GIVE IT UP FOR the new Asus ROG
Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special
Edition. It’s a new version of the second
iteration of what was already a great
laptop. The original Asus ROG Zephyrus
G14 was something of a genre buster
when it arrived last year with its compact
14-inch proportions, awesome AMD CPU,
and great gaming performance.
This second-generation Special
Edition model carries over that basic
proposition but adds an unusual twist,
namely collaboration with the DJ and
musician Alan Walker. As we write,
Walker currently has the 19th most
popular video on Youtube with no fewer
than 3.2 billion views, not to mention over
10 billion channel views. Not bad.
Anyway, Walker has collaborated
with Asus to produce a version of the
G14 that fuses music with gaming. The
basic design of the G14 is carried over,
complete with the funky Anime Matrix
programmable LED feature on the rear.
But various tweaks, including a change
to metallic grey, fabric inserts, and new
keyboard colors give a distinct look.
What sets this version of the G14 apart
from its siblings isn’t the laptop but the
extras in the box. Or rather the box itself.
It doubles as a sort of synth or mixing
pad, connecting to the laptop via USB-C
and working with a dedicated app on the
laptop to allow music content creation.
Touch-sensitive pads on the box include
controls for track speed, sample loading,
and sound effects. These tie in with visual
effects that can be run on the laptop’s
screen or output to an external display.Gaming meets music in Asus’s latest portable PC
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
Alan Walker Special Edition
8
VERDICT Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan
Walker Special Edition
HIT SINGLE Lush build quality;
awesome CPU; fun music features.
DUD B-SIDE Mediocre graphics
performance; expensive for the overall
specifications.
$1,999, http://www.asus.comSPECIFICATIONSCPU
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
(eight cores, 16 threads, 3GHz
base, boost up to 4.6GHz)
Graphics Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti 4GB
RAM 16GB DDR4
Screen 14-inch, IPS, 2,560x1,440, 120Hz
Storage 1TB Samsung M.2 SSD
Optical drive N/A
Ports HDMI, 2x USB-C, 2x USB-A
Connectivity Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax)+Bluetooth 5.1
Camera None
Weight 3.75lbs
Dimensions 12.76 x 8.74 x 0.78-inchesHow well it works from a music content
creation perspective is debatable, but
it’s a fun extra that adds to the sense of
this being a special and unusual laptop,
rather than a spec-led, box-ticking affair.
That’s probably just as well because
at least in one area the spec is slightly
disappointing. Highlights include the
eight-core AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS CPU,
which is incredibly powerful. The 14-inch
2,560 by 1,440 pixel IPS display is a 120Hz
beauty and a great compromise between
detail and performance, though it could
be a little brighter.
At least it would strike that balance
between pixels and frame rate nicely if it
were paired with a more powerful GPU.
Asus has gone with an Nvidia GeForce
RTX 3050 Ti for this special edition G14,
despite the chassis being good for up to
the RTX 3060 in other models. That’s a
pity because the 3050 Ti isn’t up to the job
of driving the display at native resolution
at playable frame rates, let alone the
panel’s 120Hz refresh.
Admittedly, games still look pretty
decent interpolated at 1080p. So, while it
is a realistic option to drop the resolution
down a notch and release a few frames,
an RTX 3060 would round the package
out much more effectively and make for a
better match for the high refresh display.
Moreover, this isn’t the kind of system
that’s aimed at price-sensitive buyers.
The fact that you can have a ‘regular’
G14 with 32GB of RAM and an RTX 3060
GPU for around the same kind of money
probably doesn’t matter to this laptop’s
niche target market.The extra cost of the 3060 would hardly
make a major impact on its appeal. That
said, this is still a gorgeous laptop with
fantastic design and build quality, plus a
battery life of over eight hours in PCMark
10, especially given the huge CPU power
on offer. The sound from the integrated
speakers rivals Apple’s MacBook’s for
dynamic range and quality, and there’s
some real bass on offer, albeit not so
much outright volume. A bit more punch
would be appreciated. –JEREMY LAIRDBENCHMARKSAsus ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition
3DMark Fire Strike 12,665
Cinebench R20 Multi-core (points) 4,962
GeekBench 5 (single-core) 1,386
GeekBench 5 (multi-core) 7,379
PCMark 10 (points) 6,497
PCMark 10 Battery Life (h:m) 8:24
Video playback Battery Life (h:m) 9:40
Total War: Three Kingdoms (1080p, Ultra fps) 43
Metro Exodus (1080p, Ultra fps) 40in the lab
78 MAXIMU MPC FEB 2022