Flashback to 2020, or don’t (that was a horrible year), during the start of lockdown was when Asus launched the Zephyrus G14 — the beginning of a wave of new 14-inch gaming laptops. Its petite size caught my attention, but then everything else sucked me in.
For its powerful performance, bright display, and long battery life, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 blew me away. It wasn’t just that, though, it was its stellar price of $1,449. I gave it a perfect score — 5 stars. I loved this gaming laptop so much that I bought it myself!
Fast forward years later, every successor to the original Zephyrus G14 displayed a worse and worse showing. I reviewed the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022) — 3.5 stars. I reviewed the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) — 3 stars.
Over the years, the Zephyrus G14 became synonymous with disappointment. Yet here we are at CES 2024, and Asus shows its face again with its latest Zephyrus G14. But is that a flicker of hope sparking in my jaded heart?
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 of 2024 — A new hope?
What’s different about the Zephyrus G14 that could even do anything to my Grinch of a heart? One word, four big ol’ letters — OLED. The latest Zephyrus G14 is rocking a 14-inch, 3K (2880 x 1800), 16:10 OLED display clocked in at 120Hz with 100% DCI-P3 and 500 nits of brightness. That’s one hell of a kick-ass display — and if those numbers are accurate, that’s worth a whole star. But that’s not all the Zephyrus needs to succeed.
Asus is offering the Zephyrus G14 with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 8945H processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. However, we don’t have info on pricing, nor what may come with the base model. Pricing was a major part of the way I scored the original Zephyrus G14.
Pricing is tricky. You can stuff the most top-tier components into a gaming laptop and it can be the best of the best, but does it really matter if no one can reasonably afford it? If the Zephyrus G14 retains its RTX 4070 and 3K OLED display at under $1,800, then it will be in a great position to climb the ranks of our best gaming laptops.
Price, performance, and display are a great trio to get a gaming laptop into the 4-star review bracket. But there’s one thing that’ll rocket it to the top — battery life. The original G14 was so shocking due to its 11+ hours of battery life. If the new Zephyrus G14 can climb up to just over 8+ hours, this machine would sell itself so damn quick.
Of course, I’d still love to see a clicky keyboard and some bumpin’ speakers, but if we can get the former nailed down, the new Zephyrus G14 could regain my faith in the brand. I already love the new aluminum design with the stylish slash lighting on the lid. Bring back my champion of light, Asus.
Outlook
I want the best for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, but the price is everything. We all know that prices are going up and our wages are staying the damn same, so purchasing a shiny new gaming laptop is harder than ever before.
My 2020 Asus Zephyrus G14 is struggling to keep up with modern games. I need a new one, and I would love nothing more than to get this pretty OLED baby in my lap. But I’m not spending a fortune on a new machine — I’ll cradle this 2020 G14 ‘till I die if I have to.
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 doesn’t need to be perfect — the original wasn’t, after all. But it needs to hit the aforementioned criteria to hit those 5 stars. And a 5-star gaming laptop can give you everything it possibly can for the price that it presents.
Stay tuned for my full review on the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 when it launches later this year.
