Asus just revealed big ROG gaming laptop price hikes — and they're so painful some thought they were an April Fool

• Asus has priced up its ROG Zephyrus G16 range in the UK
• The asking prices represent a painful hike from the last-gen laptops
• The entry-level model is 28% more expensive — though the GPU is one tier higher — and gamers are not impressed overall

Asus revealed its new ROG Zephyrus G16 back at CES 2026 (among a host of other notebooks), and now we've caught wind of the pricing in one region — and it's not pretty.

Notebookcheck.net noticed (via VideoCardz) that prices have appeared for these gaming laptops on the Asus UK store ahead of the availability of the hardware. Some big hikes have been applied, which have taken gamers by surprise, even given the prevailing climate for components.

The new entry-level Zephyrus G16 model with an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU (plus 32GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and an Intel Core Ultra 9 386H CPU) runs to £3,199 in the UK, which is around 17% more than the equivalent model from the last generation of G16 notebooks.

However, the twist is that there's no RTX 5060 model this time around (there was in the last-gen range), so the entry-level G16 for 2026 is actually 28% more costly than it was in 2025 (albeit obviously it's more powerful with that 5070 GPU).

Want the G16 for 2026 with an RTX 5080? Then you're looking at an outlay of £4,099, and for this year's flagship G16 with the RTX 5090, the laptop tips up at £4,899 (with those models, you get 64GB of RAM and a 2TB drive, with the same CPU).

As Notebookcheck.net points out, the current last-gen entry-level G16 now has a £400 discount in the UK, and compared to that, the new baseline model has a starting price that's over 50% more than its predecessor (albeit with that more powerful GPU, as noted). That's a very steep increase, of course.

As one gamer on Reddit put it: "I don't know what I was expecting, but I was certainly not expecting that … 3 bags for a 5070. That's insane."

Analysis: what does this mean for prices elsewhere?

Gamers in the UK aren't impressed with the new prices, even though everyone knew laptop hikes were — and likely still are — in the pipeline, due to the crisis with PC components. (RAM and storage, but also other parts too, like GPUs, and we're hearing about pricier CPUs of late, so yes, the bad news keeps coming).

And in other regions, these hikes are worrying gamers as well, considering they represent such a hefty uplift compared to the 2025 models from Asus. However, in the case of the US, we do have to remember that while the new entry-level price tag in the UK — £3,199 — converts to around $4,200, there's not much point considering a direct currency conversion.

That's because prices in the US are a good deal cheaper (minus the cost of importing, sales tax, and other factors). Those of us in the UK usually find that tech costs the same in pounds as it does in dollars (if not more). Just look at the recently launched MacBook Neo, for example, which is $599 in the US and £599 in the UK.

Also, the Neo is an apt illustration of how it is still possible to keep laptop pricing affordable (albeit Apple has doubtless used its vast resources to good effect in terms of inventory and being able to leverage more favorable prices with components).

All in all, the price rises for the ROG Zephyrus G16 feel unreasonably hefty, but that said, the situation with US pricing may look better when it's announced (which should be very soon). Better will be a relative term, mind you, and there's no guarantee of this either.

Of course, the UK situation is an ominous portent for the US and other countries besides, as is the pricing of Asus models in Canada, such as the ROG Zephyrus Duo for 2026 (the dual-screen laptop), which starts at $5,499 CAD (and £3,999 in the UK). That's the entry-level price right there, just to make it clear.

The reaction on Reddit has been one of disbelief, peppered with resignation to ever-inflating prices for hardware. There's even a marked theme of people saying they'd rather buy a MacBook given the new Asus ROG prices, despite the fact that Apple's portable is clearly not a gaming laptop.

What this tale of pricing woe also highlights is that it's well worth looking at last year's model — with a discount, as seen in the UK currently — rather than paying the big bucks for the contemporary laptop, and this is true now more than ever.

The best laptops for all budgets

➡️ Read our full guide to the best laptops
1. Best overall:
Apple MacBook Air 13-inch M4
2. Best budget:
Asus Chromebook CM14
3. Best Windows 11 laptop
Microsoft Surface Laptop 13-inch
4. Best gaming:
Razer Blade 16
5. Best for pros
MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Pro)

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