Gaming laptops do not stand still and try to use the latest technological solutions from manufacturers of processors and video cards. Company ASUS regularly updates its gaming lineup, releasing new items in the series Zephyrus and Strix… For testing, we received a 14-inch gaming laptop ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA401IV-HA188T), shipped in a top configuration with an eight-core processor AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS and video card GeForce RTX 2060… On the official website, the starting price is declared at the level of 83,990 rubles, but we found a version similar to the test specimen in M.Video for only 143,990 rubles. There is nothing surprising in such a range of prices – we have at our disposal an older version in the best configuration.
PACKAGING AND DELIVERY
The ROG Zephyrus G14 comes in a heavy-duty cardboard box with a plastic handle. The lid folds back and up. Inside there is a laptop without special packaging and cardboard sections that hide two charges. One comes with a standard plug, the other comes with Type-C. Both work identically. It’s nice that they are duplicated by two network cables. No need to plug one cable between two blocks. Separately in a dedicated section of the box are instructions, a 1-month Game Pass and a two-year warranty.
LOADING
The laptop is started with the power key located in the upper right of the keyboard. According to the official website, there is a fingerprint scanning system inside the button, but in our version it was not configured.
The button is easy to press, but with active use there is a possibility that it will sink in the future. Once, she almost sunk.
The keyboard is nicely backlit in white. The Print Screen key has been moved to the bottom of the panel. Overstroke technology is used to speed up the operation of the buttons.
When you open the laptop, the ErgoLift screen hinge lifts the keyboard to the most comfortable angle for your hands, and it looks really impressive. The time from pressing the power-on and until full loading takes only 7-8 seconds, taking into account the sound saver with the corporate logo.
APPEARANCE
The laptop is made in a minimalistic style of office solutions with a honeycomb structure. The creators attribute this to the desire to increase the rigidity and strength of the case, while maintaining a minimum weight. The top panel is made of magnesium alloy and is very pleasant to the touch – there is a metallic roughness and a feeling of density. This is one of the few notebooks that is pleasant to hold in your hand.
The lid is made of aluminum and is complemented by 6536 tiny holes that form the AniMe Matrix display on the surface of the device. A special application allows you to synchronize it with music, display animations and images on it. The matrix screen consumes energy even in sleep mode, and looks useless, but very beautiful. However, there are versions of the ROG Zephyrus G14 without an external matrix display.
The screen occupies 85% of the body. On the left side panel there is an output for normal charging, HDMI 2.0b, USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C outputs (with support for DisplayPort 1.4 mode and Power Delivery standard for charging a smartphone) and a 3.5 mm audio jack. On the right are USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-C, USB 3.2 Gen1 Type-A, and a Kensington slot. The thickness of the screen bezel is 6 millimeters at the sides and 7 millimeters at the top.
In normal mode, the laptop is very quiet – the noise level is below 34db. When working with heavy applications, the noise rises to 55db.
The laptop weighs 1720 g. Without a matrix display, it is 100 g lighter. The thickness of the laptop is 2 centimeters, the external proportions are 32x22x1.8 cm.
WORK AND TESTS
The laptop comes with a rechargeable Li-Ion battery – 75998 mWh according to the passport. A full charge from scratch takes 2 hours 30 minutes.
When working in standard mode (browsing the Internet, reading or working in editors), one hundred percent charge will last for 9-10 hours, when watching movies with dimmed brightness, the laptop will be discharged in 10-11 hours. That is, one charge is definitely enough for one flight from Moscow to Korea or Japan.
In active gaming mode, the laptop lost 50% of its charge in an hour and a half of use. This means that its limit in the game mode without recharging is about two and a little hours, depending on the game.
The computer itself was produced in June 2023. Inside it is an AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS processor, 4400 MHz (44 x 100), two memory dies for 8 GB DDR4-3200 DDR4 SDRAM (@ 1600 MHz) with a maximum frequency of 3200 MT / s from Micron, INTEL SSDPEKNW010T8 solid-state disk drive ( PCI-E 3.0 x4) 1024 GB, integrated Intel (R) Wi-Fi 6 AX200 160MHz network adapter, video adapter based on a 512 MB AMD Radeon processor, as well as GeForce RTX 2060 @ Max-Q Design (6 GB). Realtek ALC289 @ AMD K17.6 – Audio Processor is used as a sound solution.
Screen – IPS panel 14 inches (309×174 mm), resolution – WQHD (2560×1440 @ 60 Hz). The level of glare, as can be seen from the tests, is minimal. Black looks natural.
Returning to the case, it should be noted that the radiator grill is located on the sides and is blown by two fans, which provides good cooling. But the system noise is very noticeable when launching games and using heavy applications. However, at high volume and when playing with headphones, this is tolerable.
In standard mode, AIDA64 displays the following temperatures:
- CPU – 45 ° C
- CPU diode – 46 ° C
- GPU – 44 ° C
- INTEL SSDPEKNW010T8 – 41 ° C
With heavy use, the CrystalDisk Info tests indicate that the hard drive temperature rises to 39 ° C. The GPU reached values between 40 ° C and 70 ° C.
The hard disk speed in Crystal Disk Mark was 1810 MB / s, and 1786 MB / s read and write.
In graphics tests, the GeForce RTX 2060 (6 GB) performed differently.
In 3D Mark TimeSpy, the system showed 34 and 31 frames per second, Final Fantasy XV Bechmark showed a high result, in Unigine Superposition Benchmark with extreme settings, the system produced from 19 to 28 frames per second.
In games, the system also behaved heterogeneously. DOOM Eternal, for example, issued from 38 to 55 frames at high settings, and testing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey turned out to be the most disastrous – here the stress test showed 13 frames per second, while at medium settings, the game is quite comfortable. Naturally, on this laptop it is better to play in FHD mode at maximum or high settings.
Built-in acoustics are a great solution. The sound is deep and rich – with imitation 5.1 systems and good bass thanks to the excellent positioning of four speakers on the sides and support for Dolby Atmos technology. Music sounds different, but does not cause serious complaints.
In real conditions, the laptop lies comfortably on the lap, but it gets noticeably warm, which makes it not very comfortable to use in shorts or in a short skirt – in the case of girls.
Despite the use of various systems to reduce heat emission, the side fans are quite noticeable. And you can hardly expect something different in the case of using the GeForce RTX 2060. Another inconvenient thing is the absence of an external charging indicator on the side panel or on the power supply. You don’t always want to open your laptop to find out the charge level.
The ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA401IV-HA188T) is a super smooth, lightweight and powerful laptop that can be used for both work and play. Of course, it has a number of shortcomings, such as a not very reliable power button or noisy fans, but you have to pay something for good performance in games. And this is one of those devices that you don’t want to tear yourself away from – it is so pleasant to hold in your hands and looks incredibly stylish.
Author: Alexander Loginov (XTR)
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