Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Mini-Review Back

Photos: 8
Photo source: Asus
A 14-inch gaming laptop with desktop-like CPU performance and very long battery life. The best demonstration of the Ryzen 4000 so far.

Written: 04 June 2020, Updated: 10 April 2021

  • Desktop-class CPU performance in a 14-inch laptop
  • Good gaming performance
  • 120Hz display
  • Day long battery life
  • Solid selection of ports
  • No webcam
  • Fans can get noisy under load

Specifications

General
Manufacturer Asus
Name ROG Zephyrus G14
Type Clamshell
Operating System(s) Windows 10 Home
Size & Weight
Weight 3.64lbs, 1.65kg
Width 12.76", 324mm
Depth 8.74", 222mm
Thickness 0.7", 17.78mm
Performance
Gaming Score 77
Processor(s) AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 MaxQ
Storage (GB) 1024
Battery
Mobility Score 56
Capacity (Wh) 76
Wifi (hours) 10:05
Video (hours) 10:10
Load (hours) 1:35
Average Runtime 8:51
Memory (RAM)
Size (GB) 16
Type DDR4
Display
Resolution 1920x1080
Size 14"
Type IPS
Aspect Ratio 16:9
Brightness (nits) 260
Glare Matte
Refresh Rate 120
Touch Yes
Stylus No
Ports
USB-C 2
HDMI 1
USB 3 2
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Case, design, and build quality

The case of Zephyrus G14 looks unique, functional and a bit boring. At least when compared to other gaming laptops that seem to have RGB lights everywhere in every color. On the plus side, this lack of a "gamer-look" is a huge plus if you want to get work done in a professional setting. And if you really cannot live without any lights, Asus also offers the Zephyrus G14 with a so called AniMe Matrix-pattern with included software that offers quite a lot of customization.

Ports

Left: AC adapter, HDMI, USB-C, 3.5mm audio jack

Right: USB-C, 2x USB-A 3.1, Kensington Lock

The Zephyrus G14 bucks the trend of hardly any ports: There are ports to plugin pretty much anything that is still relevant without requiring dongles, while still providing a modern USB-C port on each side that can be used for data, display and charging.
However, USB-C may not provide enough power for demanding tasks like gaming, so Asus also added a barrel charger. The only minor nitpick is the lack of a card reader, although that is probably not going to be a problem for most buyers of the Zephyrus G14.

Processor

  • Name: AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS
  • Cores: 8
  • Threads: 16
The 4900HS is one of the fastest laptop processors available at the moment and about the same speed as the 4800H (which is a 45 watt CPU instead of 35 watts). You can get similar performance with an Intel laptop, but then you are looking at something much larger, heavier and power hungrier with a fraction of the battery life. Linus Tech Tips has a YouTube video that demonstrates the difference between AMD and Intel well.

Display

  • Size: 14
  • Type: IPS
  • Resolution: 1920x1080
  • Aspect ratio: 19:9
  • Brightness (nits): 260
The display is often a weak point of AMD laptops. Fortunately, Asus used a pretty good panel for the Zephyrus G14. It is a matte IPS panel with more than 300 nits of brightness, so it can also be used in brighter environments. Unfortunately, the response time is quite slow for a gaming laptop, so even with 120Hz and FreeSync it is not actually all that optimized for gaming. It is still a good panel overall and better than typical gaming laptop displays at tasks beside gaming.

ZenlaptopsVerdict

The Asus Zephyrus G14 offers a combination of performance, mobility, and battery life you can't get anywhere else at the moment. Other 14-inch Intel based gaming laptops have slower graphic cards and much slower processors.