Asus Zenbook A16 (2026) Review: Savor the Power, Ignore the Beige

The story

This $2,000 Asus laptop delivers breathtaking performance thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, but at the cost of nearly everything else.

From the source

SECURITY POLITICS THE BIG STORY BUSINESS SCIENCE CULTURE REVIEWS Menu Account Account Newsletters Smart Home Ecosystem Best Laptop Power Banks Smart Glasses Best iPhone Chargers The Best Laptops Deals Delivered Security Politics The Big Story Business Science Culture Reviews Chevron More Expand The Big Interview Magazine Events WIRED Insider WIRED Consulting Newsletters Podcasts Video Livestreams Merch Search Search Christopher Null Gear May 3, 2026 7:30 AM Review: Asus Zenbook A16 (2026) This $2,000 Asus laptop delivers breathtaking performance thanks to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, but at the cost of nearly everything else. Courtesy of Asus TriangleUp Buy Now Multiple Buying Options Available $1,999 at Asus $1,700 at Best Buy Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment L

WIRED Breathtaking performance. Light and amply portable. Outstanding OLED display. Better compatibility than before. TIRED Dated styling, with a generally cheap feel. Battery life has taken a huge hit. Keyboard is very weak. Touchpad is too large for comfortable use. Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme —debuting in the new Asus Zenbook A16—is giving the company Snapdragon X laptop chips a much-needed kick in the pants, with a big focus on further boosting performance in both general applications and graphics. Qualcomm has also been hard at work improving compatibility across applications, with more and more apps now running natively on the platform instead of via emulation. To achieve all this, however, battery life had to take a hit.

The upshot is that Qualcomm is no longer positioning Snapdragon X as a budget alternative to Intel and AMD but rather as a superior chip all around, calling the X2 Elite Extreme series “ the fastest, most powerful and efficient processors for Windows PCs ,” like the Zenbook A16—faster than most Apple machines, too.

Who and what

Key names and topics in this story: Asus Zenbook A16, Review, Savor, Power.

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