The Zephyrus G15 and M16 are very similar, but the G15 uses an AMD CPU while the M16 uses Intel.
Given the CPU is pretty much the heart of your computer,
it’s important that you pick the right one for you.
Oh, and the M16 also has a better screen too, but it costs more money,
so let’s find out which is worth it!
Both my G15 and M16 have the same RTX 3070 Ti graphics,
but the G15 has AMD’s Ryzen 9 6900HS CPU while the M16 has the Intel Core i9-12900H with more
cores and threads. You can check out current prices and deals with the links below the video.
The overall design of both laptops is the same. They look identical, apart from the fact
that I’ve got dark and light finishes here, and fingerprints will show up on the darker finish.
The interior of the M16 has an almost rubberized feeling
soft touch finish, while the G15 is hard plastic.
Despite the M16 having a taller 16:10 screen,
both laptops are the exact same width, depth and height. I was expecting the
M16 to be a little deeper to cater for the taller screen, but that wasn’t the case,
so in theory this means there’s no reason why the G15 couldn’t also have the bigger screen too.
Perhaps more screen means more weight, because the M16 was around 100g or .2lb heavier than the G15,
both with and without the 240 watt power bricks for charging.
Both laptops have a MUX switch this year,
so it’s possible to disable optimus for higher FPS in games after a reboot.
Neither laptop has G-Sync, but with optimus on both can use
the integrated graphics to enable adaptive sync which means no screen tearing in games.
The screen response time was about the same with either laptop screen,
the small difference is honestly within the margin of error,
though my G15 has the faster 240Hz refresh rate option compared to the M16’s 165Hz.
The total system latency is the amount of time between a mouse click and when a gunshot fire
appears on the screen in CS:GO. The M16 was almost a couple of milliseconds faster here,
and honestly unless you’re a pro eSports player, I doubt this difference will matter for most people.
The M16 has a bigger 16:10 2560 by 1600 resolution,
a little more pixels vertically compared to the 2560 by 1440 resolution of the
G15. The color gamuts of both panels were basically the same,
but the M16’s screen is brighter. I’ve got the M16 shown by the purple line and G15
in red. The M16 was ahead at all brightness levels, topping out just below 500 nits.
Both of my laptops only had extremely minor backlight bleed,
it wasn’t a problem during normal use, but this will vary between laptops and panels.
Just having both side by side, I liked how the M16’s screen looks better.
You’ve just got more usable screen space to look at and it’s brighter.
Both laptops have a 720p camera above the screen in the middle with IR for
Windows hello face unlock, but the G15 both looks and sounds better.
This is how the camera and microphone look and sound on the M16,
and then this is how things look and sound over on the AMD based G15.
The keyboards seem to be about the same and are good, in fact it wouldn’t surprise me to hear
that they use the exact same keyboard. Despite that, I liked typing on the M16 a little more,
it just felt a bit less mushy, so not sure if that’s just a tolerance thing that could vary.
They both have a single zone of RGB backlighting, so only minimal effects.
Both touchpads were the same size and were great to use. As far as I can
tell they’re basically the same in terms of using and clicking,
but my G15 feels slightly smoother. It’s only a very minor difference and could entirely be due
to the finish differences. Maybe if I also had the darker G15 they’d feel the same.
They both have front facing speakers on either side of the keyboard. I couldn’t pick a winner
when listening to both side by side, they sounded the same to me. Not amazing, but alright.
The latencymon results were looking ok on either laptop, though the G15 was a little better.
The port layout is exactly the same on both laptops,
however with the M16 being Intel based one of the Type-C ports also offers Thunderbolt 4. Apparently
the G15 will offer similar features with USB 4 in a future update. The right side is the same too,
just a second USB Type-A port, MicroSD card slot and Kensington lock.
Both laptops have HDMI 2.0b which can run a 4K screen at 60Hz 8-bit with G-Sync,
and both connect directly to the Nvidia graphics.
Neither laptop has any ports on the back, just air exhaust vents,
though once the lid gets opened up the air ends up exhausting below the screen.
Both laptops were the same to open and get inside, same number of screws and everything.
The layout of the internals is very similar too. There are only some subtle differences,
but the key components and upgrade options are the same.
I’ve given both laptops the same upgradeability score. They’re both easy enough to open and get
inside, they both have 2 M.2 storage slots, one memory slot, and a removable Wi-Fi card.
Both laptops are available with either 8 or 16 gigs of memory soldered onto the motherboard,
and that part can’t ever be upgraded. They both have that single memory
slot for upgrades though, so you could install a 32 gig stick to go
up to 48 gigs in either laptop. Which honestly is plenty for most people, especially gamers.
Both have the latest Wi-Fi 6E, however the Intel based M16 uses an Intel Wi-Fi card
while the AMD based G15 uses MediaTek. Now usually Intel Wi-Fi performs better,
but in the specific case of G15 vs M16 I found the G15 a little faster,
granted it’s only a small difference that wouldn’t matter in the real world.
Although both Intel 12th gen and Ryzen 6000 have PCIe Gen 4 support,
I found the 2TB SSD in my M16 to perform much better compared to the 1TB drive in the G15,
but this could vary by region or with different sized SSDs.
The M16 was also faster when it came to the MicroSD card slot,
though the G15 was still above average in that regard.
Both laptops have the same sized 4-Cell 90Wh battery.
Based on my results, generally speaking AMD Ryzen based laptops last longer when running
on battery power. With both laptops running the same YouTube video playback test with
the screen running at 200 nits 60Hz, the G15 lasted for 25% longer than the M16. Gaming on
battery at 30 FPS lasted 13% longer on the G15. So just better battery life on the AMD based G15.
Let’s check out thermals next.
Both laptops have the ASUS Armoury Crate software which lets you change performance
modes. From lowest to highest they’ve got silent, performance,
turbo and manual mode. Manual mode lets you adjust power limits, temperature limits and fan speed.
These are the temperatures both laptops were reaching in the 4 different performance
modes with both the CPU and GPU fully loaded up in a worst case stress test,
as it helps us find where the limits are. I’ve got the G15 results above the M16 results. With the
exception of silent mode, the G15 was running warmer than the M16, at least on the inside.
These are the average clock speeds being reached in these same tests. The CPU clock speeds aren’t
really fairly comparable, for one thing I haven’t included the E cores on the M16 which would be
using some of its power budget. Both laptops have the same RTX 3070 Ti graphics though,
and we can see that the G15 was always clocking higher.
This is because the G15 is sustaining higher GPU power limits. In turbo and manual modes the
GPU was running close to 100 watts, while the M16 was lower than this in favor of higher CPU
power limits. The 12th gen chip with more cores could benefit from more power to run those cores,
but for games at the 1440p or higher resolution of these laptop screens,
I suspect the G15 will do better in games. We’ll check games soon.
With the GPU idle, the CPU in the M16 was able to do better both in terms of single
and multi core performance. The 12900H in the M16 was scoring 25% higher in multicore,
which matches the 25% higher thread count compared to the
6900HS in the G15. The M16 was also ahead in single core score too with a 23% lead.
Performance lowers when we unplug and instead run purely on battery power. The G15 is much
the same when it comes to single core and now has a slight lead over the Intel based M16
in that regard. I was expecting the G15 to outperform the M16 on battery
considering that even the smaller Zephyrus G14 which also has the 6900HS was able to do this.
But for whatever reason the G15 wasn’t doing as well on battery, despite having the same CPU.
The temperatures of the keyboard areas were quite similar with both just sitting there idle doing
nothing. The Intel based M16 was getting hotter in the middle with the stress tests running in
silent mode. They’re a bit closer together in the higher performance mode though, and then the
higher turbo mode was a little warmer on the M16 in the center. The highest manual mode with the
fans maxed out wasn’t that much different, but the fan noise is, let’s have a listen.
Both were quiet when sitting there idle doing nothing, but then the G15 was a little louder
at full speed in turbo or manual modes. Despite the G15 running a little louder when
under heavy load, don’t forget the internal temps on the M16 were actually cooler.
Now let’s find out how both laptops actually compare in games.
Although the M16 does have a slightly higher screen resolution,
both laptops have been compared at the same 1440p resolution just to keep things fair.
Cyberpunk 2077 was tested in the same part of the game on all laptops, and I’ve got both the G15 and
M16 highlighted in red. The G15 was ahead both in terms of average FPS and 1% low, but it’s only a
small difference and honestly not really something most people are likely to notice when playing.
It’s a similar deal in Control too. The G15 was ahead, but we’re talking about a 3 FPS difference
or so, a small boost that honestly you’re not going to actually notice. This also shows that
the 3080 Ti with low GPU power limit isn’t really worth spending more on when it comes to gaming,
as a few of those are performing closely to the 3070 Ti’s in the G15 and M16.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was tested with the game’s benchmark. Again the G15 was ahead,
but only by 3 FPS. That’s 3 games in a row now where the G15 had a slight lead.
Yeah it’s only minor, but there’s clearly a trend here, and the thermal testing did reveal to us
that the G15 could sustain a higher GPU power limit when under load, so that’s probably why.
When it comes to 3DMark, the G15 was generally ahead in the graphical tests
while the M16 was ahead in the CPU tests. This mirrors what we’ve seen earlier with
the M16 doing better in Cinebench and the G15 doing better in games,
as the higher 1440p resolution is typically more GPU bound. Now for some content creator tests.
SPECviewperf tests out various professional 3D workloads.
Generally the G15 was ahead due to the slightly better GPU performance,
but again it depends on the specific test as the M16 had some small wins.
Adobe Premiere was tested with the Puget Systems benchmark,
and given the top half of the graph is all Intel 12th gen machines,
I wasn’t too surprised to see the M16 scoring a fair bit higher in this one.
The Adobe Photoshop test relies on single threaded CPU performance, and like we saw earlier
in Cinebench the M16 was ahead there, so again not surprising to see the M16 scoring better.
DaVinci Resolve generally prefers GPU power, but with both having the same 3070 Ti other
factors like the CPU will come into play, and again the M16 was scoring better than the G15.
The BIOS on both is the same, it looks nicer compared to many other laptops but there aren’t
actually a whole lot of options to customize here. Especially when compared to MSI's advanced BIOS.
Linux support was tested with an Ubuntu Live CD, and by default out of the box the keyboard,
touchpad, speakers, camera, ethernet and Wi-Fi all worked.
Let’s discuss pricing and availability next. This will change over time so refer
to those links below the video for current sales and deals.
At the time of recording, the Zephyrus G15 with
similar specs to what I’ve tested here but with lower 165Hz screen goes for $2000 USD.
The Zephyrus M16 on the other hand costs a bit more at $2150 USD,
so $150 more expensive compared to the G15.
Alright let’s summarize the important differences
between the G15 and M16 to help you decide which one is the best for you.
In GPU heavy workloads like gaming, the G15 could sustain higher power limits,
and that resulted in a bit better frame rate in games. Though the difference was only small.
The M16 really wasn’t far behind, while also offering much better CPU performance both in terms
of single and multi core. And that’s just because Intel’s 12th gen mobile processors are objectively
a fair bit better compared to AMDs. At least when we’re talking about running both plugged in with
the charger. At least generally speaking, because normally I do find AMD based laptops to perform
better on battery power, but that wasn’t actually the case with these two machines.
The M16 was still doing better in that regard. But the G15 still did
have superior battery life despite both laptops having the same battery,
and I would say that difference is clearly due to the Ryzen CPU.
The M16 was also ahead when it came to content creator workloads,
and combined with that taller 16:10 screen that was brighter and just looks better to me,
it could be the way to go if you’re doing content creation.
The M16s screen is just better. Mine has a faster refresh rate, it's brighter,
and there’s less time between a mouse click and action happening on screen.
The G15 was a little louder when they’re maxed out under heavy load,
but despite this it was also a little warmer, at least on the inside. In most
cases the M16 was actually a little warmer in the areas where you’ll actually be touching.
All things considered, just go for the G15 if you want the best
gaming performance or you care about battery life. Or if you’re like me,
I’d go for the M16 because you get the bigger and better screen and it’s going to perform
better in content creator workloads. Not to mention the better CPU performance.
The M16 does cost $150 more, but for a machine that you’re probably going to keep
around for years to come and use regularly, I think it’s worth saving the extra for.
Ultimately, both of these are great laptops, and I’m sure that you’ll love either one of them.
If you still need more information on either of these two laptops, then check out my full
review videos over here next. Although this is a very comprehensive comparison,
I wasn’t able to cover absolutely everything. So check out these videos if you need more
details. Otherwise if you’re new to the channel, thanks for watching,
and make sure you get subscribed for more gaming laptop comparisons like this one!