The Zenbook A14 Is Asus’ Macbook Air

Asus’ caller featherweight laptop is aiming to beryllium nan latest Windows rival to nan Apple MacBook Air. The Asus Zenbook A14 is simply a caller bladed and ray productivity instrumentality announced astatine CES 2025 sporting a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor for a claimed artillery life of up to 32 hours and a weight of conscionable 2.18 pounds — conscionable complete half a lb lighter than nan existent M3 MacBook Air. The A14’s ultralight magnesium alloy chassis is decked retired successful Asus’ “Ceraluminum” ceramic coating to support its weight down and springiness nan laptop a matte, stone-like finish.

Asus is undercutting Apple’s M3 Air successful worth arsenic bully arsenic weight. The Zenbook A14 pinch a caller base-model eight-core Snapdragon X will commencement astatine $1,099.99 successful grey erstwhile it launches successful mid-January pinch 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, and a 14-inch OLED show tin of 1920 x 1200 solution moving astatine 60Hz pinch 600 nits of highest brightness. Later successful March, Asus will motorboat an moreover cheaper $899.99 exemplary successful beige that’s a mini heavier astatine 2.4 pounds, pinch a somewhat higher-end eight-core Snapdragon X Plus spot but only 16GB of RAM and 512GB of retention — exclusively sold astatine Best Buy.

The A14 has a 70Wh battery, compared to nan smaller 52.6Wh compartment successful nan MacBook Air. And it offers a decent action of ports, pinch 2 USB 4 Type-C for charging / data, 1 USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, a 3.5mm combo headphone / mic jack, and a full-size HDMI 2.1 port. The A14 tin nexus to up to 3 outer monitors pinch its lid open, compared to nan M3 MacBook Air’s 2 monitors while its lid is closed (though, support successful mind, 1 of those monitors will personification to proviso powerfulness to nan Zenbook complete USB-C).

It each sounds beautiful compelling connected paper, but while Windows connected Arm proved its competence successful 2024 done Snapdragon X’s equilibrium of capacity and artillery life, location tin still beryllium compatibility headaches successful immoderate unsupported apps and games. And frankly, while our benchmarks of Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite processors were competitory successful immoderate ways pinch Apple’s M3 MacBook Air, I’m skeptical a caller lower-end type tin really bent against it — fto unsocial an anticipated M4 model.

I had a very small infinitesimal to get my hands connected nan Zenbook A14 astatine an early preview arena successful December, and I tin attest to really amazingly ray Asus’ caller laptop is. You tin premier it up from a area pinch conscionable 2 aliases 3 fingers pinch ease, but it doesn’t consciousness flimsy aliases cheap. The matte decorativeness and sad beige creator whitethorn not beryllium to everyone’s liking, and I wager astir group mightiness deliberation a MacBook Air’s exposed aluminum feels fancier, but Asus put immoderate of its build worth wherever it counts. For example, nan A14’s hinge tin beryllium opened pinch conscionable 1 finger, while acold excessively galore Windows laptops retired location require immoderate hands to pry unfastened their lids.

There personification been plentifulness of claimed “MacBook killers” and past Windows laptops aiming for Apple’s crown arsenic nan go-to premier for nan mean user, but less stack up arsenic nan complete packages for illustration those offered by Apple. Maybe pairing a Snapdragon X’s fantabulous artillery life pinch immoderate bully extras for illustration OLED screens and coagulated build astatine affordable-ish prices mightiness bring point emblematic to nan array — though we’ll personification to spot astir performance.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge