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| Asus Zephyrus G14 |
The Zephyrus G14 is, Asus says, it is the most powerful 14-inch gaming laptop ever. At CES 2020, Asus revealed a whole load of gaming hardware with both desktop PCs and laptops, the latter being headed by a model the firm claims is the most powerful 14-inch gaming notebook in the world.
That would be the
Asus Zephyrus G14, which certainly packs a decent amount of power into a 17.9 mm thick, pretty slim chassis, and the device weighs in at a palatable 1.6 kg.
The G14 runs on one of the new mobile chips from
AMD, and is powered by up to an8-coreand 16-threaded Ryzen 7 4800HS. That's partnered with a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card (6 GB video RAM boast).
Asus provides up to 16 GB of 3200MHz DDR4 RAM on the memory front, and storage comes as a M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD with up to 1 TB capacity. There are a few choices for the 14-inch panel, the top of which–at least for gamers–has a Full HD resolution with 120Hz refresh rate plus AMD's adaptive sync, 100 percent sRGB coverage, and it is Pantone-validated.
You can also choose the same monitor but with a refresh rate of 60Hz and no adaptive sync, or a screen with a resolution of 2.560x 1.440 which is 60Hz again (but has adaptive sync). All of these are panels at the IPS level, and very thin bezels sport.
Asus says the G14 provides 10 hours of battery life, and offers charging via one of the Type-C USB ports (although the other Type-C connector is not capable of power delivery).
The laptop also benefits from support for Wi-Fi 6, and a backlit keyboard with an ErgoLift hinge tilting the screen at a more comfortable angle.
Asus also notes that the G14 has an innovative cooling system and some models display' AniMe Matrix' on the laptop lid. The latter uses a 1,215 mini LED matrix which can be used to view graphics like animated GIFs or messages.
DJs may theoretically use the AniMe Matrix to display visualizations that respond to, for example, the music being played, and ultimately Asus plans to add more practical aspects such as the ability to view the current battery level, or new email alerts.
We're certainly keen to see how the8-core Ryzen 7 4800HS drives this seemingly nippy 14-inch gaming laptop, and it looks commendably compact with some neat extras to the power levels on offer.
The good news is that the launch date is not far away, with the Asus Zephyrus G14 set to go on sale late March (in the UK). However, no pricing has yet been announced.
When the going gets TUF
Not content with the Zephyrus G14, Asus also unveiled a bunch of new TUF Gaming laptops, including a pair of 15-inch models, and a pair of 17-inch notebooks.
The main devices being introduced at CES are the TUF Gaming A15 and A17, which use 4000 chips from AMD Ryzen, and these versions should also be available in late March, just like the G14. TUF Gaming F15 and F17 notebooks with 10th generation Intel Core processors will be released later in 2020.
So, you get a choice of Ryzen 4000 APUs (upto8-core,16-threads) with the A15 and A17, which can be combined with up to 32 GB of 3200MHz DDR4 RAM.
If you're plumping into the TUF Gaming A15, you'll get a 15.6-inch Full HD screen with 144Hz refresh rate, and AMD's adaptive sync technology, plus on the front of the GPU, you can specify up to a RTX 2060. Space can take the shape of a 1 TB NVMe PCIe SSD.
As for the TUF Gaming A17 which runs a 17.3-inch Full HD display with a refresh rate of 120Hz, again with adaptive sync. You can have up to a GeForce GTX 1660 Ti for a graphics solution and capacity will again be up to a 1 TB PCIe SSD.
As always, the TUF laptops are built to be rugged and reliable, produced to meet the MIL-STD-810H requirement, ensuring a few bumps and short drops will happily survive.
These models are also more compact than their predecessors, with the variants of 15 inches being 7 percent lower and the models of 17 inches shrinking by 8 percent a little further, according to Asus. Pricing has yet to be confirmed.
Gaming desktops
Advertisement Finally, asus introduced some new gaming desktop PCs away from gaming-on - the-go, including the ROG Strix GA35 and GT35 that can be equipped with some serious firepower.
We are talking about gaming PCs fitted with up to a Ryzen 9 3950X in the case of the GA35, which will be available in the UK from late April (with the GT35 to be followed later on equipped with Intel Core 10th-gen processors instead of Ryzen).
And for the graphics card, you'll be able to specify up to a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, backed up with up to 64 GB device Memory, as up to 1 TB NVMe PCIe SSD storage along with either a 1 TB or 2 TB extra capacity hard disk.
A multi-zone structure, which Asus claims is designed for airflow, offers sleek ventilation, using its Wind Shear system that includes elements such as expanded air vents.
Together with a new ROG Strix GA15 and GT15, these high-end models are designed to be compact and portable–so you can easily take them to a LAN party–but still maintain a good performance level.
The GA15 will offer a choice of Ryzen 7 3700X or Ryzen 5 3600X AMD processor with a RTX 2070 Super Graphics card and 16 GB RAM system. Space comes as a 512 GB NVMe PCIe SSD, along with either a 1 TB or 2 TB hard disk.
Despite the relatively compact case–measuring 17.8x 34.3x 42.7 cm and weighing in at 10 kg–Asus promises impressive cooling, with the airflow design similar to that seen in the GA / GT35.
Asus says the GA15 will be available in the UK from late February, and the GT15 will follow with Intel Core 10th-gen processors, just like the GA / GT35. Also, all of these devices still need to have verified pricing.
