One of Asus’ top gamers gets a new 16:10 display and AMD’s latest mobile CPUs and GPUs…plus the wildest laptop lid in the world.
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– Hi, I’m Matthew Buzzi from PCMag. And I’m here with Sasha from ASUS. And he is here with
the new for ’22 version Of beloved gaming laptop,
the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. We’ve seen this before. It’s a portable, midsized,
but potent gaming laptop. And we’ve liked it a lot in
the past versions we’ve seen. And of course here at CES, There’s always reason to update. So Sasha, what’s new in this model, And then why is it exciting? – So yeah, like you touched upon, I’ve got it right here. The 2022 Zephyrus G14 is only
14 inch as the name implies. Only 1.6 kilos. Still gets 10 hours video
playback battery life. So a really long battery
life, a really low weight. But still has a really
high performance specs To go head to head with 15-inch And even 17-inch gaming laptops. The main thing that’s
new in the 2022 version Is the design is a bit more refined. You can see there is a lot
more perforations on here. It looks more premium. And there’s also a much
bigger display now. So it’s 16 by 10, Which means essentially we
get rid of the bottom bezel. You can see as I open it up, The screen is off so you
can’t tell that well. But here when I reflect
the light a little bit Off the screen, there you can see, The bottom bezel is almost gone. So it’s a little bit
like a mini Zephyrus M16, The one that we just launched,
Was like four-side narrow bezels. So you have slimmer bezels
on the side as well. And you have an IR webcam now at the top. So by the time that you open the laptop up You’re already logged in, basically. You don’t even have to put your finger On the fingerprint scanner. You don’t have to type in a password. The displays have been
much improved as well. So there’s two panel options: A full HD, 144 Hertz, 100% sRGB. That one has been bumped
to 400 nits brightness And three millisecond response time. Currently it’s 25 milliseconds. And the QHD 120 Hertz
panel has been bumped To 100% DCP-free, 500 nits, And three millisecond panel
to response time as well. And yeah, it features the
latest chips, obviously, As you would expect from a new version. So the latest AMD Next-Gen CPU That was just announced
that you just heard about. And also the Next-Gen Mobile AMD GPU That was just announced. Thanks to a vapor chamber
that’s in here now And liquid metal that we’ve
been using for a while On both CPU and GPU now, The thermal capacity of the GPU Has been bumped up to 105 Watts. So that’s 50% higher TGP. So you can imagine a big
performance boost there as well. – Yeah, the first G14 I remember reviewing Was one of the first machines That had AMD’s new
generation of Ryzen silicon A couple of years ago,
And that really, I mean, The performance differences at the time, Especially, things have
leveled out a little bit, But at the time, especially, Was really, really good, Especially in a small laptop. The AMD processor may be a bit different, So obviously we’re excited to test out The newest parts when these
units become available For game testing. So is there any other
design dimension differences Like size, weight, or is it
otherwise the same chassis Just with a slightly different look? And of course the thinner screen bezels Which we are seeing in a load of laptops, ’cause it really makes
it look a lot better. – Yeah, so it’s still a
magnesium aluminum alloy chassis. So super light and super
rigid, really solid. It’s slightly deeper now. So the depth of the laptop is a bit taller Because the screen is 60 by 10. That means the palm rest is
a little bit longer as well, Which for me really made a big difference. It’s only a few millimeters, But it adds a lot of nice typing comfort. The hotkeys are now programmable as well. So if you recall, Like most typically about
our RG gaming laptops, Above the keyboard at the top left, We have four or five hotkeys
for multimedia control: Volume up, volume down, microphone mute. Those can be programmed
now in all 2022 models. So that’s pretty cool. And yeah, you said like
design chassis-wise,
So the MME matrix that
we’ve had and launched With the original G14 as
well has been upgraded, And we got 20% more LEDs. And we redesigned the light guide Which allows us to make everything Look much more smooth and brighter. So animations look smoother and brighter And a more detailed. – If you’re unfamiliar, Anyone watching with the
MME matrix technology, The lid, the perforations
are not all for show As they are on some laptops, The grid of LEDs behind
behind those perforations. And you can use them to put
on a clock or animations Or an image kind of- – Memes, memes. That’s really what it’s all about. Everybody throws their
favorite names on there, And it looks really cool. There’s the white version
that you see here. There’s also a gray version. And for both of them,
you have then the option To get either the one with MME matrix Or the one without MME matrix. The one with is one millimeter thicker. It’s 50 grams heavier
or 100 grams heavier. Barely a little bit heavier. You can’t really feel the difference. And it costs a little bit extra ’cause you have that LED
matrix panel on here. But yeah, so there’s two
options essentially for the G14. – Run us out with the port options. What’s on there as far as connectivity. – Connectivity-wise,
It’s pretty much the
same as the current G14. But what’s new is on the right side. You now have a Micro SD card
reader which is pretty cool. I know a lot of people want
a full-size SD card reader. The reason we go for
Micro SD is because, well, Price is at a premium at
such a small, compact device. And the only way we could have fit A full-size SD card reader Would be to remove a USB-A port, Which I think most people would agree, That wouldn’t be such a good call. – More people probably use that than- – Yeah. Yeah. And the thing about a USB-A port, That can be used as an SD card reader With an adapter, a dongle. Two Type-C ports. One on the left, one on the right. One has a video signal From the integrated graphics from the CPU, And one from the dedicated GPU. So you get the choice basically
for a maximum performance Or a maximum battery life when
using an external monitor. Yeah. That’s pretty much it for the ports. So to USB-A on the right,
a Type-C on the right, One USB Type-C on the left,
combo audio jack on the left, HDMI, and then the DC jack for the ports. – Nicely rounded. I think that’s it then. You’ve pretty much run us
through all the features At this point. Is there any pricing you
can mention at this point? – Pricing really depends on the market And the configuration.
So you’ll see there’s a
lot of different options In different markets:
with MME matrix, without. And in some markets, for example, If you wanna buy the MME matrix version, You have to go for the
top spec CPU and GPU. But in other markets, You can actually get a middle-tier spec And still get the MME matrix. So that really depends a lot. But overall, I would say the price range Is gonna be very similar
to what the current G14 is, But probably a little bit higher Because of component
shortages and the supply chain That’s like, yeah. It’s the thing these days. I think everybody knows. – It’s definitely a mid-range. Not a super budget laptop
nor a super expensive laptop, As far as at least the starting price. You can of course get it up there. But we mostly consider this
a slightly above entry-level To mid-range priced laptop in the past. So that’s around there. – Yeah, for the current one, I think it was around
something like 1500 USD. You could get it for less than that, And for more than that
depending on the specs, But around that price. So it was a pretty good price point. A lot of people really liked that. – Awesome. Thank you so much, Sasha. Tune into PCMag for more of our coverage. And of course, a Zephyrus G14 review When units become available in the future.
Thanks for watching. (upbeat music)
