Gaming laptop deals are a little thin on the ground right now, after the big stock clearing in the sales over the winter period in anticipation of the refreshed models coming this year. But even with a new version on the way, this Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 for $1,100 is the 14-inch gaming laptop I'd buy right now.
For starters, it'll be a while before the RTX 50-series refresh version hits the shelves, and when it does, it'll likely be a lot more expensive than this. Particularly as Nvidia has yet to announce any RTX 5060 GPUs, mobile or otherwise. That means any budget GPU options for the new lappys are likely a while away yet, so you'll be stuck with more expensive models to choose from for the next few months, at least.
And it's not like this little terror is underequipped. While the RTX 4060 inside is a 90 W version, with the help of DLSS 3 (and the improvements coming with DLSS 4) it'll still chuck out plenty of pixels all over that gorgeous 120 Hz OLED display.
Yep, that's a proper OLED in the panel slot, and it's one of the best we've seen so far. In fact, the Asus G14 is our top pick for the best 14-inch gaming laptop overall, and that's a hotly contested category. Our Jacob was in raptures in his Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 review, and that's a man that's tested almost every gaming laptop you can think of.
A large part of that decision is the chassis design. Asus really leads the way here, with an all-metal design that means this laptop feels ultra-premium while maintaining superb portability. Chuck one of these in your shoulder bag and you'll barely notice it's there, but it's got gaming performance that belies its slim dimensions.
The Ryzen 9 8945HS is a chonky eight-core, 16-thread CPU with plenty of grunt, and it's been paired with 16 GB of DDR5. It's worth noting, however, that you'll be stuck with that amount of memory, as Asus has soldered it to the board. Shame, but you can't have everything.
Should your budget be capable of stretching, you could consider the RTX 4070-equipped version, currently on discount for $1,650 at Best Buy. That's substantially more expensive, but you do get a GPU that's a lot more capable than the RTX 4060 for the extra cash. Still, for the price advantage alone, the cheaper model is where I'd put my money.
It's small, well-mannered, decently powerful, and light on the back—and here it's even at a close-to-budget price point. Gaming laptops are never perfect, but the G14? Darn close.
