ASUS VivoBook 16" M1605YA-ES74 2023, Ryzen 7 7730U, 8GB, 1TB SSD, Indie Black

The ASUS VivoBook M1605YA-ES74 is a 16-inch budget laptop with a strong Ryzen 7 CPU and a generous 1TB SSD. It's great for students and everyday users who want a big screen for documents and streaming. The 8GB of RAM and weak integrated graphics hold it back for multitasking and gaming.

The Ryzen 7 7730U is a rebadged Zen 3 chip, not the newer Zen 4, but it still delivers. With 8 cores, 16 threads, and a 4.5GHz max boost, it handles everyday tasks without breaking a sweat. In our database, the CPU lands at the 56th percentile, which is about average for this category. That means it won't blow anyone away, but it's more than enough for Office apps, browser tabs, and light photo editing.

The integrated AMD Radeon Graphics sits at the 40th percentile, so don't expect much beyond casual games and video playback. It'll run older titles and indie games at low settings, but anything modern will struggle. The 1TB NVMe SSD is a highlight, ranking at the 79th percentile for storage. That's a lot of fast space for a budget laptop, and it's one of the best things about this config. The 8GB of DDR4 RAM is the weak link, landing at just the 13th percentile. That's one of the lowest RAM allocations we see in this category, and it will limit how many apps you can keep open at once.

Compared to the Apple MacBook Air M4, the VivoBook is a different animal entirely. The MacBook Air costs significantly more, but it's lighter, has a much better display, and the M4 chip runs circles around the Ryzen 7 7730U in both CPU and GPU tasks. If you're in the Apple ecosystem and can stretch your budget, the Air is the better laptop. But if you need Windows and a 16-inch screen for under $800, the VivoBook is a reasonable alternative.

The Lenovo Legion 5i 83F00008US is a gaming laptop, so it has a dedicated GPU and much better performance for games and creative work. It's also heavier and more expensive. The HP OmniBook X Flip 14-fk0033dx is a 2-in-1 with a smaller screen but better portability and likely better battery life. For students who want a big screen for writing papers and watching lectures, the VivoBook holds its own. For anyone who wants to game or edit video, the Legion or a laptop with 16GB of RAM is the smarter pick.

At $735 USD, the VivoBook M1605YA-ES74 is a decent deal if you prioritize storage and screen size over raw performance. The 1TB SSD alone is a big selling point, since many laptops in this range ship with 256GB or 512GB. But the 8GB of RAM is a real compromise. For the same money, you could find a 14-inch laptop with 16GB of RAM and a smaller SSD, or a refurbished business laptop with better build quality. The affordability score sits at the 57th percentile, so it's not a screaming bargain, just a fair price for what you get.

The ASUS VivoBook M1605YA-ES74 is a 16-inch budget laptop aimed at students and anyone who needs a big screen without spending a fortune. It sits in the mid-range price bracket at around $735 USD, and for that you get an AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. That's a solid core spec sheet for everyday work, web browsing, and streaming, though the RAM is a bit tight for heavy multitasking.

People searching for a 16-inch laptop under $800 will likely land here, and the big draw is that 1920x1200 IPS display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It's not a gaming panel at 60Hz, but it's fine for documents, spreadsheets, and Netflix. The chassis is MIL-STD 810H rated, which is nice to see on a budget machine, and it weighs 1.90kg, so it's portable enough for a backpack without being ultrabook-light.

Is the ASUS VivoBook 16 good for students? Mostly yes, if your workload is papers, research tabs, and video calls. The Ryzen 7 7730U has 8 cores and 16 threads, which is more CPU than most laptops in this price range offer. But the 8GB of RAM is the bottleneck, and we'll get into that below.

Skip this laptop if you need more than 8GB of RAM for heavy multitasking, virtual machines, or creative apps like Premiere or Blender. Gamers should also look elsewhere, since the integrated graphics won't keep up with modern titles. If you travel a lot and want something lighter with better battery life, a 14-inch ultrabook or the MacBook Air M4 is a better fit. And if you're a creator who needs color-accurate displays and fast rendering, the MSI Creator A13V or a laptop with a dedicated GPU is worth the extra money.

Should you buy the ASUS VivoBook M1605YA-ES74? If you need a 16-inch Windows laptop with a big SSD and you mostly do schoolwork, web browsing, and streaming, it's a solid choice. The Ryzen 7 CPU is capable, the display is comfortable for long reading sessions, and the 1TB SSD means you won't run out of space for files and apps.

But if you plan to keep more than a handful of browser tabs open, run virtual machines, or do any kind of creative work, the 8GB of RAM will frustrate you. It's the kind of spec that feels fine on day one and annoying by month six. For most people, we'd recommend finding a config with 16GB of RAM, even if it means a smaller SSD or a slightly higher price.