Asus ProArt P16
MSRP
$2,300.00
“The Asus ProArt P16 is a very fast 16-inch laptop that’s surprisingly affordable.”
Pros
- Outstanding productivity performance
- Very fast for creators
- Spectacular OLED display
- Useful DialPad and utilities
- Good keyboard and touchpad
- Strong value
Cons
- Lid flexes under pressure
- Battery life is average
I reviewed one of the first laptops running AMD’s latest Ryzen AI 9 chipset, the Asus ProArt PX13, and found it to be very fast for a 13-inch machine. While the Ryzen AI 9 has “AI” right there in its name, it’s hard to measure the chipset’s most hyped-up feature: its Neural Processing Unit (NPU) that’s the fastest among current chipsets.
Therefore, in reviewing the larger ProArt P16 with the same chipset and with a faster GPU, I’m focusing on what non-gaming 16-inch laptops are primarily made for: creative applications with a little gaming on the side. By these standards, the ProArt P16 is a very compelling option in the large laptop space today — although, not the absolute best.
Specs and configurations
| Asus ProArt P16 | |
| Dimensions | 13.97 inches x 9.72 inches x 0.59-0.68 inches |
| Weight | 4.08 pounds |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 |
| Graphics | AMD Radeon 890M Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 |
| RAM | 32GB 64GB |
| Display | 16.0-inch 16:10 4K+ (3840 x 2400) OLED, 60Hz |
| Storage | 1TB SSD 2TB SSD |
| Touch | Yes |
| Ports | 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 1 x USB-C USB4 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 1 x HDMI 2.1 1 x 3.5mm audio jack 1 x SD card reader |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Webcam | 1080p with infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition |
| Operating system | Windows 11 |
| Battery | 90 watt-hour |
| Price |
$1,900+ |
The ProArt P16 is built around the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chipset and a 4K+ OLED display. With 32GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, it costs $1,900. Upgrading to the RTX 4070 costs $400, while upgrading RAM to 64GB and storage to 2TB boosts the price to $2,700.
That’s more expensive than the Dell XPS 16‘s $1,500 base model with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, a Full HD+ IPS display, and Intel Arc graphics. But, when you come close to matching the ProArt P16’s base model, the XPS 16 costs a lot more at $2,700. And the high-end XPS 16 is $3,300 for the same configuration as the ProArt 16’s high-end model at $2,700. A more competitive laptop is the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 that starts at $1,480 for a Core Ultra 7, 16GB of RAM, an RTX 4050, and a 3.2K IPS display. Its $2,100 high-end configuration closely matches the Asus’s base model, only with a lower resolution 3.2K OLED display.
Finally, the MacBook Pro 16 is considerably more expensive, starting at $2,499 for an M3 Pro chipset, 18GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, and the standard 16-inch mini-LED display. With close to the same RAM and storage, the MacBook is $2,899, so more than the ProArt P16 at $2,300. At the high end with an M3 Max chipset, 128GB of RAM, and 8TB of storage, the MacBook costs a whopping $7,199.
The point is that the ProArt P16 is a lot of computer for less money than its principal competition, at least when similarly configured. It and the Yoga Pro 9i 16 are reasonably affordable laptops for creators.
Design
From the all-black chassis and lid to the keyboard nestled between two large speaker grilles to the large touchpad taking up all available space on the palm rest, the ProArt P16 resembles the MacBook Pro 16 more than any other laptop. It’s not a perfect match — the MacBook is blockier and doesn’t have the same angles and lines as the ProArt P16.
But it’s obvious which laptop the ProArt P16 is trying to emulate, and that even includes a coating on the black colorway to give it a sheen similar to the MacBook’s Space Black version. The Dell XPS 16 looks a lot more modern, especially when you open the lid, but there are similarities there, too.
They’re very close to the same size in width, height, and thickness, with similar display bezels, but the MacBook Pro 16 is considerably heavier and so feels a lot denser. The XPS 16 is slightly thicker and as heavy as the MacBook. It, too, feels more dense. The ProArt P16 therefore feels a little easier to lug around, but none of these machines is highly portable. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is worth mentioning here as well, and it’s slightly larger and thicker than the ProArt P16 while being slightly higher than the MacBook Pro 16 and XPS 16.
Another thing that each machine shares is a quality build. You’re spending some serious money for each one, and so that’s exactly what you should expect. Out of this group, though, the ProArt P16 comes in last place. While its bottom lid and keyboard deck are rigid enough, the lid is a bit flexible. Usually, Asus laptops are among the most solid, so I found that a little disappointing. It’s not egregiously bad or anything. It’s just that once you handle the MacBook Pro 16 and XPS 16 in particular, the Asus just feels a little flimsier.
Keyboard, touchpad, and DialPad
The ProArt 16’s keyboard is a lot like that of the MacBook Pro 16 and XPS 16, a standard layout without a numeric keypad (found on some larger machines) nestled in between large speaker grilles. It’s a good enough keyboard with large keycaps and sufficient spacing, as well as switches that are snappy and precise. I do like the MacBook’s Magic Keyboard a bit better, but most users will find the Asus keyboard to be more than good enough. The XPS 16’s zero-lattice keyboard takes more getting used to. I’d rate the Yoga Pro 9i 16’s keyboard as roughly equivalent to the ProArt 16’s.
The large mechanic touchpad is just OK. Its button clicks are confident and quiet, and it’s responsive enough. But the MacBook’s Force Touch haptic touchpad is a lot better, with more configurability and the ability to “click” anywhere on its very large surface. The XPS 16 has a good haptic touchpad that suffers a bit from being hidden, and the Yoga Pro 9i 16 again matches the ProArt 16 with its own mechanical touchpad.
Where the Asus differs is in the DialPad that’s basically a circular indentation in the touchpad with an embedded button. It works with a variety of apps to add another way to interact. I’d say it’s just a gimmick, except Asus includes the ProArt Creator Hub utility that enables a bunch of useful functionality. Users can control the laptop’s colors to an unusual degree, including adjusting Pantone values to highly customizable color performance. Other tools enable efficient creative work, like the Work Smart function, various performance optimization tools, and several Asus creative apps. It’s obvious that Asus has gone to great lengths to make the ProArt P16 more than just a generic creator’s laptop.
