By The performance that “creatives” and “creators” want is almost always provided by laptops with powerful CPUs and GPUs; nevertheless, as Apple’s venerable MacBook Pro has shown, other factors like weight, battery life, and connectivity are important.
While considering these things, the Asus ProArt P16 keeps the laptop’s MSRP high but manageable at $2,300. Although the P16 does not win in every category, it is still a good combo.
Specs and features
The AMD Ryzen AI 9 370 HX is the main feature of the Asus ProArt P16. With four performance cores and eight efficiency cores, it boasts a 12-core processor. It also contains an inbuilt AMD Radeon 890M graphics card and a 50 TOPS NPU, albeit the latter is primarily utilized while the laptop is running on battery power.
- CPU: Ryzen AI 9 370 HX from AMD
- Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 4070 with up to 105 watt TGP NPU: AMD XDNA NPU with up to 50 TOPS Memory: 32GB LPDDR5X
- Display: OLED 3840 x 2400 16:10 aspect ratio 500 nits HDR peak @ 60 Hz refresh rate (claimed)
- Storage: Solid state drive, 2TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0
- IR-equipped 1080p 30 frames per second webcam for Windows Hello
- Connectivity: 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, 1x SD card reader, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with DisplayPort and Power Delivery, 1x USB-C 4.0 Gen 3 with DisplayPort and Power Delivery
- Networking: Bluetooth 5.4, Wi-Fi 7.
- Windows Hello facial recognition as a biometric
- 90 watt-hour battery capacity; 13.97 x 9.72 x 0.68 inches in dimensions
- 4.08 pounds in weight
- MSRP: $2,299
Asus has packed a lot of goodies into the ProArt P16, but the Ryzen AI 9 processor is the star of the show. A 4K OLED display, a 2TB solid state drive, an SD card reader, a USB-C 4 connector with 40Gbps communication speeds, and Wi-Fi 7 are among the notable features.
My test model, the Asus ProArt P16, was in the midrange. For $1,899.99, Asus also sells an entry-level variant that has the same RAM and processor as well as a 1TB solid-state drive with an RTX 4060. Conversely, a laptop model that shares the same specs as the one we tested but has an additional 64GB of RAM is available for $2,699.99 at retail.
Design and build quality
Design of the Asus ProArt P16 by IDG / Matthew Smith
Because the Asus ProArt P16 is likely to be carried to meetings with clients and coworkers frequently, the company chooses to design it in a conservative, unoffensive manner. It is just a black slab with a tiny Asus emblem hidden in a corner.
The design has some advantages. The metal surface on the Asus laptop has a lovely sheen when light hits it, and the materials feel solid. Even though the appearance is simple, Asus deserves praise for keeping its ProArt product line consistent. This laptop shares a similar appearance with other Asus ProArt laptops and monitors.
Apart from appearances, the ProArt P16’s design is on par with those of its rivals. The 16-inch display makes the laptop fairly enormous, but its compact dimensions—less than 14 inches wide, less than 10 inches deep, and less than seven-tenths of an inch thick—are maintained by the narrow bezels. Given that the ProArt P16 weighs only 4.08 pounds, Asus has the weight advantage. That is less than the Razer Blade 16, Dell XPS 16, and MacBook Pro 16.
Connectivity
The Asus ProArt P16 has an abundance of connectivity options. It has an SD card reader, an HDMI port, a 3.5mm audio combo jack, two USB-C ports, and two USB-A ports. The ProArt P16 is similar to most of its competitors in that it just has one port—ethernet—which some customers may find lacking, but many laptops these days do not have it.
Both USB-C ports offer DisplayPort Alternate Mode for video output to an external display and USB Power Delivery for laptop charging. One of the ports supports USB 4.0 with transfer rates up to 40Gbps, while the other supports USB 3.2. However, the maximum power output of the USB-C ports is only 100 watts, which is only half as much as the power provided by the laptop’s exclusive 200W power adapter. For optimal performance and charging speeds, a power adapter is necessary.
Two USB-A ports are included, which is beneficial for supporting older devices and legacy connectivity. A full-sized SD card slot is also a plus, particularly for a laptop intended for creative professionals. Typically DSLR cameras have SD cards that you may remove and insert into your laptop.
The laptop boasts excellent wireless connectivity as well, with support for both Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7. The ProArt P16 will support all of the newest wireless capabilities at the fastest speeds possible because they are the latest iterations of each wireless standard.
The ProArt P16 is superior to rival models such as the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16, Dell XPS 16, Razer Blade 16, and Apple MacBook Pro 16. Some of the connection features that are present on the ProArt P16 are usually absent from these competitors. For instance, the Lenovo Yoga 9i 16 lacks Wi-Fi 7, and the Dell XPS 16 lacks USB-A connectors.
Performance
From a hardware standpoint, the Asus ProArt P16 is interesting since it is among the first laptops to use AMD’s new Ryzen AI 9 370 HX CPU. It has a twelve-core (2GHz base clock and up to 5.1GHz boost clock) processor with four performance and eight efficiency cores. 32GB of RAM and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 solid state drive are combined in this laptop. Although it is a strong processor, the Ryzen AI 9 370 HX is not breaking any records.
PCMark 10, a general system benchmark designed to simulate a variety of daily and productivity tasks, is the first up. Here, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 370 HX-powered Asus ProArt P16 scored a middling 7,608. Although that is a mid-pack result and over 1,000 points less than the top computers with 16-inch displays, it is still not bad.
In conclusion, compared to the alternatives, the ProArt P16’s processing performance is swift but only passable. For many different types of professional, creative programs, this technology is capable. But the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is merely competitive rather than a leader. I have a problem with AMD’s branding, as I indicated in my evaluation of the Asus Zenbook S 16. Selling the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 as a “Ryzen 7” processor would have been more natural in my opinion, as it does not feel deserving of the “Ryzen 9” moniker.
Battery life
Although AMD processors tend to use less raw power when solving issues, their performance may not match that of Intel. That may work against them in multithreaded workloads, but it may work in favor of them in battery tests.
We ran our regular battery test on the Asus ProArt P16, looping a 4K file of the short film Tears of Steel, for more than nine hours. That is a great outcome that outperforms the majority of similar laptops with Intel processors. The ProArt P16 has a more frugal processor and cleverly uses switchable graphics, switching between the inbuilt Radeon 890M and the Nvidia RTX 4070 when needed.
Conclusion
The Asus ProArt P16 is a laptop designed for prosumers and creative workers, and it succeeds in that market. This market will be enamored with the ProArt P16’s abundance of features, which include excellent battery life, a huge touchpad with a simulated scroll wheel, an amazing 4K OLED display, and extensive connections.
However, performance is a little compromised, which keeps the ProArt P16 from scoring higher. Without a doubt, it is still a fast laptop that should be more than sufficient for the majority of users. Nevertheless, it is evident that rivals with Intel chips can provide multithreaded performance that is superior. Even though the Nvidia RTX 4070 has good performance, gaming laptops frequently offer comparable capabilities at a cheaper cost.
However, that also shows why the ProArt P16 is effective for the target demographic. Although it is not the fastest 16-inch laptop, it strikes a decent balance between portability, weight, size, and price, which makes it a worthwhile option.
