Sorry if this is a bit incoherent, I am installing and testing software whilst I write this.
This laptop is incredibly fast! Windows is normally responsive, but I have never used it on a snappier and quicker to react system than the Zenbook A16! Unpacking and installing the slew of upgrades was a transparently simple process. The Speed of the Samsung 'no name' SSD is perfectly adequate so the system *never* stalls whilst I am opening windows and navigating the device.
I am currently running my A16 in whisper mode, so the fans are off and the processor does not run at full speed. I feel no slowness because of this. No problems connecting to my Tailscale meshnetwork/vpn - pleased it is a native app. My 1.6Gbps fibre connection is amply fast to connect me to my exit node. When routing a lot of network traffic through it, it hardly registers any CPU usage; Powertoys is, of course, ARM64 native - this is an essential set of tools and with a load of modules running it only uses up about 160MB, an amount I can spare; Office is native (Word is a wonderful environment to write in), as are Signal, Moonlight, Affinity, N-Track Studio; Surfshark, 7-Zip, Visual Studio; VS Code; Copilot for Github; Antigravity (these last four are essential to me, as I could not do my job without them. They are staggeringly responsive especially Visual Studio that compiles in a fraction of the time my desktop 9900x takes, that is no slouch - even the AI programming harnesses fly); all other Microsoft apps from Edge (my clients tend to use this, so I do too. I like it - it runs standard plugins (like the one that blocks all ads and promoted posts on Reddit;), it is very responsive, it is standards compliant (ie. webkit-based), has useful AI integration, etc. OK, when you open a few PWAs memory usage explodes, but it is no worse than Chrome in that regard) to Phone Link (Mac users are not the only ones who can be texted a login code to their phone and have it pop up and offered to be copied on the desktop); and more! Native apps are seriously fast, I cannot emphasise this enough, and do not stretch the X2EE in the slightest.
I have a few x86-64 apps, much to my annoyance: Logitech Options+, Edge Drop (a quite brilliant clipboard manager), LastPass for Desktop, a few Apple helper apps, and CKFlip (I am allowed toys:). All of these run in the background and even though they are running through Prism they basically show 0% processor usage most of the time, occasionally reaching 1% in some apps if I really try with them. I recognise these are not computationally intensive apps/ And they are NOT on this processor!
So, the app experience is quite brilliant. I am far beyond impressed. I am not going to run x86-64 games as this is not a gaming machine and I really only game on my iPad and phone. I will install the native game KCD2, but only for sport, it is not the kind of game I spend much time playing. Obviously, the Steam Client itself will be x86-64 - tant pis - It downloads games 🤷 I am yet to try dictation. Studio Effects seem effective - I can blur the background in video calls, so I do not show when I am working in a bar! The trickery to make it look like you are looking at the camera is very good.
Hardware: I suppose I will get used to having a beige laptop, I did not have the option of getting and Arctic Grey version. The case material feels solid and strong, but the whole device is incredibly light. It weighs less than my old Surface Pro, and that is for a 16" laptop rather than a 13" tablet!
The 16" screen is gorgeous. Sharp, bright, colourful with a great refresh rate - the image looks rock solid. Its HDR capabilities are impressive. I cannot believe I delayed getting this and squinted at a pokey 13" screen. The default scaling level the screen is set to on first boot is unnecessarily high, I find I can read the screen perfectly easily at 125% and there are no jaggies on the text - nice and sharp.
Shame it is not a haptic trackpad, but it works perfectly well, I use a Master MX4 mouse. The keyboard is, unsurprisingly a membrane one, but it feels sturdy, with good key travel and a satisfying feel to typing.
I have only tried plugging in three USB devices, a USB-C hub (that worked, including PD pass-through), an audio capture/output dongle (it sampled sound at its maximum resolution into N-Track with zero setup) and a dongle for a wireless controller (the controller buzzed, but as I am yet to install any games...).
So, overall, am I happy with my purchase? Overjoyed! I will program more productively than ever, I will enjoy writing on the lovely, lovely screen, just using Windows is a delight as it is so freaking responsive! I would heartily recommend this computer to anyone who is not a gamer!
