CES 2023 was packed with great new gaming laptops with top-of-the-line specs, pushing the limits of what these devices can achieve. But the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 stands out among all, a beautiful, light, and thin 14-inch device with an AMD Ryzen 9 Zen 4 CPU and an NVIDIA RTX 4090 GPU.
Not only have the specs improved over last year’s model, but they’ve also added a vapor chamber and liquid metal cooling to keep the laptop cool during the most intense gaming sessions. The screen itself is not tilted as it is a QHD LED display with an impressive 165Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time, suitable for all but the most extreme gamers.
Now, the most interesting and distinctive aspect of the new Zephyrus G14 is the AniME Matrix function, which allows you to view animations and even mini-games on the notebook cover. You can configure what’s displayed through a schedule, and it’s surprisingly flexible. When we got to try it out at CES, the rep showed us by first creating a logo, then displaying the word “NewForTech” as floating text (you can see it in the video right above).
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: price and availability
The Zephyrus G14, along with the other ROG Zephyrus laptops, will be available in Q2 2023. However, we haven’t been given exact launch dates, country availability, or pricing yet. Most likely, this information will be given to us closer to the launch window.
Once this information is revealed, we’ll let you know about it, so keep an eye out for future articles regarding this laptop and the rest of Asus’ upcoming range.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Design
While the color options are limited to black or white, the laptop itself is sleek and comes in a surprisingly light and thin form factor considering the specs it can pack. The heaviest version of the laptop, the AniMe Matrix model, weighs about 1.7 kg and is barely noticeable.
The chassis is made of magnesium alloy and the sides and corners are highly polished, giving it a stunning finish that enhances the notebook. The AniMe Matrix model has a special back that allows it to display simple animations, which are programmed using software available for download on the laptop. It’s a fun feature that’s sure to get a lot of attention, although if you’d rather not include it, there are models that don’t.
The keyboard of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is prepared for long typing sessions with a soft touch, well-sized keys, and a 1.7mm gap between them. The touch panel is made of glass and has a soft and responsive touch. It also has four independent macro keys and RGB lighting. The 14-inch display is available in FHD+ and QHD+, has a 165Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, and is 100% DCI-P3.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Performance
Whether or not the AniME Matrix feature is something that undoubtedly sets this laptop apart from other models in the market, the main reason why this laptop impressed us is the combination of its specs and shape.
The top configuration of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) features an NVIDIA RTX 4090 graphics card and an AMD Ryzen 9 Zen 4 processor, which are amazing. Of course, when it comes to graphics, the laptop version isn’t quite as powerful as its desktop version, but the RTX 4090 for laptops is comparable in power to the RTX 4070 Ti for PC, or even with the RTX 4080, which is still impressive. It should also be noted that it’s not an exact science to predict these things, so we won’t know until we get our hands on the laptop and try it for ourselves.
But the fact that the Zephyrus G14 is so thin and light compared to other laptops of the same or similar specs makes it all the more impressive. For example, the upcoming Razer Blade 16 and Razer Blade 18 laptops are extremely powerful, but they’re bigger and heavier, especially the latter, which looks almost like a desktop computer.
The Zephyrus G14 supports up to 1TB 32GB DDR5-4800 M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD, with upgradable RAM and SSD. It’s also G-Sync compatible, as is Advanced Optimus, which intelligently lets you switch between maximum frame rates and increased battery life on the fly. Hopefully, once we get our hands on this laptop, we can see how well it performs in practice.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: First verdict
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is shaping up to be one of the more impressive laptops to debut at CES 2023, with a thin and light design that hides plenty of power. It has what it takes to become one of the best gaming laptops this year, provided its performance picks up when we take a closer look.
And while the AniMe Matrix feature doesn’t exactly fill a need, it’s fun and flashy enough to be worth the investment. Especially the concept of playing simple games on this cover – imagine TikToks!