Skip to main content

Asus’ new Zephyrus G14 is getting an RTX 5080 upgrade

Asus Zephyrus G14 and G16 laptops sitting next to each other.
Asus
The CES 2025 logo.
Read and watch our complete CES coverage here

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 is already one of the best gaming laptops you can buy. I called it “damn near perfect” in my ROG Zephyrus G14 review. But Asus is giving its thin and light gaming laptops a big boost at CES 2025, adding just a bit of extra size so it can pack up to an RTX 5080 laptop graphics card.

Clocking in at just 0.63 inches thin and 3.46 pounds light, Asus says you can pack in up to an RTX 5080 and AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 into its 14-inch laptop. With last year’s Zephyrus G14, Asus topped out the range with an RTX 4070 in order to achieve a form factor that’s even thinner and lighter than a MacBook Pro. This year, Asus says it’s able to extend up to an RTX 5080 by adding 2mm in size to the laptop — that’s really not much.

Recommended Videos

All of the things that made the Zephyrus G14 great last year are present this time around, too. Outside of the RTX 5080 — which Asus says can draw up to 110 watts — you get up to 2TB of PCIe 4.0 storage, up to 32GB of LPDDR5X-7500 memory, and the same 2,880 x 1,800 ROG Nebula OLED display that comes with a speedy 240Hz refresh rate. You’re also getting the latest wireless connectivity, including Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.

Despite a small bump in size, the 2025 ROG Zephyrus G14 is basically identical to last year’s model externally. The laptop is housed in an all-aluminum chassis, and it comes with Asus’ Slash Lighting light strip, which you can customize. Unfortunately, the issues with last year’s model are present, too. The memory is soldered, so you can’t upgrade or replace it, and the thin size likely means the laptop will run hot. I’ll need to wait until I’ve tested the laptop to see how that assumption holds up, however.

Ports on the 2025 Asus ROG Zephyrus G16.
Chris Hagan / Digital Trends

The 16-inch Zephyrus G16 is also getting an upgrade with next-gen Nvidia components, scaling up to an RTX 5090 with up to 130 watts of power. Alongside the GPU, Asus says you can include up to 64GB of memory along with an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H. The changes to Asus’ 16-inch Zephyrus are just under the hood, though — externally, everything is identical, short of swapping one of the two USB-C ports to the other side of the laptop.

Asus hasn’t revealed the release date of these laptops yet, nor how much they’ll cost. The cost will be important, as last year, Asus slightly increased prices to account for the aluminum chassis and OLED display. Hopefully there won’t be another price increase this year.

Jacob Roach
Former Lead Reporter, PC Hardware
Jacob Roach is the lead reporter for PC hardware at Digital Trends. In addition to covering the latest PC components, from…
Here’s how Nvidia’s CEO defends the RTX 5090’s $2,000 price tag
Nvidia's RTX 5090 sitting at CES 2025.

"When someone would like to have the best, they just go for the best," said Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang in a Q&A session with media at CES 2025. Huang was speaking on the newly-announced RTX 5090, and its new price tag of $2,000, making it the most expensive desktop graphics card Nvidia has ever released.

It's a new high for Nvidia, but also a bold departure from the rest of the range. The next card down in Nvidia's stack, the RTX 5080, comes in at $1,000 -- half the price of the flagship. Huang suggested that customers don't want to deal in micro-segmentation minutia. "$2,000 is not small money, it's fairly high value," Huang said. "But a lot of customers, they just absolutely want the best."

Read more
Asus’ new $700 Snapdragon X laptops are dangerously affordable
Asus Vivobook 14

At CES 2025, Asus has announced a new Vivobook 14 laptop that is pushing the boundaries on what you can get in a budget laptop. The Snapdragon X-powered Vivobook 14 will start at just $700, making it the most affordable Copilot+ PC on the market.

Mind you, this laptop is still thoroughly a mid-tier device, featuring a plastic chassis, a fairly basic 1200p IPS screen, and a somewhat thick side profile for a laptop of this type at 0.70 inches.

Read more
Asus’ new ultra-light Zenbook A14 must be held to be believed
The Zenbook A14 on a black table.

Announced at CES 2025, the new Asus Zenbook A14 is one of those devices that can't fully be explained without experiencing it yourself. The lightest version of the laptop weighs just 2.18 pounds. For reference, the 13-inch MacBook Air weighs more than a half pound more at 2.7 pounds, despite being the lightest of the best laptops you can buy.

But when it comes to the Zenbook A14, the numbers doesn't do it justice. When I picked up this laptop for the first time, I was astounded by how light it felt. I experienced that strange sensation when an object is much lighter than your hand expects it to be. I held it in one hand effortlessly, balancing it between my fingers. It might not be the lightest laptop ever made, but for a modern 14-incher, it's definitely breaking new territory.

Read more