I’ve been ready to move on with my iPad Pro 2021 (12.9 inches) since a time ago. Since I first tested the OLED laptop review last year, the mini-LED panel on Apple’s old tablet no longer passes my ultra-obsessive vision test. And hoo-boy makes the screen Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024) What a shame the screen on my Apple slab.
Although I recently said I wouldn’t trade the Zephyrus G14 for my Steam Deck OLED, I would trade it for my iPad Pro in a heartbeat. Yes, the new iPad Pro 2024 includes its own incredible tandem OLED display. But the display on this Asus gaming laptop is simply unreal. Incredibly bright and vivid, its image quality appears effortlessly authentic thanks to the perfect black levels that OLED technology brings to the table.
Obviously, the $1,999/£2,229 configuration of the G14 I’ve been testing is aimed squarely at gamers. After all, who is shelling out that much for a machine with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 laptop GPU and an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU and then choosing not to play? best pc games in this puppy?
The screen on this Asus gaming laptop is simply unreal”
And to be clear, I think it’s an absolutely brilliant gaming laptop. However, it is also a great system for streaming movies and shows.
Since Asus loaned me a review unit a couple of weeks ago, my iPad Pro has been out of sight. Night after night, the latest G14 dominates my living room. Oh sure, I’ve had my LG G3 OLED TV on in the background while simultaneously ping into YouTube holes from time to time, mainly to witness my beloved Arsenal almost certainly lose the English Premier League title in a heartbreaking. Overall, though, my eyes have been glued to the Zephyrus practically non-stop as soon as I get off work each night.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 vs iPad Pro OLED: What you’ll pay
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 starts at $1,599 for a 14-inch 3K OLED display, AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU, RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 1TB SSD. There’s also a $1,999 configuration at Best Buy that includes 32GB of RAM and RTX 4070 graphics, but it’s not available right now.
Meanwhile, the 2024 13-inch iPad Pro with M4 chip starts at $1,299 just for the tablet and 256GB of storage. Adding the Magic Keyboard costs $349, bringing the total to $1,628. Do you want 1 TB of storage? Upgrading to 1TB brings the total to $2,248.
Jungle fever
I have certain movies that I prefer when testing laptop screens, and chief among them is 2016’s excellent live-action reboot of The Jungle Book on disney plus. Jon Favreau’s interpretation of Rudyard Kipling’s legendary tale is full of warmth and wit. He also looks gorgeous thanks to some of the most impeccable CGI work I can remember seeing in a movie.
There are a couple of scenes that give the Zephrus’ wonderfully sharp panel a full OLED workout. The interplay of light and shadow when Mowgli meets Christopher Walken’s magnificent and menacing King Louis really shows the incredible contrast the G14 can produce.
The final showdown between the man-cub and Idris Elba’s perfect Shere Khan also looks incredible on this OLED panel – the scorching reds of the fiery jungle battle look super punchy on this incredible laptop.
Moving on to something a little more modern, Baby Reindeer also gets the sweetest tunes from the ROG Zephyrus G14’s 2.8K (2800 x 1800) display. My colleague Rory Mellon praised the strange thriller that was briefly No. 1 on Netflix and 100% on Rotten Tomatoes as his “favorite show” of the year, and it’s easily mine too.
Reindeer in the headlights
The semi-autobiographical story of a Scottish comedian stalked by a deranged inpidual that begins with a reckless cup of free tea in the house has many nighttime scenes set in clubs and pubs with gloomy lighting, making this fascinating show a natural choice for viewing. . The best of an OLED screen.
Baby Reindeer, like the Jungle Book, also sounds surprisingly good on the new Zephyrus G14. This is because it has beefier speakers than I’m used to seeing in a gaming laptop. Ultimately, I give my iPad Pro the edge on the audio front: the bass levels are deeper and the Apple tablet is easily louder than the Asus laptop. Still, this is still one of the best sounding laptops I’ve come across. Although for full transparency, I’ve tended to pair the G14 with my awesome little Creative Pebble V3 Desktop Speakers for most of my time with him.
The program I’ve watched the most on the Zephyrus G14? Those would be Sons of Anarchy. Kurt Sutter’s bloody biker drama ended in 2014, and this is the first time I’ve properly rewatched it. Barring a slightly misjudged third season set mostly in Belfast, it’s brutal but absolutely compelling television.
Again, this is another show with many scenes set at night, but also one that often involves a lot of brutal action under the scorching California sun. It’s another piece of programming that makes the G14’s OLED panel shine.
The shot above is also from what I consider Sons’ pivotal scene of its seven-year run, and it’s one that wrings the most powerful depiction of on-screen pain I’ve ever seen from Charlie Hunnam’s lead character, Jax Teller. Said moment made me cry for a full five minutes the other night.
I’ve had so many great viewing experiences with the ROG Zephyrus G14 that it’s made me seriously think about the new iPad Pro 2024. As much as I’ve been longing for an OLED iPad for the past 18 months, no question, you get more functionality from the best laptops.
Instead of shelling out for the 13-inch model and its impressive Ultra Retina XDR display, I can take the plunge for a mid-range OLED laptop. Since I obviously have to return the G14, I’m currently looking for a laptop PC that won’t cause too much damage to my wallet. Right now, the The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED laptop is on sale for $799 at Best Buy. It normally sells for $1,049, so this $250 savings is really tempting me.
I had an absolutely great time with the latest Asus ROG Zephyrus G14. The more I’ve tried it, the higher my opinion of it has become. It’s the best gaming laptop I’ve ever tested, and if I could find $2,299 in the back of my couch cushions, I’d buy one in a heartbeat.
Unfortunately, the 77-inch LG OLED I mentioned above took a huge chunk out of my savings last fall, so any tech purchases substantially over 1000 grand are off the table for the time being…unless Somehow I stumbled upon a winning lottery ticket. on the street.
If I could find $2,299 in the back of my couch cushions, I would buy the G14 in a heartbeat.”
However, if you have the money to spare, I highly recommend the ROG Zephyrus G14.
It’s a gorgeous 14-inch laptop, whether you want to watch the best Netflix movies in the kind of eye-catching style that only OLED can offer or play the best Steam games at impressively fast frame rates.
- This laptop has such an amazing OLED screen that I stopped using my iPad Pro
- I love Steam Deck, but I’m ditching it for Steam Deck OLED – here’s why
- I’ve had my LG G3 OLED for 7 months: 3 things I love and 2 I hate
