Expert’s Rating
Pros
- Very light and compact design
- Excellent performance for its size
- Robust build
- Visually stunning display
Cons
- Keys feel soft and mushy
- The webcam isn’t the best quality
- The downward facing woofers sometimes sound muddy
Our Verdict
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a pint-sized powerhouse. Its lightweight and compact design offers the kind of portability you’d expect from an ultrabook, while its powerful hardware provides respectable grunt for gaming.
Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
$1599.99
The 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14 shows off proportions and a weight profile surprisingly close to an ultrabook – upgrades I would expect to see alongside a corresponding drop in performance. But no! That might have been the case if it had last year’s chipset, but the G14 now packs a class above, an AI-infused Ryzen 9 CPU and an ultra powerful RTX 40 Series GPU. Hence then, the reason why it shows such defiance. Yes, it’s tiny, but wow this laptop packs a punch.
Looking for more options? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Specifications
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a premium laptop and has a premium set of specifications to match. It equips an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU with an RTX 4060 GPU and 16GB of RAM. A TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD provides quick access to stored files.
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS
- RAM: 16GB DDR5 / 6400MHz
- Graphics: Nvidia RTX 4060
- Display: 14-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED, 16:10 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh rate, 100 % PCI-P3 color gamut, 0.2ms response time, G-Sync
- Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
- Webcam: 1080P IR Windows Hello compatible
- Connectivity: 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x USB-C 4, HDMI 2.1 FRL, 3.5 mm combo audio jack, microSD card reader.
- Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
- Battery capacity: 73WHrs
- Dimensions: 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.63 inches
- Weight: 3.31 lbs (1.5kg)
- Cost: $1,599.99 (base price)
A model featuring the above specs costs $1,599.99, or else a top-of-the-line model with RTX 4070 GPU costs $2,199.99. Asus’ US website was out of stock of all 2024 models at the time of writing this review, but the laptops were in-stock at several other retailers.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Design and build
Measuring just 12.24 x 0.66 x 0.63 inches, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is an exceptionally sleek and compact laptop that brings new meaning to the word portable. I scarcely see gaming laptops as thin as ultrabooks, but that’s essentially what Asus has achieved here.
The other half of the portability equation is its weight, which tips the scales at just 3.31 pounds. That makes it a cinch to hold and carry. In fact, I can pick it up with just my index finger and my thumb for leverage, which is saying a lot for my skinny fingers.
“Tearing is kept at bay by a quick 0.2 millisecond response time, 120Hz refresh rate, and G-Sync support. Indeed, this display really is ideal for low-latency gameplay…
Asus has an example of the precision machining process on its website. After reading that I could better imagine how the components were fitted around the laptop’s new 2nd Gen Arc Flow fans which Asus says provide an 11 percent increase to airflow.
All that precision machining has made the G14 impeccably tough, too. Asus has used a premium CNC-milled aluminum alloy throughout, so the laptop feels built to withstand any kind of punishment. Gamers don’t hold back, hence why the lid is virtually inflexible, and the base is every ounce as immovable as I’d expect a larger gaming laptop’s to be.
A light up strip of LEDs adorns the lid of the Zephyrus G14.
Style and flair? Yes, this laptop has plenty of that too. My review unit was the Eclipse Grey colored variety, but this year you can also buy the laptop in a new Moonlight White color. The grey is a likeable charcoal hue that’s darker in the trackpad and keys to the surrounding metal base, which makes them easier to see.
Other aesthetic touches include a mix of the modest and flashy: Indeed, I could barely see the ROG logos on the laptop’s lower bezel and upper portion of the lid but couldn’t for the life of me miss the programmable flashing light strip, which Asus has dubbed ‘the Slash Lighting Array.’ It’s just for show, of course, but it’s a nice touch that hints at the G14’s AI capabilities.
Asus ROG Zephyrus 14: Keyboard and trackpad
Asus has made great use of a tight space to squeeze in a large keyboard. The keys have a stone slate-like look, but surprisingly they feel anything but stony to hit; they feel soft and a little mushy. They are spot-on size-wise, though, bearing quite large keycaps – Asus says they are 12.24 percent larger than last year’s model. A generous 1.7mm of horizontal travel means it’s even harder to register a miss hit.
Dominic Bayley / IDG
The keyboard backlighting consists of a single zone of RGB lighting. It lights up the keys subtly without any annoying glary light bleed. It’s a shame the G14 doesn’t allow you to customize individual keys, though, which usually brings an added dimension to gameplay, but you can Sync the RGB color and effects to other Aura Sync devices using Asus’s Armory Crate app.
The G14’s trackpad almost makes up a large 16:10 aspect ratio in the chassis. It feels a little smoother than in previous years – that is, it’s quite glassy rather than plastic to the touch. Clicking it showed the buttons had barely any resistance, which meant I could execute apps quickly without the awkwardness of not registering a second click.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Display and audio
This year the G14 laptop boasts the very first OLED display in a ROG laptop and it’s leagues better than last year’s LED display. Of course, just being an OLED panel brings multiple benefits. – the obvious one being that the blacks and colors are much more pronounced and truer than last year.
The panel has VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification and a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, which explains why everything just pops so well. It also covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut which means you’re getting the full spectrum of hues you need for visually stunning games.
I’ve seen too many great-looking displays ruined by screen tearing, but the G14 doesn’t have that issue – tearing is kept at bay by a quick 0.2 millisecond response time, 120Hz refresh rate, and G-Sync support. Indeed, this display really is ideal for low-latency gameplay.
The 3K resolution means there’s a very high pixel density for just 14 inches of diagonal space. Judging by the highly detailed images I saw, gamers are going to really lap up the incredible imagery this laptop can produce at 2880 x 1800 in highly textured games like Cyberpunk 2077. Pantone validation also bides well for designers working on color matching.
The screen also does well for brightness. I’m talking about the laptop’s maximum peak brightness of 500 nits in HDR mode, which keeps it nicely illuminated near sunlit windows.
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