ASUS Zephyrus G14 (2021) review

[ntab Configuration]
The GA401 reviewed here is the second iteration of the Zephyrus G14 line-up, which means that it is a sleek and super portable gaming device. Until the Asus G14 first hit the market in 2020, even if gaming laptops became increasingly thinner and lighter, they still maintained a relatively large footprint of over 15inches. The Asus G14 was among the first generation of gaming laptops that went under 15 inches while retaining the same thinness and sleek looks as their bigger brothers. The Asus G14 sports some top-of-the-line components. However, its limited cooling capabilities may prevent its components from running at their full potential due to its small size. The review attempts to give an unbiased view of how the Asus G14 balances portability and gaming performance.

The Asus Zephyrus G14 GA401 can be configured with various 5th generation Ryzen processors and 3000 series RTX dedicated graphics cards from Nvidia. The configuration reviewed here is listed below:

[ntab General overview]

One of the G14’s signature features is its magnesium-aluminium lid that has 6,536 “precision-milled” perforations. On the more expensive versions of the G14, these tiny perforations contain mini-LEDs, which the user can configure to display various texts or imagines. On the cheaper versions of this laptop, these perforations are only mini-holes ready to gather dirt and dust. Thus, the noteb review team has some mixed feelings regarding this design feature. Otherwise, the machine has a clean and sleek design with just a small iridescent “Zephyrus” logo between the back vents. The laptop even has a fancy hinge mechanism that lifts the chassis from the ground when fully opened. This hinge design should allow for better airflow underneath the laptop, resulting in lower temperatures and in-theory, leading to better performance. However, this hinge mechanism also has its downsides. One is the keyboard deck flex when typing or gaming, which wouldn’t be there if the machine had a more traditional hinge design.

The backlit keyboard does not raise any complaints. It has a good amount of travel time for a chiclet keyboard, but it still feels cramped despite its pretty big keycaps. Although after a couple of weeks, the noteb review team got used to this type of small keyboard, it is clear that each user’s personal preference will have a strong say on the usability of this keyboard.

Something worth mentioning is the overheating keyboard deck. Most gaming laptops have pretty warm keyboards, so in general, this is not considered an issue. However, the Zephyrus G14 is reaching uncomfortable temperatures to the point where the keyboard becomes unusable. Usually, gamers who buy 15.6-17″ laptops will also use them as desktop replacements. To them, it is not unthinkable to buy an external keyboard and mouse if their laptop’s keyboard gets uncomfortably hot. However, someone who values portability to such a degree that they settle for a small 14″ laptop at the expense of gaming performance is highly unlikely to buy additional peripherals to carry around. To them, having an overheating keyboard is a serious issue.

Another disappointing area is the peripheral port selection. On the left side, it has:

– one HDMI 2.0b port connected to the integrated graphics card

– and one Type-C port (which also supports charging) connected to the dedicated graphics card, so it can be used as video output to a G-Sync external monitor.

On the right side, it has:

-two USB Type-A 3.2 ports

-another Type-C port (which lacks any other functionalities).

These ports are placed around the front of the chassis and thus close to the user. Furthermore, due to the laptop’s small screen size, users will also want to stay pretty close to the laptop. Consequently, the port arrangement, combined with the laptop’s small screen size, leaves a relatively small desk area for using a mouse. Having a small mouse area is a severe problem for a gaming laptop, with the USB dongles constantly getting in the way of the mouse, thus giving a disadvantage in multiplayer games. There is also no LAN (RJ45) port which makes no sense for a gaming laptop not to feature one, especially when there are 14″ non-gaming laptops (like Lenovo Thinkbook/Thinkpad, HP Probook/Pavilion 14) that have LAN ports.

[ntab Display]
The Zephyrus G14 is equipped with the LM140LF-1F02/NCP005E IPS panel. The display has above-average brightness levels (over 340 measured nits), a high refresh rate of 144 Hz which comes in handy in competitive multiplayer games and a good colour coverage of 90.6% sRGB, 66.0% Adobe RGB and 69.4% DCI P3, which makes it usable even for video/photo editing. Unfortunately, the display has a higher-than-average response time, which results in ghosting in fast-paced games.

Here is a link to the calibrated display profile of the reviewed unit. Because each display is unique, this profile will not perfectly match other displays of the same model. Still, using this profile should give better overall colours.

sRGB profile and calibration

[ntab Disassembly]

[ntab Benchmarks]

Night Raid

SCORE	37711
Graphics score	54666
Physics score	13676

Fire Strike

SCORE	13355
Graphics score	14631
Physics score	24114
Combined score	5749

Sky Diver

SCORE	34957
Graphics score	44812
Physics score	18321
Combined score	27157

Time Spy

SCORE	6143
Graphics score	5853
Physics score	8765

Orange Room

SCORE	7396
Average frame rate	161.22 fps
Target frame rate	109.00 fps

Cyan room

SCORE	5460
Average frame rate	119.02 fps
Target frame rate	88.90 fps

Blue Room

SCORE	1717
Average frame rate	37.42 fps
Target frame rate	109.00 fps

Nvidia DLSS Test

DLSS Off	20.28 fps
DLSS On	50.60 fps

Cinebench R20

Single Core	556 pts
Multi Core	4927

Blender

CPU blend time	3m 24s
GPU blend time	1m 10s

Geekbench 4

Single-core score	Multi-core score
6156	31093

Geekbench 5

Single-core score	Multi-core score
1464	7332

PCMark 10 Web Score 8897 Apps Score 11514 Chat Score 7701 Photo Score 10691 Video Score 4899 Writing Score 7557 Spreadsheet Score 10906 Essentials 9236 Productivity 9074 Digital Content Creation 7974 SCORE 6267

Unigine Superposition benchmark
720p Low	19528
1080p Medium	10510
1080p High	7738
1080p Extreme	3408
4K Optimized	4639
8K Optimized	1337

Crystal Disk Mark

[ntab Gaming benchmarks]

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[ntab Temperatures]

The cooling solution of the Zephyrus G14 consists of four heat pipes shared between the CPU and the GPU, four heatsinks (two on the sides and two on the back of the laptop) and two 84-blades “self-cleaning” fans. Asus also went a step further and added liquid metal from Thermal Grizzly on the processor, which is much more efficient at transferring heat from the CPU/GPU to the heatsink than regular thermal pastes. The hinge design is another element that needs mentioning when discussing the G14’s cooling. As mentioned before, besides looking fancy, the hinge mechanism also has the role of lifting the chassis above ground to allow for a better airflow which in theory should lead to lower temperatures and thus increasing performance.

All the tests were performed at an ambient temperature of 25-26° C (77-78.8° F) and on Turbo Mode.

During the standard 30 minutes AIDA64 stress test (CPU, FPU, cache), the processor reached an average temperature of 96.2 °C (205.1 °F), with a maximum of 96.8 °C (206.2 °F). At these temperatures, the processor managed to keep an average frequency of 3.67 GHz, with occasional dips to as low as 1.39 GHz on some of its cores. Despite the higher-than-average temperatures, the laptop performs well as the average 3.67 GHz speed is noticeably higher than the 2.80 GHz minimum base speed.

In the combined AIDA64 + Unigine Superposition stress test (which had both the processor and the dedicated graphics card under heavy load for 30 minutes), the processor reached a maximum temperature of 96.9 °C (206.4 °F) and throttled until it settled at a temperature of 94.8 °C (202.6 °F). During this time, the processor kept an average clock speed of 3.14 GHz with occasional dips to as low as 1.40 GHz. The dedicated graphics card maintained an average clock speed of 1515 MHz with a maximum boost of 2002 MHz. Temperature-wise, the video card hovered between 86 and 88°C (186.8 – 190.4°F). Again, despite the high temperatures, the components still manage to output decent performance.

After all the tests conducted by the Noteb review team, it is safe to conclude that Asus’ cooling solution is barely enough. Despite the thermal throttling, the laptop keeps up in performance with bigger 15.6″ laptops with better cooling solutions. However, constantly running at these temperatures will impact the laptop’s long-term reliability. As a side effect, the chassis reaches uncomfortable temperatures, making it unusable for prolonged periods of intense gaming.

[ntab Noise]
Like the previous Asus laptops reviewed so far, the Zephyrus G14 can either be quiet during regular use or obnoxiously loud when gaming. The users can choose between four pre-defined fan profiles: Windows, Silent, Performance and Turbo. These profiles can be switched by pressing Fn+F5 keys or from the Armoury Crate app. The laptop can easily reach 50 dB on Turbo Mode when gaming, so a pair of headphones is advised to offset the fan noise.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401QE fan profiles

The LatencyMon test evaluates if a laptop is suitable for video/audio editing and recording. The machine did not experience any high latency throughout the test, which makes it ideal for sound recording. The test was run multiple times to eliminate any flukes, and it constantly returned with the same results.

LatencyMon test – WIFI	LatencyMon test – LAN

[ntab Battery life]

Since most laptops are used on battery for mundane office activities and web browsing, the laptop was tested using a simulated continuous web browsing session over the WiFi. The browsing session involved checking emails/news, social media and accessing multimedia websites, similar to the behaviour of an average user. The level of brightness was set according to visibility and usability. At 50% brightness, the laptop provided an enjoyable viewing experience. The sound volume was also set to 50%.

With its 76 WHr battery, the laptop lasted 4 hours. The machine was tested using both Firefox and Edge and yielded similar battery life results regardless of the browser.

Charging the laptop from 5% to 100% took almost 1 hour and 45 min.

[ntab Conclusion]

Pros:

• great performance for 1080p gaming
• bright and high refresh rate display
• backlit keyboard
• decent speakers
• clean design

Cons:

• uncomfortable hot chassis
• limited port selection;
• bad placement of ports;
• no webcam;
• heavier than most laptops in its category.

So, is the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 GA401 worth it? Well, for the price you’ll get one of the most powerful room heaters 14″ laptops on the market. Jokes aside, if the user can get past the mentioned downsides, like the hot chassis, not having a webcam or the lack of a LAN port, then the Zephyrus G14 offers excellent performance for 1080p gaming without sacrificing portability.

[ntab Videos]