ASUS’ ROG Zephyrus G14 has been one of our favorites for almost half a decade. But the 2024 model is on another level. Because even without a new GPU generation from NVIDIA, ASUS has still redesigned the whole thing. And the result is a notebook with a beautiful aluminum unibody chassis and a more sophisticated design that doesn’t need to throw RGB lighting in your face to get attention. This edition is also slimmer and lighter while still offering powerful performance. Although ASUS has made some sacrifices compared to its predecessor, the new ROG Zephyrus G14, with a starting price of $1,600, is not only better value than almost all of its 14-inch competitors, it’s also simply one of the best-for-pound -Gaming laptops on the market.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
For anyone who wants powerful performance in a portable design, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is the best choice around, both pound for pound and dollar for dollar.
- Beautiful, subtle design
- Beautiful OLED screen
- Great job
- Good port selection
- Powerful speakers
- The bottom vents can get a little warm
- Keyboard only has single-zone lighting
- The Armory Crate app is a bit messy
- RAM is soldered in place
$2,000 at Best Buy
design
Compared to previous models that were flooded with RGB or had dot-matrix displays integrated into the lid, this year’s G14 is an exercise in restraint. It’s almost as if the line has grown out of its awkward teenage phase and into a stylish but still fun-loving adult. The lid is accented by a simple diagonal slash with white (non-RGB) LEDs embedded in the center. Inside, however, there’s a sturdy deck with a large touchpad and surprisingly powerful speakers.
The only thing I miss is per-key RGB lighting instead of ASUS’ single-zone approach. After all, this is a gaming laptop and if you want to offer multiple colors, it would be nice if it was fully customizable.
However, the redesign of the G14 is not just about style, but also functionality. Switching to a unibody aluminum frame has strengthened the entire machine. Even on normally weaker parts like the grille between the keys, there’s barely a hint of flexibility. But more importantly, ASUS has also reduced the laptop’s weight to just 3.3 pounds, which is significantly lighter than competing notebooks with similar metal construction (3.95 pounds). Additionally, despite its smaller size, the G14 has a healthy selection of ports, including a full-size HDMI 2.1 jack, two USB-C ports (one of which supports Thunderbolt 4), two USB-A ports, and a microSD Card reader.
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Another shining component of the G14 is its OLED screen. Not only does it produce vibrant colors, but it also has a sharp 2,880 x 1,800 resolution, a 120 Hz refresh rate, and a color gamut that covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 spectrum. Recently I watched Three-body problem and I absolutely love the OLED panel’s excellent contrast and deep blacks. Since ASUS also offers a handful of color-calibrated settings for sRGB, D65 P3, DCI-P3 (but not Adobe RGB), the G14 is a very capable photo and video editing device.
The only small issue is that you may not be able to play all of your games at the native resolution, as 2,880 x 1,800 is a slightly unusual resolution, which is an issue I encountered while gaming Return.
Performance
A big change with the 2024 ROG G14 is that the GPU options are now rounded out with an NVIDIA RTX 4070 instead of a 4080 like the previous model. This may be an annoyance for some, but since I prefer laptops that are easier to transport, I’m okay with trading a little top performance for improved portability. And since all models have an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS chip, as well as at least 16GB of RAM (or 32GB like my review unit) and 1TB of storage, you won’t be short of speed.
On Geekbench 6, the G14 matched the performance we saw from a larger XPS 16 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H chip. 90 fps was achieved in games Cyberpunk 2077 on Ultra settings, which falls just short of a much more expensive Razer Blade 14 (101 fps). Still, there are some important details you should know. Unlike previous models, the latest G14’s memory is soldered onto the motherboard, so there’s no way to add additional RAM later. Additionally, the 14-inch systems from ASUS and Razer appear to have the same RTX 4070 GPU, but the G14 is limited to 90 watts versus 140 watts on the Blade, which explains the small difference in gaming performance.
It’s also worth noting that heat can be a problem in certain situations. This isn’t a big problem under normal usage, as the fans rarely need to be turned on when surfing the web or watching movies. However, since the G14’s ventilation slots are located on the bottom of the notebook, it can quickly become warm on your lap under load. Luckily, this isn’t much of a problem if you’re gaming, as you’ll probably want to sit at a desk or table to attach an external mouse anyway.
Battery life
Even though the G14 doesn’t last quite as long as a conventional Ultrabook, it still has enough power for almost a full day of work. It took 7 hours and 29 minutes on PCMark 10’s Modern Office Rundown test, which is slightly better than the Razer Blade 14’s time of 6:46. And new for 2024: ASUS has added its proprietary Slim Power Jack, which at first glance looks like a USB-C port (but it’s not). However, if you really want to travel light, the G14 supports USB-C charging, so you can leave the adapter at home. The only caveat is that USB-PD here maxes out at 100 watts (versus 180 watts when using the included brick), so gaming or other intensive tasks may still drain the battery.
Wrap up
Even though we were already impressed by its predecessors, the 2024 ROG Zephyrus G14 has taken another big leap. It features an exquisitely crafted chassis, a vibrant new display and more powerful speakers – all while weighing almost half a pound. There’s still an RTX 4070 GPU inside. Sure, it’s a little slower than a similarly equipped Blade 14, but considering our review unit costs $2,000 compared to $2,700 for the similarly equipped Razer, I’m happy to trade a little performance for the sake of it to get a much cheaper device. And that’s before you factor in the starting price of just one with an RTX 4060. My biggest gripe is that ASUS’ Amoury Crate app still feels clunky because the settings are hard to find or the switches don’t work the way they do. I would expect that. But make no mistake, the G14 is a great laptop – for both gamers and content creators – who want good performance in a portable package. Although I appreciate the performance of the Blade 14 and other high-end notebooks, I would buy ASUS’ latest creation.