Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 review: Small, thin, and impossibly mighty

Price When Reviewed

1599.99

Best Prices Today: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

The 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14 exhibits off proportions and a weight profile surprisingly near an ultrabook – upgrades I’d count on to see alongside a corresponding drop in efficiency. But no! That might need been the case if it had final 12 months’s chipset, however the G14 now packs a category above, an AI-infused Ryzen 9 CPU and an extremely highly effective RTX 40 Series GPU. Hence then, the explanation why it exhibits such defiance. Yes, it’s tiny, however wow this laptop computer packs a punch.

Looking for extra choices? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best gaming laptops.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Specifications

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a premium laptop computer and has a premium set of specs 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 gives fast entry to saved information.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS
• RAM: 16GB DDR5 / 6400MHz
• Graphics: Nvidia RTX 4060
• Display: 14-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED, 16:10 side ratio, 120Hz refresh fee, 100 % PCI-P3 colour gamut, 0.2ms response time, G-Sync
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080P IR Windows Hello appropriate
• 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 capability: 73WHrs
• Dimensions: 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.63 inches
• Weight: 3.31 lbs (1.5kg)
• Cost: $1,599.99 (base worth)

A mannequin that includes the above specs prices $1,599.99, or else a top-of-the-line mannequin with RTX 4070 GPU prices $2,199.99. Asus’ US web site was out of inventory of all 2024 fashions on the time of scripting this assessment, however the laptops had been in-stock at a number of different retailers.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Design and construct

Measuring simply 12.24 x 0.66 x 0.63 inches, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is an exceptionally glossy and compact laptop computer that brings new that means to the phrase moveable. I scarcely see gaming laptops as skinny as ultrabooks, however that’s primarily what Asus has achieved right here.

The different half of the portability equation is its weight, which suggestions the scales at simply 3.31 kilos. That makes it a cinch to carry and carry. In truth, I can choose it up with simply my index finger and my thumb for leverage, which is saying quite a bit for my skinny fingers.

Asus has an instance of the precision machining course of on its web site. After studying that I may higher think about how the elements had been fitted across the laptop computer’s new 2nd Gen Arc Flow followers which Asus says present an 11 % enhance to airflow.

All that precision machining has made the G14 impeccably powerful, too. Asus has used a premium CNC-milled aluminum alloy all through, so the laptop computer feels constructed to face up to any type of punishment. Gamers don’t maintain again, therefore why the lid is nearly rigid, and the bottom is each ounce as immovable as I’d count on a bigger gaming laptop computer’s to be.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Style and aptitude? Yes, this laptop computer has loads of that too. My assessment unit was the Eclipse Grey coloured selection, however this 12 months you may as well purchase the laptop computer in a brand new Moonlight White colour. The gray is a likeable charcoal hue that’s darker within the trackpad and keys to the encompassing metallic base, which makes them simpler to see.

Other aesthetic touches embrace a mixture of the modest and flashy: Indeed, I may barely see the ROG logos on the laptop computer’s decrease bezel and higher portion of the lid however couldn’t for the lifetime of me miss the programmable flashing gentle strip, which Asus has dubbed ‘the Slash Lighting Array.’ It’s only for present, in fact, however it’s a pleasant contact that hints on the G14’s AI capabilities.

Asus ROG Zephyrus 14: Keyboard and trackpad

Asus has made nice use of a good area to squeeze in a big keyboard. The keys have a stone slate-like look, however surprisingly they really feel something however stony to hit; they really feel gentle and just a little mushy. They are spot-on size-wise, although, bearing fairly massive keycaps – Asus says they’re 12.24 % bigger than final 12 months’s mannequin. A beneficiant 1.7mm of horizontal journey means it’s even more durable to register a miss hit.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

The keyboard backlighting consists of a single zone of RGB lighting. It lights up the keys subtly with none annoying glary gentle bleed. It’s a disgrace the G14 doesn’t permit you to customise particular person keys, although, which normally brings an added dimension to gameplay, however you may Sync the RGB colour and results to different Aura Sync gadgets utilizing Asus’s Armory Crate app.

The G14’s trackpad virtually makes up a big 16:10 side ratio within the chassis. It feels just a little smoother than in earlier years – that’s, it’s fairly glassy relatively than plastic to the contact. Clicking it confirmed the buttons had barely any resistance, which meant I may execute apps rapidly with out the awkwardness of not registering a second click on.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Display and audio

This 12 months the G14 laptop computer boasts the very first OLED show in a ROG laptop computer and it’s leagues higher than final 12 months’s LED show. Of course, simply being an OLED panel brings a number of advantages. – the plain one being that the blacks and colours are way more pronounced and more true than final 12 months.

The panel has VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certification and a 1,000,000:1 distinction ratio, which explains why all the things simply pops so nicely. It additionally covers 100 % of the DCI-P3 colour gamut which implies you’re getting the total spectrum of hues you want for visually beautiful video games.

I’ve seen too many nice wanting shows ruined by display tearing, however the G14 doesn’t have that problem – tearing is stored at bay by a fast 0.2 millisecond response time, 120Hz refresh fee and G-Sync help. Indeed, this show actually is right for low-latency gameplay.

The 3K decision means there’s a really excessive pixel density for simply 14-inches of diagonal area. Judging by the extremely detailed photographs I noticed, players are going to essentially lap up the unimaginable imagery this laptop computer can produce at 2880 x 1800 in extremely textured video games like Cyberpunk 2077. Pantone validation additionally bides nicely for designers engaged on colour matching.

The display additionally does nicely for brightness. I’m speaking concerning the laptop computer’s most peak brightness of 500 nits in HDR mode, which retains it properly illuminated close to sunlit home windows.

For sound, the G14 depends on a staggering six audio system positioned above and beneath the laptop computer. These present an in depth, wealthy soundscape by means of the highs and mids even at full quantity, nonetheless the bass typically muddies because the woofers are positioned beneath the laptop computer and fireplace downwards.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Connectivity and webcam

Small laptops are restricted for area, so the connectivity choices are typically fairly restricted too. The G14 goes one higher than most small laptops, nonetheless, including a microSD card reader to its number of USB-C and USB-A ports. Speaking of which you get, 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports, 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen and 1 x USB-C 4 port on the laptop computer’s flanks. A HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm audio jack convey up the tail finish of that providing. Altogether, there’s sufficient to cowl your peripheral wants.

Although pint-sized, the laptop computer’s community connectivity is kind of first rate, however it’s not as future going through as within the Razer Blade 14. I say that solely as a result of the G14 has Wi-Fi 6E as an alternative of the newer Wi-Fi 7. Still, the previous nonetheless gives very fast wi-fi bandwidth for gaming. The G14 additionally has Bluetooth 5.3.

The Zephyrus G14’s 1080p digital camera is Windows Hello appropriate, however it’s not the very best quality. I observed a definite haziness in a lot of my video chats. In others, the webcam didn’t deal with gentle nicely, washing out photographs with just a little an excessive amount of brightness.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Gaming efficiency

The Zephyrus G14 sports activities an AMD Ryzen 9 8495 CPU, which options 8 Cores and 16 Threads and a most turbo frequency as much as 5.2GHz. This chip incorporates AMD’s new Ryzen AI expertise, that includes devoted AI accelerators constructed into the silicon.

The accelerators give the CPU and GPU a serving to hand, liberating up assets for further processing. They particularly streamline artistic apps and video calls, enabling and optimizing processes like automated framing, tremendous decision upscaling and eye gaze correction within the latter.

Of course, all meaning the G14 has just a little further firepower up its sleeves than earlier era G14s for creators. But my important jam being gaming, the purpose of my benchmarking was primarily to see how the laptop computer may deal with the type of punishment triple-A video games are more likely to dish out.

The first benchmark I ran was Maxon’s Cinebench Multi-Threaded benchmark, which flexes each core of the laptop computer’s CPU. Most video games gained’t precisely do that, however this take a look at nonetheless provides a sign of how the CPU is more likely to carry out when actually examined. I graphed the G14’s spectacular size-defying consequence beneath.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

In the HandBrake take a look at, the laptop computer was tasked with encoding a 30GB MKV file to MP4 utilizing the Android Tablet preset. Here, the laptop computer managed to maintain thermal throttling at bay to complete the duty in a fast time of 905 seconds.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

In the graphics-based benchmark, 3DMark TimeSpy 1.2, the G14’s RTX 4060 GPU mixed efforts with the laptop computer’s CPU to clock a rating of 9,631 within the Overall class.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

There had been equally spectacular outcomes recorded within the two gaming benchmarks. In the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark, the G14’s framerates hit a mean 133 frames per second. This fee dropped right down to 101 frames per second within the extra graphically demanding Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

There’s actually no have to over analyze this efficiency. As you may see above, it’s clear the G14 performs reliably for CPU-based and graphics-based duties. You can count on spectacular framerates in graphically demanding video games, so in the event you really feel like giving recreation texture packs a go, go proper forward!

It’s additionally going to be fast and environment friendly if you wish to flex your creativity and do some modifying in Adobe Photoshop or muck about in packages like DaVinci Resolve. In a nutshell, the G14 is small, however mighty!

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Battery efficiency

I had excessive hopes for the G14’s battery life given the big 73WHr capability and the truth that the laptop computer’s Ryzen 9 CPU and 2nd Gen Arc followers present 12 months on 12 months effectivity advantages. However, the G14 lasted simply 322 minutes (5 hours and 22 minutes) in our battery take a look at. That’s thought of a mean consequence for a gaming laptop computer.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Mind you, the take a look at was run at evening so adaptive brightness could have skewed the consequence considerably and drained extra energy than it might have performed throughout a daytime take a look at.

On face worth, this consequence doesn’t appear that unhealthy however our PCWorld battery take a look at doesn’t drain a laptop computer’s battery as fast as operating video games would. For gaming you’re simply three to 4 hours of battery life, which isn’t nice for a laptop computer this measurement. Still, so long as you carry the laptop computer’s charger and discover an outlet for longer gaming stints, you gained’t worry a lot by the shortfall.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Conclusion

If having a gaming laptop computer that’s barely even noticeable in your backpack sounds attractive, then it’s onerous to miss the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14. If presents each excessive portability and mighty efficiency. But, based mostly on its middling battery efficiency, you’ll nonetheless need to carry a charger with you in your gaming journeys.