The Gigabyte Aero 16 is less expensive and offers a high-quality OLED display with better color accuracy and resolution, making it suitable for professional creative work. It has a larger battery capacity but is slightly heavier and has a smaller screen size compared to the Aorus 17. The Gigabyte Aorus 17 is more expensive but provides a larger screen and higher refresh rate panel, favorable for gaming and fast-paced activities, though with a standard IPS display, less color accuracy, and lower resolution. Neither has a touchscreen, but if portability, screen quality for creative tasks, or cost are priorities, the Aero 16 may be preferable, while for enhanced gaming experience and a larger display, the Aorus 17 stands out. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aero 16
Very good for general use
Good portability
Advantages of the Gigabyte Aorus 17
Very good for gaming and AI
Very good speakers
Key differences
Screen Quality
8.4/10
8.0/10
16.0in
SIZE
17.3in
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
368.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
267.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aero 16 has a better screen than the Gigabyte Aorus 17 for general use, engineering and design, software development, and content creation, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 has a better screen for gaming and AI.
The Gigabyte Aero 16 offers superior resolution and panel quality, providing crisp and vibrant visuals that are essential for general use and precision work in engineering and design, while its wide color gamut ensures accurate color representation critical for professionals in those fields. However, it falls short for gaming and 3D applications where its lower refresh rate fails to deliver the smooth motion required for an optimal experience. Meanwhile, the Gigabyte Aorus 17, with good screen resolution and decent color accuracy, caters well to general use and design tasks but, like the Aero 16, isn't the best fit for gaming and 3D due to a similar limitation in refresh rate.
Portability
Good
Fair
16.0in
SIZE
17.3in
5.0 lbs
WEIGHT
5.9 lbs
0.8in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Gigabyte Aero 16 has good portability, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Cost
$1,260
$1,700
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Gigabyte Aero 16 has a price of $1,260 and the Gigabyte Aorus 17 costs $1,700.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte Aero 16 to be very good for general use, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 is good.
The Gigabyte Aero 16 offers a high-resolution OLED screen and a light build, enhancing portability and visual experience for general use, but has a shorter battery life compared to the Gigabyte Aorus 17. While the Aorus 17 has a larger screen and better battery life, contributing to comfortable extended use, it's heavier and less portable than the Aero 16.
Gaming and AI
7.8/10
8.1/10
7.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
360Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.7/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
6.5/10
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers Gigabyte Aorus 17 to be very good for gaming and AI, while the Gigabyte Aero 16 is good.
The Gigabyte Aero 16 is tailored for gaming and 3D work with its Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU and OLED screen for high-quality visuals, albeit with a modest screen refresh rate. On the other hand, the Gigabyte Aorus 17 also packs a similar top-tier Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU and is more competitive for fast-paced gaming due to its significantly higher screen refresh rate, despite having a lower screen resolution.
Engineering and Design
8.6/10
8.4/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
7.8/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.3/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The Gigabyte Aero 16 and Gigabyte Aorus 17 are both very good for engineering and design.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Content Creation
8.2/10
8.0/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
OLED
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Gigabyte Aero 16 and Gigabyte Aorus 17 are both very good for content creation.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.9/10
7.5/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.1/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
3840 x 2400
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Gigabyte Aero 16 and Gigabyte Aorus 17 are both good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
Battery
7.0 Hours
6.0 Hours
The Gigabyte Aero 16 has 7 hours of battery life. The Gigabyte Aorus 17 has 6 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Build Quality
7.8/10
7.4/10
The Gigabyte Aero 16 and Gigabyte Aorus 17 both have good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Give feedback
We’re constantly working to improve.
How the Gigabyte Aero 16 and the Gigabyte Aorus 17 compare to other laptops
"The Gigabyte Aero 16 is a workstation laptop for light gaming. It's design is still muted, with a silver chassis alongside a black keyboard and trackpad that provides some contrast. The Gigabyte Aero’s full-size chiclet-style keyboard is enjoyable to type on thanks to its snappy feel and responsiveness. The 4K+ AMOLED display is good, but it could be better. It doesn’t handle true black very well and suffers from strong reflections and glare. The Gigabyte Aero excels at productivity performance and can keep up with other gaming laptops in 1080p. But it has very few ports and its refresh rate leaves a bit to be desired."
"The Gigabyte Aorus 17 is a powerful high-end gaming machine. The Aorus 17 is a potent gaming notebook in a 17.3-inch format designed for FHD gaming at maximum settings. A Core i7-12700H processor and GeForce RTX 3070 Ti Laptop GPU make this possible. A lightning-fast PCIe 4 SSD (1 TB) provides the necessary storage space and ensures short loading times. With the Aorus 17 XE4, Gigabyte delivers a well-rounded, high-performance gaming notebook."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte Aero 16 or the Gigabyte Aorus 17
About Gigabyte
Gigabyte is a Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer. While Gigabyte mainly focuses its business on desktop hardware, Gigabyte is known for its value-oriented G series laptops, thin and light Aero series, and performance-oriented Aorus series. Gigabyte laptops offer a strong value proposition to compete with mainstream alternatives.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
By the numbers
380
Laptops evaluated
48,640
Laptops stats compiled
13
Proprietary Laptops ratings developed
98,595
Recommendations made
21,363
Consumer hours saved
About the laptop team
Joe Golden, Ph.D
CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Jason Lew
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.
Chandradeep Chowdhury
Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.
Craig Russell
Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.