New 16-inch laptop with OLED now cheaper worldwide

Asus has quietly expanded the global availability of a more affordable configuration of its Zenbook A16, giving buyers in several markets a lower-cost entry point into the sleek, Qualcomm-powered laptop series.

A New Variant Reaches More Markets

The Zenbook A16 first made headlines in April with Qualcomm’s second-fastest Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chipset. Subsequent benchmark testing demonstrated that the X2E-94-100 silicon not only surpasses comparable x86 systems but also keeps pace with Apple’s M4-equipped MacBooks. Weeks after launch, Asus silently introduced a less powerful version, initially spotted only in Italy. That configuration, model UX3607QA, has now surfaced in Australia and the UK — though it remains absent from North American listings at this time.

Processor and Performance Differences

The heart of the more economical model is the Snapdragon X X1-26-100, an 8-core processor also found in the entry-level Zenbook A14. According to internal performance benchmarks, this chip trails the top-tier Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme X2E-94-100 by nearly half in raw speed, a significant drop that will be most noticeable in sustained multi-threaded workloads.

Beyond processing power, the cost savings come with several hardware trade-offs. The UX3607QA ships with 16 GB of RAM, which is one-third of the memory offered in the pricier Zenbook A16 configuration. The display also sees a substantial downgrade: the cheaper variant replaces the premium model’s 500-nit, 2.8K, 120 Hz OLED panel with a dimmer screen that runs at a lower resolution and a slower refresh rate. Connectivity has been scaled back as well, moving from Wi-Fi 7 to Wi-Fi 6E. On the positive side, the new version is approximately 100 grams lighter than its more powerful sibling.

Pricing and Value Proposition

In terms of pricing, the UX3607QA is listed at AU 2,074 in Australia and £1,299 (roughly $1,730) in the UK, inclusive of taxes. For comparison, the Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme variant currently sells for £2,099 in the UK. That represents a saving of around 38 percent, making the updated configuration a compelling option for users whose workflows favor battery life and portability over intensive computing performance.