Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 evaluation: Moveable gaming accomplished proper

Finest Costs Immediately: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

Asus had an incredible machine on its arms with the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14, and the 2025 mannequin brings some commendable updates with out messing with the method. Whereas a lot stays unchanged within the chassis and show, the 2025 mannequin brings some under-the-hood updates for a lift in graphical efficiency and effectivity. All of this culminates in a laptop computer that’s nice for work on-the-go, a pleasure to make use of, and potent sufficient for gaming at dwelling with a couple of tweaks to graphics. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 being so properly rounded might not make it the very best laptop computer for pure gaming, but it surely makes it a wonderful all-arounder.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Specs and options

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 270
• Reminiscence: 16GB LPDDR5X-7500
• Graphics/GPU: Nvidia RTX 5060 8GB 100W
• Show: 14-inch 2880×1800 120Hz OLED, Shiny, G-Sync
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p IR
• Connectivity: 1x USB4 with Energy Supply and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with Energy Supply and DisplayPort Alternate Mode, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x microSD card reader, 1x 3.5mm combo audio
• Networking: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: Home windows Hiya facial recognition
• Battery capability: 73 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.64 inches
• Weight: 3.3 kilos
• MSRP: $1,799 as-tested ($1,799 base)

This take a look at unit with the specs above is a singular Finest Purchase providing (although the same config has proven up on Amazon and Walmart from third-party sellers) with decrease specs and a decrease base worth than what Asus affords instantly from its retailer. There, the G14 begins with an RTX 5070, double the reminiscence, and a $2,099 price ticket however is in any other case an identical. For $2,499, that may bump as much as a configuration with a Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, an RTX 5070 Ti, and 2TB of storage.

That CPU improve for the top-tier configuration is notable, because it not solely jumps to a unique class of CPU but in addition a really totally different structure. It additionally brings alongside a way more highly effective NPU that pushes the system up into Co-pilot+ territory due to 50 TOPS of NPU compute in comparison with the Ryzen 9 270 NPU’s 16 TOPS. Even with these upgrades, the chip has a decrease default TDP (although each have overlap of their configurable TDP ranges) and has the potential to make that configuration extra environment friendly than the one examined right here. Whereas the bottom configuration affords first rate worth, its 16GB of soldered on reminiscence might turn into a difficulty, and the upgraded $2,099 mannequin will possible be extra aggressive with its additional GPU horsepower and the higher longevity it could actually present due to its 32GB of reminiscence. 

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Design and construct high quality

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is an excellent piece of {hardware}. Between its slim, 0.64-inch design, its 3.3-pound weight, and its CNC’d aluminum building, it seems like an incredible little laptop computer. And that’s earlier than contemplating how good the design appears and feels.

The show has a clear glass cowl and swings up on a {smooth} and agency hinge that also permits one-handed opening. The underside bezel could also be a bit of thick, and the highest bezel isn’t even with the perimeters, but it surely’s simple to miss when you see the show. 

The keyboard deck is a beautiful piece of aluminum with a really {smooth} end and little or no flex. It wraps down the facet with chamfered corners that enhance consolation. And the underside aluminum panel affords clear seams with the higher portion of the body. The show lid is {smooth} and adorned with small ROG branding in a single nook and a daring, mirror-finished, diagonal slash throughout it with built-in lighting. 

The system sits on two broad rubber ft that angle the laptop computer up barely and supply an air consumption channel beneath. Surprisingly, there are not any exhaust vents main out of the hinge and up towards the show, nor are there exhausts above the keyboard or on the sides. The exhaust within the rear sits under the show hinge in very cramped slits and behind the rear rubber foot. 

All in all, I’d be comfortable to have a laptop computer with this construct whether or not it was a gaming laptop computer or not. It feels sturdy, {smooth}, and properly polished. 

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Keyboard, trackpad

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 continues to display its rocking {hardware} with the keyboard and trackpad. The keyboard affords flat, sq. keys with robust stabilization, a agency actuation power, and a modest journey. It may well make fast, mild typing a bit of tough, however I used to be capable of stand up to a typing velocity of 113 words-per-minute at 98 p.c accuracy with little follow in Monkeytype, which is an effective outcome. Barely extra contour to the keycaps would assist some, because the power wanted mixed with the flat surfaces made it arduous for me to stand up to an incredible typing velocity and accuracy on the keyboard.

The arrow keys are small, however not less than not cramped into the area that ought to be dwelling to different keys. Asus additionally included devoted quantity keys above the perform row that may come in useful. 

The keys have RGB backlighting that does job of lighting up the first legends on most keys, however they don’t illuminate among the larger legends on some keys (like Enter) and so they wrestle to light up legends for secondary features virtually in any respect. It’s a small and customary fumble, however a fumble nonetheless. 

The trackpad is beautiful. Asus used up nearly all of the obtainable vertical area and made it fairly broad as properly. It has a super-smooth glass floor and matches the encompassing metallic properly for a cohesive look. Miserable it affords a mild pop with a tender clicking sound. 

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Show, audio

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 has an excellent show. It supplies a pointy image with a 2880×1800 decision throughout its 14-inch panel. It may well run that at 120Hz for {smooth} recreation visuals, and it helps G-Sync to keep away from tearing. As an OLED show, it additionally has a really quick pixel response time that makes visuals seem all of the extra fluid. It’s additionally a stunner for its shade, which covers 100% of the DCI-P3 shade area. That shade is correct as properly with a median dE1976 of 1.08.

OLED hasn’t at all times been recognized for being vivid, however the show right here fortunately reaches as much as 401 nits in SDR and was capable of hit 631 nits in HDR for a full white display. For people with eyes delicate to alternating present flicker, Asus affords DC dimming assist for the show in its Armoury Crate program. 

The audio system solely improve the expertise additional. Asus has packed six audio system into the system, combining 4 woofers and two tweeters, to supply impressively wealthy sound. These fireplace out of the underside of the laptop computer and on the sides of the keyboard. Not solely does the quantity attain uncomfortable peaks with out important distortion or terribly harsh sound, however the bass depth is appreciable for a laptop computer. There is usually a little sibilance at max quantity, but it surely doesn’t wreck the expertise.

The soundstage is even surprisingly broad, with some stereo audio even sounding prefer it’s coming from exterior the bounds of the system. These are merely among the finest laptop computer audio system I’ve heard, and it’s all of the extra spectacular they’re squeezed right into a 14-inch laptop computer that’s additionally housing a big battery and high-power {hardware}.

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The net digital camera on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is first rate however not distinctive. It captures decently uncovered video with pure shade, however even with its 1080p decision, visuals seem a bit grainy and tender. Having IR sensors for Home windows Hiya facial recognition is good, although, offering a persistently fast technique to signal on.

The three-mic array on the laptop computer can also be first rate. It captures my voice with a modest fullness and doesn’t sound overly compressed, however I do sound considerably distant. It avoids selecting up an excessive amount of background noise, like that of a fan I had operating loudly close by, but it surely didn’t eradicate the sound of me typing whereas I recorded. 

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Connectivity

Foundry / Mark Knapp

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 affords up respectable connectivity for a laptop computer of its measurement. You’ll discover USB-C ports on both facet of the system, and each are able to charging the laptop computer (requires 20V/5A) or transmitting show knowledge. Solely the left one affords USB4 speeds, however the proper one connects to the GPU to assist G-Sync with its video output. Asus has additionally put USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A ports on either side — this splitting is a beautiful gesture for individuals who need some flexibility on the place they plug in equipment. 

The system features a UHS-II microSD card reader on the proper facet as properly. An HDMI 2.1 port and three.5mm jack on the left facet spherical out the ports. For the reason that system additionally comes with its personal proprietary charging port, you possibly can run the system on AC energy and nonetheless maintain all of the ports freed up for no matter you need.

Wi-fi connectivity can also be a plus on the Zephyrus G14. It helps tri-band Wi-Fi 7, and it has confirmed very quick and secure in my testing, albeit whereas related to a Wi-Fi 6 community. Its Bluetooth 5.4 connection has additionally confirmed constant, although it’s getting disappointing to not see Bluetooth 6.0 these days. 

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Efficiency

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 affords glorious efficiency due to its potent {hardware}, although it might not be fairly as highly effective as one would hope from a gaming system. Particularly, its CPU efficiency lags a bit behind a lot of its rivals, even trailing the 2024 mannequin barely, although it could actually nonetheless come out forward subsequent to thin-and-light productiveness laptops. One shocking factor is that the Zephyrus G14 by no means appears to get very popular below load. It does get heat, however the base and keyboard space the place you’re prone to relaxation your arms keep away from getting painfully sizzling.

The AMD Ryzen 9 270 contained in the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is stable, however not a showstopper. It’s older structure from AMD, and due to this fact isn’t exhibiting the form of single-core or multi-core efficiency uplift you may get from newer Ryzen AI and Intel Core Extremely chips. Throughout Cinebench CPU benchmarks, the Zephyrus G14 typically trails the Alienware 16 Aurora, which makes use of an Intel CPU, although Alienware’s laptop computer can also be a lot bigger and may have the benefit in cooling.

In the meantime, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 can’t sustain with AMD Ryzen AI 9 365-powered Razer Blade 14, however the Zephyrus G14 can also be less expensive. Maybe the larger blow is the Intel Core i7-14700HX-powered Lenovo Legion 5i 15IRX10 (at $1,199) dominates the Zephyrus G14 and the remainder of the group right here in CPU efficiency

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 places a stronger foot ahead the place graphics come into play. It’s not going to be an absolute efficiency powerhouse contemplating its operating a lower-tier RTX 5060 GPU and doing so in a thinner and lighter chassis than most different gaming laptops. However that truly makes it all of the extra spectacular that it could actually handle pretty first rate efficiency.

Within the demanding Port Royale graphics benchmark, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 truly manages to narrowly exceed the a lot bigger Alienware 16 Aurora. Although it’s nonetheless clear there’s room for enchancment as the 2 Lenovo techniques provide an almost 20 p.c uplift operating the identical RTX 5060 GPUs. Lenovo has a knack for profiting from the GPUs in its gaming laptops, however that doesn’t excuse Asus for lagging behind. Even with Asus’s Turbo profile boosting efficiency on this benchmark to 7132 factors, Asus trails Lenovo.

Whereas 3DMark demonstrated a extra excessive situation the place the system is essentially bottlenecked by the GPU, precise recreation benchmarks can present some variations. In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 truly manages to flip the script in some circumstances, having a bit of additional CPU efficiency helps it truly step out forward of the Lenovo LOQ 15, which can provide quicker GPU efficiency however doesn’t have the CPU velocity to maintain up with the Zephyrus G14. 

Sadly for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, some video games are so graphically demanding, they will nonetheless create closely GPU-bottlenecked eventualities. That’s the case for Metro Exodus with its Excessive graphics preset turned on. This sees the Zephyrus G14 wrestle to interrupt a median of 40fps. The curve right here finally ends up wanting much more like what we noticed in 3DMark’s Port Royale take a look at except the Alienware 16 Aurora managing to steer the Zephyrus G14, possible due to more practical cooling over the course of this longer benchmark. 

Cyberpunk 2077 demonstrates one other spotlight demanding situation for the GPU, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 continues to fall behind right here. It does handle a playable common framerate over 60fps at 1080p Extremely, however the beefier techniques it stacks up in opposition to lead it by a substantial margin, exhibiting that additional cooling can go a great distance when you want to run a power-hungry part just like the GPU arduous. Whereas the Razer Blade 14 demonstrates {that a} higher-end chip alone could make a distinction, the RTX 5060-powered Zephyrus G14 is perhaps a extra engaging choice for these looking for additional efficiency in a compact type, particularly because it’s obtainable at a considerable low cost in comparison with the higher-end system.

Alas, not one of the techniques present playable framerates at 1080p with Cyberpunk 2077’s RT Overdrive settings. 

To the Zephyrus G14’s credit score, Asus does job managing thermals. Working 3DMark’s Metal Nomad Stress Take a look at, the Zephyrus G14 maintained 98.7 p.c constant efficiency over the course of 20 runs. That’s all of the extra spectacular contemplating that the followers aren’t very loud. 

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Battery life

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 might have fallen brief in efficiency, but it surely greater than makes up for that in battery life. The system runs on a 73-watt-hour battery, which is sizable for a 14-inch laptop computer. And Asus pulled all the proper levers to make sure that when the system is working on battery energy, it could actually sip on energy. This let it run for nearly 13 hours in our video playback take a look at, dramatically outstripping its competitors right here and providing a marked enchancment over the 2024 mannequin. That’s an incredible exhibiting for a gaming laptop computer, and it’s helped by Asus’s software program robotically making certain the GPU is disabled on battery energy when it’s not wanted. 

Working on battery energy and utilizing the built-in graphics has its downsides although. The system nonetheless experiences the identical freezing points I’ve seen for years on AMD’s Radeon built-in graphics. It appears to crop up each time there’s a name for an excessive amount of video reminiscence. This may generally happen whereas looking with a window on one half of the display and enjoying a YouTube video on the opposite half. 

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Conclusion

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 isn’t an ideal machine, but it surely’s good. For probably the most half, it’s delivering nice {hardware} with a largely elegant design, stable inputs, ample I/O, a beautiful show, and excellent audio system. Pairing that with respectable efficiency and glorious battery life in its class, the Zephyrus G14 proves a really properly balanced system that ought to have the Razer Blade 14 shaking in its boots as a result of Asus’s system is almost the identical measurement, lighter, and less expensive. For anybody after a gaming laptop computer that may work properly on-the-go, this is a superb alternative.