- By Vikas Yadav
- Sun, 31 Mar 2024 10:34 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16 2024 Review: What comes to your mind when you think of high-end gaming on Windows in 2024? For me, it is a bulky cabinet dazzling with LEDs and bleeding raw CPU and GPU performance. This is exactly what ASUS plans to replicate every year with a cosy twist. It puffs everything in about a 1-inch thick portable slab that measures up to 18 inches diagonally this year. The world popularly labels them as the ROG Strix Scar series.
To assess this year's model, ASUS shipped us the ROG Strix Scar 16, arguably one of the most powerful gaming machines money can buy in the sub-Rs 3.5 lakh price category. Living up to the legacy of its predecessors, the new Scar boasts all the bells and whistles you can expect on a premium gaming machine on paper, coupled with a pinch of flexibility to move around. But how does the spec sheet fare in real life? We'll discuss it in detail in this full review. So, let's kick off things with the design.
Flamboyant Exteriors:
Straight out of its stylish package, the laptop sports a striking aluminium lid with a matte finish, a magnetically attached Armour Cap, a signature ROG logo and a shiny strip with 'Republic Of Gamers' text. At 2.65kg weight and sub-1-inch thickness, it does feel hefty. You can open the lid with a single hand (solid hinges smiling in the corner). Once you open it at the maximum angle (don't expect notebook-style 180 degrees), you are greeted with the dapper borders around the screen, excluding the bottom bezel. Here are a few images for reference.
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While a tiny webcam with supporting mics stretches the top bezels upwards from the centre, it helps while lifting the lid. The membrane per-key RGB keyboard offers good response with 2mm travel and decent spacing across the board. However, the integrated numpad could have been a decent addition as I did activate 'NUMLK' accidentally during my usage. Beyond that, the glass touchpad works fine in most cases, but avid gamers should connect their gaming mouse.
The semi-transparent design treatment around the keyboard and ports and the textured pattern on the chassis are crafted tastefully for gamers. Speaking of the lighting, the RGB lights on the keys, lid and plastic chassis are customisable using diverse modes (Static, Breathing, Strobing, Colour cycle, Rainbow and more) using the 'AURA' key and ASUS' proprietary software (more on this below). With the LED treatment adding to its glory, the laptop looks fabulous and well-built from top to bottom. Here are a few shots of the RGBs flaunting their appeal.
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Gorgeous Display:
The laptop flaunts a beautiful 16-inch QHD+ mini LED ROG Nebula HDR screen with up to 240Hz refresh rate. The panel gets aggressively bright at 1,100nits and offers an exceptional 3ms response time during games. From Dolby Vision to 100 per cent DCIP-3, ASUS has fused all the posh tech (TUV Rheinland certification and Pantone validation waving from the edge) you expect from a flagship laptop screen for gaming.
The viewing experience is optimised nicely for gamers. (Image on screen: YouTube/Jacob + Katie Schwarz)
Be it games, HDR videos or web series, the display offers an immersive viewing experience. It can stream up to 8K HDR video playback without a sweat, provided your internet supplements the bandwidth. Colours are vibrant, details are razor-sharp, thanks to the high resolution. While you cannot expect deep blacks like OLEDs, the viewing experience is nicely optimised for gamers.
Performance Beast:
The Scar 16 runs on an Intel Core i9 14900HX (24 cores, 32 threads and 36M cache) with up to 5.8GHz clock speed and 65W TDP. Our unit sports a 16GB GDDR6 NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU with a maximum 175W TGP with Dynamic Boost. As for memory, this beast sports 32GB DDR5 5,600MHz RAM (upgradeable to 64GB) and 2TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD (supports expansion up to 4TB).
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On the other hand, in 'Performance' mode, the Tri-Fan Technology and 'Conductonaut Extreme Liquid metal thermal paste' ensure the performance does not dip despite soaring temperatures as the laptop steadily juts out sizzling air. In a silent room, you can hear the fans performing their duty at maximum potential while keeping the Celsius under control and delivering sustained performance.
ASUS' Armoury Crate software (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
The Scar 16 runs on Windows 11 Home. ASUS' Armoury Crate software helps a user monitor and control the performance of the machine and make dedicated adjustments to customise features like Aura Effects, add games to Games Launcher and more. You can also use the MyAsus app to check essentials such as warranty. It also ships with services from McAfee and Microsoft (MS Office Home and Student).
Unmatched Gaming:
Well, the gaming aspect for which this monster was designed has been really outstanding. Playing some classic games on the device, including GTA 5, was buttery smooth. Playing old favourites like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege relived some nostalgia and the experience was sweet. In Forza and Cyberpunk, the laptop performed admirably in terms of graphics, showing it can handle demanding games with great ease.
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The vents at the bottom and sides ensure you enjoy your games without worrying about the temperature. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
Even with the high settings and QHD+ resolution, it delivered consistent frames, a green flag for gamers. In gaming sessions, the fans kick in at full blast to deliver respectable frame rates and become slightly noisier, which may disturb some of you. However, you do have the option to alter the pace via dedicated performance modes.
Thermals were also not a problem, but even with the company's in-house Intelligent Cooling technology—which consists of a full-width vapour chamber heatsink for optimal cooling, quad exhaust vents, and 84-blade fans—the temperature increased to 80 degrees when we switched to ultra settings. Overall, you can expect a great gaming experience. If you are a streamer, it can be a hero for your gaming setup.
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The RGB LEDs on the keys, lid and chassis offer different modes to customise the effect. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
Based on the brief testing of the team, I can vouch that it can offer enjoyable gameplay across reputable AAA titles and seamless high-quality video and complex graphics editing. However, you must keep the supplied charger plugged in and activate the Turbo or Performance mode (or customise settings) to its peak potential.
Battery Life:
The laptop is backed with a four-cell 90Wh battery, which supports up to 330W charging via the power input port and the adapter provided in the box. Plugging in the charger demands a power socket requested by high-powered appliances such as ACs (a struggle for another day). It takes about 100 minutes to charge via the supplied monstrous brick when the laptop is in use (non-gaming). In 'Silent mode' and no gameplay, I was about to churn out roughly two and a half hours of battery life from the laptop.
The gaming laptop supports up to 330W charging via the provided adapter. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
The efficiency mode can be helpful for tasks such as media viewing, internet surfing, office apps and more. For switching plans to hardcore gaming, you must have the charger next to you as the backup dips to under an hour. Meanwhile, you can also charge via the USB-C port (up to 100W PD charging supported). In my case, it accepted input via a 120W smartphone adapter without any issues.
Decent Speakers and Connectivity:
The laptop gets a four-speaker system with Dolby Atmos. While I was not elated by the output from the quad speakers at the default presets, slight adjustments in the Dolby Access app can help you churn out the best audio performance. Head to the app's 'Settings', set the mode to 'Dynamic' and check out for yourself. Despite this, the saying that Windows machines have not matched the speakers on Apple offerings stands true here.
Moving to connectivity, the laptop sports a Thunderbolt 4 port (DP 1.4 and G-Sync support), USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port (with 100W Power Delivery charging), HDMI 2.1, RJ-45 port, a headphone jack and two USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports. I did not face any issues with networking via Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. However, I did miss biometrics-based authentication in the power button.
An integrated numpad could have been a decent addition as I did activate 'NUMLK' accidentally many times. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
The laptop has a 720P HD webcam, which I expected to be at least FHD for better output. The quality is below average, considering you will pay lakhs for the device. Plus, I do feel that transferring data may be a problem due to the absence of a dedicated SD card slot. But you can check out an adapter or third-party dongle to curb this challenge.
Also Read: ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 Review: Pricey Device, But Gets The Job Done With Great Ease
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16 2024 Verdict: Awesome Gaming Lappy
The ROG Strix Scar 16 2024 engraves a firm edict in gaming performance to carry forward the legacy of the cutting-edge Scar series. It can easily act as your portable substitute for your desk gaming setup. As for the pricing, the heavy-duty Scar comes in two variants: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 (12GB VRAM) and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 (16GB VRAM), which cost Rs 2,89,990 and Rs 3,29,990.
The ROG Strix Scar 16 2024 engraves a firm edict in gaming performance. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
Apart from unmatched gaming prowess, trendy looks, premium display, striking lights and a custom class-leading software suite make the elite Scar 16 an attractive choice. However, the compromise lies in the limited upgradability of a portable machine compared to a desk setup. But, the unmatched portability may serve as an overall better choice.