It's not often I start a review by telling you exactly how I feel about a product, but this time it's warranted. Dear reader, I'm smitten with the 2022 rendition of Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. From a lightweight and portable design and solid performance to impressively long battery life – the G14 is easily my top pick for a gaming laptop over the last year, maybe longer.
I've been using a G14 powered by an AMD CPU and GPU for the last few weeks, and the entire experience has been fantastic. There are several different configurations of the G14 listed on the Asus website, but you won't find the model I've been testing. The biggest difference I can see after scanning over the builds Asus is offering is that my review sample is running Windows 11 Pro and has 32GB of memory.
Specs
Here are the specifications of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 I've been testing:
- Model: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA402RK-XS96-WH)
- Display: 14-inch WQXGA 120Hz (2560 x 1600)
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS 3.3 GHz (16M cache, 4.9GHz Max Boost Clock)
- Graphics: AMD RX 6800S GPU with 8GB GDDR6
- Memory: 32GB DDR5 4,800MHz
- OS: Windows 11 Pro
- Storage: 1 x 1TB SSD
- Webcam: 720p
- Ports: 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 2, 1 x HDMI 2.0, 1 x 3.5mm audio jack, 1 x microSD card reader
- Connectivity: WiFi 6E 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.2
- Dimensions: 12.28 x 8.94 x 0.73-inches (WxDxH)
- Weight: 3.79-pounds
- Price: $2,499
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 – Design
When I first unboxed the G14, I wasn't overly impressed. I wasn't turned off by it, mind you, but the basic white housing with what appears to be a stipple effect on the lid has been done before. However, once I turned it on and I heard my kid yell WHOAAAA from across the room I grew to appreciate the design. You see, on the lid of the G14 is an Anime Matrix that has 1,449 mini-LEDs behind 14,969 individual holes that light up and are constantly in motion.
The Anime Matrix has a series of default designs that move across the lid of the G14, display mini-games that you're playing on the G14 or show off your own creations made on the Anime Matrix Pixel Editor website.
The matrix is on and constantly moving whenever the G14 is plugged in, regardless if the lid is closed or not. You can control when and how it behaves in the Armoury Crate app.
It's a mesmerizing aspect of the G14's design, and even though I saw it on last year's G14, the smoother animations thanks to an increase in the number of lights and holes is a welcomed addition.
Outside of the changes to the Anime Matrix, the G14's design looks a lot like last year's G14, but there are some key changes. The 14-inch display now has a 16:10 aspect ratio, up from 16:9 in last year's model. There's also a webcam along the top of the display that includes the necessary hardware to work with Windows Hello, and the touchpad is 50% bigger than last year's. The hinge can now rotate the display so that it lays flat on a table. It's a nice feature to have on a touchscreen-equipped laptop, which the G14 is not. I'm not really sure when I'd use the G14 with the screen laying flat on a desk, but at least it's an option. I think?
When the lid is opened, the bottom of the hinge lifts the deck of the G14 up off the table or desk, putting the keyboard at a slight angle that's similar to a standalone keyboard while also providing space underneath the housing for improved airflow.
When you open the lid, you're greeted with an RGB backlit chiclet keyboard with white keys. On the left side of the deck above the keyboard are three keys dedicated to volume control, and another that launches Armoury Crate app, though all four can be programmed to your preferred actions. To the right of those keys is the power button.
There are several ports on either side of the G14. On the left side, from front to back, there's a 3.5mm audio jack, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port with support for DisplayPort 1.4 and 100W Power Delivery, an HDMI 2.0 port and the charging port. On the opposite side you'll find a microSD card reader (UHS II), a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C and two USB 3.2 Type-A ports. The mix of ports and connections should be enough for a basic desktop setup, including the HDMI connection to an external monitor. That said, I would have loved to see an Ethernet port in place of one of the standard USB ports.
Forgetting about the light matrix for a minute, my favorite aspect of the G14's design is how small it is. It measures 12.28 x 8.94 x 0.73 inches and weighs 3.79 pounds, which is more than light enough to put in a backpack or carry around the house without feeling like you have to do some pushups before moving it from one room to the next.
If you don't want an all-white laptop, Asus does offer the G14 in an eclipse gray which I can't help but think would look even better with the contrast of the white lights on the matrix.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 – Performance and Gaming
When it comes to gadgets, it's not what's on the outside that counts so much as what's on the inside. And with the 2022 version of the G14, Asus opted to go all-in on AMD. More specifically, the high-end G14 comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS CPU and an AMD Radeon RX 6800S GPU. Pair that with 32GB of DDR5 memory and a 1TB SSD, and you're more than ready to tackle any school or work tasks, along with any triple-A game.
Before I get into my personal experience, here's a quick benchmark comparison:
As you can see, the G14 held its own with the far more expensive MSI Raider GE76 and the Gigabyte Aero 16. When you take into account the total size of the G14 compared to something like the GE76 that's akin to being a desktop with a built-in display, the results, while lower than higher-end gaming laptops, start to become pretty impressive. Meanwhile keeps pace or in some cases beats the also-slim but much pricier Aero 16.
As far as my personal experience using the G14, all I can say is, those benchmarks don't tell the entire story. From using it as my daily work machine to gaming on it at night, I had zero issues with its performance or power. The speakers offer ample depth and direction to both entertainment (Spotify, YouTube) and gaming. When playing Call of Duty: Warzone, for example, I could tell the general direction of a nearby enemy's footsteps or gunshots.
There are several power modes you can pick from in Armoury Crate to fine-tune how the system performs, however, I spent most of my time testing in Performance mode (including the benchmarks noted above), allowing the fans to do their job without getting overly noisy. I did some basic testing in Turbo mode, which adds a performance boost of 5 to 10% when gaming, but it comes at the cost of noisy fans. I was fine with the experience when using Performance mode, and I prefer not to deal with loud fans. But just know you can squeeze a little more power out of the system than what my test results show.
As a creature of habit, I spent a lot of time playing Call of Duty: Warzone. With all graphics settings maxed out – pushing the 8GB memory of the Radeon RX 6800S GPU to the limi – and the resolution set to 2560x1600, I recorded an average of 74 frames per second. When I left all of the settings the same but turned the resolution down to 1920x1200, the frame rate jumped up to 97 FPS.
Granted, the screen is 120Hz, but I had no issues playing at either setting both in terms of the experience, but also how it looked. Colors were bright and saturated, and the graphics were clear and crisp. I also liked that the matte finish on the display goes a long way in helping cut down on glare from overhead lights.
Where I wasn't overly thrilled with the G14 was the keyboard. The keys are a little mushy, providing a minimal tactile feel when typing or gaming. The other complaint is that the keyboard's backlighting is very, very weak. Unless I was in a very dim room, I could barely tell if keys were backlit or if I had turned it off at some point. I imagine if you go with the gray option you won't have the same issue, but the white build definitely doesn't show off the RGB backlights as much as I would like to see.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 – Battery Life
Battery life and gaming laptops just aren't two phrases that usually go together. With the G14, however, it's another area where the G14 shines. Going through PCMark 10's battery benchmark test, the G14 lasted 9 hours and 7 minutes. That's incredibly impressive and matches what I experienced when using the G14 as my daily computer.
The MSI Raider GE76 lasted 3 hours and 37 minutes while the Gigabyte Aero 16 lasted 2 hours and 58 minutes in the same exact test. Yea, the Zephrus G14 is a battery life champ.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 – Software
There isn't a whole lot of extra software preinstalled on the G14. Asus has its Armoury Crate software for tweaking and controlling the system's performance, lighting and viewing its stats in real-time. Out of all the similar apps from gaming laptop makers like MSI or Acer, Armoury Crate is my least favorite. It's confusing to use, and something I only open when I want to switch between power modes or quickly view system stats.
Another small app that's installed on the G14 is the Virtual Pet app. In addition to putting a small robot mouse (at least it looks like a mouse) on your desktop, the Anime Matrix lights up to reflect your interactions with your virtual pet. A right-click on your pet will give you the option to play games (that also show up the matrix), as well as overlays that show system stats and other information. The virtual pet is fun, but a little gimmicky at the same time.
