Asus Zenbook A16 (2026) Review: Savor the Power, Ignore the Beige

So, what's not to like? Well, aboriginal compatibility problems slowed the archetypal uptake of Snapdragon X, and the CPU’s integrated graphics show turned retired to beryllium beauteous terrible. And to date, almighty onboard AI features conscionable haven’t proven important, arsenic astir AI workloads are inactive being done successful the cloud. With the second-generation X2, Qualcomm acceptable retired to present connected the archetypal committedness of faster performance.

But what precisely does “faster” mean? As with astir claims successful the PC computing space, it’s each astir the benchmarks. On the Zenbook A16, the tests I ran so showcased exemplary show from the X2 Elite Extreme, successful immoderate of the astir wide utilized benchmarking tools, namely Geekbench 6 and Cinebench 2024. (I don’t person capable competitory Cinebench 2026 results to marque wide comparisons yet connected that benchmark.)

The show boost connected Geekbench is peculiarly striking, with the A16 scoring 50 to 100 percent faster than competing systems from AMD and Intel. It’s adjacent faster than the Apple MacBook M4 Pro, the past Mac for which I person comparable benchmark scores. However, that Mac did bushed the Asus connected the Cinebench benchmark, but not by much, and the Asus present stands solidly successful 2nd spot successful my investigating archive.

Graphics show is overmuch amended than successful erstwhile generations of Snapdragon X chips, with framework rates quadrupling connected average, depending connected the test. That’s a melodramatic and much-needed betterment for the CPU, and portion nary 1 volition impeach the A16 of being a gaming rig, it does astatine slightest marque for a workable acquisition with little taxing games and graphics-heavy workloads.

Beige Belies Performance

I’m blessed capable with however the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme performs to motion disconnected connected its show claims, but there’s a batch much to the Zenbook A16 than its CPU.

Under the hood, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E94100 CPU is complemented by 48 GB of RAM and a 1-TB SSD. The 16-inch touchscreen offers a coagulated solution of 2880 x 1800 pixels, and it’s incredibly bright. A value of 2.9 pounds is awesome (if not unheard of) for the 16-inch category, and astatine 0.65 inches (at its thickest), it has a svelte, rather portable carrying experience. Asus’s Ceraluminum exertion (now with added magnesium) is utilized successful the machine’s lid, base, and keyboard frame. That helps support it bladed and light, though erstwhile adjusted oregon touched, the surface shimmied much than I expected.