ASUS Zenbook A16 Launches With 48GB RAM and Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme for $1,599

ASUS has quietly launched the Zenbook A16 with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme, and it’s already available to grab on Best Buy for $1,599.99. Now, you might be wondering what you get for that amount, right?

Well, that price gets you a 16-inch 2880 x 1800 OLED touch display at 120Hz, an 18-core CPU clocked up to 5.0 GHz, and a staggering 48GB of RAM paired with a 1TB SSD. For a first-wave Snapdragon X2 device, that’s unusually generous on paper. The Zenbook A16 appears to be the early frontrunner for anyone chasing a high-memory Copilot+PC without breaking the bank.

If you are wondering what Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme delivers, here’s a breakdown for you. Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme is Qualcomm’s top-tier Windows PC platform, designed for thin-and-light Copilot+ laptops. With an 80 TOPS NPU, it’s aimed at AI workloads, local image generation, and other heavy compute tasks. Qualcomm claims the Elite tier delivers up to 31% faster CPU performance at ISO power and up to 43% lower energy use compared to the previous generation.

The X2 Elite Extreme variant on the Zenbook A16 features:

• 18-core CPU, up to 5.0 GHz
• 80 TOPS NPU, nearly 2x faster than the previous gen
• GPU performance up to 5.0 TFLOPS, multi-monitor ready
• Support for up to 128GB LPDDR5x RAM
• Always-On AI features, live captions, noise suppression
• Wi-Fi 7, 5G, Snapdragon Sound

Meanwhile, the smaller Zenbook A14 packs the regular 18-core Snapdragon X2 Elite with 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD, keeping the same NPU performance target but in a more compact 14-inch form factor. You can also grab it from Best Buy for $1,149.99.

As reported by VideoCardz, Best Buy is the only confirmed retailer. With top-tier specs, high memory, and fanless efficiency, the Zenbook A16 looks like a compelling entry in the Snapdragon X2 lineup. How it performs in real-world testing will be the key, but on paper, it’s already hard to beat at this price.