Asus ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED review: Multimedia laptop with extreme CPU performance

[asus user]

"Asus uses black plastic for the ProArt Studiobook 16, which feels quite high-quality. "

Can any owners comment on this- is it actually plastic? I find that odd because the previous generation was a metal build (assuming aluminum and not magnesium from what I can read) and I'm doubting this is a plastic build.

[S.Yu]

This looks like a downgrade of a Flow X16🙂

[Luide]

So, I've owned this laptop for about a month now, and I'll start with the positives for a change.
1. The touch is a very welcome addition to my workflow. I use a lot of 3DS Max, and I basically never need to carry my mouse because 3D rotation, panning and zoom is super simple with the touchscreen. Not to mention the ability to create quick sketches to share with my team for reference is a big plus.
2. The CPU performance on this laptop is very good. I have previously used a i7 8750H Dell for the last 5 years, and this laptop is easily 3X or more faster in rendering tasks, and 5X faster when running on battery. Easily a worthy upgrade on that front alone. Not to mention that is coupled with very solid GPU performance (in spite of the fact that NVIDIA shortchanged us a little on the 4070 feature spec. 10GB VRAM, anyone?)
3. The build quality is very solid. Not sure what NotebookCheck used to test the material, but the structure is metallic (says some sort of magnesium alloy) and I can easily confirm the same. Crashed it into some concrete a while back and the concrete actually broke, with no scuffs on the laptop itself. Yet to fully test the Gorilla Glass but that is something great to have for screen protection.
4. The I/O is very extensive on this machine, with 2.5GBps ethernet, 2.1 HDMI, dual thunderbolts plugged directly into the GPU, SD Card (though underwhelming speed-wise) etc. make this laptop good for dongle-free operation.

Now, to the cons;
1. The screen, though vivid and colorful with deep blacks, is super reflective, and does not get as bright as I had hoped in SDR mode. Also, though not much of an issue, there is a bit of a dot pattern that is visible when looking at white content on the screen. Finally, when using the laptop's keyboard, there is this annoying tendency to touch the base of the screen which throws your cursor off what you were typing.
2. The battery life is very subpar on my unit, not sure what exactly the issue would be but it draws around 35 watts on medium brightness and just Chrome open, so battery drains from 100 to 0 in less than 3 hours. Throw in some graphical work and this number drops even lower. I had really hoped the battery life would be better as my work often involves mobility, but this is unfortunately not the case.
3. When on anything other than standard mode, this laptop gets LOUD! In fact, loud is an understatement. People in other rooms might think it is raining outside if you run renders on performance and full speed mode. Thankfully the cooling system is more than adequate for this unit, so you will rarely ever need anything other than Standard mode because the performance gain is negligible.
4. Dial is a little gimmicky at best. The biggest issue is a lot of creatives have gotten used to alternative ways to engage with their tools in the case of those who have never used the dial, and the fact that it can sometimes be clunky and not worth the hassle can easily leave it unused altogether. Also software compatibility is a little wanting because it must be built-in by ASUS, who aren't expected to support most software anytime soon. Don't let the dial be the reason you buy this laptop.
5. System suffers from the occasional hangs and stutters which I would not expect from a system running 24 cores. Might be a Windows issue, might be an ASUS issue. Hard to tell definitively.

Overall, the laptop is a great addition to a creative's workflow if you're willing to look past the drawbacks. Of particular note is if battery life is a strong consideration, I would suggest looking for an AMD-enabled system as I am convinced this is an Intel issue at this point.

[S.Yu]

So, I've owned this laptop for about a month now, and I'll start with the positives for a change.
1. The touch is a very welcome addition to my workflow. I use a lot of 3DS Max, and I basically never need to carry my mouse because 3D rotation, panning and zoom is super simple with the touchscreen. Not to mention the ability to create quick sketches to share with my team for reference is a big plus.
2. The CPU performance on this laptop is very good. I have previously used a i7 8750H Dell for the last 5 years, and this laptop is easily 3X or more faster in rendering tasks, and 5X faster when running on battery. Easily a worthy upgrade on that front alone. Not to mention that is coupled with very solid GPU performance (in spite of the fact that NVIDIA shortchanged us a little on the 4070 feature spec. 10GB VRAM, anyone?)
3. The build quality is very solid. Not sure what NotebookCheck used to test the material, but the structure is metallic (says some sort of magnesium alloy) and I can easily confirm the same. Crashed it into some concrete a while back and the concrete actually broke, with no scuffs on the laptop itself. Yet to fully test the Gorilla Glass but that is something great to have for screen protection.
4. The I/O is very extensive on this machine, with 2.5GBps ethernet, 2.1 HDMI, dual thunderbolts plugged directly into the GPU, SD Card (though underwhelming speed-wise) etc. make this laptop good for dongle-free operation.

Now, to the cons;
1. The screen, though vivid and colorful with deep blacks, is super reflective, and does not get as bright as I had hoped in SDR mode. Also, though not much of an issue, there is a bit of a dot pattern that is visible when looking at white content on the screen. Finally, when using the laptop's keyboard, there is this annoying tendency to touch the base of the screen which throws your cursor off what you were typing.
2. The battery life is very subpar on my unit, not sure what exactly the issue would be but it draws around 35 watts on medium brightness and just Chrome open, so battery drains from 100 to 0 in less than 3 hours. Throw in some graphical work and this number drops even lower. I had really hoped the battery life would be better as my work often involves mobility, but this is unfortunately not the case.
3. When on anything other than standard mode, this laptop gets LOUD! In fact, loud is an understatement. People in other rooms might think it is raining outside if you run renders on performance and full speed mode. Thankfully the cooling system is more than adequate for this unit, so you will rarely ever need anything other than Standard mode because the performance gain is negligible.
4. Dial is a little gimmicky at best. The biggest issue is a lot of creatives have gotten used to alternative ways to engage with their tools in the case of those who have never used the dial, and the fact that it can sometimes be clunky and not worth the hassle can easily leave it unused altogether. Also software compatibility is a little wanting because it must be built-in by ASUS, who aren't expected to support most software anytime soon. Don't let the dial be the reason you buy this laptop.
5. System suffers from the occasional hangs and stutters which I would not expect from a system running 24 cores. Might be a Windows issue, might be an ASUS issue. Hard to tell definitively.

Overall, the laptop is a great addition to a creative's workflow if you're willing to look past the drawbacks. Of particular note is if battery life is a strong consideration, I would suggest looking for an AMD-enabled system as I am convinced this is an Intel issue at this point.

Still sounds like a downgrade of a Flow X16🙂

[Luide]

Update: Stay FAR AWAY from this laptop.

After a few months of use, multiple users, and not just myself, have had the laptop BRICK itself via faulty and forced BIOS updates (check user reviews on Amazon's listing). Mine has been out of commission and under repair for nearly a month now as the repair shop waits for a replacement motherboard.

If you previously owned an older laptop, keep it very close. You will need it soon. And back up all your work files because it runs bitlocker by default and you will be unable to access your files via an external enclosure.

[GameDev]

i have the 4070 model(MY121X)and I have very annoying dot/mesh pattern on the screen especially on bright colors. its visible from up to 50cm. Service replaced the screen but still the same. Does anyone else have the same issue?