ProArt P16

A Gorgeous Laptop That Looks Way Better Than It Performs

I love this laptop's vibe. Honestly, the first time you open that 4K OLED display, you're going to gasp a little. The colors are so vibrant and true to life. If you're a photographer or video editor, this screen is basically a love letter to your eyeballs. The detail is incredible, and color accuracy is exactly what you need for creative work.

What's great about the ProArt P16 is how portable it actually is. For a 16-inch laptop, it's incredibly thin and light. You can genuinely throw this in a bag and take it to coffee shops, client meetings, or work on the patio without feeling like you're lugging around a brick. That's not easy to pull off at this size, and Asus nailed it.

Battery life is solid too. You're looking at a full day of work, even with creative apps running. That's genuinely useful if you're bouncing between meetings and need to work on the go.

Here's where I have to be honest though. The Snapdragon X processor is kind of a letdown for a laptop this expensive. Performance is fine for everyday creative work, but if you're rendering video or working with massive files, you'll notice the speed isn't there. For $3,573 at full price, you'd expect snappier performance. Even at the Walmart price of $1,831, you're still paying a lot for a processor that feels like it's holding the laptop back.

The touchpad is also just meh. It works, but it doesn't feel premium or responsive like you'd want at this price point. And that gorgeous glossy OLED screen, while beautiful, can be distracting with reflections when you're working in bright spaces.

So here's the real question: is this laptop worth it? If you absolutely need that perfect OLED display for color-critical creative work and you love the idea of a portable 16-inch machine, then yes. But if you're a regular person looking for a laptop that balances performance, design, and price, this might be more laptop than you need. The display is genuinely exceptional, but the performance and price tag keep this from being a home run.

The Display Can't Hide the CPU Problem

Arus positioned the ProArt P16 as a creator laptop, and the 16-inch 4K OLED display is genuinely impressive. It's the best screen you'll find on a video editing machine at this price point, with vibrant colors and the contrast that OLED technology promises. For color grading and photo work, this display is legitimate.

But here's the problem: you're paying $3,573 for a machine with a Snapdragon X processor that reviewers describe as "meh" across the board. That's not acceptable. At this price, you need a CPU that can actually render video, handle complex timelines, and push through 4K workflows without choking. The Snapdragon X doesn't do that. You're essentially paying flagship prices for a machine that performs like a midrange laptop in the areas that actually matter for creative professionals.

The rest of the hardware is competent. The build quality is excellent, the machine is impressively thin and light, and 16GB of RAM with 1TB of storage is adequate. But the touchpad is mediocre, the speakers are mediocre, and the battery life claims don't match reality. Eight hours is fine, but claiming all-day-and-all-night performance and then delivering eight hours is marketing dishonesty.

Looking at the data, this laptop makes sense only if you're a color-critical designer or photo editor who doesn't need serious processing power. If you're doing video work, animation, or anything computationally intensive, you're looking at a machine that will frustrate you every single day. The display quality doesn't compensate for that.

What's concerning is the pricing. At $3,573, you're competing directly with MacBook Pro 14-inch machines and high-end Windows creators that offer dramatically better performance. At the Walmart price of $1,831, the value improves significantly, but you're still getting a weak CPU. The real issue is that Asus chose the wrong processor for a premium creator machine and then charged premium prices anyway. The display is beautiful, but beauty doesn't render video faster.