23 Jul
Blog

Asus ROG Phone 3 Review: An Incredible Feat Of Mobile Gaming

Asus Rog Phone 3 review

"The Asus ROG Phone 3 is a powerful, focused gaming smartphone that makes you feel like a champion."

  • Incredibly powerful

  • Breathtaking sound

  • Focused, useful game features

  • Large, smooth screen

  • Great software

  • Camera could be better

  • Heavy

Asus has shown how serious mobile gaming is with the launch of Republic of Gamers' ROG Phone 2 last year, which is equipped with technologies and features specifically designed to improve gameplay. Now it's back with the ROG Phone 3. Not much has changed externally, and if anything, the design of the space age has become less noticeable – but the story is different inside.

The difference that the internals make is remarkable. It's so powerful that when he plays PUBG Mobile, Thanos would do it on a ROG Phone 3.

design

The ROG Phone 3 has a similar look and almost the same size as the ROG Phone 2, but the sci-fi madness is somewhat weakened. The glass back is glossy rather than matte, and the exposed vents on the back of the ROG Phone 2 have disappeared and have been replaced by a cool, transparent area that shows the new cooling system inside. I have never seen a glass transition between transparent and dark, and it looks great.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Despite its exterior, the ROG Phone 3 has not collected any fingerprints, and the ROG logo with RGB looks even brighter and more colorful than the matt glass of the ROG Phone 2. The camera module has been given another lens for a total of three. and it runs horizontally across the device. Asus has reduced the silver angled lines on the body, making the design more mature.

Nevertheless, the gaming focus remains. The USB Type-C connector on the bottom is arranged on the side so that the phone can be held more comfortably in landscape format when plugged in. There is another USB Type-C charging port behind a rubber plug on the opposite side. The phone also has shoulder-mounted "AirTrigger" on the side of the phone (we'll talk more about that later).

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Although it's comfortable to hold, this is a great smartphone. It is 9.8 mm thick, 171 mm long and 78 mm wide. For comparison: The OnePlus 8 Pro is 8.5 mm thick, 165 mm long and 74.5 mm wide.

At 240 grams, the ROG Phone 3 is also one of the heaviest phones ever. The orientation in landscape is well balanced, but in portrait I noticed that the weight was tilted towards the front of the phone. In combination with the slippery body, it often threatened to fall in the face when I lay it down.

One thing that ROG Phone 2 users may notice is the disappearance of the 3.5mm headphone jack. The integration of 5G antennas in the ROG Phone 3 is one of the reasons why the connection no longer fits into the phone. However, if you really want it, there is a dongle in the box. There is also an additional AeroActive Cooler 3 accessory that attaches to the case to assist cooling. You will also receive these accessories in the packaging.

It is a great accessory. Asus has added two very helpful features: a space to store the rubber connector cover that you remove from the phone to attach the AeroActive Cooler 3, and a stand.

The stand is great and puts the phone in the perfect angle for watching movies or playing with a controller. The AeroActive Cooler 2 developed for the ROG Phone 2 is not compatible with the new phone. However, if you bought other accessories, including the Twin View Dock or the Kunai controller, these will work because the two phones are almost identical in size.

I appreciate the new, more sophisticated design of the ROG Phone 3, but I miss the madness of the ROG Phone and ROG Phone 2. I think gaming phones need craziness. Nothing in their existence makes sense. So why not celebrate a little more?

Play

The ROG Phone 3 is the king of gaming smartphones.

I'm a casual gamer, which means I don't spend hours playing online every day, but the ROG Phone 3 still manages to make the games I play look better and smoother while providing useful tools, that improve the experience. When I feel that way, I have no doubt that people who are more interested in mobile games will see even greater benefits.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The shoulder-mounted AirTrigger are a good example of where the ROG Phone 3 is successful. You can easily map, tap, press, swipe, or even split controls on the screen to effectively create four buttons. They made the simple controls of Asphalt 9 Legends faster to use and prevented my fingers from covering the screen.

The function is activated in the game via the Game Genie menu on the slide-in screen. When you position the AirTrigger activation points on the screen, they vibrate when you get the correct placement. In Transformers: Forged to Fight, I used both the tap and swipe functions, and while typing worked well, it can be difficult to activate the swipe function at the right time.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Pressing the sides of the phone activates X mode, which increases phone performance and minimizes distractions while gaming. Use the "Advanced X mode" setting, where everything is set to maximum and the processor is not throttled at all. I haven't noticed any slowdown, dropouts, or other performance issues while playing on the ROG Phone 3.

The 6.59-inch AMOLED screen has a refresh rate of 144 Hz, 270 Hz touch sampling, 10-bit HDR, HDR 10 Plus support and a touch latency of 25 ms. It reacts incredibly quickly. Dariusburst is played in a small window in the center of the screen and requires skillful, careful controls to switch between the landscape and the onslaught of bullets. The ROG Phone 3 made this much easier thanks to its large, very responsive touchscreen.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Then there is the sound. Asus worked with an audio company called Dirac and skipped major brands like Dolby. The result is often exceptional. There is a level of detail, clarity and definition that you won't always find on phones, as well as a wide sound stage and really full sound through the two stereo speakers. The ROG Phone 3 sounds like no other smartphone.

Within a few hours I played Asphalt 9 Legends, 1945, Real Racing 3 and Dariusburst as well as a few other casual titles and it went perfectly. You can feel some heat coming from the phone, but it's in the landscape format at the middle bottom of the device, so you'll have to look around for it. My hands didn't get sweaty and I never felt the need to move my grip because the body of the phone was warm.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The ROG Phone 3 is also compatible with Google Stadia and offers three months of free Stadia Pro access, so it's not just about Google Play games. It is easy to pretend gaming phones as meaningless, but if done properly and thoughtfully, the benefits are obvious. The Asus ROG Phone 3 demonstrates this perfectly.

camera

Asus has worked hard to make the ROG Phone 3 a usable smartphone for everyday use whether you are dedicated to gaming or not. The camera is an integral part of it.

The rear-view camera with three lenses has a 64-megapixel IMX686 main sensor with an aperture of 1: 1.8, together with a 13-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and a 5-megapixel macro sensor. There is a 24 megapixel selfie camera in the bezel above the screen. The rear view camera has several modes, including a night mode, a portrait mode, a motion tracking video mode and a pro video mode. It records videos in 4K and in HDR with electronic stabilization.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

It's decent and more than powerful enough, provided it's your second priority on a smartphone. There is no zoom mode, but both wide-angle and macro modes offer creative fun, so it is not necessarily overlooked. It can be inconsistent, especially under cloudy conditions where it is quite underexposed, which leads to loss of detail. HDR shots on sunny days can look great, and the macro camera definitely surprises with its ability.

The selfie camera has a cumbersome beauty mode as standard, a portrait mode with only average edge detection, which can also wash out skin tones.

I found the ROG Phone 3's camera to be okay for general use. While there are more versatile camera phones, it's solid. For a gaming phone where the camera is always a secondary concern, it's much better than many expect.

Power and battery

Asus wants to "take the industry to the next level" with the ROG Phone 3. It has pioneered 120 Hz screens and high touch sampling rates and explains how best to use a high-end processor ROG Phone 2. For the ROG Phone 3, the 144 Hz screen wins 270 Hz touch sampling rate and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor with up to 16 GB RAM easily handle the current wars of smartphone data sheets.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The Snapdragon 865 Plus is a monster and the first mobile processor to exceed 3 GHz clock speed. In combination with 16 GB LPDDR5-RAM and 512 GB UFS 3.1 memory in my test phone, it is hard to imagine ever needing more power or capacity.

This is how it went in some benchmark tests:

3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 6,601 volcano (Without X mode. App crashes with active X mode)

Geekbench 5: 970 single core / 3340 multi core

These values ​​exceed the ROG Phone 2, but are only slightly higher than the OnePlus 8 Pro. They are very similar to the Red Magic 5G, where the 3DMark test on the ROG Phone 3 was actually lower. However, this can be related to app problems as X mode is not active on the Asus phone.

The 6,000 mAh battery lasts two days, which seems somewhat disappointing given the total capacity. However, don't forget that it powers a lot of high-end hardware. According to Asus' own tests, 9.6 hours of Asphalt 9 Legends are played with a full charge compared to 5.7 hours with a OnePlus 8 Pro.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Asus has added a new PowerMaster app to extend the battery life. Interestingly, it has a slow charge mode, definable limits to make sure the battery doesn't stay 100% fit all night (not good for a long life, Asus says), and a choice of battery modes. Wired charging delivers 30 W of power, but there is no wireless charging.

If you take the phone apart, you'll find carefully placed WiFi antennas elsewhere to ensure the best possible portrait or landscape signal, four microphones positioned so that they won't be covered while playing in landscape mode, and 5G support. The cellular and WiFi reception was consistently excellent, and the call quality is also excellent. I don't have 5G reception in my region, so I couldn't test this aspect.

software

There are two main theme options on the ROG Phone 3: eye-catching, stylized themes and a classic theme so that the phone looks more like Android on a pixel. This is the same approach the company followed with the ROG Phone 2 and Asus Zenfone 6, and a very sensible decision. Both work identically, but the Classic theme undoubtedly makes the phone look more mature and may be a little faster for everyday use.

Apps are hidden in a drawer in both subject areas, while the notification shadow provides interactive notifications and there is a standard dark mode. Asus installs its own game app called Armory Crate, which stores all of your games together. You can define for each individual parameter, e.g. These include automatic activation of X mode, increasing the screen refresh rate and assigning macros. You can also change the system lighting here.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I used swipe gesture controls that worked fine. Although there is an option that always appears on the screen, the notification options are limited, which reduces its usefulness.

Asus' software on the ROG Phone 3 was reliable and fast, and it's great to see the company continue the good work it started on the Zenfone 6. The built-in fingerprint sensor is fast and reliable and has a face unlock to secure it. I also had no problems with it.

Price, guarantee and availability

Asus did not announce the final price in US dollars for the ROG Phone 3 at the time of writing, but only the price in euros. The 16 GB / 512 GB version tested here costs 1,099 euros and a 12 GB / 512 GB version costs 999 euros. The phone will be available in Europe from the end of July, but will start with the basic version "Strix", which offers a Snapdragon 865, 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage for 799 euros.

The ROG Phone 3 will be available in North America before September. We expect the euro prices to be converted directly to US dollars, which means that the 16 GB / 512 GB model should cost around $ 1,099. Asus will officially confirm prices when the U.S. launch date is announced. The cheapest Strix model is not sold in the United States.

Our opinion

The ROG Phone 3 is unrivaled among gaming phones. This should tell you everything you need to know if it's for you. It's a special monster that offers all the power everyone needs for just about any task they want to do on a phone. If a game doesn't run well on the ROG Phone 3, it won't run well on a phone.

What if you are not a big mobile player? The ROG Phone 3 is one of the best multimedia phones available. The video is outstanding due to the excellent screen and speakers of the phone. However, you won't be able to take advantage of the many game-centered features and may miss a better camera.

Is there a better alternative?

If you want a direct gaming smartphone, no. If you're looking for an all-round phone, the OnePlus 8 Pro for $ 900 offers good credentials and a lot of performance, while the Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus for $ 1,100 and the Oppo Find X2 Pro for $ 1,300 are flagship products that focus on the camera. Perhaps the best alternative to the ROG Phone 3 is the Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max, not only because of the performance of the phone, but also because of the games available on the App Store.

How long it will take?

Asus promises that Android 11 will be available for the ROG Phone 3 and will receive security updates for at least two years. However, no timeframe for the arrival of Android 11 has been set. The ROG Phone 3 is not waterproof. It is made of glass and is quite heavy, so it is advisable to buy one of the cool cases from Asus.

Aside from that, the massive specs keep the phone fresh to the touch in a few years, and Asus' efforts to help the battery perform better for longer should help add to the usefulness of the phone in recent years increase two years. If you want to hold onto your new phone, the ROG Phone 3 is a very safe purchase.

Should you buy one?

Yes. It is the mobile game champion who has the courage and the ability to make you a mobile game champion too.

Editor's recommendations




22 Jun
Blog

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 Review: Dual-Screen Gaming

Asus Rog Zephyrus Duo 15 Rating 05

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 review: dual-screen gaming in your lap

"The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo Pro 15 offers PC games with two screens like no other laptop."

  • Good performance

  • Intuitive secondary screen

  • Beautiful 4K screen

  • Relatively thin and light

  • Insanely expensive

  • Bad battery life

You have never seen a gaming laptop like the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15.

Of course there are other dual screen laptops like the HP Omen X 2S or the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo. The Zephyrus Duo 15 surpasses them all with its flip-up secondary screen, which is integrated directly into the housing.

The starting price of $ 3,700 will put off anyone who is not committed to the idea of ​​having a built-in second screen on their gaming laptop. But for those who are ready to do the dive, the ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 may be the most interesting gaming laptop ever made.

ScreenPad Plus

The secondary screen of this laptop, which Asus calls the ScreenPad Plus, is located under the primary screen and is automatically flipped up when the lid is opened. The frame of the screen looks a bit thin, but I was impressed with how stiff it was. Behind it is a back plate made of magnesium alloy for support. Everything is built into a hinge that enables seamless and stable opening.

The idea of ​​a tiltable secondary screen seems exaggerated – and maybe also. However, the inclination of the ScreenPad Plus has one purpose. The secondary screens of other laptops are all flat on the keyboard deck, which is not a good viewing angle. This is particularly noticeable when you have lights over you.

The Zephyrus Duo 15 solves the problem by supporting the screen in a more natural viewing angle. No more bending or angling. The angle that Asus has reached is not perfect, but far better on a flat surface. However, this angle cannot be adjusted, which is a shame.

While playing, you can easily slide a guide down or create an order, reducing the need to remove the Alt Tab key from a game.

This increased usability may sound easy, but it has inspired me to want to use the second screen more and more. Asus offers a number of proprietary applications and functions for the ScreenPad Plus. There is a handwriting app, a calculator and of course the Armory Crate settings app. Armory Crate is useful for monitoring your system, changing performance modes, and changing lighting settings.

However, the most useful feature of the ScreenPad Plus is a second screen. If you are working from home and do not have access to an external monitor, the ScreenPad Plus ingeniously replaces this. It is great to shutdown Spotify or YouTube while using the primary screen to write or edit photos. While playing, you can easily slide down a guide or build order, reducing the need to remove the Alt Tab key from a game.

Windows 10 already has excellent snap-in functions and lights up on the ScreenPad Plus. With a 20 cm diagonal, the ScreenPad Plus feels big enough to do these types of tasks with ease. The touchscreen function helps and only requires a short swipe to where your hands rest on the keyboard. The possibilities feel endless.

This does not mean that the ScreenPad Plus is a perfect implementation. It's still a little strange to see your cursor shrink down, and there's a slight shade of green on the second screen. I also wish that the distance between the screens was slightly smaller to create a more uniform field of view.

From a software perspective, there are still a few missed options. Windows is simply not well set up to support a second touchscreen. When you play a game, touching the ScreenPad Plus freezes your controls or pauses the game. This is a limitation of Windows, but it stands in the way of the full potential of this design.

performance

The angle of the ScreenPad Plus has a second advantage. According to Asus, there is also a performance gain. Other Zephyrus laptops have a ventilation opening that rises from below and supports the laptop at an angle. The angle of the ScreenPad Plus offers the same advantages for cooling. The fans are located under the gap in the screen and promote airflow and thermal throughout the system, while the bottom of the laptop stays flat.

This is important because some very hot components need to stay cool. The Zephyrus Duo 15 is available in two configurations – and both are extremely high quality. The model I checked is the 4K configuration that was created for content creation. The other is a game-oriented device with a 1080p 300Hz screen. Both cost $ 3,700 and only offer premium specs. You get an Intel Core i9-10980HK processor, an Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Max-Q, 32 GB RAM and 2 TB solid-state storage.

The processor gives you 8 cores and 16 threads to work with, resulting in powerful processor performance. This is also from the latest 10th generation Intel product line, which contains slightly faster boost clock speeds than the previous generation. The Zephyrus Duo 15 impresses in Cinebench R20 and Geekbench 5 with record values ​​for a laptop. The Asus ZenBook Duo Pro was another powerful Core i9 laptop with a second screen last year. The Zephyrus Duo 15 outperforms it in both single-core and multi-core performance. It also gains single-core performance against the Zephyrus G14, an AMD Ryzen 4000 laptop with the same number of cores and threads.

It has a trusted screen where professional color corrections and edits can be done.

I encoded a 4K handbrake video clip in H.265 to test the processor. It wasn't as consistent as I hoped. The first runs were incredibly fast and only lasted one minute and 38 seconds. From there, the runs slowed down 33% and stayed there for the next few tries. That's a solid speed for this processor, although some less expensive laptops like the Dell G5 SE can keep up.

However, the Zephyrus Duo 15 has a powerful CPU and GPU. To see how the system balances a heavy workload, I rendered a two-minute 4K clip in Premiere in ProRes 422. I was particularly interested in these results because Nvidia Dynamic Boost, a new function supported by the Zephyrus Duo 15, is managed by a unique thermal system. The power supply can be shared between the GPU and the CPU. In other words, if an application or game can use more of the GPU, it can run over 100 watts.

The Zephyrus Duo 15 completed the task in 7 minutes and 44 seconds. This is slightly faster than the Dell G5 SE and offers a big head start on the 9th generation Razer Blade that I tested in 2019. However, there are no other Core i9 options like the Dell XPS 15 or the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo. The ZenBook Pro Duo’s thicker casing seems to do more for its video rendering capabilities than Nvidia's Dynamic Boost for the Zephyrus Duo, which is disappointing.

Since my computer was the model for creating 4K content, these tests are critical. The 4K screen is beautiful in itself – a color-calibrated panel with precise colors, 96% AdobeRGB and a contrast ratio of 1,040: 1. The maximum brightness is 381 nits, although the matte surface of the display reduces reflections to a minimum. All of this ensures a trustworthy screen on which professional color corrections and edits can be performed.

Gaming performance

The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 offers fantastic gaming performance. If smooth frame rates are your top priority, the 1080p 300Hz model is clearly the model you want. Thanks to the Nvidia RTX 2080 Super Max-Q and G-Sync panel, even the 4K option I tested is a functional gaming laptop.

Because the 4K panel is locked at a refresh rate of 60 Hz, much of the 1080p is wasted, so 4K resolution is a solid option in some games. Civilization VI is a good example. The Zephyrus Duo 15 averaged 70 FPS (frames per second) at 4K with settings at Ultra. The same was true for Battlefield V, where it achieved an average of 56 FPS for Medium in 4K. Sure, the over 90 FPS at 1080p are better, but if you're not connected to an external gaming monitor, those extra 40 FPS won't help.

G-Sync was a big help with gaming and made up for the lower refresh rate of the 4K display.

Assassin's Creed Odyssey was the exception. The Zephyrus Duo 15 mastered this difficult game with 1080p Ultra High with an average of 59 FPS quite well. At 4K, however, it was choppy.

Other gaming laptops that use the RTX 2080 Super Max-Q are slightly faster than the Acer Predator Triton 500. While the Zephyrus Duo 15 isn't the fastest gaming notebook I've tested, I was happy with how It balances warmth, size and performance.

G-Sync has been a great help throughout to compensate for the display's lower refresh rate. Remember that G-Sync is not enabled on the laptop by default. You need to go into the armory and restart the system to turn it on.

design

The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is a large laptop. Although Asus only had a 15-inch screen, it took up a lot of space to push in the ScreenPad Plus without crushing the keyboard. The result is a massive bottom bezel under the primary screen. It is absolutely huge and supports the screen higher than a normal 15-inch laptop.

Elsewhere, the Zephyrus Duo 15 does its best to stay in shape. It's only 0.78 inches thick and weighs only 5.3 pounds. The whole system uses a magnesium alloy to keep things light. Asus is right that the use of aluminum would have resulted in a heavy laptop, although the magnesium alloy leaves the slightest bend in the lid.

This is not the right laptop to take to a coffee shop.

This is not my favorite keyboard in the world. Because of this second screen, the keyboard and touchpad are pressed to the bottom of the keyboard deck. This is not the first time Asus has tried this design. Even the Zephyrus S used this design. There are disadvantages, such as the lack of wrist-rest. This makes using the Zephyrus Duo 15 on your lap pretty uncomfortable. On a flat surface, it can even be exhausting and requires a lot of additional space on a table. This isn't the right laptop to take to a coffee shop, but few gaming laptops fit that bill. However, Asus has a palm rest in the box, which is a nice addition.

The key drop feels a bit flat at 1.4 mm, although this is comparable to laptops like the Dell XPS 15 or the Razer Blade. The fast typing takes getting used to when I come from the Dell XPS 15, although I typed quickly after a few hours. The keyboard is equipped with RGB lighting per key, which can be fully adjusted in the settings of the armory.

The Zephyrus Duo 15 uses the same key layout as other Asus gaming laptops like the Zephyrus S. There are some special features, e.g. B. the print screen key between the Alt and Ctrl keys. The function bar (and above the touchpad) gives you quick access to helpful shortcuts such as deactivating the ScreenPad Plus or switching it off completely.

The thin touchpad is to the right of the keyboard, which will always be an afterthought in these designs. The tracking feels responsive, although the size isn't ideal, especially if you're left-handed.

Asus still does not have a built-in webcam for its gaming laptops. This makes the Zephyrus Duo 15 unsuitable for the home life that many of us are currently living. That's a shame for a laptop that can act as both a work machine and a gaming laptop. The laptop also lacks Windows Hello login support, either in the form of a fingerprint reader or an IR camera. Other high-end gaming laptops like the Razer Blade have taken this up in recent years.

The port selection is fantastic and offers a solid mix of gaming must-haves and future security. On the sides of the case there are two USB-A ports, a USB-C Thunderbolt 3 port, a headphone jack, a microphone input and your barrel-shaped power plug. Thanks to the Thunderbolt 3 connector, you don't have to constantly lug around the power adapter to keep the laptop charged during occasional use. For full performance, you should of course use the cylinder plug.

On the back, Asus adds HDMI 2.0, an Ethernet socket and an additional USB-A port. The location of these rear ports is convenient and ensures a cleaner desk configuration when fully docked.

Battery life

The battery life of the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is not a highlight. I assumed that this was based on the 4K screen alone. Throw in a second screen and a powerful GPU – and you can't expect much.

The Zephyrus Duo 15 is a G-Sync laptop that blocks GPU usage on the Nvidia card and usually results in terrible battery life. Asus offers the option to switch to Nvidia Optimus mode, which allows the system to automatically switch between graphics. That didn't seem to help – at least not enough.

Without the secondary screen on, the laptop only lasted about two hours. With the screen on, this was reduced to just one hour. Yikes. According to Asus, there were some issues with turning on the Nvidia GPU when it wasn't. During local video playback or surfing in Google Chrome, the system occasionally taxed the graphics card.

That would explain the bad battery life, but it's not a good excuse. Regardless of whether Dynamic Boost or Optimus is the culprit, I expected at least a few more hours from the Zephyrus Duo 15. Despite a large 90 watt hour battery, you should leave this battery connected most of the time.

Our opinion

The Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 is based on a great idea. I like it when experimental designs like this leave the prototyping stage. The second screen is great, but the Zephyrus Duo 15 is more than just a one-trick pony – it offers both the performance and usability of its second screen. However, $ 3,700 is a high price. That's $ 400 more than a comparable Razer Blade, which was already one of the most expensive gaming laptops you could buy.

This is not the final form of Asus' vision for second-screen computing, but it is the best there has been.

Are there alternatives?

If you are only interested in the second screen, Asus offers the ZenBook Duo. It's not a gaming laptop, but it does offer a similar second screen – except without the raised angle.

Apart from that, no other laptop can reproduce the functions of the Zephyrus Duo 15 on the second screen. There are many gaming laptops that offer excellent performance at a much cheaper price.

How long it will take?

The Zephyrus Duo 15 is robust and well built. The gap under the ScreenPad Plus is worrying. It is not difficult to imagine that things get stuck inside, whether they are small objects or just dust.

Should you buy it

Yes. Not everyone is willing to pay the bill for a second screen bonus, but it's undoubtedly one of the most interesting gaming laptops ever made.

Editor's recommendations




15 May
Blog

Asus ZenBook Duo Review: A Dual-Screen Laptop You Can Afford

Asus Zenbook Duo review 01

"The second screen of the Asus ZenBook Duo is a great addition."

  • Solid productivity performance

  • Good battery life

  • Secondary screen is useful

  • Attractive design

  • Tight keyboard and touchpad

  • The chassis is a bit chunky

Microsoft is on its way to a future with two screens. Asus started experimenting with its own dual-screen laptops in 2019. Regardless of whether the touchpad is replaced by a second screen or a second 4K screen is installed directly on the keyboard deck, Asus is a leader in the innovation of dual screens that you can buy today.

The ZenBook Duo is the latest attempt to make this technology accessible to the masses. It is a more portable and affordable version of the ZenBook Pro Duo with a 14-inch 1080p screen and a quad-core processor. However, a premium is required at $ 1,500.

Is the second screen a must? Let's take a look.

ScreenPad 2.0

The standout feature of the ZenBook Duo is clearly its second screen, a 12.6-inch IPS panel that is as wide as the primary display and about a third as high. That is what makes the ZenBook Duo so special.

The so-called ScreenPad 2.0 can be touched and touched. You can drag apps and app windows – such as the control panel for a photo editing app – onto the ScreenPad and treat them like any "external" display.

It's handy if you watch Netflix at work (as I've done more than once) or open a second browser instance for multitasking. I opened a Firefox tab with the specifications of this laptop on the ScreenPad 2.0 and made checking facts and figures child's play.

Asus has numerous proprietary utilities and features that make the ScreenPad more useful. You can launch a numeric keypad to make data entry easier, and you can use the launcher to access various apps on the ScreenPad. You can also expand your main display to the ScreenPad, giving you (strangely angled) access to more information in a productivity app.

The ScreenPad is far more useful than the touch bar on the MacBook.

The ScreenPad supports the active Asus pen and offers the same responsiveness and accuracy as the main display. It's a blessing to be able to tap and ink on both displays and switch seamlessly from one to the other depending on how it fits your creative workflow. There's even a working handwriting app that reads my sketches pretty closely. A second display for writing was an advantage.

Overall, I was impressed with the ScreenPad. It's an unusual feature outside of the ZenBook Pro Duo and far more useful than Apple's Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro, for example. The additional screen size makes the ScreenPad a really useful addition to the ZenBook Duo and is of particular interest to anyone who can benefit from access to controls or additional apps while working. If you are a creative professional or do multiple tasks regularly, the ScreenPad is probably a real asset. It is much more than just a party trick.

design

The aesthetics of the laptop is obviously Asus, for better and for worse. It's a refinement of ZenBook design that's both recognizable and striking in the line. You'll enjoy the ZenBook's usual concentric swirls on the lid, which is perhaps the most iconic Asus design feature. Here the eddies are not centered, but asymmetrical, a noticeable change. There is also a new Celestial Blue color that offers a touch of elegance.

Overall, the ZenBook Duo is an attractive laptop that manages to cross the line between fancy and conservative, but I wouldn't say it stands out.

Connectivity is acceptable, with one USB-C 3.1 port, two USB-A 3.1 ports (one Gen 1 and one Gen 2), a full-size HDMI port, and a microSD card reader. Unfortunately Asus skipped Thunderbolt 3 support again, just like with other current ZenBooks. To be honest, that's unforgivable for a $ 1,500 laptop. Thunderbolt 3 offers the best connectivity performance, including the ability to connect to an external GPU chassis. This would be a blessing for the creative types who might be interested in the ZenBook Duo.

Keyboard and touchpad

The most noticeable victim forced by the second ad is right below. While the keyboard has snappy keys with a fixed mechanism and a lot of travel, I found it too small for comfortable typing. The keys are small and the keyboard layout felt tight, which made typing a challenge. It cannot be compared to the excellent keyboards of the latest Apple MacBooks and the HP Specter x360 13. There's also no wrist, so your palms hover just behind it. It is a recipe for fatigue.

This Asus has an ErgoLift hinge with which the props are attached at an angle to the back of the laptop. This helps in the absence of a palm rest and improves airflow for better performance. On the other hand, the laptop gets thicker when placed on your lap or desk.

The touchpad is small, but it responds, and it's on the right of the keyboard. It has the same lack of a palm rest as the keyboard, and it's almost impossible to use left-handed. You want to take a mouse with you for use with the ZenBook Duo because the touchpad becomes a real task.

I liked the infrared camera that Windows 10 Hello supports without a password. It worked fine during my tests, and although I prefer to have a fingerprint reader (either in addition to or instead of face recognition), I appreciated its presence.

Display quality

The ScreenPad 2.0 is characterized by its additional utility. The 14-inch full HD main display remains important. I prefer 4K displays, but I also like displays with wide and precise colors, great brightness and a lot of contrast.

Unfortunately Asus has equipped the ZenBook Duo with a mediocre display. The color gamut is not wide at only 70% of AdobeRGB and 94% of sRGB, although its color accuracy is reasonable at an average DeltaE of 1.45 (less than 1.0 is considered excellent). The display only reaches 251 nits, far below our preferred 300 nits, and the contrast is low at 730: 1 (we want laptops to reach 1000: 1 or more).

The display quality prevents it from being ideal for content creation.

Subjectively, this is a pleasant indicator of productivity work and watching Netflix videos. However, creatives won't like the narrow range of colors, especially if you can buy great displays on other laptops, including the HP Specter x360 13 AMOLED panel, which has spectacular colors (100% of sRGB and 98% of AdobeRGB) and brightness (405 nits) offers) and contrast.

The ZenBook Pro Duo’s AMOLED display is just as great, which makes the ZenBook Duo’s main screen a little disappointing. I would have preferred to see a brighter display with better colors and contrast on a laptop designed for creative types. Ultimately, the display quality prevents it from being ideal for content creation.

performance

While the larger ZenBook Pro Duo has an eight-core Core i9 H series for serious performance, the ZenBook Duo is in the middle of the road. It uses a quad-core Comet Lake Core i7-10510U CPU that is good enough for productivity tasks, but not particularly suitable for demanding creative workflows. Overall, the ZenBook Duo is fast compared to other 14-inch laptops, but cannot compete with more powerful creative platforms.

In our real handbrake test, which converts a 420 MB file to H.265, the ZenBook Duo lasted exactly three and a half minutes. This is solid for a quad-core Intel Core i7. However, the ZenBook Pro Duo completed the same test in one minute and 16 seconds, while the Dell XPS 15 finished in one minute and 42 seconds – but still significantly faster than the ZenBook Duo. The Dell XPS 13 completed the test in three minutes and 13 seconds.

In terms of graphics performance, the ZenBook Duo is again far behind the larger ZenBook Pro Duo. The latter has a very fast Nvidia GeForce GTX 2060, which makes it a powerful tool for creative apps that support the GPU. The ZenBook Duo is limited to the Nvidia GeForce MX250. It's faster than built-in Intel graphics (and about as powerful as the new Intel Iris Plus graphics), but doesn't make much of a difference when rendering videos.

You will also find that the ZenBook Duo is a bit challenging to play with. Fortnite runs at just over 30 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and Epic settings and shifts down towards 60 fps with details. However, it is difficult for you to run more demanding titles with the same resolution and the same graphic details.

The ZenBook Duo is only available in the United States in a configuration that includes 16 GB of RAM and is sufficient for the vast majority of productivity users. It also has plenty of 1 TB of SSD storage.

Portability and battery life

Portability is also compromised on the Altar of the ScreenPad – the ZenBook Duo is pretty bulky at 0.78 inches thick. Thanks to the relatively small display bezels, it's not too big in width and depth, but at 3.3 pounds it's pretty heavy. Other 14-inch laptops are smaller than this, including the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the ZenBook 14 from Asus.

However, the battery life is solid. When the ScreenPad was turned on, the battery capacity of 70 watt hours kept the ZenBook Duo for a surprisingly long time, considering that the batteries supply two displays with power. In our web browser test, nine hours passed, which is good, if less than the 11.5 hours of the Dell XPS 13.

The ZenBook Duo looped our test video for almost 12 hours, again a good score, but less than the XPS 13 at 14.5 hours. And in our demanding Basemark test, the Asus managed almost five hours less than the XPS 13 with 10 minutes less.

Our opinion

At $ 1,500, the ZenBook Duo is more expensive than comparable laptops. That hurts when you look at the less-than-great screen, the chunkier design, and the lack of Thunderbolt 3.

The ScreenPad 2.0 is the salvation of this laptop. It goes beyond the cool factor (although it also has a lot of it). Even with compromises on the keyboard and touchpad, extreme multitaskers will be happy to access another panel directly on the device.

Are there alternatives?

You will find a variety of 14-inch (and 13.3-inch) laptops that can easily compete with the ZenBook Duo. None of them offer the second display, but all are thinner and lighter. Some of them offer better performance and durability, and most offer much better keyboards and touchpads.

One example is the Dell XPS 13 with an aspect ratio of 16:10, which has a positive impact on productivity and makes the display about as tall as the ZenBook Duo, if not as wide. The XPS 13 is significantly faster than the ZenBook Duo, even in terms of video editing, where the ZenBook Duo itself works fairly quickly. Depending on the configuration, you can spend less on the XPS 13 or a lot more, but it is a good alternative for anyone who is not interested in the ScreenPad 2.0.

Asus also makes several 14-inch models that deliver solid value. They lack the ScreenPad 2.0, which cuts hundreds off the price. This is the obvious step if you don't find ScreenPad attractive.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook Duo is well built and promises years of productive performance thanks to its modern components. You'll miss Thunderbolt 3, however, and the ultimate usefulness of ScreenPad 2.0 depends on developer support. The one-year warranty is industry standard and is shorter than desired. However, Asus offers one year of accident protection if you drop your ZenBook Duo or spill a cup of coffee on the keyboard.

Should you buy it

Yes. There is no other laptop like the ZenBook Duo except the larger and more expensive ZenBook Pro Duo, which makes this a uniquely useful option.

Editor's recommendations




06 Apr
Blog

Asus Chromebook Flip C436 Review: Chromebooks Have Grown Up

Asus Chromebook Flip

Asus Chromebook Flip C436

"The Asus Flip C436 is a newer, faster, and more expensive generation of Chromebooks."

  • Solid build quality

  • Excellent performance

  • Fast SSD storage

  • The battery life is mediocre

  • Too expensive

Chromebooks were once cheap laptops and nothing else.

Now the next generation of Chromebooks has arrived and they are targeting medium-sized Windows laptops. The $ 800 Asus Chromebook Flip C436 is the first in this new class and doesn't mess around.

Think about it before you spend $ 800 on a Chromebook. A Core i3-1011U CPU, 8 GB RAM, a 128 GB PCIe solid state drive (SSD) and a 1080p screen. It's such a healthy spec list as on a Chromebook. Is Flip C436 the best Chromebook you can buy?

Design and build quality

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Many early Chromebooks were budget options with the right build quality. This has changed over the years as more and more premium Chromebooks match the best available on other platforms. The Chromebook Flip C436 is such a laptop with an aluminum case that feels great in the hand. No bending, bending or twisting here. It's as solid as any Windows 10 laptop, some cost hundreds of dollars more.

In contrast to the previous Chromebook clip C434, the hinge of the C436 can be easily opened with one hand. However, it is not shaky. The display does not wobble in clamshell, presentation, tent or tablet mode.

It is also relatively modern in its aesthetics. The bezel is relatively small except for the large chin at the bottom of the display and has a screen-to-body ratio of 85%. This doesn't match Asus' ZenBook line, which reaches up to 97%, but is much better than the Google Pixelbook Go and many other Chromebooks that are slow to follow the trend.

The silver color is conservative but attractive, with the exception of the chrome hinges and the Asus logo on the lid. If you want more panache, Asus also sells an "Airgel White" option with a rainbow effect on the lid.

If you covered the Chrome label, you'd never know it was a Chromebook. This also applies to other newer Chromebooks. This shows that Chrome OS laptops have grown up – they look just as good and are well built like all but the highest quality Windows 10 laptops and MacBooks.

The Chromebook Flip C436 is light at around 2.5 pounds and thanks to the small bezel fits back into a rather small case for a 14-inch laptop, which is also thin at 0.54 inches. The Google Pixelbook Go is smaller, a little lighter and a bit thinner at 0.5 inches, but the difference is not profound.

Keyboard and port selection

Connectivity is an area where Chromebooks have been limited in the past. For the first time, Chromebooks offer the latest standards like Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0. This contributes significantly to the fact that the Flip C436 is a legitimate Windows replacement.

Things are still somewhat limited in terms of ports. USB-C 3.1 has become universal in laptops, and the Flip C436 has two. However, Chrome OS still doesn't support faster and more powerful technologies like Thunderbolt 3. At $ 800, Thunderbolt 3 shows up on Windows laptops.

There are no USB-A or HDMI ports. This means you only rely on dongles and connectivity is limited to only the two ports unless you use a USB hub. However, the Flip C436 has a microSD card reader and a 3.5 mm audio jack.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The keyboard uses a standard Chromebook layout, but the typing experience itself is outstanding. The Flip C436 has oversized keycaps and 1.2mm travel, a snappy feel, and a smooth ground movement that makes typing comfortable.

Next, the large format touchpad responds and supports the full range of Chrome OS multi-touch gestures. It's glass where the previous version was made of plastic, which gives it a smoother feel. There's also a touch display that allows you to scroll long websites with your thumb and tap pop-up buttons.

Finally, I didn't get a chance to check the active stylus available for the Chromebook Flip C436 – an add-on option that wasn't available on my review sample. However, the availability of an active pen is essential for 2-in-1 devices, and it's great that Asus at least offers it as an option.

display

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Display quality is another key performance factor, and the Chromebook Flip C436 meets these requirements. I was unable to use my colorimeter to test the display because Chrome OS is not supported. However, I found it bright enough for indoor use. It will fight under direct sunlight, but also most screens that reach a maximum of 300 nits.

The contrast also seemed to be sufficient, with black text and a white background that made my typing a breeze. It's a full HD display that's just sharp enough on the 14-inch panel, but not as good as some other newer Chromebooks. For example, the display on the Google Pixelbook Go is much nicer.

The advantage of the Flip C436 is of course a 2-in-1. It's a pleasure to put it in media mode and watch Netflix. The speakers won't blow your mind, but they're loud enough for a medium-sized room and won't distort at full volume. The bass is of course almost completely missing, as is the case with many laptops.

performance

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Chrome OS is a very efficient operating system and doesn't burden processors nearly like Windows 10 and MacOS. Only a very anemic CPU with low power consumption like an older Intel Celeron can slow it down.

The Chromebook Flip C436 doesn't have that. The 10th generation dual-core core i3-10110U would not be the fastest for Windows or Mac, but it offers sufficient performance for Chromebooks. If you use 8 GB RAM and a 128 GB PCIe SSD – no slower eMMC storage here – you have a Chromebook that can keep up theoretically at least.

You can even add a quad-core processor to the mix for an additional $ 200.

The Chromebook Flip C436 definitely keeps up with everything you want to throw at it. I opened a bunch of tabs in Google Chrome and couldn't slow them down no matter how many apps I loaded in the background. I'm sure I could have found a combination that would have raised some concerns, but to put it simply, you won't just tax the system.

It's the fastest Chromebook we've seen with 97 in the Tachometer 2.0 benchmark. And imagine: For an additional $ 200, you can get a quad-core i5-10210U and configure up to 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. Yes, this very fast Chromebook can be even faster if you want to throw a little more money on it.

However, this investment may not be worth it unless you need tons of storage. You would have to open a lot of apps and tabs to exceed 8 GB of RAM, and a quad-core i5 is likely to be an overkill for everyone except programmers and developers.

Speaking of which, you can run modern Android games on the Chromebook Flip C436. The Intel UHD graphics can keep up, and the ones I tried – like Asphalt 9 – were fluid and entertaining. Switch to tablet mode and use the touch display. Even though it's a little hard, you can play games like on an Android tablet.

Battery life

Battery life is the biggest disadvantage of this Chromebook. The Flip C436 only has 42 watt hours of battery life – compared to 48 watt hours in the C434. In addition, it runs very fast and therefore burns the battery at an unfortunate speed.

Chromebooks usually have excellent battery life, but the Asus falls behind. In our demanding Basemark web benchmark test, in which other Chromebooks achieved double or more, it was only an hour and 44 minutes. For example, the Google Pixelbook Go ran for more than four hours.

The processor was connected at full speed during our battery tests, with the fans running constantly.

In our web browser test, the Chromebook Flip C436 again fell behind the package with 7 hours and 19 minutes. The Pixelbook Go ran approximately 13.5 hours and the Chromebook Flip C434 over 11.5 hours.

The reason for the mediocre battery life seems to be that the Core i3 was attached at full speed during our tests and the fans ran fairly consistently. I would add that hearing fans when using a Chromebook is a little strange – most of them are fanless, which is simply not possible with this processor caliber.

Our opinion

The Chromebook Flip C436 isn't cheap at $ 800, and it shouldn't be either. There are many cheap Chromebooks out there, but only a few offer this level of performance and build quality. However, the battery life keeps the Flip C436 from its true size. It's a traditional strength of Chromebooks, but it can't keep up with the competition here.

Is there a better alternative?

It has some advantages over the Pixelbook Go, but the $ 150 price difference between the base models is difficult to justify. They give up the 2-in-1 flexibility, but get a better display, a more attractive design and an excellent battery life.

Another competitor is the Acer Chromebook 13. They don't get the same build quality, but they do have a 13.5-inch screen with a higher resolution at 2,256 x 1,504. They spend $ 700 on a dual-core processor, but the storage space drops to just 32 GB.

If Windows 10 is more of your bag, consider the $ 850 Asus ZenBook 13 UX333 with an 8th generation Core i5 and better display. And Asus' build quality is there too, along with even smaller bezels and a nifty LCD numeric keypad built into the touchpad.

How long it will take?

The Chromebook Flip C436 is solidly built and seems to last forever. Its components should keep pace with years of Chrome OS updates. The one-year warranty is also disappointing, but Asus offers its usual protection against accidental coverage for 12 months.

Should you buy it

Yes. The Chromebook Flip C436 is fast, well built, and deserves its premium price.

Editor's recommendations




30 Mar
Blog

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Review: AMD Drops the Mic

Asus Rog Zephyrus G14 Rating 07

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 review: AMD drops the microphone

"With an eight-core processor and a shockingly small chassis, the Zephyrus G14 is in a class of its own."

  • Excellent slot machine

  • Thin, small and light

  • Game-changing CPU performance

  • Responsive touchpad

  • Unique lid design

  • Noisy at idle

  • Mushy keyboard

  • No webcam

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is unlike any gaming notebook you have ever owned. Although it contains an Nvidia RTX 2060, it only weighs 3.5 pounds. It's not much bigger than a 14-inch laptop that you would see at work.

How is that possible? A very special component is the heart of the G14: the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS. The magic lies in this chip with eight cores and sixteen threads.

The Zephyrus G14 has developed a new class of gaming laptops and is already priced at $ 1,050. But is this new generation of gaming laptops what people want?

Size and portability

Asus and AMD want the G14 to be a laptop that's as portable as any other laptop – a laptop that you can take to school, take to work, and play anywhere in between.

Laptops like the Razer Blade and the MSI GS65 have tried to reduce the thickness of their machines, but they have kept a large screen size – 15 and 17 inches, respectively. Here the G14 deviates.

With a 14.0-inch display and thin bezels on the top and on the sides, a considerable amount is cut directly out of the laptop's housing. That means the G14 is smaller than most gaming laptops in almost every way, including weight. At 3.5 pounds, it's 19% lighter than the 16-inch MacBook Pro and 24% lighter than the Razer Blade 15. The small size helps with weight, as does the magnesium alloy case, which is much lighter than full aluminum.

As someone who mainly uses a 13-inch laptop every day, I was shocked by the space requirements of the G14 when I opened the box. At just 12.8 x 8.7 inches, its footprint is about 5% smaller than that of a 13-inch MacBook Pro.

It's also thin, though it matches the current Razer Blade at 0.70 inches. When open, the G14 feels thicker than it should due to the raised hinge, which adds an additional 0.6 inches and improved airflow.

The only gaming laptop that can keep up with the size of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is Razers Blade Stealth, a 13-inch laptop with up to a GTX 1650 GPU. It's significantly smaller, but the graphics and CPU options are also much more limited. The Zephyrus G14 is in a class of its own.

Processor power

The device I've tested costs $ 1,450 and is right in the middle of the configuration stack. The Zephyrus G14 is the launch vehicle for AMD's Ryzen 4000 chips. In particular, the eight-core chips of the Ryzen 9 H series are intended for powerful laptops and gaming machines.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 does not use the standard 45 watt CPU, but a special 35 watt variant called Ryzen 9 4900HS with 16 GB RAM (configurable up to 32 GB). The "S" stands for slim and can therefore be cooled in the small chassis of the Zephyrus G14.

Do not worry. This does not mean that performance is affected. This Ryzen processor is incredibly fast, especially if you give it a task that can use its eight cores and 16 threads. This includes the creation of content, regardless of whether it is 3D modeling or video editing.

For this type of workload, it's hardly worth comparing it to other gaming laptops, most of which use an Intel Core i7-9750H with six cores. You just can't keep up. The 8-core i9-9880HK is a better competitor, although it's mainly reserved for laptops designed to create high-end content like Dell XPS 15, MacBook Pro 16-inch or ThinkPad X1 Extreme.

For such a small and light laptop, the G14 offers record performance.

But here's the crazy thing. Whether in benchmarking or in real tests – the Asus G14 still convinces laptops with an Intel Core i9-9880HK processor. It surpasses the 16-inch MacBook Pro in Cinebench R20 Multi-Core by a whopping 25%. It even encrypted a 4K file in Handbrake 11% faster, which is equivalent to the performance of the Dell XPS 15.

With the Core i9, you will find more power in thicker workstation machines, but the G14 is a record-breaker for such a small and light laptop.

However, there is a reason why companies don't put expensive, sultry Core i9s in any old laptop. First, all eight cores cannot be used efficiently by most games, so you are not doing much good. Then there is an obvious thermal problem that Asus and AMD have not properly addressed. The Zephyrus G14 is a loud little notebook. Playing games or running heavy applications will distract you. But this is forgivable.

My problem is that fans of the Zephyrus G14 keep whirring even when idling (and in silent mode). The result is an irritating coil whine that never goes away. This reduces my desire to use the G14 as a laptop that I want to use every day.

Gaming performance

My Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 review device has an Nvidia RTX 2060 for graphics with options for the GTX 1660 Ti and GTX 1650 in cheaper configurations. The G14 is the smallest laptop with an RTX 2060, a graphics card that is roughly as powerful as a GTX 1070 desktop graphics card. The result is smooth, responsive gaming in almost every title I've tried.

Battlefield V, Fortnite and Civilization VI were all played at well over 60 frames per second (FPS) in 1080p at maximum setting. This is comparable to laptops like the Dell G7 15, which is 2 pounds heavier. It beat the same RTX 2060 in the ROG Zephyrus M in every game, although it was lighter and smaller in almost every way.

If you decrease the settings a bit, the performance really lights up. Fortnite landed at 118 FPS while Civilization VI reached 132. There is a constant 10 FPS behind the Razer Blade, which we tested with a more powerful GPU, the RTX 2070 Max-Q.

Fast shooters like Battlefield V go well with the Zephyrus G14, which has a fast 120 Hz refresh rate. And 98 FPS on medium and 70 at Ultra in Battlefield V don't look bad. The G14 even makes a tough game like Assassins Creed: Odyssey playable and manages 64 FPS at high settings.

The importance of this for AMD cannot be overstated. The company isn't often represented in such powerful or ambitious laptops.

Design and display

Asus ROG Zephyrus laptops of recent years share one look. They are black and chunky and loaded with a hint of RGB throughout.

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 stands out. At CES 2020, the laptop made headlines with its AniMe Matrix display design on the cover, where LEDs illuminate the display lid of the laptop with patterns and designs. You can even customize it to display text, animations, or logos of your choice.

It's a cool feature that costs you an additional $ 500 and my test unit didn't include it. But the white standard version without the AniMe Matrix Display is also beautiful. The dot matrix adds a touch of interest, and the white color is still unique in itself.

However, the design of the G14 doesn't feel coherent. The lid is white, the keyboard cover and the housing are gray and the frames around the display are black. It feels like parts of a couple of different laptops put together into one device. The completely gray option is a little better.

The speakers could have used a little more enthusiasm.

The display is an IPS panel with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080. It's nothing special in terms of contrast brightness, but it doesn't have any major weaknesses either. Following the trend we've seen recently, it offers accurate colors and a decent range of colors that show 77% of the AdobeRGB color space.

However, the speakers could use a little more enthusiasm. I had high hopes because the G14 includes a pair of upward tweeters and two woofers on the hinge. They are loud enough, but a modern iPhone sounds better. Between the speakers and the whine of the coil, you should pair the G14 with decent headphones.

Keyboard and touchpad

The inputs are a mixed bag. Let's start with the good things. The touchpad is excellent, which surprised me. Such a good touchpad in a gaming laptop is difficult to find, as many manufacturers assume that you are using an external mouse. Not here. This is a good call because the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is small enough to be used as an everyday laptop.

Typing on the Zephyrus is not a problem, but there is room for improvement.

The keyboard is also spacious and offers the typical ROG layout. Keys such as the volume control are located above the function line. Larger ROG laptops have additional keys on the right side, but have been omitted here. This is wise because I prefer a comfortable layout rather than a button to scroll up and down.

While typing is not a slog, there is definitely room for improvement. Key presses have a lot of leeway, but the bottom-out action is mushy. This creates an inaccurate typing experience that gets tired over time. The keyboard backlight is also limited. It's a single zone that's not customizable, which is rare in a gaming laptop these days. The backlight is uneven and illuminates some keys better than others.

The power switch is located above the standard layout and has an integrated fingerprint reader. This is important because, strangely, the Zephyrus G14 does not have a built-in webcam. That means no Windows Hello face detection and no zoom calls. I have the idea – this is not a laptop for video calls. Still, given the potential crossover appeal as content creation and business laptop, it's a strange thing to omit this.

Battery life

Gaming laptops are not known for their battery life, even when you are not playing. The Zephyrus G14 doesn't change this, even though it lasts longer than other gaming laptops. The G14 managed almost 6 hours under a light load from surfing the Internet. This is not a good comparison with a modern ultrabook like the XPS 13 or HP Specter x360, which can take up to 10 hours with the same test.

However, it is one of the best in its class for a gaming laptop. It's half an hour longer than the Dell G7 gaming laptop and Razer Blade, and hours before laptops with G-Sync like Zephyrus M and Alienware M15.

The Zephyrus G14 performs even better in CPU-intensive tests. The Basemark battery test lasted 4 hours. It provides an overview of battery life in heavier applications. Adding 10 hours of local video playback on one charge gives you the best battery life you can get with a gaming laptop.

Our opinion

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 challenges other thin gaming laptops like the Razer Blade. The G14 offers more than enough performance for most PC gamers. In addition, thanks to its 8-core processor, it is one of the best content creation and editing laptops you can buy at this price.

Does it also work as a standalone laptop? The constant hum of the fans and the lack of a webcam are not ideal for everyday laptop use. However, the sufficient battery life and the display of the G14 make it a good choice for work and travel.

Are there alternatives?

No gaming laptop is as small and powerful as the Zephyrus G14. As you become less powerful and even smaller, you can opt for something like the Razer Blade Stealth.

When you step into the world of 15-inch laptops, your options expand quickly. The Razer Blade 15 and MSI GS65 are as thin as the G14, although it's heavier and bigger. They are also significantly more powerful and offer graphics options up to the RTX 2080 Max-Q. The closest price alternative is that Predator Helios 300, which offers a similar configuration, but with fewer processor cores and a much larger housing.

If you need a 15-inch content creation laptop that can be played on the side, I recommend the Dell XPS 15. It's not as powerful a slot machine as the G14, but it's a more balanced content creation option.

How long it will take?

The G14 should have at least three or four years of gaming performance before showing its age. It is well built, current and powerful. Unfortunately, Asus only offers a one-year warranty to cover defects, including the battery. After that you are alone.

Should you buy it

Yes. It is an extremely powerful laptop in a surprisingly small design.

Editor's recommendations




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