ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Review – Compact, Versatile and Powerful

Gaming notebooks used to come in oversized, bulky packages that you needed a travelling backpack to adequately carry around with you. These days, as is the case with the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, gaming notebooks are sleek, and elegant and are easily carried in your hands without it looking like you just stole top secret military technology. 

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is a phenomenal gaming notebook that doubles as a brilliant daily driver as well. The Zephyrus G14 packs quite the punch when it comes to its gaming prowess but its compact size and elegant aesthetics make it a perfect companion for daily productivity.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Design

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 comes in Moonlight White and Eclipse Grey (we were offered the Eclipse Grey for testing) and while the white aesthetic will cater for some, the grey colour scheme really elevates its graceful aggression. The G14 has been shaved here and there to be slimmer, sleeker, and truly brings the “ROG Aesthetic” to life – which is to say, a refined yet menacing look that doesn’t so much scream its presence, but rather allows its presence to speak for itself. 

The top of the notebook sees about 15 000 CNC milled holes carved into its surface in a diagonal shape, that is used to expose to customisable AniMeMatrix RGB lighting underneath. ASUS has also added a Prismatic Logo that offers a “holographic hue” that displays the ROG Eye and “Republic of Gamers” text. These subtle additions further enforce the confidence of the G14 without turning it into a tacky display.

The underside of the G14 has been etched with perforated metal in the same design and direction as the diagonal shape on the top. This perforation is not only for aesthetics but it also aids in the notebook’s cooling, allowing the system to breathe easier. At the rear of the device are the indicator lights and patterned chassis, both in the same diagonal pattern to echo the G14’s “diamond pattern”.

The AniMe Matrix mentioned earlier is ASUS’s customisable LED system which allows you to change the LED animation that displays on the lid of the notebook. You can also upload your own personal LED animation to the programme that the laptop will display. Aside from gaming instances where you could upload your own logo for your competitive team or even your own personal image, you could potentially also use this as a unique way to display your company logo for meetings. The possibilities are quite limitless so while it can be gimmicky, you could make it less so depending on the usage. 

The ROG Zephyrus G14 offers a 14” QHD display that supports a 16:10 aspect ratio, as well as a 120Hz refresh rate and a 3ms response time. The display – titled Nebula Display – also supports Dolby Vision HDR, Pantone validation, and 500nits of brightness. The G14 also sports a 180-degree “ErgoLift” hinge which allows you to use the notebook from almost any angle you want. 

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Specs:

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Performance

One of the biggest challenges with traditional gaming notebooks is that they are typically not the greatest devices for daily drivers, due to their aesthetic, size, and overall feel. They are built with a singular purpose in mind, which is gaming, and while that is great in its own right, it is a little like using a hypercar to go grocery shopping. 

It was refreshing, then, that the ROG Zephyrus G14 was a little bit tamer, which made it an incredible dual-purpose device for both gaming and daily productivity. It was one of the first “gaming” notebooks that I really feel I could also use on a daily basis for my normal workload along with its gaming capabilities. In fact, given the chance, this would probably be my number one choice for a daily use notebook that also offers powerful gaming possibilities. Instead of a hypercar, think of this as a performance-focused hatchback, like a Ford Focus ST – powerful but practical.

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is equipped with all AMD components, with the Ryzen 9 6900S for the CPU and the Radeon RX 6700S for its GPU. The 16GB of RAM is divided between 8GB of DDR5 soldered directly onto the motherboard, with another 8GB DDR5 SO-DIMM, which is upgradeable to maximum support of 24GB (a total of 32GB of RAM when fully stocked). These components create a powerful platform for gaming, editing, content creation, and daily tasks, and you will be hard-pressed to find a more powerful 14” notebook.

The 14” Nebula Display, as beautiful as it is, can be a challenge to adjust to while gaming, especially if you do typically play on a larger desktop monitor or a TV screen. The QHD resolution sharpens the visuals up rather nicely, and is even a little overkill for some games, due to the tighter pixel density from the smaller screen. The only real thing I had issues with were small text details from menus or HUD overlays, especially when it came to city-builders/micro-management games. Though, adjusting the display settings a little gave me the reprieve I needed, allowing me to see easier and more accurately. 

The compact size of the ROG Zephyrus G14 meant I could, in theory, take the device and play anywhere, since my lap was available as a perfect bench. The G14 is thankfully a lot quieter than most other gaming notebooks, which often sound like a diesel engine trying to cool down so playing on it in public was a relatively cooler experience (mind the pun). However, the battery life while playing on full performance only carried me for a little over an hour, and while you can set the performance settings down a tad on the device, you won’t get the best gaming experience. 

Though, the battery life from the 76WHr pack was incredible for standard work performance. I averaged roughly 2-3 hours per charge using balanced performance and battery-saving settings through Windows but you can adjust it to your individual needs as well. The “power efficiency” settings granted a little over 3 hours of battery life, depending on your tasks, which was incredible for someone who likes to work in weird and wonderful spaces. 

The Nebula Display was absolutely incredible for content creation, and content absorption as well. Watching Dolby-enhanced content on the notebook was spectacular, especially through something like Netflix or Prime Video. The Dolby Vision HDR also brought another level of visual fidelity to games that support it and was a truly incredible experience. The display also made content creation better with Pantone verification for more accurate colour grading for image and video editing. 

Thanks to the beefy CPU, GPU and RAM combination, I was able to render videos faster than in real-time, and while it will depend on your particular use, I was able to render a 20-minute video between 12-15 minutes. This may not sound like a huge feat on the face of it but it accumulates quickly if you are editing all day, which could increase your productivity by making your video edits more efficient. 

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Verdict

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is an excellent workhorse for both gaming and daily productivity tasks which makes it, not only a great gaming notebook but an incredible lifestyle notebook too. The compact size, elegant design, ROG aesthetic and great battery life make the ROG Zephyrus G14 a hard notebook to overlook.