Two of our favorite gaming laptops have been upgraded for 2025. There’s the brand new Zephyrus G16, which comes with Intel’s Core Ultra 9 processor 285H and selection of RTX 50-series GPU, as much as an RTX 5090. And the Zephyrus G14, my decide of the 2, which retains the identical Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 as final 12 months’s mannequin however as much as an RTX 5080 this time round.
Nvidia introduced the cellular RTX 50-series similtaneously its desktop Blackwell playing cards, which suggests we have now a sweep of latest cellular GPUs throughout the gaming laptops within the cubicles right here at CES 2025. Everything from the RTX 5090 right down to the RTX 5070—although these cellular chips do not align core-for-core with their desktop counterparts.
For the Zephyrus lineup, we’re seen the G16 as soon as once more saddled with the largest GPU of the lot, the RTX 5090. In our expertise with the RTX 4090 within the G16, that is most likely not the mannequin to go for, as it may be restricted by the diminutive chassis. There will probably be extra wise choices accessible, not less than.
The G14 is the extra wise of the 2 with ‘solely’ an RTX 4080. That may very well be a fairly highly effective pairing alongside AMD’s glorious HX 370 chip, although we’ll must see if the RTX 5080 pushes the Zephyrus cooling over the sting or not in testing.
Other than the change in processors, there’s not a lot else to report. Both laptops characteristic an ROG Nebula show: the G16 a 2.5K, 240 Hz show and the G14 a 3K, 120 Hz show. They even have the identical chassis design, similar trackpad, similar keyboard—you get the thought.
With final 12 months’s mannequin marking a significant shift within the Zephyrus design, I wasn’t anticipating a significant change right here. Asus caught with the identical fundamental design for the Zephyrus for a pair generations previous to the 2024/2025 design, and it is a good design as well. We’ve reviewed each Zephyrus fashions from 2024, even liking the G16 sufficient to cowl it twice in numerous configurations (one, two), and far of what we preferred about these laptops is true for the newer one.
My solely remorse is that I wasn’t capable of stuff the G14 in my bag at CES 2025 and get to testing it proper right here on the present.
