Asus ZenBook A14 Review: Super Light Laptop

The A14 is only available in dark gray and in one configuration: CPU Snapdragon X (X1-26-100) with 32GB RAM and 1-TB SSD. The 14-inch screen (Nontouch) has a resolution of 1.920 x 1200 pixel. Ports include two USB-C jacks with USB 4.0, one USB-A 3.2 port and a full-size HDMI jack. One of the USB-C ports is used for charging.

Medium performance

All these specifications are a pretty entry level for a laptop of this pedigree, but it is the processor that should attract some of your attention. Snapdragon X is the latest Qualcomm microprocessor, and is also the cheapest and least powerful, hardened version of Snapdragon X Plus, which is already feeling sluggish.

Photo: Christopher Zul

The good news is that the Snapdragon X-equipped A14 does not perform significantly differently from laptops equipped with Snapdragon X Plus. The bad news is that performance is not terribly impressive and these laptops (including A14) tend to drag a little. This is not the end of the world if you are looking at the network and writing emails, but it would be nice to make the machine from this Svelte growth to show a little power – scale but powerful. The A14 is especially slow when it comes to graphics and video performance, and buyers should not dream of using it for creative work. Fortunately, Qualcomm has achieved steps in software compatibility in recent months, and previously unusable applications like Google Drive are already working well.

ASUS has set the maximum battery life for a huge 32 hours for this device, and until I approached this level with a full screen, full, bright, a YouTube reproduction test, I was able to tingle a little more than 20 hours of continuous test time. (I tested this twice just to make sure.) You will surely be able to stretch this further by turning off Wi-Fi and dialing the brightness-which is solid when you dial-but even at “just” 20 hours, the machine is Record records at the longevity front.

The audio is better than expected, surprisingly rich and very strong. This is aided by a dead silent machine. There are fans inside the A14, but I never made them shoot, even under the largest load I could throw it. The usability is also solid as the keyboard has many actions and the Trackpad, although spacious, is unhappy that it is too big.