Asus Zenbook A14 Review: Finally, a True Lightweight Ultrabook

Asus’ latest series of Zenbooks is so new that they were launched at CES in early January, and several of them are already available for purchase. One of these is the Zenbook A14, an ultra-thin and ultra-light laptop equipped with a Snapdragon X Elite processor and a 14-inch OLED screen. Most importantly, it has something I’ve long wished for: genuine low weight.

14 inches has taken over from 13.3 inches as the new “small” standard size for compact ultralight laptops. However, since this mainly means a higher screen and a few more millimeters in chassis depth, very few have managed to be as light as an old 13-inch ultrabook. The Zenbook A14 achieves this—and with room to spare.

It weighs only 980 grams, and the total travel weight, including the accompanying charger, is still under 1.4 kg. Yes, it’s somewhat bulky for such a lightweight and energy-efficient computer, but that may be worth it given that it has a 100-watt charging capability. It charges via USB-C, making it easy to swap out the charger for a more compact GAN charger if you want to reduce weight.

A Unique Experience

One reason for the low weight is Asus’ proprietary chassis material, Ceraluminum, an alloy of aluminum and ceramic, combined with a surface treatment that makes it lighter, more durable, and more scratch-resistant. It is also said to assist with heat dissipation, allowing the laptop to run on passive cooling for longer.

It almost feels like pottery when I grip and lift it—somewhere between stone and plastic—while being both unyieldingly stiff and lightweight. It’s a sensation I quickly get used to and become somewhat enamored with. It exudes quality, even if it may take a while to accept, as it truly looks like a plastic chassis.

Whether this surface allows it to pass MIL-STD-810G tests remains unclear, but Asus boasts about this certification nonetheless. It adds a bit of extra confidence, although Asus is not very clear about which tests have been performed; it’s a buffet of humidity, temperature, and impact resistance.

The screen lid, touchpad, keyboard, and ports are impeccably built, providing a distinct feel in the keys’ membrane switches, despite the relatively low travel height. You get adjustable backlighting that can be unusually intense. There’s plenty of room for most features, including a Copilot button and some custom shortcuts for microphone and webcam control, as well as the My Asus settings program.

Cool, Energy-Saving Power from Qualcomm

It’s a typical Snapdragon computer in terms of performance—very fast for single-core operations, boosted by a powerful built-in NPU, competent enough for multi-core tasks and multitasking, and excellent energy efficiency. With 32 GB of RAM integrated into the Snapdragon X Elite, it gains more bandwidth and further enhances performance.

It’s perfect for an office computer, primarily capable of running web and Office programs quietly, while even more demanding tasks like photo and video editing can be handled. Finally, the device features a very speedy 1 TB SSD with a PCIe 4.0 interface.

In one area, Qualcomm cannot match Intel and AMD processors, as well as Apple’s M-series, and that’s graphics. However, if gaming isn’t your focus, the Adreno X1 chip in Snapdragon X is sufficient. There are still some compatibility issues with PC games on the ARM architecture, although this problem is becoming less common for other applications and peripherals. Many can be run without issues, even if you miss out on features like efficient ray tracing or high frame rates.

Fast Wi-Fi 7 connectivity and speedy USB-C ports with USB 4.0 speeds round out the package, so you rarely encounter annoying wait times and micro-pauses.

A Beautiful Screen Without High Frequency

You get an excellent OLED screen with the right contrast, a wide color gamut that matches DCI-P3, and outstanding dynamics. The peak brightness is as high as 600 cd/m² for displaying movies and images in HDR mode, and up to 400 cd/m² otherwise. This is sufficient for almost entirely problem-free use outdoors in daylight.

I also want to give bonus points for the screen surface’s good anti-reflective treatment, which contributes to a better experience if you have a lot of light behind you. With a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels and a fixed refresh rate of 60 Hz, it may not be dazzling but is not inferior either. It’s sharp and even enough, especially as it helps keep power consumption low.

The laptop’s fairly large 70 Wh battery provides a working time of approximately 5 to 15 hours, or up to almost a day for a passively powered-on device with reduced brightness and sporadic use. There are no special power-saving features; you rely on Windows settings for screen timeouts. Presence sensors and a camera that dims the screen when not in view would have been welcome.

AI Assists in Meetings

A hardware-wise unremarkable webcam sits above the screen. It offers 1080p video at 30 Hz, and although it doesn’t have an immense light intake, good signal processing and camera management still deliver a clean, lag-free, and mostly noise-free image.

As a full Copilot Plus PC, you gain several excellent tools specifically for the webcam, including auto-framing, masking filters, and eye contact effects. While Copilot Plus itself is not yet that impressive, these features work excellently. At least you get IR support in the camera, allowing you to log into the computer biometrically with Windows Hello using your face. That’s good, as you don’t get a fingerprint reader.

With AI assistance, the audio from the built-in microphones is noise-free, and you can choose different profiles, from round sound capture to a forward-directed mic towards the speaker. It does indeed work as hoped, and the noise reduction is of good quality.

Stable Sound Without Peaks

The stereo speakers on the bottom of the laptop deliver well-balanced sound with a nice tone in the mid-range, which is essential for pleasant voice reproduction. However, I find the treble somewhat subdued, causing some details to get lost. But I’m being picky; overall, it sounds good. Dolby Atmos support allows for smooth personal sound control.

The Zenbook A14 comes in a modest set of different configurations, with primarily two colors and one option with a slightly lower performing and cheaper Snapdragon chip. The model I tested is equipped with the more powerful processor and is available in Zabriskie Beige and Iceland Gray.

The price of $2,000 (20,990 SEK) is not unreasonable, and the combination of a thin and lightweight design, good performance, battery life, and beautiful OLED screen makes it a strong recommendation. There’s a small list of things I’d like to see in future iterations, such as a sharper webcam, a higher refresh rate screen, and refined audio, but none of these shortcomings detracts from the respective functions at present.

Specifications

• Product Name: Zenbook A14 UX3407RA
• Manufacturer: Asus
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100, 12 Oryon cores at 3.42 GHz
• NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon, 45 TOPS
• Graphics: Adreno X1-895
• Memory: 32 GB LPDDR5X
• Storage: 1 TB SSD
• Display: 14-inch matte OLED, 1920 x 1200 pixels, 60 Hz, 600 cd/m²
• Webcam: 1080p with IR
• Connections: 2 USB-C 4 with DisplayPort, USB-A 3 Gen 2, HDMI, headset
• Wireless: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Operating System: Windows 11 Home
• Other: Backlit keyboard, facial recognition, shockproof (MIL-STD-810G), carrying case included
• Noise Level: 0–36 dBA
• Battery: 70 Wh, 3 hours 20 minutes (high load, full brightness, 60 Hz) to about 23 hours (low load, low brightness, 60 Hz)
• Size: 31.1 x 21.4 x 1.59 cm
• Weight: 980 grams