I can’t stop touching the new Asus ROG Zephyrus G14

Call it love at first sight. Every year, I come across some product that brings instant joy, a feeling of elation so intense that I forget that the tech industry is actively making our world worse in so many ways. As we wrap up CES 2024 in Las Vegas, I can’t stop thinking about the new Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, the latest version of one of our favorite gaming laptops.

As we covered in our initial hands-on, the Zephyrus G14 comes with the spec boost you’d expect: a new Ryzen 8000 CPU and the return of the NVIDIA RTX 4070. But really, what I like is the all-aluminum casing and minimalist aesthetic. When I touched it for the first time, it felt like I was holding advanced scientific equipment. This case feels almost too good for a gaming laptop.

Add to that the cleanest layout ever on an Asus machine, and you’ve got a revolutionary design leap for the company. (Especially shocking is that it’s placed next to the new Asus ZenBook 14 OLED, which actually looks ancient in comparison.) For years, we’ve been comparing Razer’s Blade laptops to Apple’s MacBooks The same gaming laptop as the Pro, but now the torch may have been passed to Asus. The Zephyrus G14 is more similar to the square, fresh aesthetic of Apple’s Pro machines. (If you’re looking for a bigger screen, there’s also the new G16 with the same design, which can accommodate more powerful hardware like NVIDIA’s RTX 4090.)

The G14 isn’t just a design showpiece, it’s also a better gaming laptop than before.Its new keyboard has 12% larger keycaps, allowing for hours of continuous use Halo: Infinite The matches feel more comfortable because my fingers have more room to stretch. Almost everything sparkles on its new 3K 120Hz OLED screen, and colors pop perfectly. When I couldn’t be bothered to wear headphones, I was even able to hear quite a bit of positional audio from the improved speakers (20% larger than before).

Devendra Hardava/Engadget

While I can’t reveal any benchmarks for our RTX 4070-equipped preview unit, I can say Halo: Infinite, Cyberpunk 2077, “Elden Ring” and the new ultra-stylish Metroidvania Cookie cutter At the G14’s native resolution and highest graphics quality, it all looks like a dream. Cookie cutterIts smooth and expressive art style is actually designed to be displayed on an OLED screen.and in cyberpunkG14’s HDR capabilities make the neon lights of Night City almost dazzling.

The Zephyrus G14 also excels at game streaming, which I like to test to highlight the laptop’s networking capabilities.i can jump in Forza Horizon 5 Within about 30 seconds, I was sitting 20 feet and one floor away from the router. When I hit the road, I was able to flick through a few games without any noticeable video artifacts, tearing, or slowdowns. People passing by might think I’m playing a local game.

Devendra Hardava/Engadget

Beyond gaming, the G14 continues to surprise and delight me. Its larger keyboard is great for typing, with more depth and responsiveness than before. Its trackpad is one of the smoothest I’ve ever used on a Windows laptop. I can’t help but love that it has all the ports I could want: HDMI, mini-SD, and USB-C and Type A on both sides of the case. I’m not a big fan of Asus’s new power connector – it’s a bit stiff and can easily send the G14 flying with a slight tug. It would be nice to see a pure USB-C charging solution, but the company told our senior reporter Sam Rutherford that using the port for high-power charging is still not cost-effective and efficient enough for widespread deployment.

I’m looking forward to spending more time with the ROG Zephyrus G14 during our review period. But until then, we’ll always have CES 2024.

We will provide live coverage of CES 2024, which will be held in Las Vegas from January 6th to 12th.Get all the latest news from the show here.

This article was originally published on Engadget: https://www.engadget.com/asus-rog-zephyrus-g14-preview-180025962.html?src=rss

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