Asus' latest flagship laptop competes with the MacBook Air, but not how you'd think

## Summary
PT Asus Zenbook A16 3.5 / 5 Good pros and cons Pros Gorgeous display High-end processor Appropriately priced Thin and light Cons Potential emulation issues remain Variable battery life Plasticky build View now at Best Buy Follow ZDNET: Add us as a preferred source on Google. ZDNET RECOMMENDS Asus Zenbook A16 The A16 features Qualcomm's latest high-end X2 Elite Extreme processor. details View at Best Buy Best laptop deals of the week Dell 15 DC15250 Intel i7 13th Gen 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 15.6-inch Laptop : $430 (save $270) Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 6 Ryzen 7 1TB SSD 16GB RAM 14-inch Laptop : $818 (save $421) Asus Chromebook Plus CX14 Intel 3 128GB SSD 8GB RAM 14-inch Laptop : $249 (save $180) Dell 14 Premium Intel Ultra 7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 14-inch 2K Laptop (Platinum) : $1,000 (save $550) HP OmniBook X Flip Intel Ultra 7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 16-inch 2K 2-in-1 Laptop : $600 (save $600) Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article. Hardware and usability: A new direction Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET The A16's focal point is the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme system-in-package (SiP) -- Qualcomm's highest-end processor in a consumer laptop, built on a 3nm chip process with an ultra-wide memory bandwidth of up to 228 GB/s. In our benchmarking, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme proved its impressive performance, particularly with multi-core scores, which handily surpassed the M5 in the 15-inch MacBook Air.

## Article Content
Tech
Why you can trust ZDNET
:
ZDNET independently tests and researches products to bring you our best recommendations and advice. When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission.
Our process
'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean?
ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing.
When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions. This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay. Neither ZDNET nor the author are compensated for these independent reviews. Indeed, we follow strict guidelines that ensure our editorial content is never influenced by advertisers.
ZDNET's editorial team writes on behalf of you, our reader. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services. Our editors thoroughly review and fact-check every article to ensure that our content meets the highest standards. If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article. If you see inaccuracies in our content, please report the mistake via
this form
.
Close
Home
Tech
Computing
Laptops
Asus' latest flagship laptop competes with the MacBook Air, but not how you'd think
Asus' 16-inch follow-up to last year's featherweight A14 takes a different approach, but whether it works depends on who you ask.
Written by
Kyle Kucharski,
Editor
Editor
April 7, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. PT
Asus Zenbook A16
3.5
/ 5
Good
pros and cons
Pros
Gorgeous display
High-end processor
Appropriately priced
Thin and light
Cons
Potential emulation issues remain
Variable battery life
Plasticky build
View now at Best Buy
Follow ZDNET:
Add us as a preferred source
on Google.
Asus' new
Zenbook A16
is the sequel to last year's Zenbook A14, one of the thinnest, lightest, and longest-lasting laptops of 2025. The A16 picks up where its younger sibling left off, aiming for the same thin and light build but with key hardware upgrades that elevate it to a more premium position.
Also:
This ultraportable Asus laptop is my favorite MacBook Air alternative (and it's better in some ways)
Physically, it's made with the same textured, smudge-resistant ceraluminum, features a brilliant 3K OLED display, large trackpad and ultrasleek build. But under the hood is its secret weapon: the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, Qualcomm's second-gen high-end processor with a 5-GHz clock speed, 192-bit memory interface and 228GB/s bandwidth.
Last year's Zenbook A14 was so thin and light, it almost didn't feel real. The A16 trades in that boundary-pushing lightness for a more powerful set of hardware that Asus hopes will take aim at one big competitor: the MacBook Air.
ZDNET RECOMMENDS
Asus Zenbook A16
The A16 features Qualcomm's latest high-end X2 Elite Extreme processor.
details
View at Best Buy
Best laptop deals of the week
Dell 15 DC15250 Intel i7 13th Gen 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 15.6-inch Laptop
:
$430
(save $270)
Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen 6 Ryzen 7 1TB SSD 16GB RAM 14-inch Laptop
:
$818
(save $421)
Asus Chromebook Plus CX14 Intel 3 128GB SSD 8GB RAM 14-inch Laptop
:
$249
(save $180)
Dell 14 Premium Intel Ultra 7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 14-inch 2K Laptop (Platinum)
:
$1,000
(save $550)
HP OmniBook X Flip Intel Ultra 7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 16-inch 2K 2-in-1 Laptop
:
$600
(save $600)
Deals are selected by the CNET Group commerce team, and may be unrelated to this article.
At 2.6 pounds, it's certainly lightweight for a 16-inch, making a statement by coming in at just a hair less than the MacBook Air M5 (which is 2.7 pounds), impressive considering it's an entire inch bigger.
But I wouldn't be so quick to peg the A16 as a carbon copy of the A14 that's "just bigger." The smaller model had an absolute marathon battery that lasted several days, whereas the A16 sacrifices some of that longevity for power. The Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is a powerhouse that produced some impressive performance numbers in my testing, while proving it has what it takes for solid performance for everyday tasks and demanding workflows. But not without a big trade-off.
Hardware and usability: A new direction
Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET
The A16's focal point is the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme system-in-package (SiP) -- Qualcomm's highest-end processor in a consumer laptop, built on a 3nm chip process with an ultra-wide memory bandwidth of up to 228 GB/s. The X2 Elite Extreme has six additional CPU cores compared to the standard Snapdragon X2 Elite chip for a total of 18 (12 prime cores and six

---

## Expert Analysis

### Merits
- This opens it up to workflows its aforementioned competitor, the MacBook Air, does well, such as video and photo editing outside of the top-tier pro grade and strong multitasking.
- As it stands now, the A16 has perfectly good battery life, but it's important to note that it's a different beast than its 14-inch predecessor.

### Areas for Consideration
N/A

### Implications
- When you buy through our links, we may earn a commission.
- When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or service, we may earn affiliate commissions.
- This helps support our work, but does not affect what we cover or how, and it does not affect the price you pay.
- If we have made an error or published misleading information, we will correct or clarify the article.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers laptop, asus, inch topics. Notable strengths include discussion of laptop. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 2205.