night City. Storage speeds sit in the 94th percentile, so game loads and boot times are blink-and-you'll-miss-it fast. The 32GB of RAM is solid but falls a bit behind the absolute best (80th percentile), so heavy multitaskers might feel it sooner than we'd like. Reliability scores land at the 58th percentile, which is about average for this class, nothing to panic over but not class-leading either.

Pricing is all over the map. We've seen listings as low as $3,200 and a few that seem to be testing the limits at nearly $90,000. The sweet spot is that lower end. For $3,200 you're getting a machine that trades blows with multi-thousand-dollar workstations. At the crazy high prices, it's a joke. You can build a desktop with the same components for far less and pocket the difference. If you find it near that $3,200 mark, it's a solid deal for the raw power and stunning screen.

Against the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Max, the SCAR 16 wins on pure GPU grunt and gaming, but the MacBook runs circles around it on battery life and build quality while weighing half as much. The Lenovo P16 Gen 3 and HP ZBook Ultra G1a are workstation rivals, better for ISV-certified apps but weaker on the gaming front. The MSI Prestige and Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro are featherweight ultrabooks with no discrete GPU to speak of, so they aren't even playing the same game. If you need a portable powerhouse, the MacBook Pro is the better pick. If you want a desk-bound gaming and creation monster, the SCAR 16 makes a strong case.

If portability matters at all, skip this. The 5.35kg weight puts it in the bottom percentile for compactness, so you'll hate carrying it anywhere. If you need a laptop that survives on battery alone for a workday, look at the MacBook Pro or a more efficient ultrabook.

This is for the user who wants a laptop in name only. You'll set it up on a desk, plug it in, and forget about moving it. Creators and gamers who value screen quality and raw frame rates over everything else will be thrilled. Anyone hoping to carry this to a coffee shop or meetings is in for a backache.