The Gigabyte Aorus 17 offers strong performance for general use, 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering tasks – making it a great gaming laptop as well - but it's not as portable due to its larger size and weight. By contrast, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is more expensive but provides better portability, a significantly sharper and brighter OLED touchscreen, longer battery life, and doubles both the storage and RAM. It's highly suitable for professional environments and tasks like photography and video editing, where its superior display quality will be appreciated, yet it may not handle demanding 3D and machine learning tasks as well as the Aorus 17. 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 Aorus 17
Very good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good overall build quality
Good portability
Best in class speakers
Excellent keyboard
Key differences
General Use
7.9/10
8.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
267.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
393.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
7.0 Hours
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
6.2/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.8/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for general use, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 is good.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 outshines the Gigabyte Aorus 17 in general use primarily due to its superior OLED screen that boasts higher resolution and touch capability, as well as having double the RAM and a larger storage capacity, all contributing to a better multitasking and user experience. Despite the Aorus 17's powerful CPU and GPU combination that can handle demanding tasks, its heavier weight and larger form factor detract from its portability, whereas the lighter and thinner ThinkPad Z16, while less powerful, offers a longer battery life and excellent keyboard, making it more suited for prolonged general use on the go.
Gaming and AI
8.1/10
6.7/10
8.3/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
4.6/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
No
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
No
6.5/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
8.0/10
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 is very good for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is only fair.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 is equipped with a Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti and a high screen refresh rate of 360, making it well-suited for fast-paced gaming and 3D applications, although it has a standard screen resolution. On the other hand, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16, while having an AMD RX 6500M which is a notch below in performance and a lower refresh rate of 60, boasts a superior OLED screen with higher resolution and quality, offering vivid details for gaming and 3D but with less fluid motion.
Content Creation
8.0/10
8.5/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and Gigabyte Aorus 17 are both very good for content creation, though the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is somewhat better.
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
7.5/10
8.2/10
9.1/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
7.4/10
16.0 GB
RAM
32.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
8.0/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
9.0/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 is very good for software development, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 is good.
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.
Screen Quality
8.0/10
8.5/10
17.3in
SIZE
16.0in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
3840 x 2400
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
OLED
360Hz
REFRESH RATE
60Hz
267.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
393.0 nits
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 has a better screen than the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 for gaming and AI, while the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has a better screen for general use, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, the ThinkPad Z16 outshines the Gigabyte Aorus 17 with a display that offers superior brightness and clarity, making it more pleasant for everyday tasks like browsing the web or working on documents. The Z16's screen is also better for engineering and design work because it covers a wider range of colors, which is crucial for accurately viewing and editing images or videos. However, for gaming and 3D applications, both laptops fall short due to their lower refresh rates, which can lead to less fluid motion and responsiveness during fast-paced action.
Portability
Fair
Good
17.3in
SIZE
16.0in
5.9 lbs
WEIGHT
4.2 lbs
1.0in
THICKNESS
0.6in
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has good portability, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.0/10
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has very good build quality, while the Gigabyte Aorus 17 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,700
$1,120
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 has a price of $1,700 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 costs $1,120.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 and Gigabyte Aorus 17 are both very good for engineering and design.
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 is favored for engineering and design thanks to its high-end Intel CPU and powerful Nvidia GPU combined with ample RAM, which are essential for demanding applications, though it is heavier and larger, impacting its portability. On the other hand, the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 offers an excellent OLED screen with a higher resolution suitable for detail-oriented work, along with superior portability due to its lighter weight, and it is equipped with a robust AMD CPU and GPU, plus double the RAM for multitasking efficiency.
Battery
6.0 Hours
7.0 Hours
The Gigabyte Aorus 17 has 6 hours of battery life. The Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 has 7 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.
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How the Gigabyte Aorus 17 and the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 compare to other laptops
"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."
"Lenovo’s ThinkPad Z16 tries has some success in its effort to tweak the ThinkPad formula. The laptop is attractive, yet still tame, and material quality is on par with the best Windows competition. I also like the smooth, responsive haptic touchpad and the wide range of modern connectivity. Yet the Z16 doesn’t fix ThinkPad’s typical weakness: value. Starting around $1,550, and more typically near $1,700, the Z16 finds itself facing alternatives that have better performance or an improved display for the same price, or less."
Get a great deal on the Gigabyte Aorus 17 or the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16
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.
About Lenovo
Lenovo is a Chinese technology company, and one of the largest personal computer vendor. They are well known for a variety of technology products, including laptops. Their consumer series include their entry level IdeaPad and LOQ series and mid-to-high-end Yoga and Legion series. On the business-oriented side, their series include their entry-level ThinkBook series and mid-to-high-end ThinkPad series. Lenovo laptops offer strong performance for reasonable prices, and are often on sale.
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.
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