What do you mean?
The 2K display model is no longer on sale, but that’s okay because the 3K OLED version is available at Best Buy. Laptops with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 graphics cards are currently discounted $1,200On the other hand, the 4070 build is $2,000.
Important points of ZDNET
- Technically it’s a gaming laptop, but the new ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 In fact, professional users may be able to do more than the average gamer.
- With long battery life, a feature-packed keyboard, and an OLED display, users can work easily and comfortably.
- However, laptops are packed with bloatware that takes up a lot of storage space and can cause high operating temperatures.
Please let me ask you a question. When does a gaming laptop stop being a gaming laptop? I think the answer is when the hardware is the least impressive part of the device. The same goes for products that at first glance seem to be inspired by the MacBook. ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. After a few weeks of testing, I honestly forgot it had an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. All other aspects of the laptop were even more appealing. That performance was the furthest thing from my mind.
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I specifically mention MacBooks because the Zephyrus G14 really does look like a MacBook. In addition to being a shiny silver, the display is reminiscent of the one found on the MacBook Pro. It’s a 2K resolution (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) OLED screen surrounded by thick black bezels.
The dark border acts as a contrast, making the colors on the screen appear more vibrant. What’s more, the keyboard is also reminiscent of the ones found on Apple laptops.
If you’re a frequent reader, you know how much I appreciate a comfortable keyboard. Well, I’m happy to say that the Zephyrus G14 definitely has that.
Each key has a slight indentation that guides your fingers toward the center, and most have a nice, springy feel. The combination of the two creates a very hand-friendly typing experience. The top M keys don’t have the same haptic feedback. It’s more dull in comparison because ASUS didn’t expect this much action. But these four have audio controls on the laptop, and the standout is the M4, which launches the Armory Crate app that configures the RGB lights.
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Asus has made some interesting choices here, so we’ll have to call out the function keys as well. For example, pressing F5 puts the internal fan into turbo mode. As a side note, the placement of the fan itself creates a design trade-off.
It is placed on the bottom of the laptop instead of on the back or sides to make the laptop thinner. This model is less than an inch thick, so we can say ASUS has succeeded. However, choosing this design can cause your computer to heat up quickly because it traps heat without adequate ventilation. If you want to buy this laptop, laptop cooling pad To keep the temperature low.
The F10 key is also interesting, offering an easy way to completely disable the touchpad. This is useful for people who want to use a standard mouse and keyboard combination.
Given the OLED display and lights all over the body, you might think the battery wouldn’t last very long. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. The Zephyrus G14 has the best battery I’ve ever seen in a laptop. In my experience, the only device that beats this is the Acer Chromebook Spin 714.
As usual, I ran a test playing a non-stop YouTube live stream at 720p and 50% brightness. The Zephyrus G14 lasted 10 hours straight. From what I’ve seen, most laptops run out of charge in 6 hours. I was really surprised at this longevity. I wasn’t expecting much since gaming laptops are known to be power-hungry, but happily I was proven wrong.
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The Zephyrus G14 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor in addition to the aforementioned GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card. I ran both benchmark tests and found that the CPU performed better. In Cinebench R23, Ryzen 9 received a score of 16,107, placing it at the top of the processor list and well above the average Intel Core i9-9880H. In comparison, GPUs didn’t fare much better. The differences between the two show that while this laptop is great at handling a variety of workloads, from internet browsing to video editing, it can struggle with gaming.
The Zephyrus G14 has another big drawback besides the heat issue. Laptops come with tons of bloatware. The SSD is packed with some apps that are easy to forget. Sure, some things are helpful. Armory Crate controls your RGB lights, and GeForce Experience manages your game library. In-flight assistant? There aren’t that many. At least, I didn’t realize I was looking for it.
ZDNET purchase advice
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 A great laptop for most people. Enthusiasts like me will appreciate the customizable RGB lighting and hardware. That’s enough for most gaming sessions. Professionals will appreciate the stylish design and long battery life.
If there’s one group that will love this laptop the most, it’s professional staff. The RTX 4060 GPU is at the lower end of the series, so its performance will disappoint gamers looking for raw power. Additionally, bloatware consumes a large amount of SSD, limiting the amount of large files that can be stored at one time.
Also: I spent a week replacing my desktop with this MSI laptop, and it exceeded my expectations.
Prices for the Zephyrus G14 start at $1,600. It’s not cheap, especially since my review unit costs $1,900. Additionally, since the customization options are just added to the laptop, there’s not much you can do to lower the price. Bottom line: The Zephyrus G14 is good value for money, but if you want something cheaper, check out ZDNET’s recommendations for the best budget gaming laptops.
