![ROG Zephyrus M16](https://149367133.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/asus-rog-zephyrus-m16-review-photos-gadgetmatch-20230516-32.jpg)
![ROG Zephyrus M16](https://149367133.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/asus-rog-zephyrus-m16-review-photos-gadgetmatch-20230516-32-560x600.jpg)
Gaming
ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 review: Styling on the competition
A huge flex of your gaming prowess and wallet capacity
As they say in 2023, “if it ain’t broke, just upgrade it a little” and ASUS ROG is living by this with their latest line of laptops for the year. In this case, a lot of the upgrades are more internal with the goal of boosting gaming performance as a whole. On the outside, there would be tiny adjustments to fit all the upgraded hardware easily.
Such is the case for the 2023 version of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16, a gaming machine with all the right tools for a competitive gaming experience. It’s a laptop that hinges well on its power when delivering excellent performance, mostly due to the hardware inside it. For this year, nothing much has changed on the outside and every little thing inside got some form of an upgrade.
Do these upgrades make the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 a better gaming laptop overall?
The outside they didn’t change
Upon unboxing the device, the first thing you will notice is, well, there’s really nothing different from last year’s model. It comes in a rather subtle Off-Black colorway, in a chassis that is a bit heavy to bring around. As usual, all of the ports can be found on either side, with a full array of USB–As, USB-Cs, an HDMI 2.1 port, and even a microSD card reader.
Plastered on top of the lid is an innovation of the ROG in the AniMe Matrix. Unlike previous iterations, this one is a bit brighter than before, and also comes with more features to show off your individuality to others. Also, this version of the Matrix now has its own Virtual Pet mode, which does look great on the LED light-powered lid.
Overall, the exterior looks pretty much the same as before. Even with some minor tweaks and adjustments to hardware placement plus the AniMe Matrix, there’s really nothing else they did differently. The inside, however, is a totally different story.
Boosted internal upgrades
A chunk of the upgrades were given to the internals in order to fully bring out the device’s new found power. For starters, the ROG Zephyrus M16 comes with an 11th-gen Intel Core i9 processor and 64GB of RAM — a near perfect fit for any kind of task. Also, it comes with a powerful NVIDIA RTX 4090 and 2TB worth of SSD storage, which is great for playing and storing a library of competitive and casual games.
Even the device’s display received a considerable upgrade in the form of the 16-inch WQHD Nebula Display that comes with a 240Hz refresh rate. Ideally, every application, video, and game that loads up comes with near-perfect colors at the right brightness. Another thing is that the display supports G-SYNC so less stuttery frames when playing your favorite games.
When putting everything together, this device packs more than a punch for every task you throw at it. Whether you’re catching up on your favorite shows, playing and streaming your gaming content, or you’re editing multiple high-resolution videos, the ROG Zephyrus M16 does these all without a hitch.
Ray tracing and gaming done right
Another aspect the ROG Zephyrus M16 improves on is its gaming capabilities with the RTX 4090 inside. The expectation here is that the gaming experience would be significantly better, especially on the ray tracing front. However, previous versions of an RTX GPU for laptops have produced rather subpar results when ray tracing is used in-game.
This time, that’s not the case as games that support ray tracing looked stunning and hit respectable frame rates. From our tests, frame rate went up to around 50 to 58 FPS for supported games like Fortnite, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Cyberpunk 2077. At these rates, there were no observable drops in graphic quality, which made the experience more immersive and less jittery than before.
Even without this setting turned on, frame rates on most titles were excellent. Competitive shooters and battle royale games peaked at 240 FPS on their highest settings, which is what you’re expecting out of an RTX 4090. Also, the 240Hz G-SYNC-compatible display supported each game you play with little to no pixels out of place during crucial moments.
Even the best can overheat
Alas, even with all the power packed into one device, it can only do so much to keep everything cooled down. For laptops like the ROG Zephyrus M16, you should expect extreme heat during and after playing intense games as it performs better every hour. In this case, however, there were a few things that made the experience not as pleasant as one would think.
For the most part, the ROG Zephyrus M16 boasts a CoolZone Keyboard Design feature that ideally distributes warmth evenly when using the keyboard. Unfortunately, most of the heat was still packed around the four most commonly used keys for gamers, the WASD keys. Other parts of the keyboard were also warm, but not as much compared to those four keys in particular.
The only few good points about this device on the cooling front are that it doesn’t immediately heat up after opening it, and it cools down easily. It’s a relief that you adjust the settings through Armoury Crate, especially to set up certain applications to follow specific power settings.
Can only go so far
In terms of overall battery life, the ROG Zephyrus M16 fares decently in that regard considering the hardware it carries. From our tests, the device lasts a good seven hours running on a full battery for most use cases. Of course, gaming on it full time cuts that time significantly to just an hour and a half on average. For the price this device comes in, it’s definitely decent but there are longer lasting options out there.
Charge times for this device aren’t too shabby either, with the 280W adapter requiring at least two hours to fully charge the device. It also comes with a 100W USB Type-C charger, which is great for charging other USB-C supported devices. However, charge time with this one took seven hours to fully charge the ROG Zephyrus M16.
Is this your GadgetMatch?
At PhP 339,995, the 2023 version of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 provides a great gaming experience through and through. All the upgraded internals had pushed this device to be an all-around powerhouse for whatever you throw at it. Even without any difference from the last iteration, minor improvements to the AniMe Matrix allow you to show off your personality a little bit more.
As expected, heat and battery length stand out as key considerations when you’re using this for a lengthy amount of time. After our tests, these were not total dealbreakers given the internal hardware that the device carries. Although, there is potential for it to greatly affect the experience, especially on the go.
Overall, the ROG Zephyrus M16 was always designed to be one of the best gaming laptops out there, and this iteration is just no different. There are more affordable options for this model, with one of them at PhP 169,995 for the RTX 4070 model. Even so, that’s still an impressive piece of work that will elevate the gaming experience further.
More information on the ROG Zepyhrus M16 here. | Buy here.
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![Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections](https://149367133.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/naruto-x-boruto-ultimate-ninja-storm-collections-thumbnail-gadgetmatch-20230822.jpg)
It doesn’t get any more ‘ultimate’ than this. The grand Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections game is officially coming out on November 16 and pre-orders are now available.
Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections retells the entire story of the classic Ani-Manga franchise. It’ll tackle everything from Naruto, Naruto Shippuden, and Boruto. A special story focused on Boruto has been created specifically for the game.
The game features over 130 characters — the most in an Ultimate Ninja Storm game. Announced alongside the release date are three new playable characters: Boro, Delta and Koji Kashin from the Kara Organisation.
Pre-order details
The game is now available for pre-order on PlayStation and Xbox digitally, and on all platforms physically except PC. Players will be able to choose different editions. Pre-order now on Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia’s e-store or visit any participating retailers in your country.
Package Early Purchase Bonus & Digital Pre-Order Bonus
All pre-orders of Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections will give players access to the following bonus content:
Three (3) Costumes
- Naruto Uzumaki (The Final Battle)
- Naruto Uzumaki (TV Anime 20th Anniversary Costume)
- Sasuke Uchiha (TV Anime 20th Anniversary Costume)
Receive an extra pre-order bonus item set which you can use in NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER if you own this full game on top of Naruto X Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections.
- Nanashi T-shirt
- Merz Costume — Costume: Merz Style and Hair: Merz
These bonuses will be available in NARUTO TO BORUTO: SHINOBI STRIKER after 16 November 2023.
Standard, Deluxe & Sound Ultimate Edition
The contents for the Standard, Deluxe and Sound Ultimate Edition of the game are as follows:
Standard Edition
The main game, NARUTO X BORUTO Ultimate Ninja STORM CONNECTIONS
Deluxe Edition
- The main game
- Season Pass containing 5 playable characters that will be announced at a later date
- Season Pass Bonus — 1 costume
- Deluxe Bonus — 1 costume
Sound Ultimate Edition
- Contains the same content as the Deluxe Edition
- Ultimate Bonus — 5 costumes and 2 accessories
- Nostalgic Anime Song & Item Pack — 5 anime songs and 3 in-game items
Premium Collector’s Edition
- The main game
- Two (2) Figurines
- A Steelbook
- Special Reversible Inlay
- (Six) 6 Collectible Cards
- (One) 1 Official Scroll
- Season Pass containing 5 playable characters that will be announced at a later date
- Season Pass Bonus — 1 costume
- Deluxe Bonus — 1 costume
- Ultimate Bonus — 5 costumes and 2 accessories
Additional DLC
Nostalgic Anime Song & Item Pack (available from launch)
With this pack, you’ll be able to change the in-game music during matches and enjoy the battle by listening to nostalgic Naruto songs. This pack comes with 5 iconic songs from the NARUTO anime and 3 in-game items.
NARUTO anime songs:
- Haruka Kanata / ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION
- GO!!! / FLOW
- Blue Bird / Ikimonogakari
- Silhouette / KANA-BOON
- Kaze / Yamazaru
In-game items:
- Substitution Item: Microphone
- Substitution Item: Orange Headphones
- Ninja Info Card Skin: Nostalgic Anime Song Skin
![](https://149367133.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Nintendo-Mario-Brawl.jpg)
No other video game character has a more iconic voice than Mario. For decades, the red-and-blue plumber has graced gamers with many an “It’s-a me, Mario” and a “Mamma mia.” However, as any fan of old cartoon characters can attest to, even iconic voices don’t last forever. Longtime voice actor Charles Martinet is officially retiring from his role as the Italian plumber.
Today, Nintendo, through a post on X, confirmed that Martinet is stepping back from all recording roles at the company. The voice actor had voiced the character since Super Mario 64, the character’s debut in 3D. He has since provided voice work in all games where Mario has a voice. He also voiced Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi. Outside of Nintendo, players might recognize him as the voice of Paarthunax, the dragon in Skyrim.
We have a message for fans of the Mushroom Kingdom. Please take a look. pic.twitter.com/U1ASicOuTO
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 21, 2023
After the announcement, Martinet’s last foray as the plumber in a video game might be in the upcoming title, Super Mario Bros. Wonder. Nintendo recently announced the new 2D platformer coming in November.
Martinet is not leaving the company entirely. He is now Nintendo’s official Mario Ambassador. As the voice actor already does now, he will likely pop up for Nintendo during themed events.
Nintendo has not announced who will replace Martinet as the voice of Mario going forward. However, the announcement does say that a video message from both Shigeru Miyamoto and Charles Martinet is coming at a later date. Presumably, the video will address the character’s voiced future.
SEE ALSO: Nintendo Direct June 2023: All the trailers you missed
Gaming
Lenovo’s Legion Go can come bundled with AR glasses, leak says
Might be revealed during IFA 2023
![](https://149367133.v2.pressablecdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Legion-Go-Closeup-Controller-Windows-Report-Leak.jpg)
Is the Legion Go even real? The more we find out about the upcoming console, the more unbelievable it looks. Only a few days ago, a leak revealed that the device will have removable controllers like the Nintendo Switch — a feat yet to be accomplished by contemporary handheld consoles. Now, another leaks reveals something even more extraordinary: bundled AR glasses.
Again coming from Windows Report, the Legion Go can reportedly come bundled with a pair of AR glasses to go along with gaming sessions. Players can wear the glasses for their display and control the action with the main console. The report, however, does not reveal what specs the glasses will have. If anything, it’s expected to have a high refresh rate to accommodate gaming.
After news of a bundled pair of AR glasses, there isn’t much more to reveal from the report. Given previous rumors, the device might come with AMD Phoenix chipsets under the hood, along with other goodies.
Additionally, it might not take long before an official reveal. The report states that Lenovo might debut the new console during IFA 2023, which will happen in a few weeks. During the event, the brand might also reveal how the bundled glasses will work.
Given how the market doesn’t have removable controllers or a bundled pair of glasses, it will be interesting to see how the Legion Go will pair up against the more notable consoles already out in the segment.
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