Asus’ Zenbook A14 Is Wonderfully Light but Weak in Power

The A14 is available only in dark gray and in one configuration: a Snapdragon X (X1-26-100) CPU with 32 GB of RAM and a 1-TB SSD. The 14-inch screen (nontouch) has a 1,920 x 1,200-pixel resolution. Ports include two USB-C jacks with USB 4.0, a single USB-A 3.2 port, and a full-size HDMI jack. One of the USB-C ports is used for charging.

Average Performance

All of those specs are fairly entry-level for a laptop of this pedigree, but it’s the CPU that should draw some amount of your attention. The Snapdragon X is Qualcomm’s newest microprocessor, and it’s also its cheapest and least powerful, a dialed-back version of the Snapdragon X Plus, which already felt sluggish in use.

The good news is that the Snapdragon X-equipped A14 doesn’t perform significantly differently from laptops outfitted with the Snapdragon X Plus. The bad news is that performance is not terribly impressive, and these laptops (including the A14) all tend to drag a bit. It’s not the end of the world if you’re browsing the web and typing emails, but it would be nice for a machine of this svelte stature to show off a little power—small but mighty. The A14 is particularly sluggish when it comes to graphics and video performance, and buyers shouldn’t dream of using it for creative work. Fortunately, Qualcomm has made strides in software compatibility in recent months, and previously unusable apps like Google Drive are now working fine.

Asus specifies a maximum battery life of a whopping 32 hours for this device, and while I didn’t approach that level with a full-screen, full-brightness, YouTube playback test, I was able to squeak out just over 20 hours of uninterrupted run time. (I tested this twice just to make sure.) You’ll surely be able to stretch that further by turning off Wi-Fi and dialing down the brightness—which is solid when dialed up—but even at a “mere” 20 hours, the machine is record-breaking on the longevity front.

The audio is better than expected, surprisingly rich and plenty loud. That’s aided by a dead silent machine. There are fans inside the A14, but I never got them to fire up, even under the heaviest load I could throw at it. Usability is likewise solid, as the keyboard has plenty of action, and the trackpad, while spacious, is short of being overbearingly large.