The Zephyrus G14 has been the 14-inch gaming laptop to beat for several years. For 2026 Asus moved the main model to Intel’s Core Ultra 9 386H, kept the RTX 5070 Ti and fitted a much brighter OLED. This review covers that model (GU405AR), which Notebookcheck tested and rated 90%.
Design and build
The aluminium case measures 311 x 220 mm and is 16.3 mm thick. At 1.57 kg it weighs only about 170 g more than the ThinkPad E14 Gen 7, an office laptop with integrated graphics. Notebookcheck scored the case 93% and praised its stiffness.
The keyboard has 1.7 mm of travel, and Notebookcheck counts it among the most comfortable on any laptop. The touchpad scored 99% and the four speakers 96%. The 1080p webcam is the weak part, with a camera score of 44%.
One thing travellers should know: the 250W charger weighs 724 g, so the bag weight is closer to 2.3 kg. Our bag fit checker shows whether the laptop fits your bag.
Performance
The Core Ultra 9 386H has 16 cores. It scored 21,186 multi-core in Cinebench R23 and 17,224 in Geekbench 6. That is about 29% above the Core Ultra 7 255H in the ThinkPad E14 Gen 7. The chip runs at 70 W in Turbo mode, and Notebookcheck found that it gains little from higher power limits.
The 1 TB SSD reads at 4,815 MB/s. It is a PCIe 4.0 drive, and the laptop has no PCIe 5.0 support.
Graphics and gaming
The RTX 5070 Ti has 12 GB of memory and runs at 115 W in Turbo mode. It scored 16,295 points in the 3DMark Time Spy graphics test.
At 1440p Ultra, Notebookcheck measured 77 fps in Cyberpunk 2077, 120 fps in Baldur’s Gate 3 and 133 fps in GTA V. With DLSS 4 set to Quality, Cyberpunk rose to 88.5 fps. The newest and heaviest games are harder: Assassin’s Creed Shadows ran at 44 fps and Forza Horizon 6 with ray tracing at 42 fps.
The performance mode matters a lot:
| Mode | GPU power | Cyberpunk 2077, 1440p Ultra | Fan noise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silent | 80 W | 43.8 fps | 38.2 dB(A) |
| Performance | 95 W | 69.5 fps | 49.8 dB(A) |
| Turbo | 115 W | 77.4 fps | 55.5 dB(A) |
Performance mode gives about 90% of the Turbo frame rate with clearly less noise. In Turbo, Notebookcheck recommends headphones. The case stays cool for a gaming laptop, with a hottest point of 41.7 °C on top.
Display
The 14-inch OLED has 2880 x 1800 pixels, a 120 Hz refresh rate and G-Sync. Its main upgrade for 2026 is brightness: about 514 nits in normal use and 1,140 nits at peak in HDR. It covers 99.8% of Display P3 and 94.1% of AdobeRGB, and colours are accurate out of the box (DeltaE 1.3), so it suits photo and video work.
There are two drawbacks. The panel is glossy, and it uses PWM dimming at 960 Hz at 90% brightness and below. Asus offers a flicker-free dimming setting in its software. Our refresh rate calculator shows what 120 Hz means for frame times.
Battery life
The 73 Wh battery lasted 14 hours 22 minutes of Wi-Fi browsing at 150 nits and 8 hours 18 minutes at full brightness. That is longer than the ThinkPad E14 Gen 7 (12 hours 8 minutes) and unusual for a laptop with this much graphics power. The Thunderbolt 4 port accepts USB-C charging, so a small charger is enough for office days.
Ports and upgrades
The left side has the power connector, HDMI 2.1, a USB-A port, Thunderbolt 4 and a headset jack. The right side has a full-size SD card reader (UHS-II), a second USB-A port and a second USB-C port with DisplayPort and charging. Wireless is Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0.
Upgrades are limited. The memory is soldered, and there is one M.2 2280 SSD slot. The covers over the rear screws are now held by magnets, not glue, which makes opening the laptop easier.
Price and value
Notebookcheck lists this configuration at $3,199 at Best Buy. Other listings range from $3,299 to $3,999 depending on storage and Windows edition, and the comparable 2025 model cost $2,599. The value score is low because of that price. The scoring method explains how price affects it.
Who should buy it
Buy the Zephyrus G14 (2026) if you want one laptop for gaming, creative work and travel, and the price is not a problem. Nothing else at 14 inches matches its mix of speed, screen and battery life.
Skip it if you mostly work and rarely play. The Dell XPS 14 (2026) costs $1,000 less as tested, and its integrated graphics handle lighter games. If HDR is not important, last year’s G14 saves about $600.