Reviews
Asus Zenbook A14
If you’re happy with Qualcomm inside, this sub-1kg laptop delivers for battery life, style and everyday power
PRICE
£917 (£1,100 inc VAT)
from
uk.store.asus.com
C
ompanies often exaggerate in their marketing: we’re rewriting the rules, revolutionising the world, solving all of humanity’s problems. But this laptop is worthy of hyperbole, because it has reset my expectations of what you can buy for £1,100.
For a start, the Zenbook A14 is unusually light. 980g, to be exact. I can’t think of a laptop that’s weighed so little that could be bought for under £1,500 before. Then there’s the fact that it includes a top-quality OLED panel, which again used to be a premium feature. And finally there’s its sheer style.
The Zenbook A14 really does redefine what you can expect for this price
Asus calls the material “Ceraluminium”, and this is no spray-on coating. According to Asus, it’s a “ceramic oxidised material that grows directly from the aluminium itself”, and the result is a soft-feel metal that should keep looking good for years to come. Scratches won’t reveal metal, for example, because the oxidised material is integrated.
Personally, I like the earthy green tones of the Zenbook A14, in part because it’s so different from the dull industrial greys we see elsewhere. Couple that with this laptop’s tiny physique and you will gain many admiring glances if you buy this laptop.
The power sacrifice
There’s no way that you can spend so much on these areas without making sacrifices at this price, so the question comes whether they’re in places that matter for you. First off, the processor. This is a debut for Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X, announced at CES, which features eight 2.96GHz cores – significantly slower than the 3.42GHz X Plus chips that sit just above it in the Snapdragon range.