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Just after a briefing with Qualcomm at MWC 2026, I noticed something golden sitting amidst a row of otherwise anonymous laptops. Like any good magpie, I stole towards it: this was my first sighting of the Asus Zenbook A16, although Asus announced it at CES 2026.
It’s one of the first laptops I’ve seen that features Qualcomm’s all-new X2 Elite chip. Or perhaps “in limbo” would be a better description. Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon X2 Elite last year, and although I’ve run benchmarks on early samples I’m yet to receive a laptop for review.
Qualcomm assures us this is fine, but I’ve already seen laptops based on AMD and Intel’s new chips so my fingers are getting itchy. For now, this first-look review of the new Asus Zenbook A16 – identified by UX3607 – will have to do.
This is a gorgeous laptop. Stats won’t do it justice, but it actually feels lighter than the 1.23kg that Asus states. Likewise it feels even slimmer than 16.5mm at its thickest, although this does drop down to 13.8mm. But ignore that: know that this will almost certainly be the lightest, slenderest laptop you’ve owned, which is even more incredible when you note the 16in AMOLED panel.
As with all such panels, and certainly the ones you’ll find in Asus’s highest-end laptops, colours blaze. And the list of specs and certificates only enhances my first impressions: Display HDR True Black 1000 certification, peak of 500cd/m2 in normal use, 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 space. A 2,880 x 1,800 resolution also means text and images look sharp. It’s a glossy finish, and while that means I noticed reflections it also adds to the vividness.
All this class is only enhanced by the matte-gold colouring of the unit on show. A look for once enhanced by the X2 Elite sticker, a gold and black affair. What a shame Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC sticker looks almost shaggy by comparison.
So the Asus Zenbook A16 looks good. What’s it like to use? It’s true that the keyboard doesn’t have a huge amount of travel or cushioning, but you won’t have any issues typing on it for some time. I love the separated out cursor keys as well.
The screen doesn’t support touch so you’ll rely on the huge, glass-coated haptic touchpad instead. It’s actually a joy to use, enhanced by integrated shortcuts: slide up/down on the left-hand side of the touchpad to adjust audio levels, up and down on the right to control the screen brightness.
I was suitably impressed by the quality of the webcam. It shot the above image under the bright lights of the showfloor, which will always help, but I’d draw your attention to natural-looking colours and lots of detail in the background.
Asus provides a decent selection of ports, as you would expect on a 16in laptop. Two USB-C ports, both supporting 40Gbits/sec (but not Thunderbolt 4), sit on the left alongside an HDMI output and 3.5mm jack. Over on the right you’ll find a USB-A port and full-size SD card slot.
I’m less enamoured by all the Torx screws at the bottom of the case. Despite all the grilles and vents, which suggest great speakers, I also found the audio to be distorted at higher volumes. Well, I think it was: it’s tricky to be sure on a crowded showfloor.
While I don’t know when the Asus Zenbook A16 will go on sale, you may already find that you can select “Notify me” on your local Asus estore. In Europe, it’s listed as €1,999.99 including VAT, which buys you a 1TB SSD, 48GB of RAM and a top-of-the-range Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E94100 chip.
Bearing in mind the rising cost of laptops due to the RAM/storage crisis, and the fact this includes a three-year guarantee, it looks like the Asus Zenbook A16 will be worth the wait.
