The Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 brings one of the best gaming experiences in this price segment. Check out the review to know more about the laptop.
The Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 comes with a price tag of Rs. 3,15,000.
The gaming laptop segment is typically dominated by established players such as Asus, HP, Dell, and others. However, a new competitor is poised to challenge the throne in the market. Yes, we are talking Gigabyte. The brand has recently introduced its new gaming-centric laptop, known as AORUS Master 16, which brings a fresh perspective to gaming laptops. The latest laptop comes loaded with a gaming-centric design, which stands out from the crowd, a flagship-grade OLED display, a top-notch Intel processor, and a latest NVIDIA RTX 5080 GPU.
This, coupled with a hefty price of Rs. 3,15,000 puts it in the league of the premium gaming laptops in the country. That said, does it really stand a chance to compete with the well-established players in this segment? I got the opportunity to spend some time with the device, and this is what you need to know.
The AORUS Master 16 does not try to blend in but stands out with the whole gaming vibe. Whether it be sharp edges, bold LED lights, or a matte finish, the laptop brings out its gaming aesthetics quite boldly, but not in a tacky way. I really liked the way the brand has added the right amount of gaming contours without making it look like a full-blown LED showdown.
The Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 is available in a single colour options: Dark Tide.
The lid features the AORUS Falcon logo, which is illuminated. You also get a light strip along the front edge and a small rear projection on the rear that projects the AORUS logo on whatever surface you place the laptop. Apart from this, the laptop also comes with a 3-zone backlit keyboard, which can be customised. All the lighting adds a neat touch for users who like a visible identity on their desk.
That said, there are also some cons to the design, and the major one is the overwhelming usage of plastic. Although you may not notice it at first glance, upon closer inspection, you will see that the brand has cut corners in this department. This feels underwhelming, especially at a time when the other brands use metal lids or brushed-aluminium decks in the same price segment.
The laptop comes with a variety of ports for an uninterrupted gaming experience.
As far as the IO ports are concerned, it is fully stacked. You get one DC in, one RJ-45, one HDMI 2.1, one Type-A Gen 2 port, and one Type-C port with Thunderbolt 5 support. On the right side, the laptop features one Type-A port, one Type-C port, one microSD card slot, and one 3.5mm audio jack. The ports are well-spaced and spread across both sides, making it easier to connect various things with ease.
Display is one of the strongest suits of this gaming laptop. The device features a 16-inch OLED display that offers a 240Hz screen refresh rate. Moreover, you get VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification that basically covers 100 percent of DCI-P3 colour gamut. Moreover, the laptop also features a peak brightness of 500nits.
The laptop comes equipped with a brillant display that delivers a vibrant colours, crisp texts, and deep blacks.
Practically speaking, the panel is as good as it looks: blacks are deep, colours pop out nicely. Whether you are binge-watching a series on Netflix or playing games like Alan Wake 2, the colours were lively, while the contrast was on point.
The laptop also features a 240Hz refresh rate, which further helps for smooth and fluid gameplay and an overall visual experience. That said, the laptop also comes with 500nits of peak brightness, which is enough for indoor use, where you will spend most of your time.
The Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 features the RGB backlit keyboard, which is customisable. However, it is limited to 3-zone illumination. Considering the price tag, which goes north of Rs. 3 lakh, it is a bit of a letdown as most of the competition does provide per-key RGB customisation. That said, I liked the fact that the brand was transparent with WASD keys.
The Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 comes with 3-zone backlit keyboard.
Moreover, the company has gone further ahead and added Q, E, and R with the same treatment, which surely gives a distinct look and feel. The keyboard itself is quite comfortable, whether you are playing games or typing for a prolonged period.
The key travel is decent, and you get a good bounce when you press the keys. The only thing I felt was that the keycaps were a bit larger to provide a more comfortable experience, especially since the company decided not to go with a full-size keyboard.
The touchpad is fairly large and offers a smooth experience. There is no wobble during the scrolling experience. The multi-touch gesture support works smoothly as well.
Coming to the speakers, the Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 does not disappoint. In most cases, the gaming laptops come with muffled speakers, which tend to spoil the gaming experience and force you to either use headphones or connect a speaker. However, with Master 16, the sound is loud enough and feels well-rounded for a decent sound experience.
The Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 runs the Windows 11 operating system. This is a CoPilot+ PC, meaning that you can use all the AI features available from Microsoft on this device. However, the company also ships its GiMate application, which is also AI-enabled to provide suggestions and help monitor the performance of the laptop. There are also physical shortcut keys to launch profiles, which help in switching between quiet, balanced and performance modes easily.
The application basically acts as the control centre of the laptop. The home screen of the app seems to be minimal with its simple structure, though navigating between different menus can be a bit challenging. Also, during the testing period, I did notice a few problems with the laptop's graphics switching.
This is especially the case when you unplug the adapter, as it automatically switches off the dGPU to save energy. You need to go to Scenario > Power Supply > AI Power Gear menu and then to Gaming mode, where you need to change to Optimus to solve this problem. Overall, the GiMate application seems to be a bit underwhelming when compared to the Armoury Crate or any other app from other brands, which provides much better customisation options.
The Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 is powered by the latest Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor that offers up to 5.4GHz of boost frequency, 24 cores, 24 threads, and 36MB cache. Moreover, the gaming laptop is also loaded with the latest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 graphics. It has 32GB of LPDDR5X 5600 RAM and 1TB of PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD storage.
| Benchmark | Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 | Asus ROG Strix Scar 16 2025 | HP Omen Max 16 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cinebench R23 Single Core | 2198 | 2183 | 1275 |
| Cinebench R23 Multi Core | 26543 | 32895 | 30974 |
| Geekbench 6 Single Core | 3054 | 3015 | 2948 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi Core | 19658 | 15335 | 18373 |
| Geekbench AI (Quantized) | 15362 | 8429 | 8436 |
| PC Mark 10 | 9010 | NA | NA |
| 3DMark Night Raid | 83976 | NA | NA |
| 3DMark CPU Profile | 16098 | NA | NA |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad Light | 18976 | NA | NA |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad | 8659 | NA | NA |
| 3DMark Port Royal | 10564 | NA | NA |
| CrystalDiskMark | 6973.59 MB/s (Read) / 5766.89 MB/s (Write) | NA | NA |
Talking about the performance, you get one of the most stable combinations at this price point. The flagship Intel processor, which is mated with the latest RTX graphics card, handles almost all the tasks you throw at it. Whether for office purposes or gaming, this is a versatile machine that gives the best of both worlds.
The daily performance is snappy, and the load can be handled during multitasking. I opened around 20+ Chrome tabs, played a video in the background, and it easily handled the load.
The laptop offers flagship-grade performance and can handle most of heavy AAA games.
Coming to the gaming performance, the laptop is capable of running the latest AAA games. While playing Alan Wake 2 with native resolution, DLSS, and 4X Frame Gen enabled. During the gameplay, I comfortably got around 110fps with ease. Moreover, while playing Cyberpunk 2077 at ultra settings, the laptop delivered around 38 fps, while during Shadow of the Tomb Raider at highest settings, I was able to get around 110 to 114fps of gameplay.
The thermals are where it gets interesting. The laptop is able to deliver better thermals during an intensive workload. The laptop comes with a dual-fan setup, which the brand says is the Windforce Infinity EX. The fans spin up fast, but this also means that they are quite loud so you can say goodbye to those late-night gaming sessions.
The Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 comes loaded with a 99Wh battery, and the company ships a 330W fast charger. That said, all such high performance does take a toll on the battery life. With the balanced mode, you can comfortably get around 4 to 5 hours of battery backup, depending on the usage. However, when using heavy tasks like editing, you can expect less than 3 hours of battery life in battery mode.
To conclude, the Gigabyte AORUS Master 16 brings a good balance between a gaming-centric design and powerful performance. The laptop stays true to its gaming DNA, though excessive use of plastic might make it a bit underwhelming compared to the other gaming laptops in this segment. The display is one of the best in the segment with fluid visuals, which are apt for gaming or streaming.
The laptop packs a brillant OLED display, offers flagship performance, and comes with average battery life.
The performance is top-notch, and you can easily play most of the heavy-duty games without any throttling issues or frame drops. The thermal management is on point, though the fans get unapologetically loud under sustained load. That said, if you prioritise raw performance and a good OLED screen, and don't mind managing noise or carrying a heavier machine, then you can surely consider the AORUS Master 16.
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