Laptop computer Assessment: ASUS Studiobook 16 OLED

The ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 is a smooth and highly effective creator laptop computer with a beautiful OLED show and a few fascinating design touches.

All product images by DL Cade

The ASUS Studiobook 16 OLED is without doubt one of the finest creator laptops we have had the prospect to overview. Not as a result of it has a next-generation CPU (it does not) or probably the most highly effective GPU (incorrect once more). It does not sport a brilliant brilliant miniLED show, it isn’t HDR licensed, and the AMD Ryzen model we’re testing right here does not even have Thunderbolt.

So why will we like it a lot?

As a result of it delivers a stability of efficiency, construct high quality, portability, affordability, usability, and inventive design that you just simply do not discover in most ‘creator’ laptops in the marketplace in the present day. There may be little or no we did not like about this well-rounded laptop computer, incomes it the primary 5 star score we have given a PC since we began reviewing computer systems final yr.

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Soar to:

Design, construct and value | Display screen high quality | Efficiency benchmarks | Conclusion

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Key specs:

Talking of the few issues we do not like, purchasing for an ASUS laptop computer is considered one of them. Since there is no ASUS retailer the place you’ll be able to customise your construct (comprehensible, however inconvenient) it is actually tough to determine what mannequin comes with what specs, or how a lot any given mixture of specs is prone to value.

The ProArt Studiobook 16 is available in OLED and non-OLED variations, with both Eleventh gen Intel or AMD Ryzen 5000 CPUs, quite a lot of potential enterprise and non-enterprise NVIDIA GPUs, and may help as much as 4TB of PCIe 3.0 NVMe storage and 64GB of DDR4-3200 MHz RAM.

If we restrict our search to the variations with an OLED show, there are 4 important mannequin numbers – two with shopper GPUs and two with enterprise GPUs – with quite a lot of potential configurations out there for every. Within the desk under, any specs that say ‘as much as’ may be downgraded for extra reasonably priced SKUs, whereas the remainder of the specs are set in stone for every mannequin:

Pricing is a little more tough to pin down, as a result of there are a number of potential configurations for every mannequin quantity.

Typically, it seems that the non-enterprise variations vary in worth from about $2,000 to $3,000 relying on the show kind, the GPU, the quantity of RAM, and the quantity of storage that comes pre-installed. The model we’re testing sports activities an AMD Ryzen 5900HX, NVIDIA RTX 3070, 32GB of RAM and 2TB of NVMe storage (2x 1TB PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSDs), and our contacts at NVIDIA – who supplied this laptop for overview – informed us this configuration will run you ‘about $2,200.’

Typically, the non-enterprise variations vary in worth from about $2,000 to $3,000 relying on the kind of show, the GPU, the quantity of RAM, and the quantity of storage that comes pre-installed.

Nonetheless, pricing for the varied OLED and non-OLED variations can vary wherever from $1,600 for an reasonably priced ‘Amazon-only’ model to $5,000 for a totally loaded enterprise mannequin with an Intel Xeon processor, NVIDIA A5000, 64GB of RAM and 4TB of storage.

All in all, the buyer pricing is extraordinarily aggressive. It makes rivals like Razer’s Blade 17, MSI’s Creator 17, Dell’s XPS 17 and, in fact, Apple’s new MacBook Professional 16 look fairly steep by comparability. Every of those rivals is best than the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 in some classes and worse in others, however I would argue that none of them can match the ASUS when you consider worth.

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Design, construct and value

ASUS made some artistic selections within the design of the ProArt StudioBook 16, together with a three-button trackpad and a bodily dial.

Given its affordability, we anticipated the ProArt Studiobook 16 to sit down someplace in the course of the ‘construct high quality’ pile. A bit deck flex, middle-of-the-road trackpad, and a thicker design is par for the course when you’re promoting these sorts of specs for thus little cash. That’s not what we discovered.

The Studiobook 16 is extraordinarily properly constructed, with virtually no deck or display screen flex and a surprisingly skinny design given the quantity and number of ports that ASUS managed to incorporate. On the left-hand facet of the pc is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A port, the barrel plug for energy, an HDMI 2.1 port that may help as much as 4K 120Hz output, and two USB 3.2 Hen 2 Kind-C ports with help for show and energy supply. On the fitting is a gigabit ethernet port, an audio combo jack, one other USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A port, and an SD Specific 7.0 card slot.

The one factor lacking from our mannequin is Thunderbolt, however that is a limitation of each AMD-based laptop computer presently in the marketplace. In case you go along with one of many Intel fashions, one of many USB Kind-C ports is Thunderbolt 4/USB-4.

On the left-hand facet, you may discover a Kensington lock, a USB Kind-A port, an AC energy plug, an HDMI 2.1 port, and two USB Kind-C ports with show and energy supply.

On the right-hand facet, you may discover an SD Specific 7.0 card slot, an audio-combo jack, one other USB Kind-A port, and a Gigabit ethernet port.

Design and value solely will get higher from right here. Shifting on to the keyboard deck, the Studiobook 16 has a wonderful low-profile, full-sized keyboard with good massive key caps and a responsive glass-topped trackpad that feels nice to the contact. Along with these must-haves, ASUS has additionally added two fascinating options that make the Studiobook stand out: three bodily buttons under the trackpad, and a mechanical dial.

The Studiobook 16 is extraordinarily properly constructed, with virtually no deck or display screen flex, and a surprisingly skinny design given the number of ports that ASUS managed to incorporate.

The center button on the trackpad is supposed to manage issues like pan, rotate or orbit in 3D functions. That in all probability does not apply to our viewers, nevertheless it’s good to have the choice. The mechanical dial, alternatively, is extraordinarily helpful for each photograph and video modifying. Press it, and a context menu will pop up that exhibits you among the controls out there to you in no matter app you occur to be utilizing.

The default desktop controls are simply Quantity and Brightness, however when you’re in an utility like Photoshop, the menu expands to supply every part from zoom and rotate, to navigating layers, to adjusting brush dimension, opacity, and movement. I discovered it very useful inside Photoshop, particularly when paired with a drawing pill, and it has a really satisfying click on and press mechanic.

The Studiobook 16 includes a three-button trackpad for 3D functions and a bodily dial that can be utilized to regulate every part from brightness to brush dimension in Photoshop.

It is uncommon that an organization will get a ‘gimmick’ like this proper. Apple notoriously missed with the Contact Bar, and ASUS have made some errors of their very own prior to now, however this can be a house run. A bodily addition to the keyboard deck of a laptop computer that rapidly feels second-nature as soon as you start utilizing it.

In Photoshop, the mechanical dial lets you management every part from zoom and rotate, to navigating layers, to adjusting brush dimension, opacity, and movement.

Lastly, it is value mentioning the upgradability of the laptop computer. The underside is held on by 10 Phillips-head screws, with one screw sporting a discrete plastic add-on that notifies the manufacturing unit when you’ve tinkered together with your laptop computer (and voided your guarantee). That is a bit of annoying, however as soon as the again panel has been eliminated, you’ve gotten easy accessibility to each RAM slots and each PCIe 3.0 M.2 slots, making this laptop computer extraordinarily upgradable.

This can be a little higher than the Dell XPS 17, which makes use of particular Torx screws on the underside, and leaps higher than the MSI Creator 17, which hides the RAM slots beneath the motherboard, forcing you to take the entire thing aside if you wish to improve later.

Eradicating the rear panel of the Studiobook 16 reveals easy accessibility to each RAM slots and each M.2 slots.

The Studiobook 16 offers customers easy accessibility to each RAM slots and each PCIe 3.0 M.2 slots, making this laptop computer extraordinarily upgradable.

ASUS deserves credit score for constructing one thing that checks all the most vital containers from the standpoint of a creator working with pictures, movies, or 3D design. The laptop computer is sturdy with out being heavy, options tons of I/O with out being thick, and it places a heavy emphasis on the standard of these options that you just work together with every day: the keyboard, the trackpad, the mechanical dial and, in fact, the show.

Given the reasonably priced worth and the convenience with which you’ll be able to improve the RAM and storage later, this needs to be a best choice for budget-conscious creators who do not wish to sacrifice display screen high quality, display screen dimension, or portability in alternate for efficiency.

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Display screen high quality

The ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 was extraordinarily well-calibrated out of the field, with a white level pegged to D65 and a mean Delta E of < 2.

Each time we overview a laptop computer with an OLED show, we’re reminded why this know-how is nearly actually the way forward for extensive gamut, coloration correct displays. There are undoubtedly downsides, notably the place longevity and brightness are involved, however the coloration and distinction is solely unmatched.

That is much more so the case with the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED, which (because the title suggests) includes a shiny 16-inch Samsung RGB OLED show that has been manufacturing unit calibrated and Pantone validated to supply roughly 100% protection of DCI-P3 and a mean Delta E of lower than 2.

Primarily based on our testing, this is without doubt one of the finest manufacturing unit calibrated shows we have ever utilized in a laptop computer. Out of the field, the white level of this show was already spot on to the D65 white level that you must in all probability be utilizing when you’re doing any form of photograph or video modifying for a digital medium. I do not suppose I’ve ever examined a laptop computer show that was this properly calibrated out of the field:

The ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 manufacturing unit calibration is spot on, with a white level completely balanced to D65 proper out of the field.

After checking the white level, we ran a measurement report on the manufacturing unit profile and located that it lived as much as ASUS guarantees, with a mean Delta E of 1.92, a most Delta E 4.12, and a gamut that appears to be pegged to the DCI-P3 primaries. Within the screenshot under, the multicolored line is the measured panel gamut with the manufacturing unit profile utilized, and the dashed line is DCI-P3.

Primarily based on our testing, the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED has the most effective manufacturing unit calibrated shows we have ever utilized in a laptop computer.

The manufacturing unit profile appears to have the panel’s primaries (multi-colored line) pegged to DCI-P3 (dashed line), however the panel’s native gamut is definitely fairly bigger.

When examined, the manufacturing unit profile exhibits a mean Delta E of 1.92 and a most Delta E of 4.12.

That is already fairly good, however that most Delta E is lower than ideally suited and it appeared unusual that the panel is completely aligned with DCI-P3. So we used DisplayCAL to profile the show’s native panel gamut, as measured, with no further calibration in anyway.

The outcome: the native panel gamut is definitely fairly a bit bigger than DCI-P3, and the utmost Delta E of this show as soon as it is appropriately profiled is simply 0.78, with a mean Delta E of 0.19. Here is the measurement report, created after a fundamental profile with no further calibration curves utilized and no adjustment made to the white level:

As you’ll be able to see, the measured panel gamut utilizing our profile (proper) is kind of a bit bigger than the manufacturing unit profile (left):

The manufacturing unit calibration (left) is pegged to the DCI-P3 primaries (dotted line), however the native panel gamut (proper) is definitely fairly a bit bigger.

For no matter cause, the profile produced by ASUS throughout manufacturing unit calibration is about to emulate DCI-P3, with no choice to calibrate to the native panel gamut contained in the ‘ProArt Creator Hub.’ The software program will permit you to re-calibrate the show in case you have an XRite i1Display Professional colorimeter, however you’ll be able to’t specify the goal gamut or goal white level.

The excellent news: the built-in system appropriately calibrates your white level in order that it is spot on to D65, so all you need to do to take full benefit of this show is create a fundamental profile in an utility like DisplayCAL. The unhealthy information: if you have no option to profile the show your self, you are caught with a manufacturing unit profile that clips your show primaries to DCI-P3 by default.

In case you can profile the show at house, each the colour gamut and coloration accuracy of this show are among the finest you may discover in a laptop computer.

In case you can profile the show at house, each the colour gamut and coloration accuracy of this show are among the finest you may discover in a laptop computer. Not solely does the show cowl 99.9% of DCI-P3 with an ideal white level out of the field, the native panel gamut extensive sufficient to cowl 97% of AdobeRGB on the identical time:

Past the calibration limitations talked about above, there are solely two different points with the show, that are actually limitations of current-gen OLED know-how:

1. The show cannot get brilliant sufficient for true HDR efficiency. Primarily based on our measurements, you’ll be able to anticipate between 300 and 400 nits max.
2. You might finally expertise coloration shifts or burn in relying on how and the way a lot you utilize the display screen on a everyday foundation, though ASUS consists of some automated ‘OLED Care’ settings that ought to stop this from taking place for a really very long time.

In case you’re okay with each of those points, then we won’t reward the display screen on this laptop computer sufficient. It is the most effective, and finest calibrated, show’s we have ever examined in a laptop computer.

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Efficiency benchmarks

The Studiobook 16 is among the many quickest laptops we have ever examined for photograph modifying.

The primary causes we have loved utilizing the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED don’t have anything to do with efficiency. It is a well-built laptop computer with a terrific design and wonderful show, and that is a trifecta that many high-performance laptops fail to attain as a result of they commerce a boatload of comfort for a cupful of uncooked efficiency. However that is to not say that this laptop computer’s efficiency is unhealthy, and even sub-par.

In reality, regardless of utilizing a extra environment friendly CPU and GPU than a few of its Intel-based rivals, it is nonetheless among the many quickest laptops we have examined, particularly for photograph modifying.

For in the present day’s comparisons, we examined the Studiobook 16 in opposition to the MSI Creator 17, the Dell XPS 17, and an Apple MacBook Professional 14 with an M1 Professional:

We do nonetheless have an M1 Max MacBook Professional 16 available, however that is a $4,300 configuration with 64GB of RAM and we do not wanna give Apple an unfair benefit if we will help it. If you wish to see how the fully-loaded M1 Max compares to the laptops reviewed right here, you’ll be able to take a look at our full overview of that laptop computer right here.

Regardless of utilizing a extra environment friendly CPU and GPU than a few of its Intel-based rivals, the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 continues to be among the many quickest laptops we have examined, particularly for photograph modifying.

Primarily based on my expertise testing a plethora of Apple Silicon gadgets over the previous two years, the efficiency of the M1 Professional MacBook Professional 14 under needs to be almost equivalent to a bigger MacBook Professional 16 with equivalent specs, which might value you $3,100.

Adobe Lightroom Traditional

To check Lightroom Traditional efficiency, we use 100 copies of the Uncooked studio scene photograph from the 20MP Canon EOS R6, the 47MP Nikon Z7 II, the 61MP Sony a7R IV, and 100MP Fujifilm GFX 100.

The ‘import’ benchmark checks how lengthy it takes to import every set of 100 uncooked pictures and generate 1:1 previews; the ‘export’ benchmarks checks how lengthy it takes to export those self same pictures as full-sized, 100% high quality JPEGs after making use of a customized preset chock full of worldwide edits. Usually talking, this can be a good take a look at of the pure CPU (import) and CPU+reminiscence (export) efficiency, since Adobe Lightroom Traditional does not use the GPU to speed up both of those two duties.

At import, we see the AMD-powered Studiobook 16 fall a bit of behind the competitors, that are all utilizing newer Eleventh-gen Intel or Apple Silicon processors with general sooner efficiency:

Exports are a special story. Whereas the MacBook Professional sweeps this class due to its sooner Unified Reminiscence Structure, the Studiobook 16 is as quick and even sooner than the opposite two PCs relying on the scale of the recordsdata being exported. Since all three of those PCs use DDR4-3200MHz RAM, it is all right down to optimization and the way properly the CPU manages the reminiscence at its disposal:

Seize One Professional 22

Our Seize One Professional benchmarks are just about equivalent to Lightroom Traditional. We use the identical 100 Uncooked recordsdata from the identical 4 cameras, and the one actual distinction is that we generate the default 2560px previews since there is no 1:1 choice in Seize One.

The ASUS Studiobook 16 fares considerably higher on this import take a look at, posting the quickest time for 3 of the 4 cameras examined. We won’t know for positive, however this can be the case for 2 causes:

1. Seize One Professional 22 is best optimized to make use of a number of cores and reap the benefits of the AMD Ryzen processor’s wonderful multi-threaded efficiency.
2. Seize One Professional 22 makes use of the GPU to speed up each import and export, permitting the Studiobook 16 to make use of its NVIDIA RTX 3070 to make up some floor on the Dell XPS 17 and outperform the Mac in each class.

Exports play out equally. Due to GPU acceleration, all of the PCs make up some floor on the MacBook Professional 14, utilizing the NVIDIA RTX 3060, 3070, and 3080 within the XPS 17, Studiobook 16, and Creator 17, respectively, to shut the hole regardless of Apple’s sooner unified reminiscence.

That is the place having a discrete GPU begins to pay dividends, particularly as file sizes get bigger. When you get to the 100MP Fujifilm GFX 100 uncooked recordsdata, the Studiobook 16 and MSI Creator 17 each outperform the Mac, with the Studiobook posting a major win over each different laptop we examined:

Adobe Photoshop

To check Photoshop efficiency, we use Puget Methods well-known ‘PugetBench’ benchmark, which you’ll be able to study right here. For our functions, we truly use an older model of this benchmark (model 0.8) as a result of it was the final model to incorporate a Picture Merge take a look at and, since it is a script and never a plugin, it is absolutely suitable with Apple Silicon.

This places all 4 of our computer systems on an equal footing, and the Studiobook 16 performs… properly… as anticipated. It is a bit sooner than the Dell XPS 17 with its Core i7 CPU and NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU, however a bit slower than the MSI Creator 17 with its Core i9 CPU and NVIDIA RTX 3080 GPU. Nonetheless, as we have seen ever for the reason that Apple Silicon M1 was launched, the Mac is unbeatable on this benchmark. It is ultra-fast CPU and RAM make up for any deficit within the GPU division, leaving the remainder of the computer systems within the mud.

Adobe Premiere Professional

Our fourth and last benchmark checks video modifying efficiency in Adobe Premiere Professional, which is notoriously exhausting in your CPU, GPU, and RAM … all on the identical time.

For this take a look at, we take a 4K venture made up of 8K Sony a1 footage (see under) and run it via 4 totally different checks: Render All, export Grasp File (utilizing Previews), export H.264, and export H.265. To wrap issues up, we additionally take a look at how lengthy it takes Premiere Professional to Warp Stabilize a 15-second clip from this identical shoot.

You possibly can watch the video utilized in these benchmarks under:

Typically, that is the place the Studiobook 16 actually struggled, falling properly behind the Dell, MSI, and Apple laptops in three of our 4 checks. It seems that the AMD CPU and NVIDIA GPU merely do not play properly collectively, giving the Intel-based laptops and the Apple Silicon Mac a bonus any time critical video encoding or transcoding is happening.

In these checks, the Studiobook 16 falls behind each the MSI Creator 17 and Apple MacBook Professional 14 by over a minute. That interprets right into a 21% to 30% lower in efficiency in comparison with the Intel-based MSI, and a whopping 31% to 38% lower in efficiency in comparison with the Apple Silicon-based Mac.

That is one use case the place having an AMD Ryzen CPU actually appears to harm efficiency when in comparison with comparable Intel-based PCs with NVIDIA GPUs. Hopefully Adobe and/or NVIDIA can additional optimize this mixture of CPU/GPU, however for now, it is a tradeoff you want to remember.

Efficiency Takeaways

Excluding Premiere Professional, the place the efficiency suffered in a big and measurable method, the ASUS Studiobook 16 retains tempo with the most recent and best {hardware} we have been in a position to take a look at. In each different benchmark, the distinction in efficiency between the $2,200 Studiobook 16 and the $3,800 MSI Creator 17 is usually minuscule, with the ASUS claiming a number of key wins alongside the best way regardless of its a lot lower cost, extra environment friendly CPU, and barely weaker GPU.

For my part, this mixture of an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and NVIDIA RTX 3070 is the candy spot for photograph editors who need excessive efficiency with out sacrificing a ton of portability to get there. Good as it’s to have the top-of-the-line specs, only some functions take full benefit of the additional CUDA cores and VRAM that comes with a way more costly NVIDIA RTX 3080, and additional efficiency you get from an Eleventh-gen Intel CPU will not be value the additional warmth and energy draw except you spend plenty of time in Adobe Premiere Professional.

This mixture of an AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX and NVIDIA RTX 3070 is the candy spot for photograph editors who need excessive efficiency with out sacrificing a ton of portability to get there.

When it comes to artistic efficiency, identical to design and construct high quality, the Studiobook 16 strikes the a terrific stability between uncooked energy and value, making it considered one of my favourite laptops I’ve examined to this point.

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The best stability of efficiency, usability, and worth

The ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 is without doubt one of the finest all-around creator PCs we have examined, pairing stable efficiency with a wonderful design at a terrific worth.

ASUS has been taking plenty of dangers over the previous few years: they had been one of many first PC makers to make use of AMD Ryzen CPUs of their high-end laptops, they usually’ve experimented with fascinating design selections like secondary shows, digital quantity pads, and mechanical dials. This artistic, aggressive perspective is paying off, and the ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED is simply the most recent instance.

The issues that make one high-end creator laptop computer stand out from one other typically don’t have anything to do with uncooked efficiency. Like cameras, nearly any laptop computer that prices $2,000 or extra will tear via your photograph and video modifying workflow like moist tissue paper, and the variations between two comparable choices – because the efficiency benchmarks above clearly present – are sometimes measured in seconds, not minutes.

In each method that issues most, the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 meets or exceeds what I’ve seen from competing 16- and 17-inch laptops in the marketplace, whereas charging much less.

If you’re selecting between two or three laptops in the identical class and worth vary, the actual differentiators will probably be issues like construct high quality, display screen high quality, and design touches that immediately influence usability reminiscent of RAM and storage upgradability, port choice, and the standard of the keyboard and trackpad.

That is what makes the ASUS ProArt Studiobook 16 my new favourite creator PC, and the primary Home windows laptop computer to earn 5 out of 5 stars since I began reviewing computer systems at DPReview. In each method that issues most, the Studiobook 16 meets or exceeds what I’ve seen from competing 16- and 17-inch laptops in the marketplace, whereas charging much less.

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