Yeah, I said it. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is the MacBook Pro of gaming laptops. But the difference is that the battery life is much worse (as one would expect from any gaming laptop).
And, throwing some playful shade to MacBooks, you can actually game to your heart’s desire on it with your favorite envelope-pushing triple-A titles. Plus, the ROG Zephyrus G14 is surprisingly light. When I first picked it up, I was expecting a lot of heft — only to be met a shocking featherweight design.
However, thin-and-light gaming laptops face one major hurdle: heat. Although the ROG Zephyrus G14 struggles to overcome this, it delivers a decent gaming experience at a practical price point.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 price
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is $1,599 via Best Buy. This is the cheapest configuration you can get (the same configuration I tested for this review) — and it comes with the following specs:
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AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU
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Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU
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16GB of RAM
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1TB of SSD storage
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120Hz, 14-inch display with 2560 x 1440-pixel resolution
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Windows 11 Home
If you want more RAM and better graphics — 32GB of memory and a 4070 GPU, to be exact — you can upgrade to the $1,999 model.
MacBook-like design
The ROG Zephyrus G14 is perfect for those who want to bring a respectable, MacBook Pro-esque laptop to the office — before gaming at night with a beastly gaming rig.
From the dual speaker grilles flanking the keyboard to the “platinum white” chassis, it’s no wonder the ROG Zephyrus G14 is the MacBook Pro of gaming laptops.
The design is on par with Apple’s laptops.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
The ROG Zephyrus G14 is wrapped in a sturdy, solid CNC aluminum unibody chassis along with a silvery hue and rounded corners that is quite MacBook-esque.
Hell, it even weighs as much as a MacBook Pro, too. For example, the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro weighs 3.4 pounds, which is only slightly heavier than the 3.3-pound ROG Zephyrus G14.
Adding more credence to my MacBook Pro-esque claim, the ROG Zephyrus G14 is 0.62 inches thick; the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro is 0.61 inches thick.
However, what differentiates the ROG Zephyrus G14 from the MacBook world is the giant slash design on the lid that has programmable LED lighting (you can play with it via the pre-installed Armoury Crate app).
Nice variety of ports
One thing that’s not very MacBook, in a good way, is the ROG Zephyrus G14’s wide variety of ports. On the left side, you’ll find a USB4 port, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a headset jack.
You won’t be hurting for ports on this laptop.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
On the right side, you’ll find a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, another USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, and a microSD card slot (a nod to you creators out there).
No, there isn’t a Thunderbolt 4 port on this laptop. (This is an AMD-based laptop, so due to licensing hindrances regarding Intel, USB4 is the best you’ll get.)
Decent OLED display
I watched the Deadpool & Wolverine trailer on YouTube to test the ROG Zephyrus G14’s 14-inch, 3K (2560 x 1440-pixel resolution) display. The picture was crisp, almost too crisp, as I watched Ryan Reynold’s character prance around the screen with reptilian-like pockmarks and scaly, unsightly skin.
The OLED display is really lovely.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
The colors are and textures are rich, too, showing off Deadpool’s forest-green jacket and the vivid Hawaiian shirt, filled with tropical designs on it, underneath it. While playing Cyberpunk 2077, I marveled at the sheen that emanated from robo-secretary with a gold-plated face.
However, as I talk about farther down in the review, the screen does have a notable flaw: brightness.
Awesome keyboard layout
Have you ever experienced a moment in which you’re quickly trying to find the mute button, but as it’s sandwiched between a row of other keys, you find yourself scrambling to press it?
The keyboard was designed with gamers in mind.
Credit: Kimberly Gedeon / Mashable
The ROG Zephyrus G14 rectifies this issue by isolating the mute button, the volume up/down keys, and the pre-installed Armoury Crate app (for quick assess to gaming settings), placing the four keys above the function row.
In the words of Agnes from Despicable MeSource link
