Back in 2016, Gigabyte launched its Aero lineup of laptops. It’s not a lineup that’s as popular as its AORUS gaming laptop series in Malaysia, but the brand did refresh it last year with the Aero X16.
I suppose, in keeping with the lineup’s theme, the Aero X16 isn’t going to make heads turn and at the very least, it’s no slouch and still serviceable.
Specifications
Design And Functionality
I first laid eyes upon the Aero X16 back at Computex 2025. So, when I say that Gigabyte is a little late to the party, I’m trying to be polite: Intel’s Panther Lake lineup is already on the prowl, while AMD refreshed its mobile offering with the Ryzen AI 400 Series. On top of that, the PC brand has passed me the model with what I’m calling middle ground specs.
Specifically, the model is fitted with the Ryzen AI 7 350, and 16GB DDR5 RAM. To be fair, this is the first time I’ve tested a laptop with this CPU configuration, and I’m glad to do so, as it also gives me relevant data to add to my database. As for the RAM capacity, let’s face it: in these times, 16 GB is likely to be the de facto configuration for laptop makers, at least until they can find cheaper alternatives.
Oh, this model comes with an RTX 5070 8GB GDDR7, but do note that Gigabyte does offer a variation of the Aero X16 with the RTX 5060.
Anyway, getting back to the Aero X16: it’s clear Gigabyte didn’t put a focus on the aesthetics. Compared to the other laptops I’ve used, it feels and looks…plain. The back of the laptop is grey, and the hinge design feels a little dated, what with the gap in between. The indent feels unnecessary, but again, I suppose that’s what helps the laptop distinguish itself from the crowd.
The exhaust vents are located at the side, which is yet another old-fashioned choice in the design department. There are ports on both sides, as expected, but to my disappointment, there’s only ONE USB4 port, and no more. I don’t know why Gigabyte did this, especially when the industry standard for laptops of this size is two USB-C ports, bare minimum.
For another matter, it is equally as surprising that the Aero X16 is using a barrel-style charging adapter, instead of something a little more modern. Guess the whole “if it ain’t broke” adage comes into play here.
Lastly, there’s the 16-inch WQXGA display that also supports a high refresh rate of 165Hz. Believe me, that’s more than plenty, even if MOBA fanatic or CS2 diehard.
Performance And Benchmark
There’s a sense of the daily grind with the Aero X16. As I said, the design of the laptop isn’t meant to make it stand out from the crowd, but the hardware beneath the hood isn’t something to scoff at. Well, I mean, it’s not the top of the line hardware at this point, but the components aren’t what you would call slow either.
Like all other brands swept up by the AI craze, the Aero X16 also comes with its own AI assistant, GiMate, on top of the dedicate Copilot+ button. Unfortunately, and I am sorry Gigabyte, its function is still limited and to be blunt, many of the functions that it offers are overshadowed by currently existing apps. AI Audio adjustments? I’m using headphones throughout the review process. AI Voice ANC? Discord already does that for me, and again, headphones. And the AI Privacy function? Just use “Windows + L”. But anyway, I digress.
Feeling the heat in my right hand, literally.
As I mentioned earlier, the decision to exhaust all the hot air out through the side is an old-fashion design choice, and one that eventually turns into an uncomfortable experience for the right hand, and more specifically, the mouse hand. This is especially so during gaming, when the CPU and GPU are running at full whack with the cooling system pulling double time.
A small upside to this scenario is that the palm rest of the Aero X16 stays relatively cool throughout, with the majority of heat being controlled within the upper half of the base. As for the decibels, this laptop is yet again quite impressive. It gets audible, but not to the point that it sounds like a fighter jet spooling up its engines.
Gaming is, to borrow the term from the Chernobyl mini series: “Not great, not terrible”. But, to be fair, even with games that support NVIDIA’s multiframe generation, the 8GB GDDR7 on RTX 5070, running games at their highest graphics preset, with ray tracing or path tracing on, does a heavy load put onto the components.
To put it another way, gaming on the Aero X16 is a mixed bag. During one gaming session, Cyberpunk 2077 is running smoothly, holding 120 fps on average with all the aforementioned upscaling technologies turned on. In that same instant, the frames will suddenly drop to an average of 30 fps, slowing to a crawl.
During a session on Helldivers 2, I saw my framerates go from an average of 65 fps down below the 30 fps mark for a good half a minute, before jumping back into acceptable framerates. At this point, I’m incline to believe that this is a limitation of the hardware, and less of a software optimisation issue.
Alas, battery life on the Aero X16 is not one of its best sides. Off the wall and fully charged, my unit only last for a little over five hours, and even then, that’s with me stretching it to the limits.
Conclusion
At a starting price of RM6,199, the Gigabyte Aero X16 isn’t cheap, especially given the hardware that’s hiding beneath the hood. Compounding this is the timing of it all; at the time of this review’s publication, both Intel and AMD have already started rolling out their Panther Lake and Ryzen AI 400 Series processors to laptops, respectively. I only received this laptop at the end of 2025, despite it having officially arrived in the country last August.
This also means that pricing could potentially become an issue: laptops that are more up to date, such as the refresh ASUS Zenbook S16 with said Ryzen AI 400 APU, would ultimately be more plausible option within the same price average, albeit with a discrete graphics, but honestly, I’ve seen the power and capabilities of the integrated graphics on these things and honestly, they’re fine for some on the go gaming.
While not bad, I expected a bit more from a “stealth gaming” laptop like the Aero X16.
Perhaps the biggest letdown of the Aero X16 – I need to emphasise that this is by no fault of Gigabyte – is what can only be described as the somewhat lacklustre performance of the RTX 5070 nestled within it. Granted, my expectations for it to run all AAA titles at their maximum graphics presets can seem a touch ridiculous, but in my defense, NVIDIA has often promoted the 70-subseries of its GPUs as SKUs that are able to punch well above its weight class, and within the QHD+ resolution. Yet, my experience with the GPU and with this laptop feels like a roller coaster of performance, with the machine choosing to throw a tantrum at the oddest of times.
At the end of the day, if you’re planning on getting this laptop, I would strongly recommend that you bump up the memory to at least 32GB. That is, assuming you’re able to get your hands on a dual-channel kit at a reasonable price, given the ongoing memory chip shortage.
