The Asus Zenbook A14 Is Light on Everything but Your Wallet

A Windows laptop that's lighter than air

Let’s start with where the ZenBook A14 doesn’t just match up to the MacBook Air, but actually surpasses it. While the MacBook Air’s current 13-inch model comes in at 2.7 pounds and its 15-inch sibling pushes that up to 3.3 pounds, the ZenBook A14 instead is a much more portable 2.16 pounds. This laptop is, in a sense, literally lighter than “Air.”

Is it the first laptop not from Apple to hit that standard? Definitely not. But with a full version of Windows, a 14-inch OLED screen, and plenty of I/O including an HDMI port, two USB-C ports, one USB-A port, and a headphone jack, it definitely feels like it’s more of a legitimate contender than, say, a Chromebook, which is what a lot of the ultralight competition is likely to be. 

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

It’s not all a strict upgrade, since it’s about 1/10th of an inch thicker than either of Apple’s current Air models, but in essence, it feels not too different from carrying around a folder. That also extends to its dimensions, 12.23 x 8.42 x 0.53 inches, which fall in between the MacBook Air 13- and 15-inch models. That makes sense for a 14-inch laptop, but it’s still worth bringing up.

All of this portability is thanks to Asus’ “ceraluminum” chassis, which is a proprietary mix of ceramic and aluminum that keeps things durable (this laptop doesn’t bend very much to pressure) while still being lightweight. This is Asus’ first laptop to have its entire chassis made out of this alloy, and that also helps with the look a little bit, too. Because Ceraluminum isn’t painted but rather colored via a dip in electrolytic water and minerals, it’s got a mild porousness that makes the A14 look and feel nice and premium. 

All in all, while I’ve liked previous models like the Zenbook 14 OLED, this one is a lot nicer on the eyes and a touch easier to carry, without losing the upgraded display or wide variety of ports that attracted me to Asus’ computers over the Air in the first place. A good start.

A truly modern display

Keeping the positives rolling, the A14 really starts to show the MacBook Air’s age once you open it up. While Apple’s newest Air models are still frustratingly sticking with their “liquid retina” LCD screens, the A14 instead uses OLED. This makes for a much higher contrast ratio, since OLED is capable of turning individual pixels on and off as they’re needed, rather than relying on a single backlight.

The effect is much more comfortable to look at, as you’ve got fewer unnecessary pixels glaring at you, and also makes darker scenes in shows and movies look more realistic. Trying it out with Dune: Part Two, the quality nearly mirrored that of my larger, much more expensive LG C1 TV. I would have been perfectly satisfied watching the whole movie on this screen, whereas the MacBook Air technically has weaker display technology than the iPhone (which also uses an OLED display).

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

Technically, there is one downside to OLED, which is brightness. Older OLED panels have had difficulty being easily visible in direct sunlight, but I had no such problems here. I was happy watching my movie at 50% brightness, and when you dive into the specs, you’ll see that the Zenbook actually exceeds the Air on this front, too, with 600 nits max brightness as opposed to the Air’s 500 nits.

There is one slight tradeoff here, in that the A14 tops out at a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution, whereas the 13-inch Air uses a 2,560 x 1,664 screen and the 15-inch one uses a 2,880 x 1,864 screen. All of these laptops have the same 16:10 aspect ratio, but there’s no denying that the MacBook Air has higher resolution.

Personally, though, 1200p is enough for me on a screen this size, especially given this laptop’s performance—I wouldn’t really want to push it beyond that in most scenarios. The higher image quality is a worthy sacrifice for me to get OLED, and I’m shocked Apple hasn’t made the jump itself yet.

Underwhelming performance

Unfortunately, while I love the way the Zenbook A14 looks and feels, it’s here where it becomes harder to recommend it over the MacBook Air, or even against certain Windows competitors.

That’s because it uses a Snapdragon X chip rather than a more traditional Intel or AMD chip. This chip comes courtesy of Qualcomm, a company that usually makes mobile chips but is now working with Microsoft to move its processors into the laptop space as part of Windows’ Copilot+ push.

I’ve previously written about my disappointment with Copilot+, and even half a year later, I can’t say I feel too differently. Putting neural processing units into laptops for more locally processed AI is a neat trick, but Microsoft just hasn’t given these machines enough to use them on, with its controversial Recall feature still stuck in testing. Meanwhile, Apple’s M-series chips are powering the whole of Apple Intelligence, which already has writing tools and image generation in users’ hands. Even as an AI skeptic, I can at least appreciate that Apple’s AI branding has paid off in something real. Copilot+, meanwhile, pretty much still just means you get a dedicated button on your keyboard for opening the Copilot web app.

This issue isn’t unique to the A14, sure, but in using a Qualcomm chip to try to prep itself for AI features that just aren’t here yet, it’s sacrificed performance when it comes to more traditional tasks. Meanwhile, the M4 succeeds at both.

When I ran Geekbench 6, a synthetic benchmark for testing general PC performance, I got a score of 2,128 on single core tasks and a score of 10,222 on multi core tasks. While synthetic tests aren’t everything, that’s far below what my colleagues at PCMag got on the MacBook Air’s M4 chip—3,813 for single core tasks and 15,048 on multi core ones.

Similarly, despite this laptop’s AI promises, it fell well behind on Geekbench AI, with a quantized score of 4,398 vs. the MacBook’s Air’s quantized score of 6,239. This means local AI models might be a bit less accurate on this device, although this will affect developers more than the average consumer.

Cinebench, which tests image rendering, was even worse. Here, I got 96 points when testing rendering with single core settings and 447 points when doing the same with multi core ones. PCMag, meanwhile, got a 168 point single core score and nearly doubled my multi core score with 849 points.

This laptop also faltered when transferring files. Using the “1080p30” preset on the open source Handbrake program, I took 12 minutes to convert a 12-minute 4K video to 1080p, compared to the five minutes that PCMag got on the M4 MacBook Air. Some of that performance has more to do with this laptop’s 1TB SSD than its chip, but know that while you get plenty of storage here, it might take a bit to move your files around.

What do all these numbers actually mean for your typical experience, though? Well, while this laptop will be fine for browsing or working on cloud-based apps like Google Workspace, or even lighter work with dedicated productivity apps like Photoshop, its weaker, mobile-based architecture still falls behind that of chips more traditionally meant for the PC space, even when aided by this configuration’s 32GB of RAM (vs. 16GB on the MacBook Air this review takes its numbers from). When you actually go to render your project, be prepared to wait a bit.

Additionally, while this machine isn’t marketed as a gaming device, don’t expect it to moonlight as one, either. I tested the benchmarks for both the slightly older AAA game Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the more lightweight Total War: Warhammer II game at 1080p on this machine, and only the latter ever rose above 30 fps, which is the base level I need to consider something playable. Even then, I had to push the game down to low settings to achieve that, which isn’t ideal.

That’s another shame compared to the MacBook Air, as while I haven’t personally tested the most recent M4 model, I was able to get above 60 fps with an older model running the native Mac port of the graphically impressive Resident Evil Village on an M2 chip, which shows that when games are built with Mac in mind, the M-series chips can be powerhouses even on more limited devices.

Battery life is acceptable

Part of the tradeoff with going for a Snapdragon chip as opposed to more traditional PC chips is that you’re supposed to get some of the battery life benefits that come with using a platform originally designed for mobile. In practice, I found that the Asus Zenbook A14 did well here, but wasn’t a standout.

I ran this laptop under what I would consider a medium load, meaning I unplugged it, put its battery into a balanced power preset, turned off any automatic energy saving or screen dimming features, and let it run playing YouTube videos until it died. The idea was to test how long you might be able to work on an extended session over wifi.

In the end, I got almost 16 hours of battery life, which, while certainly enough to power through your average all-nighter, isn’t exceptional for this product category. The ZenBook 14 OLED that preceded this, for instance, got 19:22 hours of battery life in PCMag’s testing, while the M4 MacBook Air lasted for 19:56 hours.

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

Part of the compromise here is likely due to the size of this machine. As part of its effort to reduce weight, Asus put a 70WHr battery in the A14, while the Zenbook 14 OLED has a 75WHr battery. To be fair, the rated WHrs on both currently available MacBook Airs are even lower than 70WHr, however, Apple’s famously efficient operating system and chip manufacturing helps make up the difference.

A post-tariff price bump

If you want a premium PC that easily fits into a bag and you don’t intend to use it as your main access point for more intense programs like Adobe Premiere or Autodesk Maya, the Zenbook A14 could still meet your needs if the price is right. However, over the past few weeks, the situation there has gotten a little more complicated.

I initially wanted to publish this review sooner, but if I had, it wouldn’t be indicative of what you get anymore.

When this PC launched, it was priced at $1,100, which would have put it in between the M4 MacBook’s $1,000 starting price and its maxed-out $1,600 model. For that, it’s a decent deal, assuming you’re willing to give up some performance and battery life for OLED and a lighter chassis.

However, starting last week, Asus has raised the price to $1,200. This is explicitly due to the United States’ recent tariffs, as I was told by an Asus representative. While Asus is a Taiwanese company, and thus is not directly impacted by tariffs targeting China, this isn’t wholly a surprise, as few companies can afford to excise China from their supply chains at the moment.

For that $1,200 price, I’m a bit disappointed in what’s on offer here. While the laptop is still a dream to hold and the display and design both look premium, this simply doesn’t function like a $1,200 laptop when it comes down to brass tacks. You really have to prioritize portability to feel like you’re getting your money’s worth here.

Odds and ends

Before I wrap up, let’s briefly go over the keyboard, webcam, and speakers.

Most of what you can expect here is standard for a thin and light laptop, with the exception of those speakers.

Listening to Dune: Part Two as well as ‘Blinding Lights’ by the Wknd, I was struck by how tinny and shallow the sound profile felt here. I don’t expect a lot from an ultralight’s audio, but words were hard to make out at times, and bass was essentially absent. This likely has to do with this laptop sticking to two bottom-firing speakers, which means sound is muffled by the device itself. You’ll definitely want to wear headphones while using this computer. By comparison, the MacBook Air has a six-speaker sound system with more locations around the device.

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

Otherwise, the keyboard is a typical chiclet style membrane affair, which you should be used to if you’ve used similar devices. There’s no numpad, but a full function row, and I managed to achieve a respectable 91 words-per-minute with it. It’s not the most comfortable keyboard I’ve used, since the laptop’s size means keys can’t have too much travel distance, but for a low-profile style, it’s good enough.

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

Credit: Michelle Ehrhardt

The same goes for the webcam, which is 1080p and captured my face with enough detail for video calls across various lighting conditions, which I've captured in the images above. I wouldn’t aim to be the next big Instagram model with this, but it’s workable for what you tend to use a laptop webcam for. Plus, it’s got IR functionality, which means you can use it with Windows Hello’s facial recognition.

Should you buy an Asus Zenbook A14?