Gigabyte Aero 16 review: a workstation that can game (kind of)

theverge.com:

Gigabyte’s Aero is a model the company has long touted as a creator-specific line. I’ve always been a bit skeptical there. Gigabyte is known far and wide as a gaming company, and Aero models, despite their branding, tend not to look too different from the company’s Aorus gaming lineup. Outside of Dell’s XPS line, Windows-based “creator laptops” are typically known to be gaming laptops in slightly smaller and less RGB-laden chassis.

This particular, Aero makes some sense as a device best purchased by workers who have some heavier tasks in their workload or who may want to game here and there. Sure, it has a fancy OLED screen that reaches 400 nits of brightness and covers 100 percent of the sRGB gamut, 98 percent of Adobe RGB, and 98 percent of P3. The understated aluminum chassis is office-appropriate. But it also has Intel’s flagship processor, which is quite capable when it comes to creative work, and Nvidia’s top mobile GPU. That’s a setup best utilized by folks who want the best CPU they can get but who may not need the GPU quite as often.

Now, here’s the rub: the model I was sent is $4,399. This device is almost $2,000 more expensive than the most expensive model of the ROG Zephyrus G15, my current best gaming laptop recommendation. It is even a bit more expensive than a comparable 16-inch MacBook Pro, a common choice for creative professionals.

So, spoiler alert: creators who buy the MacBook Pro will find it better than the Aero in many ways (battery life and fan noise, in particular). But in addition to its powerful Alder Lake processor, which is certainly competitive with the M1 chips in terms of raw CPU performance, there’s one major area where the Aero is way ahead: gaming. If you’re looking for a device that