ASUS’ ROG Zephyrus G-series gaming laptops have had an unlikely rise to stardom, piggybacking off the recent success of AMD’s Ryzen processors. The Zephyrus G14 was among the first gaming systems to opt for those red-toned CPUs, and while expectations were initially set low, the laptop ended up as something of a talisman for AMD — proof it could hang with, or even dethrone, Intel.
At CES 2022, ASUS is moving forward with AMD, refreshing the Zephyrus G14 and G15 with the latest Ryzen 6000-series processors. Both models can be equipped with up to a Ryzen 6900HS CPU, but their graphics options differ; where the G14 runs on a Radeon RX 6800S GPU, the G15 can be paired with up to Nvidia’s latest RTX 3080 Ti card. Top configs for either model support 32GB of DDR5 RAM and up to a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.
While the design of these laptops is largely unchanged, the 2022 models aren’t just copied and pasted with new components. ASUS says the G14 should keep its cool under heavy workloads thanks to a new custom vapour chamber, fans with a variable thickness, and Thermal Grizzly liquid metal, all of which enable a completely silent 0db mode. We’re hoping it does what ASUS claims because poor heat management has been our biggest complaint with previous Zephyrus G14 models.
Where they’ve never faltered is with display quality, and that shouldn’t be a problem here either. The Zephyrus G14 complies with ASUS’ new Nebula display standard, which sets minimum specs, including a QHD resolution at 120Hz with a 3-millisecond response time and Adaptive Sync support.
The 14-inch, 16:10 panel supports Dolby Vision HDR, reaches 500 nits of brightness, and is Pantone verified, so the colours should look accurate out of the box. If you want longer battery life and more fluid gameplay, the G14 can be outfitted with a 1920 x 1200-pixel, 144Hz panel. The G15 comes with a 15.6-inch, QHD display at 240Hz.
Closing the lid reveals one of ASUS’ stranger ideas: a customisable dot-matrix (called the AniME Matrix) consisting of 14,969 CNC-milled holes and 1,449 miniLEDs that can be used to show GIFs, images, or logos. It’s a quirky and wholly unnecessary addition, but props to ASUS for giving people a way to express themselves.
Besides putting a gaudy “Gizmodo” logo on the Zephyrus’s lid, I’m excited to test the battery life of these machines. The performance of AMD’s processors helped elevate previous models, but it was really the exceptional runtimes of around eight hours that made them stand out among other gaming laptops. Needless to say, ASUS’ claim of “10+ hours of unlimited video playback” for these upcoming models has my full attention.
If you haven’t joined forces with Team Red, ASUS also sells the Zephyrus M16, a 16-inch Intel-based model with up to a Core i9-12900H CPU, an RTX 3080 Ti GPU, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 2TB of storage, DDR5 memory, and a QHD display with a 165Hz refresh rate.
Pricing for this trio hasn’t been revealed but they are expected to arrive in “mid-to-late Q2,” so likely in May or June.
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 15/17 and ROG Strix G15/G17
ASUS is using the new chip release as a launchpad to refresh its entire gaming laptop lineup, including the ROG Strix Scar and ROG Strix G-series.
Made for professional gamers, the Strix Scar 15 and Scar 17 will run on up to an Intel Core i9-12900H CPU and can be equipped with the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti GPU, up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. The Strix Scar also uses Thermal Grizzly’s Conductonaut Extreme for improved cooling.
The ROG Strix G16 and G17 give you an AMD flavour with the option of up to a Ryzen 9 6900HX CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti graphics to go with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD.
Both the Strix Scar 15/17 and Strix G15/G17 come in 15.6-inch and 17.3-inch versions with display options ranging from a 1080p at 300Hz panel to a 1440p at 240Hz option.
The ROG Strix Scar 15 and Scar 17 will be available in Q1-Q2 while the G series will launch in the next few months.
TUF Gaming F, A, and Dash F15
Those on a budget can turn to ASUS’ new TUF Gaming F15/F17, A15/A17, and TUF Dash F15.
Each of these has been redesigned with a chassis inspired by mecha anime. When I first heard this, I thought this might lead to over extravagance with weird gamer-y elements, but instead, these have a surprisingly clean design with attractive laser-sculpted logos. Even better, these laptops passed military-grade durability tests.
ASUS didn’t cut corners with the displays, either. Every TUF laptop comes with either a 1080p at 300Hz panel or a 1440p at 165Hz option. Performance comes by way of an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU with an RTX 3060 on the F15/F17 and a Ryzen 7 6800H CPU with an RTX 3050 Ti on the A15/A17.
Those who need a portable laptop should consider the TUF Dash F15, a 2 kg powered by up to an Intel Core i7-12650H CPU, up to an RTX 3070 GPU, and up to 16GB of DDR6 RAM.
ASUS tells us local pricing and availability for everything will be confirmed in the coming months.