The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 (2025) is a Windows gaming laptop. Equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and a 240Hz QHD+ OLED panel, this high-end 16-inch model is configurable with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, 5080, or 5090 Laptop GPU. Memory and storage configurations max out at 32GB and 2TB, respectively. Ports include two USB-A, two USB-C (1x Thunderbolt 4, 1x Thunderbolt 5), an HDMI 2.1 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a MicroSD card reader, and a 3.5 mm headphone jack.
See our unit's specifications and the available configuration options in the Differences Between Variants section.
Our Verdict
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 is an excellent gaming laptop. Equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and NVIDIA 50-series GPUs, up to an RTX 5090, this laptop delivers smooth gameplay in demanding AAA titles at 1080p, 1440p, or even 4k. You also get an amazing visual experience, as the laptop sports a fast 240Hz OLED display that produces clear images with minimal ghosting. There's Wi-Fi 7 connectivity onboard and a Gigabit Ethernet port, ensuring a stable, low-latency internet connection when gaming online. RAM and storage are user-upgradeable, so you can upgrade or add more later. The laptop doesn't get overly hot under load, but the fans are extremely loud.
Pushes high, consistent frame rates in demanding games.
240Hz OLED display with fast response time.
G-SYNC support to reduce screen tearing.
Wide port selection.
User-replaceable RAM and storage.
Loud fans.
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 is decent for school and work. It has more than enough power for productivity tasks, and its large, sharp OLED display, comfortable keyboard, excellent touchpad, and loud speakers make it pleasant to use at a desk. It also has tons of ports for peripherals and external displays. However, its battery lasts only about 4.5 hours of light use, and it's bulky and heavy, making it cumbersome to carry around campus or the office. The fans also get extremely loud under load, and the webcam image looks soft and noisy.
Large, sharp display for multitasking.
Comfortable keyboard, responsive touchpad.
Wide port selection.
Bulky and heavy.
Short battery life.
Webcam image looks soft and noisy.
Loud fans.
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 is good for media consumption. Its 16-inch OLED display looks sharp and colorful, producing deep, inky blacks, which makes it amazing for dark room and HDR viewing. The speakers get very loud and sound fairly balanced, though they lack bass and get a little muddy at max volume. Unfortunately, this laptop isn't very portable due to its bulky and heavy design. Its battery life is decent, though, lasting around six hours of local video playback.
Comfortable keyboard, responsive touchpad.
Sharp, colorful OLED display with fast response time.
OLED display produces deep blacks for better dark room and HDR viewing.
Speakers get very loud.
Battery lasts nearly six hours of local video playback.
Bulky and heavy.
Speakers sound hollow, with almost no bass.
While the Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 is great for heavy workloads, it's not specifically designed for it. You get plenty of ports for peripherals and external displays, including two Thunderbolt ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. Thermal throttling is minimal under load, but unfortunately, the fans get extremely loud.
Large, sharp display for multitasking.
Intel CPU and NVIDIA discrete GPU can handle demanding workloads.
Wide port selection.
User-replaceable RAM and storage.
Loud fans.
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 has disappointing battery life. It only lasts around four and a half hours of light use, which won't get you through a workday, and about an hour while gaming. It lasts a little longer during video playback, at nearly six hours.
Short battery life.
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 has good build quality. The mostly plastic chassis feels sturdy, with very little flex, but the finish picks up fingerprints and scratches easily. The hinge is smooth and stable, and you can open the lid with one finger.
Sturdy build and stable hinge.
Finish picks up fingerprints and scratches easily.
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 has excellent graphics performance. Our unit's RTX 5080 runs demanding games like Cyberpunk 2077 smoothly, even with ray tracing on, and it handles GPU-accelerated work like 3D rendering with ease. Performance barely declines after long, extended tasks.
Intel CPU and NVIDIA discrete GPU can handle demanding workloads.
Pushes high, consistent frame rates in demanding games.
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 has excellent processing performance. Its Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX handles demanding multi-threaded work like 3D rendering and video exports with ease, and it runs CPU-heavy games like Civilization VII and Total War: Warhammer III very smoothly. It barely slows down during extended tasks.
Intel CPU and NVIDIA discrete GPU can handle demanding workloads.
Performance Usages
Changelog
- Updated Nov 03, 2026: We've updated this review to Test Bench 1.0.1. This is a minor update that fixes scoring discrepancies on laptops that don't support all the games we benchmark. Read the changelog for more details.
- Updated Oct 30, 2026: We've updated this review to Test Bench 1.0! This update adds several new verdict scores to the review, so it's easier to make a buying decision. Read the changelog for a full list of changes.
- Updated Apr 09, 2026: We've updated this review to Test Bench 0.9.1! This update changes the way we score the 'Out-Of-The-Box Color Accuracy' box. Read the changelog for more info.
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Updated Nov 18, 2025:
Added mention of the Dell Alienware 18 Area-51 (2025) as an alternative with a larger display in the Screen Specs section.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 (model AM6H) with an Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. The GPU, memory, and storage are configurable; the available options are below.
SCREEN
- 16 inch OLED 2560 x 1600 240Hz (500 cd/m², 100% DCI P3, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500, G-SYNC)
CPU
- Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX (24 cores/24 threads, up to 5.4 GHz, 36MB cache)
GPU
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Laptop GPU 12GB GDDR7 (140W TGP w/ Dynamic Boost)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Laptop GPU 16GB GDDR7 (175W TGP w/ Dynamic Boost)
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Laptop GPU 24GB GDDR7 (175W TGP w/ Dynamic Boost)
MEMORY
- 16GB DDR5 5600MHz
- 32GB DDR5 5600MHz
STORAGE
- 1TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
- 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4 NVMe SSD
COLOR
- Dark Tide
See a photo of our unit's label.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 is an excellent gaming laptop, delivering a similar gaming experience as other laptops in its class, like the HP OMEN MAX 16 (2025). However, it falls a bit short in two areas: build quality and battery life. Its plastic chassis, while sturdy, feels somewhat cheap compared to the likes of the OMEN MAX 16, and its short battery life in light use makes it less ideal for productivity use, and consequently, less versatile.
For more options, check out our recommendations for the best gaming laptops, the best budget and cheap gaming laptops, and the best laptops for college.
The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 10 16 (2026) and Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 (2025) are similar high-end gaming laptops with sharp 240Hz OLED displays and powerful graphics options. The Gigabyte supports Thunderbolt 5 and has a microSD card reader, while the Lenovo has more USB-A ports for conventional accessories. Both have replaceable memory and storage, but the Legion's is slightly easier to access. The Lenovo wins on overall build quality and performance, while the Gigabyte has a more color-accurate display and better speakers. Both laptops are hefty and cumbersome, with a particularly underwhelming battery life.
The Razer Blade 18 (2024) is a better device overall when you consider the build quality and the overall user experience. Performance will depend on which configuration you get; the main thing to know is that the Razer uses NVIDIA 40-series GPUs, while the Gigabyte uses newer 50-series GPUs. Other than a minor performance boost over the 40-series, the only new feature exclusive to the 50-series GPUs is Multi-Frame Generation, so the decision comes down to whether or not you care about this new feature.
The Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 (2025) and the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024) are both excellent gaming laptops. However, the Gigabyte uses NVIDIA 50-series GPUs, while the ASUS uses the older 40-series GPUs. The performance difference between the two GPU generations is relatively small; the main difference is that the 50-series GPUs support Multi-Frame Generation. In terms of the overall user experience, know that the Gigabyte has an OLED display, while the ASUS is only available with IPS displays, so if you want deep blacks for a better dark room or HDR viewing experience, the Gigabyte would be a better choice.
Although there's a lot of overlap, the Gigabyte AORUS MASTER 16 (2025) and the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2024) GU605 are quite different. The former is a rather bulky gaming laptop designed to give you the best possible gaming experience, while the latter is more of a hybrid device intended for gaming and content creation, sporting a sleeker, thinner design. The Gigabyte is the one to get if you only care about performance, but if you plan on doing other things with the laptop besides gaming, then the ASUS might be a better choice, as it'll provide a better user experience overall.
Test Results
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