It is amazing how the power of a high end desktop gaming PC from two years ago can fit into a 14inch laptop under 4lbs. The Ryzen 9 5900HS cpu in this thing has enough power to be relevant for at least 3 years. The RTX 3060 is a good balance of speed and power efficiency, although the 6GB may require realistic graphic detail adjustments in near future games. I do not think any gpu more powerful or higher wattage would be possible in this chassis. The RTX runs through Radeon iGPU which does reduce performance in cpu bound games, but allows freesync adaptive sync to eliminate stutter and tearing. The usb-c port on left side of unit supports displayport/hdmi directly from RTX 3060 with optional adapters. I verified Gsync works through usb-c port with displayport adapter to my external monitors. I have seen a lot of complaints that the HDMI port is not connected directly to RTX but I actually feel this is a good thing because it allows longer battery life when hooking up to projectors during business presentations where the power of RTX is not always needed. For simple slides and video, the Radeon is sufficient and the RTX can be used via Optimus if presentation requires more graphical grunt. The cooling system is about as good as physically possible in a chassis this small without using a more expensive vapor chamber design. The liquid metal thermal interface on cpu helps minimize cpu thermal throttling issues. If running simultaneous cpu + gpu stress for prolonged periods, expect some mild throttling on either gpu or cpu as they share heatpipes. The VRMs seem to have dedicated cooling plate and pipe. Asus engineers seem to have found best balance between power and thermals. The touchpad is small but very smooth and responsive. The keyboard has good layout. The backlight is improved in uniformity compared to last year, but still difficult to see in medium light conditions (especially at low keyboard light brightness). I put a 2021 G14 black keyboard cover on system and I think it makes system look better in medium/bright light rooms. The speakers are loud and actually have some low frequency response. Probably the best speakers outside of a Macbook Pro. The screen on my unit had minimal light bleed and good black levels. For text and videos, I had no complaints. Unfortunately, I do notice ghosting from the relatively lower response time. It is definitely better than last year’s model, but resembles a fast VA panel more than a fast IPS. Anybody sensitive to ghosting/response time should consider something else or use external monitor when not traveling. The single m.2 slot and single SODIMM slot is disappointing but understandable. There is literally no space to fit additional slots due to small system. I wished all 16GB was soldered with open slot for user to add more. But I suspect more than 90% of users will find the 8GB soldered + 8GB SODIMM sufficient. At least there is option to increase RAM to 8 soldered + 32 sodimm in future even if only first 16GB will be dual channel. Overall is probably the most processing/graphical power in the smallest/lightest laptop available on the market (Apple ecosystem users should also seriously consider Macbook Air or Pro M1). It is easy to carry around and allows use of up to 100watt PD USB-C charger to reduce need to take 180watt brick on trips. Just remember to get external webcam or learn how to use phone camera as webcam because there is no builtin webcam on this laptop.

Performance: This is truly a powerful machine. For my usage(Schoolwork, light gaming, youtube), it is more than enough. When I play valorant, it runs at a constant 144fps(I limited it) and rarely drops at all. The same is true for when I play Splitgate. Genshin Impact is also very smooth at high graphics 60fps. However, this performance comes with fan noise and keyboard heat. The WASD keys stay cool compared to the rest of the keyboard when gaming, but it does still get warm. But, this is a small laptop, so there is limited cooling space. Keyboard: I love typing on this thing. Period. Travel distance is great, and the ergolift makes my hands feel comfortable while typing my essays. Touchpad: The glass trackpad on this thing feels great. Others may feel that the trackpad is too small, but I personally have no problems with the size and it works for my usage. Battery: I'm sure that you guys already know this, but the battery life is impressive. After an hour of usage doing college work, I used 10%. After 4 hours, I've used 40%. I guess that means that this laptop actually lasts 10 hours like others have said. Speakers: Comparable to a Macbook's speakers. That says a lot. Now, lets move on to the cons. Connectivity: My model comes with the Mediatek Mt7921. Idk if this is normal for the 2021 g14, or maybe it's just a BestBuy thing. The wifi speeds on this computer are SLOW. On my OnePlus 8T, when I'm downloading at 40mbps, the g14 is downloading at around 10mbps. When my phone is downloading at around 10-20mbps, the laptop is downloading at 1-3 mbps. This means that when downloading large games, it took hours before I was able to finally open it up and play. Quality Control: This is probably one of the G14's biggest issues. The QC is horrendous. I haven't seen many people talk about the power button, so I'm not sure if it's just my unit, but there are gaps and it isn't even. Not a huge problem, but may be irritating to some. Additionally, when I first pulled the computer out of the box and set it on my table, the computer base wasn't even and would wobble if I pressed on the corners. If the screen was closed, the computer would wobble when I pressed on the top left corner of the laptop. When the screen was open, the computer would wobble if I pressed on the right palm rest. I could fit my watch's wrist strap between the rubber feet and the table. To fix this, I took off the bottom panel/base and reclipped it firmly and rescrewed all the screws back in. Boom. Problem fixed. No more wobble. I suspect that one of the pressure clips wasn't fit in, resulting in an uneven base. MORE Quality Control: My left fan rattles. The fan under the WASD keys. I'm not sure whether that's the CPU or GPU fan, so I just said WASD keys. You guys have no idea how I felt when I sprinted upstairs after receiving my delivery from the FEDEX driver, then opened the box, booted it up, just to hear rattling sounds. For some reason, the fans only rattle at low speeds, and don't seem to rattle when it gets to 2900 RPM and above. The uneven base only made it worse. The rattle was a bit quieter after I fixed the uneven base. But it was still there. Overall, this would've been a great computer if not ruined by quality control.

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is a well built compact laptop. I was pleased with the form and weight however, it took some getting used to coming from larger computers. Generally I found the system to be fast and responsive but there have been quite a few technical issues which were resolved through system updates and installing the latest drivers. My first few weeks with this device were focused on troubleshooting issues which I’d like to say is understandable. In use, the laptop can get very loud especially when plugged in and on turbo mode. This would primarily be during gaming, though, it does also get loud when in seemingly less intense activities. I personally don’t have an issue with the fan noise but I have noticed that in turbo, while gaming, the keyboard would get hot and uncomfortable to use. Apart from the heat (which I have only experienced once so far) the keyboard feels so good to use. Way better feel and key placement than the magic keyboard I use at work. The backlighting is good unfortunately, the white light on silver keys makes it difficult to see in different light conditions. The lights also pulse when the laptop is asleep while charging which is a fun feature. The audio quality is really good and I’ve been told that I sound loud and clear during “video” calls. You may notice that there isn’t a built in webcam. Fortunately the display hinges are very sturdy and can easily support a plug and play webcam. The display is sharp and beautiful. I love the colors and tone so much that I don’t think I’ve had to adjust the brightness at any point. My last point will be on the fingerprint reader. It works about 97% of the time. Just remember to reinstall the driver from the Asus website and add multiple fingers to improve your chances.

As I do not wish to poison the well on this product, I'll start by stating that this is quite possibly one of the finest mid-range products that you can purchase for Best Buy in regards to a high performance, mid-range productivity/entertainment laptop. The size, weight, aesthetic and performance all punch well above the price point in this current market of scarcity. However, there is a very big downside specific to the 144Hz model of this particular product. The 144Hz FHD panel is a low quality panel with a high response time. This high response time leads to noticeable ghosting, even when performing simple tasks such as word processing or scrolling up or down on websites. For those of you who have sensitive eyes, this can definitely cause eye strain and fatigue and is most noticeable while gaming. For the record, I'm coming off of an Asus Zephyrus M15 (2020) with an i7 10750H and 8GB RTX 2070 Max Q (also from Best Buy). In terms of raw performance I'd rate this product (2021 G14) about 5%-15% better in terms of GPU performance and around 15-25% better in CPU performance from last years very good M15 model. But that depends on the titles you play and how you adjust your manual fan curve, cpu wattage and gpu clocks. I strongly suggest lowering the CPU wattage to 25 watts, this will allow the RTX 3060 to perform closer to it's tdp cap (80 watts) and it will perform nearly as well or better than last years RTX 2070 Super Max Q. In terms of actual desktop equivalency, this is somewhere between a GTX 1080 and RTX 2060, so adjust your games settings accordingly. You should have little to no issue maxing out most games from last gen at 1080p, but you may find that you'll have to reduce certain features or graphics settings in more modern titles. The 6GB of vram further hurts this as you'll have to decide if you want better textures and fewer graphical niceties, or more graphical niceties and lower textures. As far as heat goes, this laptop performs about as well as last years M15 model, you're looking at temps between 60c and 81c depending on the title and ambient room temperature. If you have a blower style cooler, you'll be able to keep this product at or under 80c in the majority of titles available. If you're just running the laptop with it's own cooling, you'll have to expect the laptop to become uncomfortably warm and cause your hands to sweat. I would suggest gaming with a controller in those instances and limit your game time to a couple hours so you don't wear out the components. As far as gaming in silent mode, that's completely possible with this product and even better than with last years M15 model. You can expect 60 fps in less demanding titles even with higher settings. You'll just have to decide as to whether or not you're going to be able to deal with the ghosting problem. But if you plan to hook it up to a monitor or tv, then that isn't an issue, is it? Games Tested Monster Hunter World - 1080p, Max Settings, Constant 60 FPS Fallout 4 - 1080p, Max Settings, Constant 60 FPS outside of Boston Center, 50-60 FPS inside Boston Center Rainbow Six Siege - 1080p, Max Settings, TAA, 100% Render Resolution, 90-129 FPS Valheim - 1080p, Max Settings, 60 FPS Minecraft Bedrock RTX (Truly Vanilla RTX Textures by CubeIR) - No issues, splendid performance I will be returning this product and exchanging it for the QHD version whenever that's back in stock. That said, I'm only returning it because I cannot deal with the ghosting, beyond that, this is a top grade product for it's price class and I strongly recommend it.

This laptop is really astounding. As a lifelong Apple user, I originally bought this to game on, but have been gradually using it for work as well. Pros: - Build quality- the build quality is excellent. The Magnesium shell is solid and high quality. - Design- I love the look- it is compact and light, and the ergo-lift hinge is very clever. - Keyboard- The G14 offers a fantastic typing experience- I love typing on this computer. - Display- The display is bright, beautiful, accurate, and fast. While some complain of ghosting, I have no problems and love gaming on it. - Performance- The new Ryzen mobile processor and RTX 3060 really knock it out of the park. This thing will play anything you throw at it. If you're willing to put in a little more time, you can tweak things to get the best balance between thermals and performance. - Battery Life- This thing has amazing battery life when used for normal laptop activities. You do have to manage power profiles, however if you do, this can yield amazing results. Cons: - Keyboard backlight- This is far improved over the 2020 model, but is still too dim on the silver keyed model during the day. It is brighter and more even however. - Temperature- This thing can exceed 90 degrees Celsius when gaming. Again, tweaking the settings can help with this. - Backlight bleed- I realize it's perfectly acceptable to have some backlight bleed or glow. But my 2020 model had an unacceptable amount of backlight bleed. My 2021 model is better, but there's still a little bleed in the lower right hand corner. - Can't disable Nvidia Optimus- You can't disable Nvidia Optimus, which means in some gaming situations you might leave some performance on the table. - Very little expandability- There's only one M.2 slot, and half the RAM is soldered to the motherboard. Any memory you install over 8GB will not be running in dual channel mode, which Ryzen CPU's love. - No webcam- In the era of COVID, this omission doesn't make any sense. I'm sure I'm missing something else, but the overall experience of using this machine has been excellent for me. I feel it's the perfect blend of portability, power, build, and character. Yes, character! This doesn't feel like another generic Chinese laptop- it feels like it was thoughtfully and lovingly designed. This is my first gaming laptop, and I'm duly impressed. I'd highly recommend this laptop if you're looking for a portable gaming rig; if you don't need the portability, a larger and thicker laptop with higher voltage CPU's and GPU's will give you better performance. But for most of the 'laptop things'- the G14 kills it.