Our favorite gaming laptop just got an OLED upgrade — where to buy the new Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
The best gaming laptop around now has an updated OLED model you can pre-order
The best gaming laptop you can currently buy has just launched with a new OLED version. For our money, the 2023 edition was about as good as portable PC gaming gets, so we’re incredibly excited to see the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) hit the market. Read on for pricing details and to find out where you can buy this laptop.
As soon as we wrote our Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) hands-on review, we knew it was going to be the real deal. My boss (Managing Editor of Computing, Jason England) pondered whether it was “the real gaming MacBook Pro?” High praise indeed.
In Jason’s piece, he noted that the latest edition to the Zephyrus G14 family makes “nice refinements to the formula that makes our #1 best gaming laptop even better”. CPU performance has also received a boost with new AMD Ryzen chipsets, making it so good “that it could take on Apple’s MacBook Pro as a solid all-rounder.”
Where to buy the new Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024)
Now Asus is about to launch the latest model in its lauded laptop range, with the new Zephyrus G14 available to pre-order from select retailers in the U.S. — including the Asus store and EXcaliberPC. Pricing starts off at $1,599 and fetches up to $2,199 for the most expensive configuration. We’ve yet to hear word from Asus on international release dates or pricing.
So what’s changed since we reviewed the brilliant Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) last summer? The headline upgrade is obviously the new ROG Nebula OLED display. Last year’s model boasted a super impressive mini-LED screen, which I thought was close to “OLED-good”. However, having the real deal now is a huge boost. While mini-LED tech has evolved to a point where there are enough dimming zones to produce convincing black levels, these displays still can’t turn off individual pixels to achieve perfect blacks the way OLED can.
The resolution of the model I reviewed last year has also been given a decent boost. The ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) now sports a 3K (2800 x 1800) 16:10 display with a refresh rate of 120Hz. By comparison, its predecessor has a 2560 x 1600 screen, though the refresh rate is admittedly higher at 165Hz. Throw in response times of just 0.2ms, support for Dolby Vision HDR and Nvidia G-Sync features, and this could well be the most impressive gaming laptop screen you’ll see this year.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024): Specs
Header Cell - Column 0 | Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 |
---|---|
Display | 14-inch 3K OLED display — 120Hz refresh rate, 0.2ms response time, G-SYNC |
CPU | Up to AMD Ryzen R9 - 8945HS |
GPU | Up to RTX 4070 (90W TGP) |
Memory | Up to 32GB LPDDR5x |
Storage | Up to 1TB PCIe Gen 4 |
Ports | 1x USB4, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x Micro SD card reader, 1x Audio jack |
Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6e, Bluetooth 5.3 |
Dimensions | 12.2 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches |
Weight | 3.3 pounds |
As for configuration options, as you’ll see above, the follow-up to our favorite gaming laptop tops out at an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, an AMD Ryzen R9 8945HS CPU and up to 32GB of LPDDR5x memory.
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There have also been aesthetic design improvements across the board. Compared to the review unit of the 2023 model I spent a lot of time with, this is a thinner, lighter gaming laptop than its older sibling. Whereas its predecessor tipped the scales at 3.79 pounds and was 0.77 inches wide, the new Zephyrus G14 weighs in at just 3.31 pounds and 0.63 inches wide.
This is most likely down to a couple of key factors. Firstly, OLED screen technology is the thinnest display tech around. Second, the version I reviewed last year had a more powerful (and therefore, likely heavier) graphics card in the form of the RTX 4090 Laptop GPU. While I’m a little disappointed the current highest config you can upgrade to is limited to an RTX 4070, I wouldn’t be surprised if Asus launches a more expensive version of the latest G14 featuring Nvidia’s highest-end card before 2024 is out.
The fact the GPU is slower than last year’s top end model is at least partially offset by the new processor. AMD’s Ryzen R9 8945HS is significantly faster than the older model’s Ryzen 9 7940HS, which will prove useful in the best PC games that often prove taxing on the CPU, as many modern titles increasingly are.
To round off proceedings, even though its form factor is smaller thanks to a thinner aluminium shell, the new ROG Zephyrus G14 has a bigger touchpad and speakers that are 25% larger than its processor. If you’re a fan of flash, you’ll also be pleased to know Asus’ latest gaming laptop features new LED lighting on the lid of its chassis.
We should have our final review of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2014) gaming laptop with you in the near future. Suffice to say, our hopes are sky-high.
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Dave is a computing editor at Tom’s Guide and covers everything from cutting edge laptops to ultrawide monitors. When he’s not worrying about dead pixels, Dave enjoys regularly rebuilding his PC for absolutely no reason at all. In a previous life, he worked as a video game journalist for 15 years, with bylines across GamesRadar+, PC Gamer and TechRadar. Despite owning a graphics card that costs roughly the same as your average used car, he still enjoys gaming on the go and is regularly glued to his Switch. Away from tech, most of Dave’s time is taken up by walking his husky, buying new TVs at an embarrassing rate and obsessing over his beloved Arsenal.