ASUS, also known as ASUStek, is a Taiwanese computer hardware and consumer electronics manufacturer founded in 1989. They produce a wide range of products, including desktop computer components, desktops, laptops, handheld gaming devices, monitors, and gaming peripherals. Their laptop lineup ranges from affordable Chromebooks to high-end gaming laptops and mobile workstations, and they produce many well-known brands, including ROG, TUF, ProArt, Zenbook, and Vivobook. ASUS' high-end gaming laptops typically have exceptional build quality, excellent performance, and sleek designs, and the company itself is a regular sponsor of esports events and players. There have been many recent reports of device performance issues and difficulty getting warranty claims; still, whether you're looking for a laptop for work, gaming, or everyday use, ASUS offers excellent products that can meet your needs.
We've tested over 135 laptops, and 18 of those are by ASUS. Below are our recommendations for the best ASUS laptops.
Updates
- 09/26/2024 ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024) reviewed
- 07/04/2024 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) GU605 reviewed
- 06/05/2024 ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) reviewed
- 05/10/2024 ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED UX3404 (2023) reviewed
- 05/02/2024 ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023) updated
Best ASUS Laptops
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Best ASUS Laptop
School8.2Gaming8.4Multimedia8.0Workstation9.1Business8.2The best ASUS laptop we’ve tested is the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024). This premium 14-inch model is primarily a gaming laptop, but it features a sleek design that won't stick out like a sore thumb if you bring it to work. It has a sturdy all-aluminum build that feels premium, and it provides a fantastic user experience with its 2.8k 120Hz OLED display, tactile keyboard, large touchpad, and 1080p webcam. There’s a wide selection of ports for peripherals and external displays, including four USB ports, a MicroSD card reader, and an HDMI 2.1 port. Unfortunately, there’s no Ethernet port, but you get Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.
Configuration-wise, you can choose between a Ryzen 7 or 9 CPU from AMD's 8040 series paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, 4060, or 4070 discrete GPU. The choice depends on what you plan to do with the laptop. Every configuration can handle 1080p for gaming, but if you want to play at 1440p (or at the display's native 2.8k resolution), it's best to upgrade to a 4070. The same applies if you plan to use it for content creation and want to maximize performance. Storage maxes out at 1TB, which will fill up quickly given the size of most modern titles; thankfully, the SSD is user-replaceable. Unfortunately, the battery doesn't last long during intensive tasks like gaming, so it's best to carry your charger with you.
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Best Upper Mid-Range ASUS Laptop
School8.2Gaming6.5Multimedia8.1Workstation7.7Business8.2The best upper mid-range ASUS laptop we've tested is the ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED (2024), a premium 14-inch Windows ultraportable with a gorgeous OLED display. It's available with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs, which are fast enough to handle general productivity tasks and more demanding workloads like photo editing and programming. These new chips sport additional low-power cores to improve battery life, as well as an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) to handle AI-based tasks like background blurring during video calls. You can configure this laptop with up to 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage; the latter is user-replaceable.
This laptop offers a great user experience. It features a spacious keyboard, a large touchpad, and numerous ports, including two Thunderbolt 4s and an HDMI 2.0. The display supports touch and pen input, though you may have to buy the stylus separately. Unfortunately, the CPU throttles significantly under load, and there's no dedicated GPU, so it's better to choose our best laptop pick, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024), if you need to perform CPU- or GPU-intensive tasks. Also, while its battery life is decent, it can't last a full day on a single charge, so you'll want to keep your charger close if you plan to use it on the go.
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Best Budget ASUS Laptop
School7.4Gaming6.0Multimedia6.4Workstation7.6Business7.5If you want to save money, consider the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023), our pick for the best budget ASUS laptop. This 16-inch ultraportable feels well-built for the price, and it isn't overly bulky, making it easy to carry around. You can configure it with an AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 CPU, both of which are more than adequate for handling productivity tasks like text processing, web browsing, spreadsheets, and video playback. It has 8GB of RAM soldered onto the motherboard and an open SO-DIMM slot, so if you can't find a model with 16GB, you can always upgrade it yourself. Its battery life is decent at around eight hours of light use, but depending on your workload, you may need to plug it in for a quick charge.
This model delivers a pretty good user experience. It has a spacious full-size keyboard with a numpad, which is handy for those working with lots of numbers, as well as a large and responsive touchpad. You get Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a fingerprint sensor for quick logins, and a decent port selection with three USB-As, a USB-C, and an HDMI. Unfortunately, the USB-C doesn't support video output, so you'll have to rely on the HDMI to connect an external display. Our main gripe with this laptop is the display. Its 1080p resolution looks reasonably sharp at this screen size; however, it's quite dim, as it only reaches 250 cd/m² of brightness, so visibility may be an issue in well-lit rooms. It also looks a bit washed out due to its narrow color gamut.
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Best ASUS Gaming Laptop
School6.9Gaming9.1Multimedia6.8Workstation9.4Business7.9The best ASUS gaming laptop we've tested is the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024). This well-built 16-inch model delivers an amazingly smooth gaming experience in the most demanding AAA titles. It sports the top-end Intel Core i9 14900HX CPU, and you can choose between an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, RTX 4070, or RTX 4080 Laptop GPU. RAM and storage max out at 32GB and 2TB, respectively; both are user-upgradeable. There are two display options: a 165Hz FHD+ and a 240Hz QHD+ panel. Both have a fast response time and G-SYNC support, resulting in a clear image in fast-moving scenes with minimal ghosting and tearing.
The keyboard feels spacious and tactile, and as expected, there's RGB backlighting. Connectivity is robust; you get two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports (one with Thunderbolt 4 support), an HDMI 2.1, an Ethernet, and a 3.5mm headphone jack. If you game online but aren't close enough to your router for a wired LAN connection, don't worry; there's Wi-Fi 6E onboard. While the ROG Strix G16 excels in gaming performance, it does have a few drawbacks. It's a fairly bulky laptop, so it isn't well-suited for on-the-go use, and the battery life is short, lasting only six hours in light uses or an hour when gaming. Also, the laptop can get quite hot under load.
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Best Budget ASUS Gaming Laptop
School7.6Gaming8.6Multimedia7.1Workstation8.9Business7.8If you're looking for a gaming laptop but don't want to sacrifice your firstborn to afford it, the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023) is a solid budget option. This all-AMD model delivers a smooth gaming experience at 1080p or 1440p in demanding AAA titles. For around $1,000 USD, you can get a Ryzen 7 7735HS configuration with an AMD Radeon RX 7600S GPU, a 165Hz FHD+ display, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. The IPS panel has a fast response time, resulting in a clear image with minimal ghosting in fast-moving scenes, and it supports variable refresh rate to reduce screen tearing. It doesn't get very bright, though; it's best suited for dark to moderately lit rooms.
This laptop feels very sturdy build-wise. It has a spacious—albeit slightly mushy—keyboard, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and a wide port selection, including a true HDMI 2.1 and an Ethernet port. The SSD is fast, which helps shorten game loading times; however, 512GB isn't very much considering the size of modern games. Thankfully, it's user-replaceable, and there's even a second M.2 slot to add an additional drive. The memory is also upgradeable. Thermal throttling isn't a problem, but the laptop gets hot and loud. The battery lasts a little over an hour when gaming, which is pretty typical; what's unusual is that it lasts nearly 13 hours for light use, making this laptop great for general productivity tasks. Of course, that's as long as you don't mind lugging around a bulky and heavy 16-inch model.
Compared To Other Brands
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Wide product lineup.
ASUS offers a wide range of product lineups, from ultraportables for general productivity to premium high-end gaming laptops. -
Excellent build quality.
ASUS tends to offer excellent build quality across its laptop lineup. While their budget laptops are primarily plastic, their higher-end devices often use premium materials and offer premium features like high refresh rate OLED panels. -
Good serviceability.
ASUS laptops generally offer good serviceability. Even budget models typically include at least one user-replaceable RAM and storage slot, which is commendable, especially as other brands like Dell have been phasing out serviceability in their lower-end devices. -
Experiments with form factors and features.
ASUS frequently experiments with new form factors and features like dual-screen laptops, touchpads with integrated numpads, and 2-in-1 gaming tablets.
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Some recent performance issues on high-end devices.
There have been many user reports of high-end ASUS desktop motherboards, laptops, and handheld gaming devices experiencing performance and stability issues. Poor BIOS configurations, software bugs, and insufficient thermal solutions are the causes.
ASUS vs Dell
ASUS and Dell make a wide range of laptops at nearly every price point. ASUS' Zenbook and ROG laptop brands compete with Dell's premium lines like XPS and Alienware. While ASUS laptops tend to offer better value, Dell frequently offers large sales directly on their website. Both manufacturers provide similar build quality and user experiences, so the better choice depends on your needs and preferences. See our recommendations for the best Dell laptop.
ASUS vs HP
Despite some overlap in their product stacks, ASUS and HP are known for different kinds of laptops. ASUS offers a wider range of gaming laptops. However, they also make excellent productivity laptops from their Zenbook brand, while HP primarily offers a wide range of productivity-focused laptops with a small gaming lineup. See our recommendations for the best HP laptops.
ASUS vs Lenovo
ASUS and Lenovo offer similar products, ranging from affordable Chromebooks to premium laptops. While Lenovo is often recognized for the value of its budget and mid-range offerings, ASUS is better known for its high-end ROG gaming laptops and upper-mid-range Zenbook productivity lineup. See our recommendations for the best Lenovo laptop.
ASUS vs Apple
ASUS and Apple are very different in what they offer. ASUS makes a wide range of laptops, including productivity and gaming models at various price points, whereas Apple only makes premium productivity laptops. Apple MacBooks are sturdier and more premium build-wise, and they usually provide a better user experience, with many aspects like the speakers and touchpad being the gold standard in the laptop industry. ASUS tends to experiment with new form factors and designs, but many of their new features feel incomplete, while Apple's designs and features tend to be more well-thought-out. Apple also has an advantage when it comes to their ecosystem, as their MacBooks have many features that work seamlessly with other Apple products, like iPhones, iPads, and watches. See our recommendations for the best Apple laptops.
Like Acer, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, ASUS makes a wide range of laptops. ASUS usually produces more Chromebooks and gaming laptops than their competitors, and they're also more willing to experiment with new and exciting form factors or features. However, they don't have nearly the same offerings for corporate or business clients. Nevertheless, the wide range of options means that ASUS has something to offer most users.
Lineup
ASUS offers several different laptop brands to meet your specific needs. They use the following names:
- Chromebook: cheap devices to meet general productivity and everyday needs.
- Vivobook: budget to mid-range thin and light laptops for productivity and media consumption.
- Zenbook: mid-range to high-end productivity laptops.
- BR series: rugged Windows laptop series designed for education contexts with basic hardware configurations.
- ExpertBook: business-oriented laptops with a wide range of formats and hardware configurations.
- ProArt Studiobook: workstation devices aimed at color-critical work.
- TUF: cheap and budget gaming laptops.
- ROG: mid-range to premium gaming laptops.
Recent Updates
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Replaced the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) GU605 with the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024) because the Zephyrus suffers from some performance issues.
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Oct 11, 2024: Added a comparison between ASUS and Apple. No change in recommendations.
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Sep 18, 2024: We've reviewed the article to ensure our picks represent the best products available and made minor edits for clarity.
Conclusion
While ASUS' bread and butter are powerful gaming laptops, they also make everything from budget devices for everyday tasks like word processing and web browsing to premium ultraportables designed for intensive productivity tasks. Their high-end laptops from the Zenbook and ROG lineups tend to be feature-rich, offer exceptional performance, and have sleek designs. Serviceability also tends to be strong throughout the product stack, as even budget laptops still feature user-replaceable RAM and storage, which other brands have been moving away from.
Unfortunately, their cheap Chromebooks aren't as solid, as their battery life lags behind their competitors. Additionally, controversy around warranty claims and user reports of performance issues has plagued ASUS recently. Despite this, ASUS laptops consistently offer great features and performance, making them a strong recommendation whether you need a budget device for general productivity or a high-end gaming laptop with the latest hardware.