To get a feel for what the Zephyrus G14 is capable of, I set it to work as my main machine. What better way to push a laptop to its limits than to open dozens of Chrome tabs? In all seriousness, I used it just like I would my own laptop – writing, editing photos and videos, sending emails, listening to music and watching movies. Pretty standard stuff.

While I generally work from home, I took the laptop to the one place you don’t bring a gaming PC: the library. Is it socially acceptable to play video games in the library, a place where people go for mental enrichment and quiet study? Probably not. But this experiment showed that the Zephyrus G14 can blend in just as easily out in the real world as at home.

To further get a feel for the laptop’s capabilities, I took it to several local coffee shops and even to my in-laws, who didn’t think playing games was “work.” I don’t agree. Ultimately, traveling to multiple locations, integrating it into my typical workflow, and testing its playability gave me a comprehensive understanding of its capabilities and limitations.

First off, I should say that the Zephyrus G14 is not the most powerful gaming laptop out there. For that, I recommend checking out Razer Blade 16 or Alienware M18. These machines are all about giving you as much power as possible, but they aren’t the most portable options and they offer less than ideal battery life. That said, the G14 has the best balance of power, performance and portability, while still offering enough juice to last a typical work day.

With AMD’s fast Ryzen 9 processor and Nvidia’s powerful GeForce RTX 4060 graphics card, the Zephyrus G14 can handle modern titles with ease. When testing the laptop, I used it as an opportunity to play the latest Resident Evil remakes. I’ll admit the games aren’t the most demanding, but they still look incredible in high resolution (and they’re fun as hell). The fidelity and high refresh rates were impressive, showing off Las Plagas in all its gory detail.

I took too Alan Wake 2 and God of War Ragnarök for a turn, which puts more strain on the machine because they are graphically more demanding. With these titles, I let the computer determine the best settings for optimal performance. You have some flexibility to choose what works best for you by adjusting the settings in the game. For example, you can increase the resolution or enable ray tracing for greater graphical fidelity. Just keep in mind that choosing to prioritize graphics can negatively impact performance. Personally, I’d rather have a smoother gaming experience than get every ounce of detail out, so I generally went with what the Zephyrus recommended.

Anyway, I didn’t spend much time playing away from a charger. Gaming laptops are notorious for poor battery life, whether they’re running games or just handling basic tasks. While I still only got between 3-5 hours of gaming – respectable for a gaming laptop this compact – it was a different story during daily use. I regularly made it through a full work day with 6-10 apps to write, email, surf the web, stream music, photo edit and manage the task at hand without reaching for the charger. For a gaming laptop, this kind of battery life is almost unheard of.

It won’t last as long as a more productivity-focused device like the Surface LaptopBut the trade-off, of course, is that Microsoft’s device isn’t all that great for gaming. That said, the Zephyrus G14 offers a well-rounded experience while offering enough battery for most scenarios.

The Zephyrus G14 wouldn’t look out of place next to a MacBook or any other premium workhorse laptop. It has a minimal footprint for a gaming system, measuring just 0.64 x 12.2 x 8.7 inches and weighing 3.3 pounds. The sleek design made it easy to throw laptop in a bag or carry by my side. It has a silver exterior with chamfered edges and a slash across the lid, which is fitted with an array of white LEDs. It gives the laptop a familiar yet futuristic look.

The impressive build quality extends to the trackpad and keyboard, which have a nice platinum white color (the laptop is also available in eclipse gray). While the keys are quiet and offer plenty of travel, they felt a little soft for my taste. In the Asus Armory Crate app, I was able to customize the keyboard’s RGB lighting and the slash on the lid, which adds a nice bit of personalization.

In addition, the Zephyrus G14 offers a wide selection of ports. The left side has a USB-A port, a USB-C port, an HDMI 2.1 connection and a headphone jack. Unfortunately, it has a proprietary power connector, which forced me to carry around the rather hefty charging brick. Using the included charger is necessary if you want to play demanding games while charging the laptop. The right side has a USB-A port, USB-C port and a microSD card slot.

It’s a pretty good mix of ports, but since it’s an AMD system, there’s no Thunderbolt. However, the left USB-C supports power delivery, while the right USB-C works with G-Sync over DisplayPort so you can connect to an external display.

It’s impossible to talk about the Zephyrus G14 without mentioning the 14-inch OLED screen. With a resolution of 2880 x 1800, a refresh rate of 120 hertz and support for Nvidia G-Sync, this thing looks incredible.

The beauty of OLED is that each pixel lights up individually, giving you true blacks and wide contrast, making games and other media pop off the screen. Colors are vibrant, with the display covering 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut – the same standard used in digital cinema. At the same time, the screen can reach a maximum brightness of 500 nits in HDR mode, which is very bright for using the computer outdoors.

The OLED screen really shines in titles like Resident Evil 2where much of the environment is shrouded in darkness. The perfect blacks add an eerie depth to every corner of the Raccoon City Police Department, and since I’m a bit of a scaredy cat, the contrast made every dark hallway even more terrifying. It’s just as well for movies; I recently caught up The wild robot and Alien: Romulusand both movies looked incredible on the Zephyrus G14’s screen.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 can do it all, from high-performance gaming to demanding creative projects and office work. Its sleek, portable design and gorgeous OLED display complement the powerful hardware inside, delivering a premium experience that rivals both gaming laptops and ultrabooks.

If you or someone you know is looking for a laptop that can handle intense gaming sessions without compromising on everyday performance, the Zephyrus G14 deserves a look. While it comes at a premium price, its versatility makes it a solid value for anyone looking for a do-it-all machine that doesn’t scream “gaming laptop.”

The Asus ROG Zephyrus is available in platinum white or eclipse greywith prices starting at $1,599depending on the configuration you choose. It’s on par with Apple’s newest MacBook Pro M3 in terms of price, although the base Zephyrus G14 comes with 16 gigabytes of RAM and 1 terabyte of storage, doubling both specs found in Apple’s laptop. You can upgrade the RAM to 32 GB and the graphics card to the GeForce RTX 4070, although it increases price at $1,999.

Brandon Russell is a freelance writer covering gear and technology. He started his journey as a news writer at a small newspaper and later started reviewing smartphones, movies and video games. In his spare time, he enjoys the slower, more deliberate experience of using a 35mm film camera and making short videos about movies he grew up watching.