Asus has released a refreshed version of its blockbuster, category-defining Zephyrus G14,
a gaming laptop that was so successful last year that it was basically impossible to buy
in the months following its release and that still is the case as we enter the new year.
PERFORMANCE So, there are bunch of 14
inch performance laptops available nowadays. the ROG Zephyrus G14 stands in the middle of the pack,
as the potentially best-balanced laptop in its class, and that seems to be the case whether you
get 30 50 T I, or 30 60 GPU configurations. What's you're getting here is excellent build quality and
inputs, good features and ergonomics, as well as solid performance for this size class, but
also high internal temperatures and a design that inconveniently blows the hot air into the screen,
something I just don't like about Asus's entire range of Zephyrus G laptops.
the ASUS Zephyrus G14 is a small, lightweight 'gaming laptop' that features a
powerful-but-efficient AMD Ryzen 9, 32GB of RAM, a W Q H D, "2K" display with 100%, DCI-P3 coverage.
And an NVIDIA RTX 30 60 GPU, with 6 gigs of V ram. All of it packed inside of a 14-inch laptop
chassis that's only a tiny bit thicker, and no larger, than your typical 13-inch MacBook Pro.
We’ve mentioned that it’s a gaming device but in reality, this could be a good all-rounder.
Sure, this notebook has a decent RTX 30 60 GPU, but when you want mobility
it can be quickly transformed into a portable laptop with just a few clicks.
All you need is the ASUS Armory Crate app (that comes preinstalled in most cases) – when you
apply the Silent profile the AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 will improve the battery life.
GPU PERFORMANCE Graphics performance with
the Zephyrus G14 is almost 12 percent slower than the average laptop we have tested so far
that was also equipped with an RTX 3060 GPU. This deficit would remain true even
when running the system on Turbo or maximum fan mode. Running the laptop in Performance
mode instead of Turbo mode would result in a graphics dip of about 3 to 4 percent.
The slightly lower 3DMark scores translate to slightly slower frame rates during real-world
gameplay. Performance in more demanding games like GTA V, Final Fantasy XV,
or Witcher 3 would be behind the average RTX 3060 laptop by a few percentage points.
Frame rates are nonetheless steady and without any unusual dips or micro-stuttering over time.
Users can still expect 15 to 30 percent faster graphics performance over the RTX
2060 Max-Q despite the below-average scores from our 60+ W RTX 3060.
GAME TEST The Zephyrus
averaged 187 fps on CS GO at native resolution, and 263fps in 10 80 p.
Dust particles, fires, clouds, and other intense effects weren't a problem at all.
However, we could only get around 30fps on Red Dead Redemption 2 with all sliders maxed at 1440p.
40fps on the Ultra preset, and 51fps on the Ultra preset in 10 80 p.
Where the RTX 3060 really struggled was ray tracing in Shadow of the Tomb Raider.
The G14 averaged 28fps on the highest preset with the feature set to Ultra (DLSS was helpful here,
bumping that average up to 42fps). It did much better with ray tracing off,
averaging 57fps at native resolution and 83fps in 1080p.
DESIGN The ROG Zephyrus G14 2021 is as
sexy as ever in white, or Moonlight White as ASUS calls it, with there being only one tiny change:
the ROG emblem is now lasered onto a chromed blue sliver of metal,
rather than the warmer chromed finish of last year’s ROG Zephyrus G14. The Moonlight
White finish is still as clean as ever, with half of it covered by the thousands of holes.
Behind the holes, you have the LEDs that make up the AniMe Matrix panel. More on that later.
At the rear end of the laptop, you have the Zephyrus branding emblazoned between the two very
aggressively slanted vents. The vents actually end up being blocked by the lid when the laptop is
fully opened, which means that the heated air will get blasted onto the lower bezels of the display.
Speaking of bezels, you can see that they aren’t as thin as the likes of the ROG Zephyrus M16,
and there’s still no webcam above the display. The keyboard deck is finished in silver,
as is the keyboard itself. For those who fancy their RGB, the ROG Zephyrus G14 2021 is
not the laptop to get. All you get is white backlighting, which I do commend ASUS for.
Why did they go with teal backlighting for the TUF Dash F15’s keyboard still baffles me to this day.
CONNECTIVITY Port options and
positioning haven't changed from the original G14. Thunderbolt remains elusive due to the AMD CPU,
but at least the left USB-C port supports display-out, Power Delivery, and G-Sync.
Many of the ports are closer to the front edge than on most
other notebooks where cables can get in the way.
DISPLAY Asus offers three screen
options for the 2021 Zephyrus G14, an FHD panel with 60 Hz refresh for the base configurations,
a mid-range FHD panel with 144 Hz refresh, and a QHD 120 Hz panel on the higher tier
configurations. I’d look past the base FHD panel with 60 Hz refresh, as that’s washed-out and slow.
These other two panel options are both interesting, though, and we’ve tested
both on our review units. Both offer good blacks, brightness, and contrast levels,
but the QHD option displays richer colors with 100% DCI-P3 gamut coverage, while the FHD panel
is only 100% sRGB and ~70% DCI-P3. The FHD screen is a bit more uniform in brightness and colors,
though, but overall the QHD still looks nicer and is the obvious choice for color-accurate work.
The FHD 144 Hz is arguably better suited for gaming at its 1080p native resolution,
while the QHD resolution will be more difficult to sustain by the kind of hardware available
in this 14-inch laptop. Both these panels are rather slow, though, so ghosting will
be noticeable in fast-paced action games. If those are the kind of titles you want to play,
especially competitively, you’d be better off with a 15-inch laptop instead. For regular games,
though, both these panels should be OK, with their 120/144 Hz refresh rates and AdaptiveSync.