Disclosure Statement: The laptop reviewed here was sent to me free of charge through the Amazon Vine program. All opinions are my own. I was not otherwise compensated nor has anyone other than Amazon reviewed or approved this content before posting.
Specs: Core i7-14650HX 32 GB RAM GeForce RTX 4070 1 TB SSD 2560x1600 165 Hz display Windows 11 Home
TL;DR: It's the title, basically. The look and feel of this gaming laptop is good, but because of unoptimized software and fans that can get extremely loud when gaming, it's not one I can recommend unless available at a significant discount.
Design/Build/Ports: The 2024 update to the Aorus line brings a nice, clean look with the deep blue finish a particular highlight. The metal and plastic chassis has a quality feel. The side air exhaust vents unfortunately push the ports toward the front of the laptop, which can be awkward. On the left from back to front are the power input (240W with a nice, compact adapter), Ethernet, HDMI 2.1, USB-A 3.2 10 Gbps, and a USB-C Thunderbolt 4 port that supports up to 100W of power delivery. The right has USB-A 3.2 10 Gbps, a second USB-C that's 3.2 10 Gbps with DisplayPort video out, microSD card reader, and headphone/microphone combo jack. Removing the bottom panel reveals two upgradable memory and M.2 storage slots, along with a Wi-Fi 7 card.
One particularly unusual thing about this laptop is how the display outputs are wired. Both USB-C ports are wired to the integrated graphics so HDMI is the only way to bypass Optimus. The laptop has a MUX switch and if you set it to the dGPU, video out via Type-C is disabled.
Screen/Keyboard/Touchpad/Speakers: At 2560x1600 resolution and a 165 Hz refresh rate with G-Sync and Advanced Optimus, the screen is sensible for the hardware. From what I’ve read, it’s pretty much the same panel that was in the 2021 Legion 7. I don’t have the tools to do an exact measurement, but those who do report 100% sRGB color gamut coverage and around 70-80% of AdobeRGB and DCI-P3. So it’s more than sufficient for gaming, but content creators who do color-critical work will want to look elsewhere.
Keyboard feel is just OK – better than most Acer and Razer laptops but well below Alienware, Asus, or Lenovo. Key travel is sufficient, but the bottom out sensation is rather mushy. Backlighting is separated into zones rather than per-key, which is disappointing given the somewhat premium pricing. There’s also lighting on the back that projects the Aorus logo, which I find pretty tacky. There’s no numpad but a row of dedicated home, end, page up, and page down keys on the right side. I appreciate having them, but this means the trackpad is off-center. Speaking of the trackpad, the glass finish is very smooth. It’s easy to manipulate and accurate. Because it’s off-center from the keyboard, it needs to have excellent palm rejection, and for the most part it’s true. I’ve had a few instances where I could see the mouse cursor move while typing, but it wasn’t enough to be a bother.
The speakers are just sort of there – reasonably loud but practically no bass. They’re fine in a pinch, but you’re going to want to use headphones whenever possible.
Software/Performance/Battery Life: This is where the Aorus 16X ultimately falls apart. It starts with the Gigabyte Control Center (GCC), the main software hub for the laptop. I’ve owned gaming laptops from most every manufacturer and can say with confidence that GCC is far and away the worst. It’s confusing/hard to use and bloated with unnecessary junk like stable diffusion image generation. What’s worse is pretty much everything you’d want to do in terms of controlling things like the power profile, display refresh rate switching when running on battery power, and more are completely reliant on the software. Other gaming laptops like the Lenovo Legion offer simple keyboard shortcuts to do these things without needing to touch the software. That’s not the case with the Aorus. Changing power modes requires opening the software, navigating menus, and several mouse clicks. Even being able to right-click the system tray icon to do this would be welcome.
As for what this laptop is like to game on, my feelings are mixed. While the hardware can deliver solid performance, the fan noise is what will likely be a deal-breaker for most. Of course, putting high-performance components into a cramped space will generate a lot of heat that has to go somewhere, but other laptops can manage this much better than the Aorus.
I tested Cyberpunk 2077 at 1080p ultra settings but with no ray tracing or upscaling. In the “normal” performance mode, I saw minimum and average frame rates of 60 and 75, respectively. I recorded the fans at 54 decibels sitting about 2 feet from the laptop, but their high-pitched nature made it seem like they were much louder than that. The maxed out “gaming” power profile increased frame rates to a 74 minimum and 89 maximum with the fans screaming at 58 dB. Dropping to the “power saving silence” option reduces the game to 49 fps minimum and 60 average, but fan noise is just 45 dB. So while it’s absolutely playable in the power saver mode, you’re leaving quite a bit of performance on the table, which kind of defeats the purpose. In the 3DMark stress test, the laptop got a passing grade of at least 99% across all performance profiles.
For everyday use, as long as you keep it in the power saver mode, the laptop generally stays quiet, though the fans will spin up from time to time. Battery life is anywhere from 4-5 hours of web surfing, office, and video streaming with the display at 30 percent brightness and the refresh rate at 60 Hz. The left USB-C port allows for charging at up to 100W so for light use or for topping off the battery so you won’t need to bring the stock 240W adapter with you if you don’t need the laptop’s full power.
Overall, the Aorus 16X is a laptop I wanted to like, but the excessive fan noise and terrible software make it difficult to recommend over comparably priced offerings from other manufacturers. Unless it’s available at a deep discount, you’ll be better off looking elsewhere.