Asus Zephyrus G14 review: the best 14” on the market is here

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Recently, portable PC offerings tend to become smaller and smaller in order to gain mobility in our lives which always require more agility.

After testing Razer’s 14” proposition with the new Blade, today we are trying the proposal from Asus with its Zephyrus, a less radical range than the ROG series, which here allows you to play as much as to give free rein to your creativity.

Technical specifications of the Zephyrus G14

Availability and price of the Asus Zephyrus G14

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The Asus Zephryus G14 model that we tested and whose configuration is mentioned above has been available since last February. It is on sale for 2699.99 euros here.

As compact as it is light

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Having a personal preference for the 14” format, it was necessary for me to test this Zephyrus which offers here (almost) everything you could ask for from a laptop of this format.

Let's start with the design of the machine made entirely of aluminum in its chassis. If we can regret that it comes in a single color (in France) much too similar to Apple's MacBook, we appreciate the impeccable robustness of the whole despite the numerous vents in the lower part as well as the incredible lightness for such a configuration.

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To manage to fit so much power into a 1.63 cm thick chassis with a weight of only 1.50 kg is rather incredible, it must be said.

An almost perfect keyboard

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Even if it meant choosing a bright customization element, we would have preferred here be able to change the color of the keyboard brightness, which remains white. Only one point of this keyboard differentiates it from the competition, with 4 macro keys located at the top of it.

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© Presse-citron

Particularly practical, they are used by default to increase or decrease the sound, activate or deactivate the microphone, then launch the software Armoury Crate which we will use regularly to configure the Zephyrus. A simple idea, but particularly effective in helping players in their daily lives. The keyboard here offers a very good typing sensation with relatively high travel for a laptop PC.

However, there is still one point that will bother those used to large enter keys. Here, Asus has chosen to attach the “*” key to the enter key on the keyboard, which inevitably poses a problem when you try to press it. I regularly found myself with an asterisk instead of a line break, which in the long run can be rather annoying for people who use the G14 for note-taking or writing. . It's probably a question of habit, since practice then allows you to make the mistake less often.

The G14 imposes its visual identity

Undeniably, the Asus G14 gives a premium feeling to its PC that we will be proud to display in an open space without it visually screaming “GAMERZ”.

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All the same, we would have done without the light bar on the hood called Slash lightning by Asus. Present to still subtly recall the gaming DNA of the Zephyrus, it is customizable with quite a few effects, which will be anecdotal and quickly deactivated by most users. The mirror effect given by this partly spoils in my opinion the very clean aesthetic of the G14, but it is probably a question of taste here.

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Which is very successful regarding the visual identity of the machine here is rather at power-up time. The Zephyrus G14 welcomes us with a visual effect of the ROG logo appearing which even allows a launch sound . The red of the logo on the perfectly black screen makes you want to see more.

Here is the long-awaited OLED panel

The particularly thin edges are a real showcase for the magnificent OLED screen of the G14 . This is a point that we regretted on Razer's Blade 14, which did not offer an OLED panel on a machine which was nevertheless significantly more expensive.

Good for Asus, which stands out here with its 3K OLED panel with a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels with a refresh rate of 120Hz for a record response time of just 0.2 ms.

Its shiny appearance thus flatters the impeccable image offered by this OLED screen, which will in return be a little more prone to reflections. We have detailed all the advantages of OLED screens in a guide here, and without going through 4 paths, the 100% Pantone Validated DCI-P3 certified panel is simply magnificent.

A fantastic multimedia machine

This OLED screen contributes to the fact that the Asus Zephyrus 14 is a formidable machine for multimedia use. Even before gaming, most users of a general-purpose machine like a 14” PC will use it for watching movies and the like. The visual experience is absolutely excellent, the OLED panel being impeccable here, also supporting Dolby Vision HDR.

Of course, to have the status of an excellent multimedia machine, the Zephyrus also offers a headphone jack, but also and above all an extraordinary audio experience for a laptop PC with 4 speakers and 2 tweeters . Never has the audio part of such a compact 14” sounded so good.

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Here, Asus has placed very high by offering a sound that is as powerful as it is punchy, with a lack of bass which is much less present than on other laptops at an equivalent price. While players will tend to play almost systematically with headphones on, we feel that Asus has not neglected this part which thus allows you to watch video content in excellent conditions in using the internal speakers which are clear and precise.

And to work then ?

Of course, the Asus machine with its perfectly portable format can also be used in a daily use such as office automation. According to our tests, it is possible to enjoy 6 hours of writing as well as internet browsing, by having the screen brightness set to 50% and activating Eco mode using Armory Crate.

A rather respectable autonomy for a portable PC which will have gaming and content creation as its main vocation. Because yes, content creation is also a goal here of the Zephyrus, having the possibility of install the GeForce RTX Studio drivers, all while having an integrated Micro SD port.

If we regret a rather imposing charging brick, we will appreciate the fact that it is possible to use a simple 100W USB-C charger to charge the G14 for use outside of gaming. It will take 1h30 of charging using the power supply to go from 0 to 100%.

Zephyrus yes, but Republic of Gamers all the same

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Designed for content creation, the Asus Zephyrus G14 is equally designed for gaming. Equipped with a GeForce 4070, an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and NVIDIA G- technology Sync, the G14 has a rather muscular configuration for such a small format. First seeing what the G14 configuration looks like using a Benchmark 3D Mark :

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In real-world conditions such as in-game in Cyperpunk 2077, the findings are rather mixed compared to the Blade 14 which fares better, due to its slightly lower resolution. Here we get an average of 40 FPS playing in the G14's native resolution with these settings:

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In order to be able to perfectly compare with the Blade 14, we also tested the Zephyrus on Counter Strike 2 using the NVIDIA app's optimal settings (high presets). We obtained on average 127 FPS with drops not exceeding 99 FPS, and peaks at 174 FPS.

Performance that is sufficient to play in good conditions, but which are still slightly disappointing compared to Razer's machine. Therefore, we recommend lowering the in-game resolution, which will provide a better overall experience.

Be careful with the heating!

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After such a rave test, The G14 had to have a rather pronounced flaw. After having tested the Blade 14 which was already relatively thin for such a powerful 14” PC, I was specifically surprised to see that the Asus laptop was able to do even better question thickness.

Only, this reduction in size induces a sacrifice which is heat management. This is not as good as Razer's competitor, and you will have to pay particular attention to how you use the Zephyrus. Indeed, the heat becomes almost unbearable when the PC is under load, even in light use such as office automation, when the G14 is resting on the legs.

Suffice to say that you should definitely not have fun putting this one on a duvet to use it, or try to have a use intensive while having the computer on your legs.

Our opinion on the Asus Zephyrus G14

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The observation is rather simple, The Asus Zephyrus G14 is clearly the best value for money on the market in the 14-inch format dedicated to gaming. Exceptionally versatile, nothing stops the machine which allows you to work, play and create in exceptional conditions.

With a magnificent OLED panel and an audio experience much superior to what the thinness of the G14 suggests, it is also an excellent multimedia machine, also featuring Dolby Vision HDR. Its beautiful, minimally thick aluminum chassis, however, requires a sacrifice in terms of thermal management, with a PC that heats up a little more than necessary, and for which you will have to be careful not to stifle its ventilation in the most demanding uses. .

Obviously, the excellence of the G14 requires paying the 2699.99 euros requested to acquire it. Although this is obviously a significant sum, it is still lower than the 2999 of Razer's Blade 14 with an equivalent configuration, this one not having an OLED panel. In-game performance is also slightly lower, but is offset by the excellent audio and visual experiences offered by the Zephyrus G14.

En In summary, it will be perfect for players with a good budget, and who are looking for a compact and versatile machine.

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