The new ROG Flow X16 melds premium power with a portable design

Articles: News
May 17, 2022 Written by:ROG Article

A birds-eye view of the ROG Flow X16 laptop, next to a mouse, controller, headset, and monitor.

The portable and lightweight Flow family has a new member. ROG is proud to introduce the Flow X16, a convertible thin and light laptop with gaming horsepower that belies its size. Paired with the stunning Nebula HDR Display and fully compatible with the XG Mobile ecosystem, the Flow X16 is ready to redefine how you look at ultraportable gaming laptops. 

Gaming horsepower you can take anywhere 

The Flow X16 is the culmination of a relentless drive to pair cutting-edge components with a thin and light chassis. This 16-inch convertible laptop is powered by up to an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor and up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU, all while weighing just 2.1 kilograms. With a maximum TGP of up to 125W on the RTX 3070 Ti thanks to Dynamic Boost, this machine is able to go pound for pound with much larger and heavier competition.  

Backing up the CPU and GPU is up to 64GB of DDR5 4800MHz RAM, with both SO-DIMM modules 100% accessible and upgradeable. For longer term storage, the Flow X16 comes equipped with up to 2TB of Gen 4 SSD storage. If you need additional room for large project files or an extensive game library, a free M.2 slot is fully accessible, giving you the freedom to upgrade your machine as you need it. 

Portability and versatility for your everyday life 

Portability and versatility are  key tenets of the Flow family, and the X16 continues what the X13 and Z13 started. As a convertible laptop, the machine can be used in a traditional clamshell configuration with the built-in keyboard and trackpad, or any peripherals you need. But the Flow X16 can also leverage the 360° hinge to transform itself for any situation, whether that be stand mode for ergonomic video conferencing in smaller spaces, tent mode when you need maximum airflow, or tablet mode for touch-compatible gaming on the couch.

An image of two people playing video games on the ROG Flow X16 in tent mode, using game controllers.

With a design inspired by the mystery of gravitational waves, the Flow X16 has grooves milled into the chassis that make it both visually striking and easy to hold from any angle. At just 32.6mm thick when closed, and weighing only 2.1 kilograms, the X16 can comfortably slip into most laptop bags or backpacks. And the touchscreen is built with Corning Gorilla Glass, providing industry-leading protection against scratches and daily wear and tear. 

Nebula returns to light up the darkness 

If there's one thing that makes the Flow X16 stand out, though, it's the stunning Nebula HDR Display. It adheres to all the specs of our Nebula certified panels: 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, Pantone Validation, high refresh rate, Adaptive-Sync, and a response time of 3 milliseconds or less. But the Nebula HDR panel goes one step further. 512 Mini LED dimming zones and a peak brightness of 1100 nits create stunning contrast and allow vibrant, colorful images pop off the screen, while ROG’s Nebula HDR engine works alongside AUO’s AMLED technology to reduce haloing, thanks in part to a polling rate of 5400Hz. We’ve introduced the Nebula HDR Display­™ before on the Zephyrus Duo 16. But with the Flow X16, the HDR experience is taken to a whole new level, thanks to the versatility afforded by a fully convertible laptop and the mobility that you can only get from a tablet. When you need to curl up on the couch or in bed to catch up on your favorite shows mastered in HDR, the Flow X16 is the perfect companion. 

Cooler than cool

An image of the ROG Flow X16 laptop laid out on a table next to a wireless router and mouse.

ROG engineers had to bend a few conventions to accommodate all of the power inside it’s the Flow X16’s svelte frame. The X16 builds upon years of Intelligent Cooling experience and improvements to push the boundaries of the kind of power possible in a thin and light laptop. Our new Frost Force Technology directs air through precisely calculated and machined cutouts in the chassis, sending air directly towards internal components to keep them cool even during extended gaming sessions and video renders. In addition, the X16 has a unique tri-fan design. This extra auxiliary fan directly helps exhaust heat from the GPU to the heatsinks, while also keeping fan noise lower than a traditional dual fan design. 

The second key ingredient in the Flow X16’s cooling solution is the new Pulsar Heatsink. Comprised of ultra-thin copper cooling fins as slim as 0.1mm, this double-sized heatsink has total surface area of 110,902mm², making it extra dense without limiting airflow. Combined with the Frost Force cooling system  and Thermal Grizzly’s liquid metal thermal compound on the CPU, the Flow X16 is redefining what thin and light gaming looks like. 

Bring in the XG Mobile's big guns 

An image of a man playing video games at a desk, with the ROG Flow X16 laptop hooked up to a monitor, mouse, keyboard, and XG mobile..

While the Flow X16 is a fully-fledged gaming machine in its own right, it shares the same compatibility with the XG Mobile ecosystem as the rest of the Flow family. These powerful standalone GPUs come equipped with additional I/O ports, serving as a convenient docking station when you need to turn your X16 into a full-blown battle station. Enjoy access to 4 USB Type-A ports, an SD card reader, a 2.5G ethernet port, as well as a DisplayPort 1.4 and a full HDMI 2.1 port for additional monitors. Thanks to the unique PCIe 3.0 x8 connector, you never need to worry about bandwidth limitations. If you need more GPU horsepower in the future, you can connect to 2021’s NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU model, or the 2022 AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT GPU to unlock incredible performance in a form factor the size of an average hardcover novel, and without having to upgrade to a whole new laptop. 

ROG Flow X16 (2022) 
CPU AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS
AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS
GPU

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti

Display 

QHD 165Hz/3ms 100% DCI-P3 Mini-LED Nebula HDR™
QHD 165Hz/3ms 100% DCI-P3 IPS

Memory

Up to 64GB DDR5 4800MHz

Storage Up to 2TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
I/O Ports 

1x XG Mobile interface
1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
2x USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A
1x HDMI 2.0b
1x 3.5mm audio combo jack 
1x MicroSD card reader

Battery 90Wh
Size

355 x 243 x 19.4mm
2.0-2.1kg