ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022) review – Svelte with sizzle

At first glance, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022) is an attractive beast of a machine. It has a compact design that won’t shatter your spinal column when you carry it around in a backpack, the pristine white finish is dead sexy in a sea of obsidian slabs, and the internal specs are nothing to sneeze at either.

It’s a machine that packs a heck of a punch with its AMD-focused hardware, somehow managing to cram an absurd amount of power into its svelte frame, but that direction does come with a drawback that slightly strips it of some of its portability strength. Or, if you’re looking for a silver lining, it makes it great for winter when load shedding kicks in properly, but more on that in a moment.

For the model that ASUS sent me, Moonlight White, I was genuinely taken aback by the cosmetics of this laptop. Contrary to what your parents told you and your ugly face, looks do matter and this G14 design makes a great first impression. It’s more elegant when compared to previous ASUS laptops, appealing more to a market of creatives with its sleek design and minimalist aesthetics. That said, there is also a hint of gamer energy here thanks to the AniMe matrix display on the rear that can broadcast an array of messages you’re able to fine-tune. Like having it flash “get bent Geoff” for reasons. It’s weird tech, optional, and I kind of wish it wasn’t there because it distracts from the eye-catching design.

Specs

• AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS 3.6GHz Octacore
• 16GB DDR5 4800MHz
• AMD Radeon RX 6700S 8GB GDDR6 Mobile GPU
• 1TB NVMe SSD storage
• Backlit Chiclet Keyboard
• Touchpad
• FHD 1080P@60FPS external camera

Ports

• 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
• 1x HDMI 2.0b
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
• 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
• 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C support DisplayPort

But once that lid has been opened, you’ve got a fantastic QHD+ 14-inch screen to gawk at in a 16:10 aspect ratio, with a 2560 x 1600 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. The bezels are minimal, and the ergolift hinge is a nice touch that provides a subtle but welcome amount of ergonomic lift to the design.

With a laptop like this, the core appeal is a solid content creation machine that can also handle some lunchtime gaming – something that this device excels at. Between modern games, video capture, and editing said footage, the G14 ran like a dream. For my review purposes, I loaded up my usual gaming suspects such as Batman: Arkham Knight, Forza Horizon 5, and Gears 5 to get my daily dose of striking-looking blockbuster action, as well as my latest test title, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Remastered.

The good news is that if you’re looking for rock-solid 1440p mid-range gaming at 60 frames and up, the G14 has your back. I do think that it’s a bit overkill to go that high due to the screen-size, and with the resolution lowered to 1080p, that gave me more wiggle room to play with fancy tech while appreciating what the output looked like at around 120fps – pushing the spectacle into the high-range of gaming.

Colours were wonderfully vibrant, the performance was consistently smooth on this device when I played in a colder climate–you’ll read why further down–and the games looked sharp enough to poke your eye out. It’s worth noting that you aren’t going to get quite the ray tracing effect on this GPU that you’d get from its bigger brethren, but that’s to be expected with mobile chipsets.

Not only did the games look great, but they also had a crisp and punchy sound to them as well. ASUS has quad speakers packed into the G14, and once you’ve done some fiddling with the Dolby Atmos suite, they’re capable of delivering a serious audio punch to your eardrums across a nicely balanced soundscape. Moving onto the keyboard, this particular arrangement has a satisfying actuation with each key and a noteworthy trackpad that you can drag your digits across. Perfect for anyone fed up with the traditionally tiny amount of real estate for mousing about.

As someone who doesn’t shy away from memorising as many keyboard shortcuts as possible for a program, the keyboard and trackpad array proved to be sufficient for video editing and Photoshop purposes. With plenty of 1440p and 4K footage to sift through, I was also happy to see the G14 keep pace as I scrubbed through my content, which gives it some serious firepower in the portable workspace category thanks to the AMD Ryzen 9 processor.

So what’s the catch? Two actually, with the first being the price for this particular slab of handsome tech. If you can get your work to cover the expenses, then you’re looking at a minimum price of R42K for the entry-level model, which will no doubt make the accounts department do a double-take. The other caveat here is that you’ll want to make certain that the G14 is placed on a non-flammable surface, as this machine runs hot.

A few rounds of Marvel Snap left my lap feeling toasty, but spinning webs and punching bad guys in Spider-Man got me all too familiar with the smell of my roasting thigh flesh, and that heat is dispersed throughout the frame. Don’t be surprised if you feel the keyboard heating up, and as the temperature rises, it does have an effect on performance. It’s another reason why I decided to either tone down my gaming setups or run with high-level graphical presets for short bursts only, as that rising heat made more demanding games drop frames while leaving scorch marks on my legs. “I smell bacon” is going to be something you hear a lot of when you use this laptop on your…well..lap.