Asus ZenBook A14 Review: Light in every sense
With ZenBook A14Asus has reached a new stage of portability. It’s a 14-inch laptop that weighs only 2.2 pounds, making it more like a tablet than a computer when you pick it up. And with its unique Ceraluminium case, which feels like a cross between ceramics and metal, the ZenBook A14 is a more viable premium notebook than the Chintzy Ultra-Light Gram composition of LG. But there is always a compromise between size and power, and in this case the ASUS has delivered the most slow Copilot+ PC we have seen so far. But I guess it just makes it a truly cure.
Now, to make it clear, the ZenBook A14 is a lightweight laptop for light performance. As this is a Copilot+ AI computer, it comes with at least 16 GB of RAM, so it can easily handle the juggling of dozens of browser sections and your typical offices and photos editing applications. But the A14 Snapdragon X X1 chip limits its ability to do something really demanding, so don’t expect to play a lot of games or to portray video. And as it is powered by this ARM chip, Zenbook should also launch applications designed for Intel and AMD CPU with a more slow emulation. Some software will not work at all, including many old apps and games like Fortnite who use chemical software.
So while the ZenBook A14 may look like a MacBook Air killer at first glance, it’s a more reminder of how well Apple has balanced this laptop. Of course, it’s half a kilo of more heavy, but the MacBook Air can also edit videos, provide 3D and play games in a pinch. You will not feel the same performance restrictions that you will undoubtedly meet on ZenBook A14.
Given, there is still an audience for an ultra light, insufficiently powered laptop. The A14 is an ideal writing machine on the go as you can travel with it effortlessly and offer a huge 18 hours and 16 minutes of battery life (according to the PCMark 10 indicator). And let’s admit it, the slow Zenbook gaming chops can actually increase your performance.
I saw that this was a perfect secondary computing device if you have already received a board or load on a laptop at home. And if you really just have to browse the network, answer emails, and watch a video accidentally, you probably won’t notice its performance problems.
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Hardware
The ZenBook A14 makes a scary first impression long before you see it in action. His retail box feels alarmingly weightless, as if it contains only air and some cardboard pillow. And once you open it, it is difficult to understand how the 14-inch laptop can weigh only 2.2 pounds. He also feels as balanced as a craft chef knife that makes it easier to hold. As impressed with me was by the ASUS ROG ZEPHYRUS G14 and G16 last year, the ZenBook A14 feels a stronger example of how far the company has come from the production of cheap clones of MacBook.
Also, adding to the overall ZenBook A14 lacquer is this aforementioned case of a cellleur that just feels nice to behave. It is warm and invited to touch, while Apple’s MacBooks and most other all -metal laptops almost always feel cold (especially in highly cut offices). As we have seen in other recent Asus notebooks, Ceraluminum also feels healthy as it is not flexible on the light A14 frame.
The company clearly spent time, refining the usability of such a lightweight machine. Opening it with one hand is effortless, thanks to a new hinge design that protects the A14 from tilting back while lifting the screen. I tested other light notebooks, including larger ZenBook models that require two hands: one to hold the computer keyboard section and another to lift the display. I can tell you from experience that it is useful to be able to open your computer with one hand while holding a crying child in the other.
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The ZenBook A14 has an impressively slim profile when it is open, but is also well -built to keep its screen stable when writing on its lap. This may seem like a niche point, but I got up to despise the unstable displays of smaller thin notebooks. This is another sign that Asus received the little things right in A14.
And when it comes to doing things, I evaluated that Asus managed to press in tone of ports: two USB-C links, one USB type A, a full-size HDMI connection and a headphone jack. In the meantime, Apple includes only two USB-C ports, a Magsafe loading link and a MacBook Air headphone jack.
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Using: Service laptop on Windows based on ARM
It is a pity that the whole thought-out asus hardware is retained by Snapdragon X X1, an eight nuclear chip system (SOC) designed for ultra-thin and low-power devices. In indicators and general use, this is obviously a much more slow solution than X Elite and X Plus chips that decorate Surface Pro and other Copilot+systems. As I mentioned above, this is the main compromise that Asus had to do to deliver such a thin notebook, and for some it can be a complete deal.
The ZenBook A14 handles my main performance work process just good: browsing Chrome and Edge with dozens of tabs while performing applications for weak, spotify and from time to time. But compared to the Surface Pro and a laptop, it’s like driving a car at an entrance level instead of a real luxury offer. And this is a pity as it is priced similar to these computers. Currently the best purchase Lists our review unitwhich includes 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD for $ 1,100. If these specifications were paired with a better processor, I would consider A14 a smart purchase. Instead, it feels like a machine that obviously should be less than $ 1,000 with 16GB of RAM and a smaller SSD.
On the edge and Chrome, I noticed a slight hiccup as I jumped between sections and multiple windows. And these were local applications developed for ARM processors! Snapdragon Chips must imitate the older applications X64 and X86 Windows, which introduces even more delay. While writing this review in Evernote (Appendix X64), A14 will often have problems with a smooth scroll of long notes and sometimes take a few seconds to load older notes. (Evernote owner Says the concept He “does not officially support the ARM processors at this time”, which means that users are not lucky if they encounter more significant problems.)
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One up to work with a pretty slow processor? Excellent battery life. In the PCMark 10 battery, the ZenBook A14 battery lasted 18 hours and 16 minutes. This is about 30 minutes more than the Dell+ XPS 13 Copilot with Snapdragon X Elite, and is also two and a half hours longer than last year’s ultra-supply of ZenBook S14.
I appreciated the Zenbook A14 when I didn’t try to compare it or look for its random delays. This is a wonderful machine that you need to take when you just want to focus on writing, cleaning e -mail, or finalizing a processed corporate training. Its keyboard is responsive and comfortable to introduce, although I want to touch its clicks more precisely the clicks.
The ZenBook A14 is also great for catching up Netflix shows in bed as it feels practically weightless and video looks huge on its 14-inch OLED screen. However, his speakers sound terrible with tin, so I would use headsets for any serious sessions to watch the bush. I was also surprised that his 1080p webcam actually produces decent frames and also allows you to enter the A14 easily with Windows Hello IR support.
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Do you have to buy ZenBook A14?
Given the combined problems of ARM compatibility and slow processor, I would not recommend ZenBook A14 as a major computer for most people, although it is priced as a true competitor to the MacBook Air. If nothing else, this is a small experiment from ASUS to see what compromises the users will tolerate to get such a light laptop. Instead of an impossible light and undervalued notebook, most people would be better with something like ZenBook 14 OLEDwhich is currently for sale for $ 1.050 with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD. Of course, it weighs 2.8 pounds instead of 2.2, but it is still quite portable.
Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Air, which starts at $ 999 with a M4 chip, is half a kilogram heavier than Zenbook A14, but much more capable in general. Even the older M2 chip is faster than Snapdragon X, and Macos has a wider choice of hand-compatible applications as well as faster Windows emulation.
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Wrapping
If ASUS’s goal was to make an impressive premium ultra-leather laptop, he almost got there with ZenBook A14S As he surpasses the MacBook Air by weight and value, its slow processor makes it far less capable of Apple’s ultra -survey. Maybe one day, with future revisions and more capable hardware, ASUS could finally deliver a powerful laptop almost two pounds. For now, however, it is better to wait for a discount so that A14 can serve as a secondary computer.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/computing/laptops/asus-zenbook-a14-review-a-lightweight-every-sense-133013668.html
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