The Asus ZenBook 14 – The best laptop for work

After using it almost every day, I can say with certainty that it’s a good laptop.

Reliable, functional, and affordable, it fits all the criteria for your average person who needs a work laptop.

Appearance

The first thing anyone notes when they’re using a laptop is how it looks.

The ZenBook 14 has a conservative design that is certainly not as unique as those found with gaming laptops, however, this understated design is perfect for office use.

Which is to say, it’s not all that exciting to look at beyond being sleek and simple – not terrible qualities depending on your preferences.

The Asus ZenBook has a simple but effective design.

Construction

Laptops often have design issues resulting from a desire to have more processing power, be thinner and more portable or even push the limit on current technological capabilities.

The Zenbook 14 proves that moderation isn’t always a bad thing as it doesn’t push the boundaries and lose quality as a result.

It’s a good size at 14-inches and only weighs 1,22kg, ensuring it isn’t cumbersome to carry around or use.

Its trackpad is also responsive, and its display boasts a more than reasonable 1,920 x 1,080 resolution.

The keyboard, in particular, is well designed with keys that have a good tactile feel and are just the right size to allow for someone with average-sized hands to type comfortably.

With an excellent display and a comfortable weight, the ZenBook 14 is ideal for work.

Performance

The most important factor to consider is performance. Having a well-built, well-designed laptop means very little if it doesn’t run well.

The ZenBook 14 does run well, although I didn’t use it for anything too taxing – such as running Cyberpunk 2077 at maximum settings.

While working I had having multiple google tabs open (I had several dozen at one point), various applications running, videos playing and downloads in progress, and it ran smoothly and quietly – not surprising given its specifications.

It has a Ryzen 5 5000 series CPU with AMD Radeon integrated graphics. Combined with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for storage, the ZenBook 14 is more than capable of handling most tasks.

The most significant drawback is the size of its SSD. 512GB is a large amount of space if you only have to store images and document files but will become insufficient if you work with larger file sizes.

However, it’s more than enough for simple work, especially when it’s an SSD that drastically increases the responsiveness and speed of applications.

Likewise, I found the battery life of the Zenbook 14 to be good as from 100% charge to 0% took around eight hours or so while in constant use, which is enough for periods of work at cafes or when travelling and you don’t have access to a charger.

The Asus Zenbook 14 is an efficient laptop despite being so sleek.

Verdict

The Zenbook 14 isn’t going to win any awards for redefining the standard for laptops. This isn’t a problem, however, as this laptop is designed to be a simple and reliable device at a great price point.

It is not a laptop for hardcore gaming – for that, you should invest in a true gaming PC or laptop – but it is capable of handling less graphics-intensive titles. More importantly – the ASUS Zenbook 14 is great at its primary function of being a work laptop.

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