Tom’s Guide Verdict
The Asus Zenbook A14 had one job beat the MacBook Air.
But Snapdragon X disappoints in day-to-day performance, which makes that high price hard to swallow.
To beat the MacBook Air, you’re gonna wanna become the MacBook Air.
And its super clear that the Asus Zenbook A14 has Apple in its sights.
Does the Zenbook A14 hit all of these?
But none of that takes away from the impressive build quality .
However, this is where things start to go slightly downhill.
This is something that theM3 MacBook Airnever faced in my time with it.
It makes this a great laptop for a very specific kind of person.
Put simply, take a close look at what you want to do with your laptop.
If your workload is straightforward, youll have a blast with the Snapdragon X A14.
If you need more performance for a more varied workload, Id point you towards the imminentM4 MacBook Air.
Turns out in some ways, it actually is not quite one of thebest laptopsof the year.
From what I tested, Asus has (mostly) accomplished this.
But the Asus Zenbook A14 has just stepped into the room and, quite frankly, embarrassed it.
It makes it feel almost shockingly featherweight in the hand.
And shout-out once again to the ceraluminum material used to build the Zenbook A14.
Uncompromised ergonomics
The 14-inch FHD OLED panel comes alive with whatever you watch or do.
Yes, its not the 32 hours Asus talked about to clarify, this was for video playback time.
This puts it solidly in the worry-free battery life territory.
And Ive got to be real that shouldnt happen in a laptop at this price.
I can throw all kinds of numbers at you to prove my point.
But once you really start to lean on it, it starts to slow.
Rendering of edits slows to a crawl and flipping between tabs takes a few seconds to jump.
The price is wrong
To stick this at $1,099/1,099 issteep.
Asus Zenbook A14: Verdict
So let me be clear.
The Asus Zenbook A14 is on the right track this is a great all-rounder laptop in day-to-day casual use.
And to ask for $1,099 for it is a tricky purchase to warrant.
Maybe with the Snapdragon X Elite version, Asus can take the Airs crown.
But this first shot falls a little short.
