Let me ask you a question: when does a gaming laptop stop being a gaming laptop? I think the answer is when equipment is the least impressive element. This is the case with this MacBook-inspired Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop. After a few weeks of testing, I honestly forgot that it had an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. Every other aspect of the laptop was more interesting. His performances were the furthest thing in my mind.
The main takeaways from the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop
- Although it’s technically a gaming laptop, the new Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 might actually be more useful to professional users than the average gamer.
- Its long battery life, its feature-rich keyboard and its OLED screen are enough to comfortably assist a user in their working day.
- However, the laptop comes with bloatware (pre-installed and not always useful programs) that takes up a lot of storage space, and there are problems with the operating temperature.
If I mentioned MacBook, it’s because the Zephyrus 14 really looks like one. Not only is it shiny silver, but its screen is reminiscent of a MacBook Pro. It’s a 2K resolution (2,880 x 1,800 pixels) OLED screen surrounded by thick black bezels. These serve as contrast and make the colors on the screen more vibrant. In addition, the keyboard is reminiscent of an Apple laptop.
A comfortable and practical keyboard
If you’re an avid reader, you know how much I appreciate comfortable keyboards. So I’m happy to say that this device has one!
Each key has a slight indentation that guides your fingers toward the center, and most of them also have a nice springy feel.
The combination of these two elements makes for a very hand-friendly typing experience. The M keys at the top of the screen don’t have the same haptic feedback; they are more discreet in comparison because ASUS did not intend for them to be used as much. Among other controls, these four keys adjust the laptop’s audio or RGB lights which are configured by the Armory Crate app (launched by the M4 key).
It heats up
The function keys should also be mentioned, as ASUS has made several interesting choices here. F5, for example, switches the internal fans to turbo mode. Moreover, the location of the fans is the result of a design compromise. They are located at the bottom of the laptop rather than the back or sides to ensure the laptop is slim.
And with this model measuring less than 1.7cm thick, they’ve succeeded. However, the downside is that heat is trapped without any ventilation, so the computer can quickly become hot. This is why I recommend purchasing a laptop cooler to keep the temperature low.
The F10 key is also nice because it can disable the touchpad completely, which is useful for people who prefer to use a standard mouse and keyboard.
Cesar Cadenas/ZDNET
With its OLED screen and all its lights, you might think that the battery doesn’t last very long. Surprisingly, that’s not the case, as the Zephyrus G14 has one of the best battery life I’ve ever seen in a laptop. In fact, the only other device that outperforms it in my experience is the Acer Chromebook Spin 714.
Its autonomy, a big surprise
I performed my usual test by playing a video streamed on YouTube non-stop at 720p and with 50% brightness. The Zephyrus G14 lasted 10 hours straight. Most laptops, from what I’ve seen, shut down at six o’clock. I was really surprised by this autonomy. Gaming laptops are notorious for being power hungry, so I wasn’t expecting much, but I was wrong.
Under the hood is an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor as well as the GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card mentioned above. I found the processor to be more impressive when I did benchmarking tests on both. On Cinebench R23, the Ryzen 9 scored 16,107, putting it at the top tier of processors and well above the average Intel Core i9-9880H. In comparison, the GPU didn’t perform as well. The gap between the two makes me say that this laptop is perfect for handling a variety of workloads, from Internet browsing to video editing, but may struggle in gaming.
In addition to the notable overheating defect of the Zephyrus G14, there is also this amount of bloatware! The SSD hard drive is equipped with several programs that are easy to forget. It is true that some of them are useful. Armory Crate controls the lights, GeForce Experience manages your game library. But the on-board assistant? Not really useful. At least for me.
Buying advice for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 laptop
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 proves to be a fantastic laptop for many people. Geek users like me will appreciate the customizable lighting that pairs with games. Professionals will appreciate the elegant design and great autonomy.
If I had to choose a type of user who would adopt it more, I would say that it would be professionals first. The RTX 4060 GPU sits at the low end, and its performance will disappoint gamers looking for raw power. Additionally, bloatware takes up too much space on the SSD, limiting the amount of large files you can have at once.
The price of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 starts at 2000 € and that of the version of the computer tested is 2300 , which is certainly not cheap. But ultimately, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is worth the price.
Source: “ZDNet.com”