Asus might label the ROG Strix Scar 16 a laptop, but don’t be fooled—this thing is basically a desktop in disguise. It’s bulky, unapologetically loud, and bursting with enough RGB to double as a room light. I’ve been testing the 16-inch version, which costs around ₹3.8 lakhs, putting it firmly in premium gaming territory.
So the obvious question is: does it deliver the kind of power you'd expect at that price? Short answer—yes.
Between its over-the-top design, beastly internals, and desktop-level performance, this machine is built for gamers, creators, and anyone who wants zero compromises in a portable(ish) package.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 Review: Design
Let’s talk design—because the ROG Strix Scar 16 isn’t just built for performance, it’s built to show off. With sharp edges, glowing accents, and an unapologetic dose of RGB, it’s a machine that practically yells “gamer” from across the room. The real party trick, though, is the AniMe Vision display on the lid. It’s this mini LED matrix you can customise with your own pixel art, GIFs, or animations via the Armoury Crate app. Total flex.
Now, all that swagger does come with some weight. Literally. The laptop’s a chunky 2.8kg, and the 380W power brick it comes with is an absolute unit. Can you carry it around? Sure. Will your shoulders hate you? Also yes.
What’s really cool though is the tool-less design. Now, you can upgrade or change the RAM DIMMs and storage SSDs on your own, without voiding the warranty. Our unit came with 32GB DDR5 RAM and 2TB NVMe storage, which should be plentiful for most people
You’re also getting a ridiculous number of ports—Thunderbolt 5, HDMI 2.1, three USB-A ports, 2.5G LAN, DisplayPort, plus Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. So yeah, whether you’re gaming, streaming, or just flexing, this machine’s built to handle it.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 Review: Display
The Strix Scar 16’s display is an absolute stunner. It packs a 16-inch 2.5K Nebula HDR Mini LED panel with a 240Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, and blinding 1200 nits peak brightness.
G-Sync support, Dolby Vision, and a VESA DisplayHDR badge make it perfect for both gaming marathons and Netflix binges.
And if you’re a creator, the Pantone validation means colours stay accurate and professional. Whether you're fragging enemies or editing videos, this display nails it on clarity, brightness, and smoothness—no compromises, just pure visual flex.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 Review: Keyboard & touchpad
The Scar 16’s keyboard is genuinely a treat—super clicky, responsive, and packed with per-key RGB that you can go wild with using the Armoury Crate app. Whether you’re grinding out a game or typing up a doc, it just feels great. There’s no physical numpad, but Asus cleverly hides one in the touchpad—tap the Num Lock and it lights up instantly.
And speaking of that touchpad, it is massive, smooth, and super precise. I found it to be great for quick swipes, casual browsing, or even some light editing when you’re not plugged into a mouse.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 Review: Webcam and speakers
The audio on the Scar 16 is an absolute banger. With two tweeters, two woofers, Dolby Atmos, and Smart Amp tech in play, it pumps out sound that's loud, rich, and seriously immersive—easily one of the best I’ve heard on a gaming laptop.
The webcam? Meh. It’s a basic 1080p cam that’s fine for calls but won’t blow anyone away. If you’re streaming, you’ll want to bring your own. That said, it does unlock with your face thanks to Windows Hello, which is a pretty slick bonus.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 Review: Performance
Now let’s get to the real flex—the performance. This is where the ROG Strix Scar 16 goes full beast mode. It’s running Intel’s top-tier Core Ultra 9 275HX processor alongside NVIDIA’s RTX 5080 Laptop GPU. Sure, it’s not the 5090, but unless you’re planning to edit three Hollywood films at once, and are planning to run some very serious AI LLMs that can take on OpenAI, this combo delivers more power than you’ll probably ever need.
It absolutely crushed every benchmark I threw at it. Cinebench, Geekbench, PugetBench, 3DMark—you name it, this thing flew through every test. It was also very impresive Multitasking, rendering, heavy creative workloads in Premiere Pro or Photoshop? No sweat. It performs like a high-end desktop stuffed into a very flashy laptop.
Gaming performance is just as wild. In Cyberpunk 2077 at 2.5K Ultra without ray tracing, I hit 80 fps on average. Flip RTX on and it drops into the 30s—but DLSS with Frame Generation pushes it back up to 180+. Tweak some settings, and you’re sailing past 200 fps. Insane.
I also tried Black Myth: Wukong too—raw settings gave me mid-40s, but crank up DLSS and ray tracing and it spikes to 140 fps. Competitive games? Valorant was casually hitting 340+ fps, and if you dial things down a bit, breaking 400 is totally doable.
And yeah, when GTA 6 lands, you can easily expect to play it at 4K 60 fps with no drama, if you’ve hooked the laptop to a 4K monitor—thanks to NVIDIA’s AI upscaling magic.
As for thermals, Asus has packed in a full vapour chamber covering both CPU and GPU. Even after long sessions, the Scar 16 stayed cool where it matters—around the keys and palm rest. It gets loud, but never hot. Honestly, for this kind of performance, that’s a solid win.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 Review: Battery
Battery life on the ROG Strix Scar 16 is what you’d expect from a performance-first beast. It comes with a 90Wh battery, which sounds big—but don’t count on it lasting all day. I got around 2.5 hours with basic tasks in iGPU mode, which is fair for its class.
You can charge it via a 140W USB-C charger, but for serious gaming, you’ll need that massive 380W brick to unleash its full power.
Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 Review: Verdict
The 2025 ROG Strix Scar 16 is an absolute weapon disguised as a laptop. It tears through AAA titles, smashes creative workloads, and that Mini LED display? Easily one of the best I’ve tested this year. The value you get for the performance is seriously solid—unless you’re chasing a 5090 just for the flex, this hits the perfect balance.
Sure, it’s loud, chunky, and extra with all that RGB, but that’s kind of the point. It’s not trying to be subtle—it’s built for gamers and creators who want the full desktop experience without being chained to a desk.
If you’re shopping for a gaming laptop that brings serious heat and isn’t afraid to show off, the Scar 16 should be on your radar.
