- This is the ROG Zephyrus G14.
If this looks familiar, it's because it should.
We've been using this laptop in the studio
ever since it came out back in 2020.
So, when our friends at ROG reached out and asked
if they could sponsor a video on the brand new version
of the G14 for 2024, I couldn't say no.
Open...
Oh, my God, it's a book.
It's, like, bound into it.
This doesn't even come apart, like, it is a book,
"A new horizon, ROG Zephyrus G14."
Also, I know this is like a nerdy detail,
this is like one of those, you know,
like, those real fancy books.
You're gonna walk into a Congressperson's office,
who you're probably sure has been bribed in the past
with some very fancy things,
well, this is the kind of quality of paper
that they would have on the books
and their dining room tables or desks.
(clears throat) Sorry, did I? (chuckles)
It kind of just shows the way they've actually designed it,
so they show the colorways,
they show that it's also now made out of aluminum,
which is actually kind of interesting,
because with the previous G14s,
and, honestly, like most ASUS and ROG laptops,
they're in, like, sort of a traditional multi-piece design.
So, immediately I get the idea
that this is going to be a more premium setup
for the G14 this time.
What?
Look at this, look at that, that's so cool.
You got a triple fan set up.
Look, there's a lot of stuff in here,
and we've got the laptop itself.
That is a really unique unboxing.
Oh, snap, that's thin!
Holy. And we've also got, look at this size
of that trackpad, too.
The trackpad pretty much takes up
the entire bottom of the chassis.
I liked the original G14.
Don't get me wrong, I don't wanna make it seem like
I'm complaining about this,
'cause this has been the main laptop in the studio
for the last three years for a reason,
but this, if you handed this to me and just said,
"Oh, this is, like, the next Zenbook," or something,
I would be like, "Oh, neat,"
but the fact that this is a full-on gaming computer
with what I assume are quite decent specs
on the inside, that is cool.
Let me be real, if you're Razer,
you're like, "Oh, (duck quacks)"
Is there anything else in here? (soft electronic music)
Is this supposed to do something?
I think this is supposed to do something.
- [Joanna] There is a USB-C port on the side.
- Do we plug in our box?
Do we plug in our book? - [Joanna] Maybe follow the,
you know. - Yeah, you know what,
that's fair, that's fair, I could do that.
I feel like this is supposed to do something.
By the time you watch this video, I'll be at CES.
I will ask ASUS what this is supposed to do.
Is that a backpack?
(backpack thuds)
Ah!
No!
No, not the G14! (crew laughing)
I'm sorry. (crew continues laughing)
He hasn't even...
(crew continues laughing)
Take a moment and calm down a little bit.
Well, it says, "Zenbook," on it.
Wait, what?
What is this?
(box rattles)
They sent Legos again, didn't they?
I'm trying to review laptops here, what is, oh,
(soft intriguing music)
- [Joanna] That's gotta be you.
- But my concern is why am I in so many pieces?
We also have what I assume has gotta be the G16, right?
It does have the same design language.
It certainly is made out of the same kind of aluminum.
One of the big upgrades
with both of these laptops this year,
in addition to the build quality,
which I'll say is probably one of the biggest differences,
is the fact that they both upgraded to OLED displays.
So, Matt,
- [Joanna] Austin can't put together,
like, two Lego pieces.
- No, no, no, here's the thing, okay?
They sent me a Lego of myself, but it came in a few pieces.
Like, I'll be real,
I didn't have plans of trying to daily the G14.
Like, I was like, "Oh, you know,"
like, I don't typically need to carry
a gaming laptop with me every day.
(soft upbeat music)
The thought is currently crossing my mind
that maybe this is my daily.
- Your butt straps. - Not butt straps,
it's just called a little bit of support, man.
That's pretty good.
(soft upbeat music continues)
- Do you remember the kid from, "Polar Express,"
- Okay. - Who's like, "Um, actually,"
that's who that grew up to be.
(Alex laughing)
- Let's take a close look at the G14 and the G16, shall we?
Well, the new G14 looks dramatically different.
There are actually no new graphics cards this year
to cram inside of it,
which means that the ROG team can't just throw
a 5090 in here and call it a day,
which means they had to use a lot of clever engineering
to make it thinner, cooler,
and in my opinion, better across the board.
Let's start out by talking about the Ryzen 9 8945HS,
which is a new CPU that's just been released.
We're talking eight Zen 4 CPU cores,
the max boost clock of 5.2 gigahertz,
and new for this generation are the Ryzen AI cores,
which deliver 16 TOPS of performance.
Now, look, you're gonna hear a whole lot about AI at CES,
throughout the rest of this year,
largely because it is a big, big upgrade.
So, being able to do on-device AI is an important thing,
especially when you consider that if the rumors are true,
Windows 12 is going to heavily be relying on devices
that have some real AI performance on board.
The most important part of the new G14
is really just how much smaller and lighter
they managed to make it.
So, they shaved about a third of a pound off
and almost 2/10ths of an inch.
That might not sound like much,
but you can absolutely feel it.
It's funny, this actually has very similar dimensions
to a 14-inch MacBook Pro, which is absolutely a compliment,
considering the kind of hardware that they were able to cram
in this form factor.
Now, you might think that with all of that,
and being so thin, it would overheat like crazy.
They've got liquid metal cooling, not one, not two,
but three of their brand new Arc Flow Fans,
and I will say that while it loses out on a very small
amount of performance compared to last year's version
of the G14 with the same GPU,
we're talking a couple percent,
but it is way quieter,
especially from sort of the normal distance,
and, also, I just wanna emphasize
how much more livable the G14 is.
I mean, the G14 has always been a very good daily laptop
with the size and its form factor,
but with this G14, it is so nice
as far as the hardware goes.
It also has their new ROG charge port,
which means that you can fast-charge it.
Now, keeping in mind that this is running
pre-production hardware and software,
I can't do any benchmarks of this device.
What I can do is give you some general thoughts
on what it's like to game on.
So, there are a few things that are interesting
about using this laptop for gaming,
one of which is while when you're gaming,
you certainly can hear some fan noise,
and it gets very warm toward the top,
the keyboard, and especially at the trackpad area,
feel relatively cool to the touch.
Now, the screen itself is another place where ROG
have stepped it up.
So, it's been upgraded from either
an IPS or mini-LED, last generation,
to an incredibly sharp 3K OLED with G-SYNC.
Let me emphasize that it is a very,
very different experience gaming on OLED.
Sure, on paper, it is not a complete upgrade.
I mean, last year's model ran at 165 hertz,
where this one tops out at only 120,
but I would absolutely take it on the OLED in a heartbeat.
Not only are you getting the amazing contrast,
the great colors, and you've also got
the excellent response time.
It is clear that, like, especially with G-SYNC
and everything, it is smooth as butter.
The experience of gaming on this laptop
is also just terrific.
I mean, not only is it incredibly smooth
and sort of responsive,
but I'm talking about the speakers absolutely kick ass.
Like, they really, really do sound great.
I could just walk around, but I'm committed to the bit now.
(upbeat electronic music)
That sounds pretty good, right?
Yeah, that's 30% volume.
(upbeat electronic music grows louder)
(upbeat electronic music continues)
(chuckles) As I try to look for my glasses,
I think, and I'm not exaggerating in any way,
the G14 is now among my, like,
top two or three laptop speakers, period.
Even comparing it to larger devices,
the G16 also has terrific speakers,
it's a little bit bigger, but, like,
what they're pumping out of a laptop
of this size is unbelievable.
So, it's so good, I lost my eyeballs.
I just couldn't handle it.
You know what I like about this G14, not only the size,
which feels very sort of daily drivable,
but also the fact that there's not
a lot of other compromise.
You know, the screen, like,
everything that makes it a bright, smooth, contrasty screen
great for gaming also makes it a great everyday laptop.
The webcam's pretty good.
It's got Windows Hello Facial Recognition.
It is really rare for me to take a look at a device
and have essentially no criticism.
I already love the G14,
and this one is just better in every way.
(gun firing on laptop)
Okay, well maybe I'll use the G14
to get a little more practice in.
And all this also segues over to the G16.
So, the G16 is, of course, the 16-inch version
of the same laptop, and it has pretty much all the upgrades
that I love from the G14.
I will say, though,
it does have a few extra tricks up its sleeve.
The G16 ships with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H,
which is a monster of a mobile chip.
It's got 16 cores, which is split this year
between six performance, eight efficiency,
and two high efficiency or high-power efficiency
that can also hit a max turbo of over five gigahertz,
5.1 on this side, compared to 5.2,
but look, no noob will ever think
that you're gaming on a laptop
if you're rocking one of these new Zephyruses.
The G16 does have a choice of display,
but there should be only one you pick,
and that is this OLED.
It is slightly actually lower resolution
than the G14 at 2.5K,
but it has a crazy refresh rate of 240 hertz,
and on top of that, it has a 960 hertz pixel emission rate.
Essentially, the OLED panel itself is refreshing
several times for every new frame you get in the game,
to make that truly wild response time a reality,
or you could just go with a regular TFT panel
if you wanna save a few bucks,
but honestly, don't even bother.
The OLEDs on these are terrific.
Now, the G16 does have slightly higher-end GPU options,
where the G14 for 2024 tops out at an RTX 4060,
or specifically an RTX 4070,
and this model, this one will go all the way up
to an RTX 4090, but let's be real,
if you care about the maximum performance,
you're gonna get a beefier gaming laptop.
Well, the Zephryus line is about striking a balance
between portability and performance,
and personally, I prefer a device like this.
I value tons of raw horsepower
and something that's an inch thick,
that'll go into turbo mode, but,
look, I want something that I can carry around
every day with me,
and something that feels nice and premium to use,
and that's really where the Zephyrus line sort of
has its sort of sweet spot.
Now, as we're recording this video,
I don't actually know the prices of these laptops.
You probably will by the time you're watching this video,
and if I have it, I will put it up on screen.
It is almost certainly gonna be more expensive
than the 2023 models, since these have that brand new
aluminum chassis and whatnot,
but look, I mean, it's super simple.
The G14 is one of my favorite pieces of laptop hardware
that I have ever tried.
Like, it is rare that a single device checks
so many boxes for me personally.
I love the form factor and size.
I love how thin and light it is,
the trackpad, keyboard, screen, performance, ports,
I mean, pretty much everything
you could ask for in a laptop, it checks the boxes.
So, thank you very much to ASUS and ROG
for sponsoring this video.
If you wanna learn anything else about the Zephyrus G14
or G16, I'll have those linked in the description,
and make sure to stay tuned and subscribe to the channel.
This CES, there is an enormous amount of very cool tech,
and I'm gonna be covering as much as I can,
and when I finally take a nap at some point in February.