Asus’ ProArt series consists of sleek laptops with high-end hardware for creatives. At the top of the line is the new AMD-powered ProArt P16, which exudes power and performance with a sleek, all-black form factor, giant trackpad with Asus’ proprietary DialPad, and brilliant display.
I recently had a chance to go hands-on with the ProArt P16 and found it to be a highly capable machine with a lot of raw power. However, it also requires some customization and optimization to get the most out of it. Before I touch on that, let’s take a look at the hardware.
The ProArt P16 comes with 32GB of memory, an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, and a 12-core, 24-thread chip with a 50 TOP NPU. This strong core powers the device’s creative endeavors, whether video editing, using advanced animation or graphic design programs or simply multitasking with a handful of different apps and dozens of browser tabs.
One of the best parts of this laptop, however, is its display. The 500-nit, 3840 x 2400 resolution AMOLED touchscreen display delivers a crisp, bright picture with a glossy, premium coating. Powered by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, it features DLSS 3 (Deep Learning Super Sampling) and support for ray tracing.
Although it can deliver a good gaming experience, it’s held back a bit by the 60Hz refresh rate, which is part of the give-and-take of the device’s overall feature set. Asus’ decision to limit the refresh rate is disappointing, but it keeps the price point low and solidifies its intended use case as a creator-first machine.
In that vein, it comes with a stylus that feels precise and responsive, especially on the smooth, glossy display, which feels like a blank canvas beckoning you to sketch on. The pen on this laptop is good enough for artists and designers to use seriously, as all too often, they’re either too laggy or too barebones to justify using. Here, however, it’s snappy and responsive and comes with various capabilities that work in tandem with the DialPad to power customizable, single-click actions.
I also appreciate that this laptop is not a 2-in-1. Convertible laptops are often forced to switch to tablet mode if you want to use them with a stylus, as pressing on the display in laptop mode pushes it down unless you support it with your hand.
The ProArt P16 was designed with this in mind, as the display locks into place at its furthest angle. Instead of folding back from the pressure of the pen, it stays upright with a generous degree of bend. Just keep in mind that pushing back too hard will result in the front of the device lifting off of the desk.
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