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ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

A year-end review of ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is quite unpleasant for many buyers, but I say if you are an Indian, this is the right time to get the laptop. In India, the ROG Zephyrus G14 arrived in August, but it took months to get the pricing stable, whereas I remember the Ryzen 9 model available nowhere until October.

However, now with ample stocks and as the successor of this laptop being announced soon next year, this is the right time to get this gaming laptop if you are looking for one. Obviously, this is the best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020 and one of the best of the year.

I like it the most because you have many options or variants of this laptop, starting at around Rs.80k and going over Rs.150k. You get your gaming laptop powered by the Ryzen 4000H gaming processors and NVIDIA graphics according to your need.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

I got the best Ryzen 9 4900HS & RTX 2060 Max Q powered model; however, you won’t be compromised whichever variant you go for. Here’s my full review of the much-hyped ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and why you should buy it now:

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Specifications:

ProcessorUp to 8 core/ 16 thread AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS
Display14″ 120Hz FHD IPS-level panel with Adaptive-Sync technology
GraphicsNVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q 6GB GDDR6
Memory16 GB DDR4 3200MHz
Storage1 TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD
WirelessIntel WiFi 6 (802.11ax)
Bluetooth 5.0
Connectivity1 x USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C (DisplayPort 1.4 and Power Delivery)
1 x USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C
2x USB3.2 Gen1 Type-A
1x HDMI 2.0b
1x 3.5mm headphone and microphone combo jack
KeyboardBacklit Chiclet Keyboard, N-key support, 1.7mm travel distance, 4 Hotkeys, Golden Curve, Power key with Fingerprint
Audio2x 2.5W speakers with Smart AMP technology
2x 0.7W tweeter, Array Microphone
AC Adapter180 W AC Adapter
OSWindows 10 Pro
Windows 10 Home
Size324 x 222 x 17.9 mm
Weight1.6 kg
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

Design & Build

The laptop’s best part is its unique design, built on a metallic chassis with 6,536 CNC Milled Dot Matrix design; the laptop feels premium but is not heavy considering this is a premium gaming laptop. It is a perfect contender for everyday tasks; seeing the laptop, I never felt this is a gaming one, as it’s so sleek, considering this to be a gaming laptop and Ryzen 9 in it.

It is a solid laptop and is just 19.9mm thin, easy to carry, and you can game on it anytime and anywhere you need. The Honeycomb Reinforcement Chassis on the top looks amazing, especially if you have the Anime Matrix variant.

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The ErgoLift hinge tilts the keyboard at a more comfortable angle and helps to get the heat dissipated as well. Overall, I have no complaints about the impressive build quality and the unique design of it.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

Display

It is a premium gaming laptop, but unlike other ones, this has a great display that makes the laptop suitable for gaming and productivity. The laptop features a 14-inch display, which you can choose from an FHD 120Hz panel or FHD 60Hz panel or a 1440p screen at 60Hz, though I prefer the FHD 120Hz for a better gaming experience.

The laptop’s display also supports AMD’s FreeSync technology that synchronizes the framerate and the refresh rate. It features skinny bezels, creating an 85% screen-to-body ratio that makes these screens feel larger. Having 100% sRGB color gamut is another plus point for doing professional work like video and photo editing easily, and it’s also Pantone validated.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 performance benchmarks: AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS is insane!

If you are a professional, I think you should be looking at the Quad HD (2560 x 1440) resolution model with a 60Hz refresh rate. Having 300 nits of brightness is indeed very useful on top of an Anti-Glare IPS-level panel, making it perfect for indoor usage and taking it outdoors sometimes.

Playing games on this display has been a pleasure, with beautiful colors and the 120Hz refresh rate helping to get the best gaming experience paired with an RTX 2060 Max Q GPU. The great thing is that even on the budget Ryzen 5 model, you also get the same great display on the higher-end variant.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 performance benchmarks: AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS is insane!

Performance

The performance of this laptop is obviously insane, the Ryzen 9 4900HS with all its 8 cores and 16 threads rips apart every benchmark out there. In its design and chassis, ASUS has created a beast that can be carried anywhere and can be used in any mode as per your requirement, generally its in Silent mode to save battery life.

To get the best performance out of the laptop, use it while charging, or if you want to play or work without the charger, you use the silent mode to save battery life. Be it working or gaming, this laptop is excellent either way and although it’s costly but worth spending.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

The only bad thing in terms of performance has to be the 1 TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD inside it as it does not give the expected speeds that you can ask from a premium gaming laptop. I would love if ASUS uses a Samsung or WD SSDs with 2000Mbps+ speeds.

If you want to see all the benchmarks of this laptop, I highly recommend through this article where I have detailed the performance of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. Overall, the laptop lives up to my expectation and indeed is the best in terms of performance out there.

Connectivity

In terms of connectivity and I/O, you shouldn’t have any issues as for Wi-Fi; you have the Intel Wi-Fi 6 (Gig+) connectivity, also known as 802.11ax. In 2020, having Wi-Fi 6 is beneficial as you can download games and stuff at high speeds and reduce latency while playing eSports games.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

The Bluetooth 5.0 on this laptop works well, and you can connect multiple devices easily to the laptop, be it headphones, Bluetooth keyboards, or a mouse. Using earbuds paired with a laptop is a great experience while answering calls and video conferences.

For the ports, you do have an adequate number of USB ports, but the inclusion of a 1 x USB3.2 Gen2 Type-C port that also supports Power Delivery makes the gaming laptop very handy if you are carrying it outdoors.

Cooling

The ROG Intelligent Cooling feature on the laptop is great on the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 to keep it silent during normal tasks and you hardly hear any fan spin. However, during performance mode or while playing games the Dual N-Blade Fans having 1 Blades in each Fan does really keep the laptop away from throttling.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

I faced no issues playing at highest settings possible and the fans ramping up to prevent the laptop getting heated up even though it has a Ryzen 9 4900HS in it.

Kudos for the cooling of this laptop, only one thing I noticed is that if the vents of the laptop could have been kept on the left side or the rear end that would have been better as the hot air gushes out through the right and does distract you during prolonged game sessions.

Gaming

The laptop’s primary use is obviously gaming and in that segment too, the laptop shines, so you can expect high framerates in almost all games. Powered by Ryzen 9 4900HS and RTX 2060 Max-Q, you can get smooth 1080p gaming performance.

However, the ray tracing performance isn’t that much convincing, you get 30FPS+ for selected titles if you turn both RTX and DLSS on. So, you should genuinely try FHD gaming at highest possible settings and enjoy greater framerates on this color accurate display.

If you want to check out the laptop’s gaming performance in some of the most demanding titles check our gaming benchmarks.

Audio

The ROG Zephyrus G14 features a quad speakers and they are damn loud, yes, the loudest I’ve ever heard and the 2x 0.7W tweeter does give the stereo effect.

For listening to songs, movies and even gaming, the audio of the laptop is a strong advantage you should definitely love the gaming laptop.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

Keyboard & Trackpad

It features a white backlit chiclet Keyboard with an N-key rollover and has a 1.7mm travel distance. The keyboard’s typing experience is great as the keys are tactile yet soft, indeed one of the most premium laptop keyboards I have tried out.

The keyboard has 4 hotkeys and features a power key with a fingerprint sensor in it. The fingerprint sensor, too, is fairly accurate and gets the job done for quick unlocks.

I like the trackpad on the laptop, not the largest I’ve seen, yet it is accurate and feels great for daily usage. The gestures on the trackpad work perfectly, and even for productivity-related work, it is a great one.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020

Battery Life

The 76WHrs, 4-cell Lithium-Polymer Battery of the laptop promises 10 hours of battery life on normal usage, and I was getting around 4-5 hours at 70% brightness and you can stretch it to around 7 hours on video playback at lower brightness.

As a gaming laptop this amount battery life is great and thanks to the efficient Ryzen 9 4900HS along with the optimizations by ASUS, you can get max out of the ROG Zephyrus G14.

Pros & Cons

Well, every laptop has its goods and weaknesses and this one too has:

Pros:

  • Powerful 8 core AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS processor
  • RTX 2060 Max-Q 6GB GDDR6 great for 1080p gaming
  • Light and easy to carry as a gaming laptop
  • One upgradeable RAM slot
  • Good Battery life with Type-C charging support
  • Good connectivity as well as audio
  • Unique design and a gorgeous display

Cons:

  • No webcam
  • The SSD quality could have been better
  • The heatsink of the right side is a major design flaw
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 gaming benchmarks: Still remains a gaming champ

Verdict

Overall, this gaming laptop is a great all-rounder and a productivity king; the powerful Ryzen 9 inside it is a killer processor. Even if you get a Ryzen 5 variant with discounts, the deal won’t be a bad one because, as a whole, the ROG Zephyrus G14 is a very compact and unique laptop.

Be it work or gaming, the laptop stands by your every need without any hiccups; it consumes lesser power, has great audio, connectivity, and still is very light. It has very few cons to makes the gaming laptop non-recommendable; if you get a good deal and you should with next-gen knocking the doors, get this laptop anytime possible as indeed it’s the Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020.

Check out the laptop here: https://amzn.to/2VyWNLa

REVIEW OVERVIEW

Design & Build
Display
Performance
Connectivity
Cooling
Gaming
Audio
Keyboard & Trackpad
Battery Life

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Raunak Saha
Raunak Saha
A cs engineer by profession but foodie from heart. I am tech lover guy who has a passion for singing. Football is my love and making websites is my hobby.
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Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is an easy to recommend premium gaming laptop that is indeed one of the best in 2020 and if you get a good deal on it grab it!ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 full review: Best AMD powered gaming laptop of 2020