ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022) Gaming Laptop
Feature
Small but packs a punch
Style / Design
As a gaming laptop, the Zephyrus G14 is ultra-portable. Only 18.5mm thick and weighing in at only 1.72kg. Of course, the brick of a power adapter does add to this, but despite this compact nature, the Zephyrus is filled with a heap of cool features - starting with the lid. It is not immediately noticeable, but upon opening the lid and turning on the laptop, an ASUS ROG logo flashes across a corner of the lid which contains an LED screen. The screen has 1,449 mini-LEDs that can be used to display various images and animations. This is definitely a cool way to further customise your rig.
The lid/screen acts a pseudo lift for the keyboard. Opening the lid tilts the keyboard with what ASUS calls the ErgoLift Design. This allows for a more ergonomic typing position as well as having secondary functions of improved cooling and enhanced audio. The lid swivels a full 180 degrees, and when it does so, it feels like a tablet with a full keyboard attached. It does feel somewhat unbalanced on your lap though in that position. I’m not really sure it would suit gamers, but it may benefit more creative types who use their laptop for design work.
The screen itself features a slim bezel (less than 5mm at the sides) which allows greater immersion in gaming and does the same when watching your favourite movies and shows on Netflix or other streaming services. The 16:10 aspect ratio allows more content on the screen at once too, giving office users that those extra columns in their Excel spreadsheet. At the top of the screen is an
IR camera built in that supports better video under low light conditions – which is great when you’re Zoom calling a friend in the evening when the kids are asleep, and you don’t want all the lights to wake them.
The Zephyrus G14 features a large touchpad. Often with smaller trackpad, I find that I need to swipe several times to get my pointer from one side of the screen to the other, particularly when attached to a second screen. However, with this large trackpad, I didn’t have the same issue as I was able to move my pointer accurately from one side to the next.
The laptop also features a full QWERTY keyboard along with four programmable hotkeys. These hotkeys are positioned in the top left corner, slightly separated from the main keyboard, ensuring that they’re not pressed accidentally. The keyboard itself is backlit with full RGB capability and can be customised within the ASUS Aura Sync software. The only potential downside for the Zephyrus G14 for some users – particularly for those who also use their gaming machine in an office environment - is the lack of a numpad.
The left side of the laptop features the power port situated near the middle. This means that the cable will often sit across the air vents which is not ideal. The left side also features a HDMI port, a USB 3.2 Type C with DisplayPort and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The right side features two USB type-A ports – not ideal if you’re a gamer who likes to use an external gaming keyboard and mouse and have a USB mic or headset - as well as another USB 3.2 Type-C port with DisplayPort (this one allows charging) and a MicroSD card reader. Although I feel that the Zephyrus G14 would have been better served with a third USB rather than the MicroSD reader, it does allow those with drones and cameras easy access for transferring footage. Again, this allows the laptop to be suited to creative types as well as gamers.
Performance
Gaming is great when connected to a power source, but most gaming laptops are let down by their lack of performance when on the go. The 76Whr battery in the Zephyrus G14 does an adequate job in most scenarios. However, as with most gaming laptops there are some caveats. With the screen brightness up near full and the rear LED panel displaying the animation I only got a couple of hours of use before I needed to plug in the battery. And when gaming, even with the LED screen turned off and the screen dimmed to around 50%, I was only able to scrape together about three hours.
But with that said, with the brightness reduced, the LED panel turned off, and key backlighting turned off, I was able to get a full day of work done before the I got the low power warning, which is great if you forget your charger at home. The battery does charge up reasonably quickly though, with the laptop charging to 50% in around half an hour, enough to get you working (or gaming) again after a lunch break.
Battery is one thing…but for gamers wanting to play the latest AAA title, they want it to look the best, with all the visuals set as high as possible. And with that, the Zephyrus G14 performs amazingly. Running 3D Mark – Time Spy with GPU set to Turbo gave a CPU score of 10517 and a graphics score of 9204 (giving an overall score of 9379). When running the Steam VR test, the Zephyrus scored an overall rating of 11 (Very High) and had no frames dropping below 90.
Testing is fine, but the real test comes when the game of choice loads up. With Cyberpunk 2077, I was only getting 20fps (did get down to single digits at one point though) but noticed that this was with the on-board graphics. Once the discreet Radeon RX 6800S GPU was selected as the default, there were no such reductions in framerates. Playing the game with settings on Ultra, and Turbo selected as the operating mode, the lowest the framerate I saw was 42, but for most of the time they hovered in the 90-100 range.
When playing Fall Guys - a game that is less graphic intensive - framerates never dropped below triple digits, but it was more the vibrancy of the colours with which I was impressed. The full range of colours is definitely on show as you make your way through the various levels in search of being crowned champion.
The Zephyrus G14 comes with Dolby Atmos support and with it, virtual 5.1.2 channel surround sound for better immersion. But as always connecting a good pair of headphones brings out the best performance when gaming, watching your favourite movies or listening to music. And headphones will block out the sound of the fans. Although they barely raise a sweat during normal day to day use, during gaming, they can ramp up the decibels. The fans aren’t overly loud when under a gaming load (between 48dB and 55dB in Turbo mode to get the best game performance), but a good set of noise cancelling headphones are always advantageous. When gaming, the audio is crystal clear, allowing gamers to hear the direction of enemies, and listen to conversations without any issue.
For gamers who also use their laptops for Netflix and other streaming services, especially when they’re travelling, the Zephyrus is outstanding. As mentioned previously, the audio is better via a good set of headphones but is more than adequate with the laptop speakers. The visual clarity is superb though with full Pantone Validation on the RGB on the QHD display screen. The same can be said when making video call via Zoom or Teams, with conversations clear at both ends without too much distortion.
Software
The inbuilt Anime Matrix software allows users to customize this though. There are several downloadable screens that can be used, or you can make your own. It was a fairly simple process for me to get the Hooked Gamers logo displayed. There are certain limitations to the customization though due to the pixelized nature of the screen.
The Armoury Crate software (and the Aura Sync within) allows gamers to easily customise the performance and look of their machine. Changing the operating mode (there are four modes plus a manual mode to choose from), adjusting the RGB lighting on the keyboard, customising the programmable hotkeys, and even monitoring the heat of the Zephyrus, all can be completed within the software with the touch of a few mouse keys.
Verdict
Whilst the ROG Zephyrus G14 is not without its disappointments – particularly the lack of a third USB port – it does a wonderful job as both a gaming laptop and a device with which creative types will be able to flourish. The customisations to the RGB lighting and LEDs allow gamers to individualise the laptop whilst the Armoury Crate software allow gamers to select different operating modes to fine tune the internal workings to provide optimal performance. And apart from the battery – when all the features are on show - the Zephyrus G14 does an amazing job from a gaming aspect. It performed well in all the visual test and provided adequate audio even without a headset. And the fact that it is light and portable means that it is great for gamers and creators on the go.
Under the hood of the test device
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6800S GPU
32GB Dual Channel DDR-5-4800 RAM
1TB SSD
OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Wi-Fi 6
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