First Look: Gigabyte Fires Off New Aorus & Aero Gaming Laptops With RTX 50 GPUs

LAS VEGAS—Like all the important thing laptop computer makers at CES 2025, Gigabyte took inventory of its gaming laptop computer lineup in sync with the newest part launches from AMD, Intel, and Nvidia. Gigabyte, nevertheless, used the chance to revise and rename the entire of its laptop computer line—not simply spruce up the components inside.

We checked out up to date 16-inch and 18-inch techniques at Gigabyte’s CES showroom, going fingers on with the Aorus Grasp 18, Aorus Grasp 16, Aorus Elite 16, and the Aero X16. These laptops characteristic a mix of Nvidia’s just-announced RTX 50-series GPUs paired up with Intel Arrow Lake HX or AMD Ryzen CPUs. You may watch our rundown of every system within the video above and discover extra particulars beneath.

Aorus Grasp: Prime-Finish Efficiency at 18 and 16 Inches

First up is the Aorus Grasp 18, a model derived from Gigabyte’s motherboard line of the identical title. This top-end system runs on performance-focused Arrow Lake HX processors and as much as the almighty GeForce RTX 5090.

Gigabyte Aorus Grasp 18 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

Gigabyte Aorus Grasp 18 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

The 18-inch show ought to replicate a desktop-like expertise, significantly with this technique’s energy potential. Its mini LED panel has a 240Hz refresh charge and HDR 1000 assist.

Gigabyte Aorus Grasp 18 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

We additionally checked out the Aorus Grasp 16, which shares the identical foundations however has a number of variations. Along with the smaller display measurement, the 16-inch display might be an OLED panel with a 240Hz refresh charge and HDR 500 assist.

Gigabyte Aorus Grasp 16 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

The Grasp 16 additionally runs on the RTX 50 sequence as much as the RTX 5090, and is constructed on Arrow Lake HX CPUs. Each techniques assist Thunderbolt 5, which ought to be particularly interesting for media professionals who could also be contemplating this technique for wants exterior of gaming.

Gigabyte Aorus Grasp 16 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

Aorus Elite and Aero: At 16 Inches, Prioritize Energy, or Portability?

Subsequent is the Aorus Elite 16, one other laptop computer with a household title derived from Gigabyte’s motherboard choices. It is a barely dialed-down model of the Grasp, because it additionally tops out on the RTX 5090 and runs on Arrow Lake HX.

Gigabyte Aorus Elite 16 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

The panel is once more a 240Hz OLED with HDR 500 assist, and the laptop computer once more consists of Thunderbolt 5. The design is toned down a notch versus the flagships above, with out as many thrilling options, however it’s primarily aimed on the similar fanatic customers because the Grasp.

Lastly, we come to an Aero X16. This laptop computer line, which we’ve reviewed earlier than at PCMag, doesn’t draw from Gigabyte’s motherboard manufacturers. The Aero title implies one thing a bit lighter and extra cellular; certainly, this can be a slimmer laptop computer with a decrease energy ceiling. The Aero X16 is 0.66 inch thick and weighs 4.18 kilos, which is extra transportable than common for a 16-inch gaming machine.

Gigabyte Aero X16 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

It additionally internally diverges from the Elite 16. Whereas Intel Arrow Lake HX is out there right here, you’ll be able to select AMD Ryzen processors as a substitute. The Ryzen choices may also be Copilot+ PC-compliant chips.

Given the trim design, it is no shock that the RTX 50-series GPUs don’t run to the highest of the stack within the Aero, maxing out on the RTX 5070. Whereas we haven’t examined any of those cellular GPUs but, they need to nonetheless present potent efficiency for hard-core players, and may serve moderately nicely for skilled content material creation and heavy media workloads for customers who bridge the gaming and content material worlds.

Gigabyte Aero X16 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

The Aero 16’s keyboard design can also be noteworthy. Gigabyte highlighted what it calls its “Golden C” key design, which we discovered to have an particularly nice really feel for a laptop computer keyboard. The keys are tactile, and you will really feel a little bit of a kick on them as you kind.

Gigabyte Aero X16 (Credit score: Mark Stetson)

It’s a slick-looking machine, and we look ahead to testing it alongside the Grasp and Elite laptops when models change into accessible.

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Government Editor and PC Labs Director

I’ve been a know-how journalist for 30-plus years and have lined nearly each type of pc gear—from the 386SX to 64-core processors—in my lengthy tenure as an editor, a author, and an recommendation columnist. For nearly a quarter-century, I labored on the seminal, gigantic Laptop Shopper journal (and later, its digital counterpart), aka the telephone e-book for PC patrons, and the nemesis of each postal supply individual. I used to be Laptop Shopper’s editor in chief for its last 9 years, after which a lot of its digital content material was folded into PCMag.com. I additionally served, briefly, because the editor in chief of the well-known hard-core tech web site Tom’s {Hardware}.

Throughout that point, I’ve constructed and torn down sufficient desktop PCs to equip a metropolis block’s value of web cafes. Beneath race situations, I’ve constructed PCs from bare-board to bootup in beneath 5 minutes.

In my early profession, I labored as an editor of scholarly science books, and as an editor of “Dummies”-style pc guidebooks for Brady Books (now, BradyGames). I am a lifetime New Yorker, a graduate of New York College’s journalism program, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

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