M2 Air Outscores New Asus Zenbook A16 in Benchmark Test, Exposing Flaws in New Hardware Pricing
An M2 Air running Asahi Linux Fedora Remix 42 (KDE) scored 22.0 in the Speedometer 3.0 benchmark. This score was reported to beat the Asus Zenbook A16 and several Ryzen 7 and Core i7 units.
Commenters criticize the Asus Zenbook A16's value proposition. Several users pointed out the M2 Air, equipped with 24GB RAM and a 2TB SSD, is available used for $800-$900, sharply undercutting the Asus's $1600 price tag. Furthermore, 'const_void' dismissed the brand outright, calling Asus 'garbage'. Meanwhile, 'Phoronix source analysis' warned that Linux support on Snapdragon X Elite remains poor compared to AMD Ryzen AI or Intel Core Ultra.
The discussion points overwhelmingly to better value in existing ARM architecture. Technical users view the $1600 Asus machine as overpriced compared to functional, high-performing alternatives like the M2 Air. The fault line centers on corporate pricing practices versus raw, demonstrable performance benchmarks.
Key Points
M2 Air performance advantage on Linux.
A quantitative benchmark (Speedometer 3.0) scored 22.0 on an M2 Air, beating the Zenbook and multiple high-end chips, according to partial_accumen.
Asus Zenbook A16 pricing is questionable.
Users cited the M2 Air (24GB/2TB) available for $800-$900 against the $1600 Asus price tag, suggesting aggressive or misleading pricing.
Negative sentiment toward Asus brand.
User 'const_void' explicitly labeled the company's offerings as 'garbage'.
Snapdragon X Elite Linux support is lagging.
Phoronix source analysis stated that as of late 2025, X Elite support is disappointing; AMD and Intel remain better Linux choices.
Linux usability on Snapdragon X2 is questioned.
User 'eager_eagle' initiated a technical query regarding the current performance and usability of Linux on the X2 processor.
Source Discussions (3)
This report was synthesized from the following Lemmy discussions, ranked by community score.