ASUS’ ROG Zephyrus G14 has been one in all our favourite for rattling close to half a decade. However the 2024 mannequin is on one other degree. That’s as a result of even with out a recent era of GPUs from NVIDIA, ASUS went and redesigned your entire factor anyway. And the result’s a pocket book with a beautiful aluminum unibody chassis with a extra mature design that doesn’t must throw RGB lighting in your face to get some consideration. This version can also be sleeker and lighter whereas nonetheless offering highly effective efficiency. Although ASUS made just a few trade-offs when in comparison with its predecessor, with a beginning value of $1,600, the brand new ROG Zephyrus G14 just isn’t solely a greater worth than virtually all of its 14-inch rivals, it’s additionally merely the most effective pound-for-pound gaming laptops round.
Photograph by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
For anybody who needs sturdy efficiency in a conveyable design, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is each pound for pound and greenback for greenback your best option round.
- Stunning understated design
- Beautiful OLED display
- Sturdy efficiency
- Good port choice
- Punchy audio system
- Backside vents can get a bit toasty
- Keyboard solely has single-zone lighting
- Armoury Crate app is type of messy
- RAM is soldered in
Design
In comparison with earlier fashions that have been awash in RGB or had dot-matrix shows constructed into their lids, this 12 months’s G14 is an train in restraint. It’s virtually like the road has grown out of its awkward teenage part and turn out to be a classy however nonetheless fun-loving grownup. The lid is accented by a easy diagonal slash with white (not RGB) LEDs embedded down the center. In the meantime, on the within, there’s a sturdy deck with a big touchpad and surprisingly highly effective audio system.
The one factor I miss is per-key RGB lighting as an alternative of ASUS’ single-zone method. In spite of everything, it is a gaming laptop computer and in the event you’re going to supply a number of colours, it’d be good to have full customizability.
That stated, the G14’s redesign isn’t nearly fashion, it’s useful too. The swap to a unibody aluminum body has strengthened the entire machine. There’s barely a touch of flex even on sometimes weaker components just like the lattice between keys. However extra importantly, ASUS additionally decreased the laptop computer’s weight to simply 3.3 kilos, which is noticeably lighter than rival notebooks with comparable steel builds just like the (3.95 kilos). Plus, even with the smaller measurement, the G14 incorporates a wholesome choice of ports together with a full-size HDMI 2.1 jack, two USB-C (one in all which helps Thunderbolt 4), two USB-A and a microSD card reader.
Show
One other glowing element of the G14 is its OLED display. Along with producing vibrant colours, it has a pointy 2,880 x 1,800 decision together with a 120Hz refresh fee and a colour gamut that covers 100% of the DCI-P3 spectrum. Lately, I’ve been watching Three Physique Drawback and I’ve been completely loving the OLED panel’s wonderful distinction and deep blacks. Moreover, as a result of ASUS features a handful of color-calibrated settings for sRGB, D65 P3, DCI-P3 (however not Adobe RGB), the G14 is a really succesful photo- and video-editing machine.
The one small situation is that as a result of 2,880 x 1,800 is a considerably unusual decision, it’s possible you’ll not be capable of play all your video games at their native decision, which is a matter I encountered when enjoying Returnal.
Efficiency
A giant change for the 2024 ROG G14 is that GPU choices now prime out with an NVIDIA RTX 4070 as an alternative of a 4080 like on the earlier mannequin. That could be a bummer for some, however as I favor laptops which are simpler to hold round, I’m OK with buying and selling out somewhat top-end oomph for enhanced portability. And with all fashions that includes an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS chip together with not less than 16GB of RAM (or 32GB like on my assessment unit) and 1TB of storage, you received’t be missing in velocity.
On Geekbench 6, the G14 matched the efficiency we noticed from a bigger XPS 16 with an Intel Core Extremely 7 155H chip. In video games, it hit 90 fps in Cyberpunk 2077 on extremely settings, which is simply shy of a way more costly Razer Blade 14 (101 fps). That stated, there are some necessary particulars you need to know. In contrast to earlier fashions, the most recent G14’s reminiscence is soldered to the motherboard, so there’s no approach so as to add additional RAM later. Moreover, whereas each ASUS and Razer’s 14-inch methods seem to have the identical RTX 4070 GPU, the G14’s is capped at 90 watts versus 140 watts for the Blade, which explains the small hole in gaming efficiency.
It’s additionally value noting that warmth may be a difficulty in sure conditions. In regular use, it’s not a giant deal because the followers not often must spin up when shopping the net or watching motion pictures. However below load, as a result of the G14’s vents are on the underside of the pocket book, your lap can get toasty quick. Fortunately, this received’t be a serious downside in the event you’re gaming, because you’ll in all probability need to be at a desk or desk to place an exterior mouse on anyway.
Battery life
Whereas the G14 doesn’t final fairly so long as a standard ultrabook, it nonetheless carries sufficient juice to final practically a whole workday. On PCMark 10’s Fashionable Workplace rundown check, it lasted 7 hours and 29 minutes which is barely higher than the Razer Blade 14’s time of 6:46. And, new for 2024, ASUS has added its proprietary Slim Energy Jack, which form of appears to be like like a USB-C port in the event you squint (but it surely isn’t). Nevertheless, if you wish to actually journey gentle, the G14 helps charging by way of USB-C so you’ll be able to go away the adapter at dwelling. The one caveat is that USB-PD on this maxes out at 100 watts (versus 180 watts when utilizing the included brick), so the battery should discharge whereas gaming or performing different intensive duties.
Wrap-up
Though we already beloved its predecessors, the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14 has managed to take one other huge leap. It’s bought an exquisitely crafted chassis together with a vibrant new show and boomier audio system – all whereas shedding practically half a pound in weight. On the within, you continue to rise up to an RTX 4070 GPU. Positive, it’s a contact slower than a equally geared up Blade 14, however contemplating our assessment unit prices $2,000 in comparison with $2,700 for the closest equivalently specced Razer, I’m glad to commerce a tiny little bit of efficiency to get a way more reasonably priced machine. And that’s earlier than you consider a beginning value of simply for one with an RTX 4060. My greatest gripe is that ASUS’ Amoury Crate app nonetheless feels clunky, due to settings which are onerous to seek out or toggles that don’t work such as you’d count on. However make no mistake, the G14 is a superb laptop computer – for each players and content material creators – who need good efficiency in a conveyable package deal. So whereas I recognize what the Blade 14 and different high-end notebooks can do, ASUS’ newest creation is the one I’d purchase.
