Asus ROG Zephyrus G14: Ryzen 7 5800HS & GTX 1650 Review

by Jhon Lennon 56 views

Hey guys! Today, we're diving deep into the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, specifically the model rocking the Ryzen 7 5800HS processor and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. This laptop has been making waves for its compact size, powerful performance, and sleek design. But does it live up to the hype? Let's find out!

Design and Build Quality

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is a head-turner, no doubt about it. Asus has really nailed the aesthetic here, blending a professional look with a touch of gaming flair. The lid features a clean, minimalist design with the option for the AniMe Matrix display, which allows you to customize it with GIFs, animations, or text. It's a cool feature that adds a personal touch, but it's also subtle enough for use in more professional environments. The model we're reviewing doesn't have the AniMe Matrix, but it still looks fantastic with its clean lines and matte finish. The overall build quality is superb; the laptop feels solid and well-constructed, with no noticeable flex in the chassis. The hinge is smooth and sturdy, allowing you to easily open and close the laptop with one hand. The keyboard deck is made of a magnesium-aluminum alloy, which feels premium to the touch and provides a comfortable typing experience. The touchpad is also excellent, offering smooth and accurate tracking. The size and weight of the G14 are also major selling points. At just 1.6kg and 17.9mm thick, it's incredibly portable for a gaming laptop. You can easily slip it into a backpack and carry it around all day without feeling weighed down. This makes it a great option for students, professionals, or anyone who needs a powerful laptop that they can take on the go. The attention to detail in the design is evident throughout the laptop. From the subtle ROG branding to the carefully placed vents, everything feels well-thought-out and intentional. Asus has created a laptop that not only performs well but also looks and feels great. The Zephyrus G14 manages to strike a perfect balance between portability, power, and aesthetics, making it a truly impressive piece of hardware. This design is perfect for those who need to transition between work and play seamlessly.

Performance: Ryzen 7 5800HS and GTX 1650

Okay, let's talk performance. The heart of this Zephyrus G14 is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800HS processor, an 8-core, 16-thread beast that can handle pretty much anything you throw at it. Whether you're editing videos, running simulations, or just browsing the web, this CPU will keep up without breaking a sweat. The Ryzen 7 5800HS is a powerhouse, offering excellent multi-core performance and solid single-core speeds. This makes it ideal for tasks like video editing, 3D rendering, and software development. In benchmarks, the 5800HS consistently outperforms its Intel counterparts in the same class, making it a great choice for anyone who needs a powerful and efficient processor. The GTX 1650, while not the most powerful GPU on the market, is still a capable performer for light to moderate gaming. You'll be able to play most modern games at 1080p with medium settings and achieve playable frame rates. Games like Fortnite, Rocket League, and Overwatch run smoothly on this machine. However, if you're planning on playing more demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077 or Assassin's Creed Valhalla, you'll likely need to lower the settings to get acceptable performance. The GTX 1650 is based on NVIDIA's Turing architecture and features 4GB of GDDR6 memory. While it's not a ray-tracing capable card, it still offers a significant performance boost over integrated graphics. It's a good choice for gamers who are on a budget or who prioritize portability over raw power. The combination of the Ryzen 7 5800HS and the GTX 1650 makes the Zephyrus G14 a versatile machine that can handle a wide range of tasks. It's not the ultimate gaming laptop, but it's more than capable of providing a smooth and enjoyable gaming experience. And for productivity tasks, it's an absolute beast. The Ryzen 7 5800HS ensures that you can power through even the most demanding workloads without any slowdowns.

Display Quality

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 boasts a fantastic display that's perfect for both gaming and content creation. The 14-inch screen features a Full HD (1920x1080) resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate, providing smooth and fluid visuals. The display also covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut, ensuring accurate and vibrant colors. This makes it ideal for tasks like photo editing, video editing, and graphic design. The high refresh rate is a boon for gamers, as it reduces motion blur and provides a more responsive gaming experience. The display also has wide viewing angles, so you can comfortably view the screen from different positions without any color distortion. The brightness is also excellent, making it easy to see the screen even in brightly lit environments. The matte finish on the display helps to reduce glare, which is especially useful when working outdoors or in areas with strong lighting. The bezels around the display are also quite thin, which helps to create a more immersive viewing experience. The display is one of the strongest aspects of the Zephyrus G14, offering excellent color accuracy, brightness, and refresh rate. Whether you're gaming, watching movies, or working on creative projects, the display will provide a visually stunning experience. The color accuracy is particularly impressive, making it suitable for professional use. The 120Hz refresh rate is a significant upgrade over standard 60Hz displays, providing a noticeable improvement in smoothness and responsiveness. Overall, the display on the Zephyrus G14 is top-notch and one of the main reasons to consider this laptop. The display is bright and vivid and the screen is easy to look at for extended periods.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Typing on the Zephyrus G14 is a pleasure thanks to its well-spaced and tactile keyboard. The keys have a decent amount of travel and a satisfying click, making it comfortable to type on for long periods. The keyboard also features white backlighting, which is adjustable to three different levels. The backlighting is even and consistent, making it easy to see the keys in low-light conditions. The keyboard layout is standard, with no unusual key placements. The function keys are also easily accessible, allowing you to quickly adjust the volume, brightness, and other settings. The touchpad is also excellent, offering smooth and accurate tracking. It's large enough to comfortably navigate the screen, and the integrated buttons provide a satisfying click. The touchpad also supports multi-finger gestures, such as scrolling and zooming. The palm rejection is also well-implemented, preventing accidental clicks and movements while typing. The keyboard and touchpad are both important input devices, and the Zephyrus G14 excels in both areas. The keyboard is comfortable and responsive, while the touchpad is smooth and accurate. Both input devices are well-designed and contribute to the overall user experience. The keyboard deck is also sturdy, with no noticeable flex even when typing vigorously. This helps to create a more stable and comfortable typing experience. Overall, the keyboard and touchpad on the Zephyrus G14 are excellent and contribute to the overall positive user experience. The key travel is ample and the size is adequate for most users.

Battery Life and Thermals

Battery life is always a concern with gaming laptops, but the Zephyrus G14 actually does a pretty good job in this department. With its 76Wh battery, you can expect to get around 6-8 hours of light use, such as browsing the web, checking email, and working on documents. Of course, if you're gaming or doing other demanding tasks, the battery life will be significantly shorter. But for everyday use, the Zephyrus G14 can easily last through a workday. The laptop also supports fast charging, so you can quickly top up the battery when needed. The thermals on the Zephyrus G14 are also well-managed. The laptop features a sophisticated cooling system with multiple heat pipes and fans. Under heavy load, the laptop can get warm, but it doesn't get uncomfortably hot. The fans can also get quite loud when running at full speed, but this is to be expected with a gaming laptop. The cooling system is effective at keeping the CPU and GPU temperatures within acceptable limits, preventing thermal throttling. The laptop also features several different performance modes, which allow you to adjust the fan speed and power limits to optimize performance and battery life. The Zephyrus G14 strikes a good balance between battery life and thermals, making it a great choice for both gaming and productivity. The battery life is impressive for a gaming laptop, and the thermals are well-managed. The cooling system is adequate to keep the laptop running smoothly even under heavy loads. The extended battery life is thanks to the efficient Ryzen processor. The Ryzen 7 5800HS has enough power to perform and uses a minimal amount of energy.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

  • Compact and lightweight design
  • Powerful Ryzen 7 5800HS processor
  • Excellent display quality
  • Comfortable keyboard and touchpad
  • Good battery life

Cons:

  • GTX 1650 is not the most powerful GPU
  • Fans can get loud under heavy load
  • No webcam

Conclusion

So, what's the final verdict? The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with the Ryzen 7 5800HS and GTX 1650 is a fantastic laptop that offers a great balance of portability, performance, and features. It's not the ultimate gaming machine, but it's more than capable of handling most games at 1080p with decent settings. And for productivity tasks, it's an absolute beast. The excellent display, comfortable keyboard, and good battery life make it a great choice for students, professionals, and anyone who needs a powerful laptop that they can take on the go. However, if you're a hardcore gamer who needs the absolute best performance, you might want to consider a laptop with a more powerful GPU. But for most users, the Zephyrus G14 is a great all-around laptop that's well worth considering. All things considered, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is a top pick and is an excellent choice. This laptop will surely be a device to enjoy for years to come. Well, that's it from me folks! I hope this helped you out!