Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) review: "a gaming laptop for all"

Feb. 14, 2024

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a gaming laptop for all. Combining a more refined ultrabook style design with a gorgeous OLED display and still throwing three figure framerates around, the latest portable powerhouse retains its 14-inch crown and opens up the playing field for creative use as well. While future proofers chasing the highest framerates possible are best served by the previous generation, the majority of players will find an excellent balance in the overall experience here.

Slick redesign

Thin and light form factor

Incredible OLED display

Solid gaming performance

Durable luxury feel

Thoughtful port selection

No high end configuration options

No Thunderbolt 4

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Design

The biggest change to the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 comes in its physical design. This is a much slimmer model, dropping the chunkier base plate required for heavier RTX 4080 and RTX 4090 graphics cards and adopting a more mainstream ultralight profile. It’s by no means as skinny as some of the more high profile non-gaming options out there (a creative market Asus is looking to tap with this new release), but it still feels impossible as a gaming device. Other gaming laptops have been taking aim at this infinitely more portable form factor in recent years, but the current roster  can’t beat the G14’s 1.5kg. TheRazer Blade 14clocks in at 1.8kg and last year’s G14 packs a 1.7kg footprint - even theAlienware x14R2 comes in at 1.9kg.

It’s obvious, though, that Asus is taking the Zephyrus G14 beyond its gaming roots. The dotted LED matrix display of yore has been replaced by a super slick diagonal stripe running along the back of the lid. This is a glossy glass by itself, but can be illuminated with 28 mini LEDs for added flair. That more restrained aesthetic, combined with the unibody CNC milled aluminum chassis, gives the G14 a strong MacBook feel. I was initially confusing the G14 with my own MacBook Pro when simply carrying the device around, due to the soft-touch light silver finish and flat square design - even the rounded corners feel like a Tim Cook touch.

That luxury feel extends to the build quality as well. Try as I might I was unable to flex the main baseplate, and while there’s a little flexibility to the lid it’s one of the sturdier screens I’ve tested. The whole clamshell is comfortably opened with one hand, with a smooth hinge designed to keep hot air away from the display itself. That does mean sacrificing the drop hinge I loved on the previous model, in favor of a more unified design - with no rise to the keyboard either.

Asus has also changed the G14’s feature set inside and out, swapping out the Nebula Mini LED display for aSamsungdesigned OLED panel and scaling back its configuration options.

Last year’s Mini LED was certainly impressive, but it felt like a step backwards from the same tech’s implementation in largerAsus gaming laptops. The OLED panel available here is a revelation. The incredible contrast and super fast response times are married perfectly with a bolstered ‘3K’ (2880 x 1800) resolution to produce an incredibly vivid picture overall. Everything jumps off the screen here - forget the dappled sunlight and vivid green hues of Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey or the almost alien glow of Cyberpunk 2077, I was impressed just watching developer logos splashing across the screen on boot.

The Nebula part of Asus’s marketing relates to its HDR system which is alright - Windows 11 isn’t currently handling HDR content by itself particularly well and with the lowered overall brightness of an OLED panel adding further fuel it’s not the panel’s main selling point. Still, the fantastic contrast you are getting here is well worth the trade off if you’re both a gamer and creator.

The keyboard feels super slick under the hand, with generously sized keycaps… for the main part. The arrow keys are halved, making them a little difficult to hit in more frantic gameplay situations. Sill, there’s a good amount of space around the left and right arrows so I was able to find them without having to scan. Each key actuates with a soft but satisfying clack and a tactile feel while skimming over the top - they’re also covered with a particularly pleasing smooth finish. You’ve got everything you need here as well, though there’s no dedicated macro for switching between performance modes like you’ll see on larger rigs.

Time Spy |10,624

Fire Strike |24,378

PC Mark 10 |7,697

My test unit was running an RTX 4070 GPU, so it naturally won’t be competing on the same level as the RTX 4090 previous generation I tested last year. Still, three figure framerates were fully on the table here - and they certainly shouldn’t be taken for granted. After all, this is a slimline gaming laptop housing power that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. I’ve included my results from last year’s G14 as a reference for those costing up the drop from an RTX 4090 GPU.

Performance mode 3D Mark benchmarks put the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 behind the Razer Blade 14 in raw performance, with a 5% decrease in results between the two devices. Bumping things into the system’s Turbo mode for the machine’s full 90W power potential, those numbers took a healthy jump. I averaged an 11,531 score in Time Spy and 25,952 for Fire Strike with those fans running at full power.

In-game the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 put on an excellent show. While there are some symptoms of that skinny chassis design in some top-end QHD+ results, these are more than playable framerates from even particularly demanding titles. I’ve seen far lower numbers in chunky (but considerably cheaper) gaming laptops running the same RTX 4070 graphics cards, so being able to pull of this kind of reliable performance in a miniature chassis is certainly impressive.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 does drop behind the Blade 14 ever so slightly in 1080p on Shadow of the Tomb Raider’s benchmark, however it starts to pull away from it in a QHD+ setting. The increased native resolution of the display is, obviously, taking its effect here and even though those gains are small (a jump of around 4%) they still keep the Zeph competitive.

The drop down to an RTX 4070 doesn’t cut quite so deep here either. Last year’s test unit was pulling 165fps in 1080p at High settings, and 124fps at QHD Highest - not a million miles away from today’s 152fps / 119fps in the same categories. At these heights, that’s far from a sacrifice.

Rainbow Six Extraction is a naturally faster game that doesn’t put as much pressure on a system’s GPU, and the G14 benefitted massively from this rest. The FPS style allowed it to jump back up to nearly 200fps in 1080p, and still comfortable sit well over 100fps even in Ultra QHD+ settings. That’s well ahead of the Razer Blade 14 which doesn’t quite rev its engines so well when given an open road like this.

The overall aesthetic, lightweight footprint, luxury form factor, and astonishing display more than make up for the 20-or-so frames per second you’re dropping with the new model. Considering you’ll barely notice that dip in performance when we’re talking about 100+ framerates, it’s an easy trade to make.

Asus is coming for Razer’s lunch here - taking aim at both the gaming and creator markets with one luxury swoop. Compared to the Razer Blade 14, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 has another trick up its sleeve. It’s considerably cheaper than the luxury Razer device that pretty much performed on par with the G14 in my testing. If you’re going to be solely playing in 1080p that edge in lower resolution framerates could sway you towards the green snake if you have the budget, but the display and QHD+ performance would always bring me right back to Asus.

I used the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 for two weeks alongside the testing of the Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 and theAcerNitro 16. In that time I tested across everyday play in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey, Cyberpunk 2077, and House Flipper while also benchmark testing in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Total War: Three Kingdoms, Returnal, Rainbow Six Extraction, Hitman 3, and industry tests from 3D Mark, PC Mark 10, and Cinebench. For more information onhow we test gaming laptops, check out the fullGamesRadar+ Hardware Policy.

If you’re between brands, you can also check out thebest Razer laptopsand thebest Alienware laptopson the market right now - or take a look at thebest gaming PCsfor something more permanent.

Managing Editor of Hardware at GamesRadar+, I originally landed in hardware at our sister site TechRadar before moving over to GamesRadar. In between, I’ve written for Tom’s Guide, Wireframe, The Indie Game Website and That Video Game Blog, covering everything from the PS5 launch to the Apple Pencil. Now, i’m focused on Nintendo Switch, gaming laptops (and the keyboards, headsets and mice that come with them), PS5, and trying to find the perfect projector.

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