Asus’ new badass laptop for creators has a friggin' built-in dial

If there’s any laptop maker that you can’t accuse of being boring, it’s Asus. The company went all-in with dual-screen laptops like the Zenbook Duo series and now it’s doing another weird (but awesome) thing: it’s put a dial — a friggin’ dial — alongside the keyboard and trackpad on the ProArt Studiobook 16 laptop.

Designed for creators, the ProArt Studiobook 16 has powerful internals that can compete with other high-end laptops. Whether you’re a graphic artist, video editor, or photographer, features like the “cinema-grade” OLED panel and stylus support on the track make using Adobe’s creative suite even more intuitive.

But that stuff is a given in a laptop targeted at creators. The included dial is the real showstopper on the ProArt Studio 16.

Dialing it up — That’s right, the Asus ProArt Studiobook 16 has a dial with over 70 functions for creator software. Functions can be tailored for each app through the ProArt Creator Hub program. You can add specific gestures or in-software settings that can be accessed with just a few clicks and spins of the dial.

In Premiere Pro, for example, the dial can be used to scrub through a clip. In Photoshop, the dial can be used to select a brush and then rotated to adjust the brush size. Though the dial is currently only compatible with Adobe software, Asus plans on expanding the list. DaVinci Resolve is an obvious choice for future compatibility, especially since the non-linear video editing (NLE) already has support for a dial with the DaVinci Resolve Speed Editor, which you won’t need if you get the ProArt Studioboook 16.

The trackpad is just as useful for creators, offering stylus support for drawing, animating, or adjusting fine detail on a variety of creator software. Another interesting thing added to the trackpad is its three-button functionality, which is reminiscent of old laptops circa the early-2000s. What’s different here is that the middle button can be held to rotate 3D objects by gesturing on the trackpad. In programs like Blender or Maya, the feature will surely save creators some time and make it easier to interact with 3D objects. Additionally, the laptop includes two customizable keys that can be changed via the ProArt Creator Hub — a nice little extra on top of the already stellar functionality.

Specced out — The creator-friendly features are great, but what’s the point if the internals can’t back it up? Thankfully, the ProArt Studiobook 16 packs a punch in terms of specs, with the option of either up to an Intel Core i9 processor or a Ryzen 9 5900HX (AMD’s most powerful mobile processor). It doesn’t stop there either, the Intel option comes with an Nvidia RTX 3060 laptop GPU, while the Ryzen configuration has the option for the beefier Nvidia RTX 3070 laptop GPU. Memory varies between models, but all models can have up to 64GB of RAM, though the Ryzen options come with a max 32GB of RAM — you’ll need to add additional memory to get 64GB of RAM. Storage options vary as well, but either model can be configured with up to 4TB of storage via dual M.2 NVMe SSDs.

The I/O on this laptop will make MacBook users green with envy. There are two 3.2 Gen 2 USB Type-A ports, one 3.2 Gen 2 USB Type-C port, one Thunderbolt 4 port, a full HDMI port, plus a 3.5mm audio jack, an ethernet port, and an SD card reader — take that Apple.

Asus has really stuffed the ProArt Studiobook 16 with features out the wazoo like a performance mode that increases the CPU’s clock speed and an ultra-quiet “IceCool Pro” cooling system that makes performance mode possible. The bevy of features tailored for creative professionals comes with a price tag to match.

Coming soon — According to Laptop, the Asus ProArt Studiobook 16 starts at $1,999. However, configurations with max memory and RAM easily double the price. The laptop’s release date is still up in the air, but it’s believed it should be by the end of this year.