- ASUS has unveiled updated ROG Zephyrus gaming notebooks at CES 2024.
- The overhauled machines – Zephyrus G14 and G16 – have new aluminium chassis, are much smaller and lighter, and have done away with over-the-top RGB lighting.
- New features include an updated cooling system and AI acceleration thanks to AMD and Intel.
The tech world is convening in Las Vegas for CES 2024, and already some of the largest manufacturers have revealed new consumer items at the trade show. As the event turns towards gaming, ASUS on Monday revealed their latest overhauled ASUS ROG gaming notebooks in the guise of the updated Zephyrus G14 and G16 machines.
The most notable change to the notebooks is a brand new chassis, now fashioned from aluminium to make them lighter and sleeker. Also done away with is the overused RGB lighting scheme, replaced with a more subtle “Slash Lightning” array, which are strips of light that shine beneath the front and back of the notebooks.
The array is customisable, but mercifully downplayed. We have been steadily becoming fatigued by the usual, gigantic, black gaming notebook – flashing different colours across the keys and under the screen like a peacock – looking at you Acer Helios Neo 16 – so this new take from ROG on the two Zephyrus machines is a welcome change.
In measurements, the Zephyrus G14 is 1.59cm thick and only 1.5 kg, while the larger Zephyrus G16 is just 1.49cm thick and weighs in at just 1.85kg even with (up to) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPUs or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Laptop GPUs that they can feature. The notebooks are also the first two ROG machines to receive OLED screens.
“Both options feature an aspect ratio of 16:10, VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500, and a stunning 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio. With the true inky blacks of an OLED pixel, HDR content and games can truly shine,” ASUS shares about the notebooks in a press release sent to Hypertext.
Other additions introduced to the models at CES 2024 include larger speakers, by about 25 percent, than the previous generation, which allows for louder volume potential (47 percent louder), and larger keycaps than previous versions of the G14 and G16. They have also been upgraded with “the latest improvements in intelligent cooling.”
This means the introduction of a liquid metal compound on the CPU, and new 2nd Generation Arc Flow fans – three of them – to keep your components nice and cosy.
Finally, the inescapable wave of AI has come to ASUS ROG. CES 2024 has already seen some so-called “AI-powered notebooks” from the likes of Acer, and now the ROG Zephyrus G14 and G16 are set to receive the same treatment.
The G14 is getting AMD Ryzen AI support, with its AMD Ryzen 8000 series processor. This enables AI tools in software like Windows Studio Effects tools, like automatic framing, eye contact correction and advanced background video effects.
Meanwhile, the G16 is getting AI power from its Intel Core Ultra 9 chip, which supports AI tools like Omniverse and Stable Diffusion. The “AI acceleration” this machine comes with, says Asus, can render 3D and video “more than twice as fast all while consuming less power for longer battery life.” We’d love to see this in action because big if true, as they say.
No word if the updated Zephyrus notebooks will hit SA shores as of yet, but we have reached out to local representatives and will update this article when we receive any more information.
[Image – Provided]
