The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is now available in India. The gaming laptop with a 14-inch screen has been praised by numerous individuals. AMD’s Ryzen 9 4900HS CPU is the hot sauce’s most important component. The combination of this and Nvidia RTX 2060 Max Q graphics is nothing short of divine.
As a result, I was not the least bit excited when the laptop arrived at my door. However, I did restrain my excitement and put it through third-degree testing. Here’s what I learned after it went around for a while.
Build and design:
The chassis, made of silver-colored magnesium alloy, gives the Zephyrus G14 an air of poise. The entire structure is sturdy. But because of that material, it has a light profile and only weighs about 1.6 kg. With a thickness of 17.99 mm, it also satisfies AMD’s HS design standard (which will be discussed further).
The lid-mounted AniMe matrix LED light show decks out our unit. Yes, it is a party trick! However, one that I would gladly display. It is simple to modify to one’s liking. These tiny CNC holes hold approximately 1215 LEDs.
The body’s near-resistance to smudges aids in maintaining the gentlemanly appearance. However, I’m afraid you won’t be able to find good skins for it if you don’t like the silver/grey finish.
You’ll maintain the same poise and polish even with the bonnet raised—which, by the way, you can do by yourself. The keyboard rises by 15 millimeters while the sturdy lid leans sufficiently. This design, which Asus calls ErgoLift, has more room for cooling, better typing, and more woofer output. Simply smart, in my opinion.
It has numerous openings for audio, connectivity, heat dissipation, and rest. The following sections will go into great detail about these.
Keyboard, Audio, and Display:
There are two display options available to you: one with a resolution of 2K and a refresh rate of 60Hz and the other with a resolution of 1080p and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The first is ours, which is hindered by the slower refresh.
Otherwise, the picture quality on the fascia is comparable to that of an IPS panel. It has colors that have been approved by Pantone, good viewing angles, and a high contrast ratio. In 4K resolution, I watched Lawrence of Arabia, Tropic Thunder, Avatar, Gravity, and Interstellar. The content is reduced to fit the 2K screen, and the end result is captivating!
The speakers at G14 match the experience equally. Two woofers (for bass) and two tweeters (for treble) are included in the laptop. The output as a whole is without a doubt the best sound I’ve ever heard from a laptop.
Getting back to that display, its wide chin and thin bezels envelope it. However, the Zephyrus G14 does not have a webcam because the forehead is not so narrow. Although most webcams aren’t very good for streaming, they would have been nice for quick video calls.
Additionally, this means that facial unlocking is absent. As a result, you only have a capacitive fingerprint reader and a power button. This makes it possible to use a single sign-on method. That is, a single press boots the computer and immediately caches the fingerprint, which is used to verify your identity when you log in to Windows. That sounds cool, but it couldn’t find my mostly damp fingertips, so I used pin and password instead.
The Asus armory crate (more on that in a moment) and four dedicated hotkeys for volume up, volume down, and mic off are located to the left of it. The LED indicators for the state of the battery and other things are located in the top-middle area.
There is a well-designed keypad as you go down. The taps are quiet and responsive, making the keys comfortable to touch. Even the touchpad is remarkably precise and easy to use.
Software and Performance:
The Ryzen 9 4900HS processor, 16GB of single-slot, dual-channel memory, a 1TB NVMe SSD storage, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q graphics are all found on our Zephyrus G14 unit. I am baffled by the company’s ability to incorporate such a diverse set of specifications.
The AMD Ryzen 4900 HS silicon, codenamed “Renoir,” based on the 7nm Zen 2 architecture is unquestionably the star of the show. With its 8 cores and 16 threads, this new CPU design guarantees both improved single-threaded and multi-threaded gains. Asus and AMD have collaborated closely to achieve AMD’s HS design standard. As a result, the “S” appendix represents the high-end power of AMD’s “H” series chips in a slimmer package.
Because of its sheer power, the device does not impede daily multitasking in any way. Everything from wearing chilly boots to switching between tens of tabs in Chrome, loading apps, and playing games reflects the cadence.
Regarding the primary reason you would buy this laptop, which is gaming, it runs any AAA game like poetry in motion. I hope you get my point: you would enjoy every in-game slash, splash, crash, and flash. Even though AMD’s FreeSync eliminates visual tearing, this 60Hz TN panel will cause ghosting when playing demanding games. The 120Hz would have been quite satisfying!
On the software side, you have the flawless Windows 10 Home Edition. You won’t be tempted to right-click and select refresh on a regular basis. The bloatware included in the package is my only complaint. In my review of the Asus Zenbook 14, I also rant about it. Although it has no discernible effect on this monster, the system will run even more smoothly and effectively without the clutter and background services. If you want to improve battery life and fine-tune the software, you can follow this guide.
Let’s take a look at the Armory Crate app from Asus before we move on to the battery performance. The number of options for adjusting and controlling the performance profiles, cooling, battery life, fan noise, calibrating the display, customizing the AniMe Matrix settings, etc. is staggering. For instance, you can select the Turbo mode for unrestricted peak performance. However, this comes at the expense of heat and a more obnoxious whirring sound. The laptop’s base does get warm even in the default performance mode, so you should keep it off your lap. Still, I have to give Asus credit for the respectable work it does in the thermal department.
Connectivity and battery life:
Inside the Zephyrus G14 is a 76Whr battery. I was able to get four hours of use out of my usage, which included browsing, coding, and watching 4K video (with Performance mode turned off, keyboard backlighting turned off, and brightness set to 100 percent). The laptop would also quit working when I was watching a 4K movie at 3 hours and 15 minutes. Similar results can be seen in the PCMark 8 (Creative accelerated) score.
That’s not nearly as impressive as what other reviewers might have experienced with their units. I wonder if that can be accomplished by altering the default configuration or adhering to specific parameters. However, refilling the 180W, 0.522 kg, supplied adapter takes more than two hours when it asks for a charge. Additionally, 65W USB-C charging is supported. However, Thunderbolt 3 is an Intel property, so it is not available here.
The Zephyrus G14 comes equipped with a wide range of peripherals from Asus. A 3.5mm combo headphone and microphone jack, an HDMI 2.0b port, a power socket, and one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C port with DisplayPort 1.4 are located to the left.
On the opposite side, you’ll find two USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A slots and one USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C slot. Additionally, a Kensington Lock is present. But there’s no SD card slot.
Verdict:
The Zephyrus G14 may be one of the company’s most ambitious products to date. It feels unfair to highlight individual strengths of this machine because it is amazing from soup to nuts! In contrast, there are few concessions.
As I already mentioned, the AMD Ryzen 4900HS processor is the main attraction, delivering unprecedented performance in a 14-inch form factor. This time, the red team clearly defeated Intel, which excite PC snobs about the computing future.
In the mean time, the G14 is extremely encouraging on the designs front as well. After all, it is a laptop for gaming. However, the 120Hz model is your best bet for getting the most out of it. Additionally, the non-AniMe Matrix edition is preferable if you do not desire an LED display (plus, you will save money).
When it comes to options, there are unquestionably powerful laptops with significantly higher refresh rates, faster speeds, superior performance, and graphics power. However, the ergonomics are what make this one significant. It is the sought-after laptop for “gaming on the go,” and its form factor is functional. So, if you’re looking for something like this, go get the Zephyrus G14.
