This is my review of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 2022. I have used this laptop for about a year now.

My model: GA402RJ-L8170W

• 2K 120Hz Panel

• 16 GB RAM

• 1 TB SSD

• Ryzen 7 6800HS CPU

• Radeon 6700S GPU

• Black + AniMe Matrix

Things I love about my laptop:

• AniMe Matrix is super cool

• The panel is amazing, 2K 120Hz is really the sweet spot.

• The speakers are nice

Now, you’ll notice that I didn’t mention things that regular owners would mention like great battery life or great gaming experience.

Things that went wrong: Oh man, where do I start

First off, the battery. As of now, I have around 5.7% battery wear. My battery at 50% Brightness, No backlight, Eco + Boost Off runs for 6 hours on a good day. I have got the “10 Hours Remaining “ by windows but haven’t ever seen it nearly reach 6 hours. My average power draw with just firefox open is 13W which is not normal, I know but I tried all of the optimisation I could find until I gave up. P.S When I bought the laptop this number was 25W.

Gaming performance, while I must agree it runs all my games smoothly. It sometimes just crashed, no BSOD, no nothing. Like when you pull the plug from a running PC. I suspect this is a thermal issue because this one time when it crashed, It was so hot that I couldn’t touch it. It literally burnt my fingers, a day after this, I noticed the laptop had curvature. I put it on a flat surface and now the left-front side is raised so the laptop is no longer “flat”. Meaning somehow, the thermals got so bad the laptop literally got weak and melted. This shouldn’t have happened no matter what. These crashes out right scare the shit out of me because this laptop is a one time purchase I can’t buy it again. These crashes are rare and random. I’m not joking I’ve gamed for over 3 hours in a 40 Deg C room and didn’t have this issue but the aforementioned issue was caused in a temperature controlled room at 23 Deg C and I was 1 or 1 1/2 hr into my gaming session.

I don’t know what this issue is but often while I’m using the laptop, no heavy load, no over heating, the mouse cursor lags and so does the audio along it. This is more common when I’m using the speaker vs other audio output devices.

The 3rd issue is that the keyboard paint is wearing out… what? I don’t know what my luck is but the plastic film over the WASD keys have worn out and now the paint is wearing off when I use it.

The 4th, the Realtek chip this comes with is so bad. The WIFI usually lags or disconnects, the bluetooth driver is just not “smooth” as it should be. Sometimes it just disables, and I have to restart the laptop.

Now I know what some people are going to say, should’ve returned it in 2 weeks window. I didn’t have a 2 week window, I bought it from Virgin Megastore (the only option I had) and they didn’t have a return window. What I do have is 2 years of Asus provided extended warranty and I will try my luck with it. Here’s to hoping something comes of out it. The chassis bending issue with the stupidly hot overheat is a recent occurrence of about 1 week ago. The keyboard wearing out is also a recent occurrence of about 2 weeks ago. I am so tired of this laptop having so many issues.

Any long term users that don't hate their laptop? Pls I'm tired of all these posts crapping on it. I bought it last year and I need it to get me through college at the very least.

Edit: I'd like to add I bought it new in my home country in Northern Europe so 2 years of warranty. I'm maxing out the laptop in games on the daily with some preservation measures of course. So far I've only had an occasional reboot and black screen on power on, nothing else.

Here are my notes I gathered about ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 2022. Sharing them for future researchers like myself. Something useful is missing? Do tell.

Disclaimer: I don't own the device, so all data were collected from various sources. There may be errors, so please point them out.

Possible configurations/variants

Pay attention to the model/variant you are interested in, because they vary by country/region. Following differences are disclosed in the specs:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS or AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS - basically the same, but has higher boost

• GPU: AMD Radeon RX 6700S or AMD Radeon RX 6800S - +5~15% performance with higher max power draw, both have 8GB VRAM

  keep in mind that S suffix cards are different from M suffix on regular factor laptops

• Display: 1920x1200 (16:10; 1200p; "FHD+" or "WUXGA") or 2560x1600 (16:10; 1600p; "QHD+" or "WQXGA"; "ROG Nebula Display")

• RAM: 2 DDR5 4800 MHz memory sticks, one of which is onboard (soldered) 8 or 16 GB, and the other is SO-DIMM (8, 16 or 32 GB)

• SSD: 512 GB or 1 TB M.2 SSD

• Aura Sync: yes = RGB backlight keyboard, no = single color (white) backlight

• AniMe Matrix (the LED matrix on the lid): yes/no

• Included in the box: Varies, but I've seen variants without USB-C charger

Apparently undisclosed things like WiFi card model can vary too.

See models available in your country here: https://rog.asus.com/your_country_code/laptops/rog-zephyrus/rog-zephyrus-g14-2022-series/spec/

Ports (I/O)

Quick summary - see reviews for details:

• x2 USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gb/s) and x2 USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gb/s)

• Both USB-C have DisplayPort 1.4 capability

• Left USB-C connect to iGPU and supports charging

• USB 4 capability on left USB-C port with beta BIOS

• Right USB-C and HDMI (2.0) connects to dGPU

• MicroSD UHS-II

• 3.5mm "Combo" Jack (headphones/microphone)

Replacing parts

The internals can be accessed by taking off the back through unscrewing it - some screws are under rubber feet. Then, gently pry it open - plastic tools are recommended.

Before replacing any part - plug off the battery to prevent accidental damage. Watch out for power connector's metal clamp popping out!

Here are some disassembly videos:

• [YouTube] LaptopMedia

• [YouTube] N3XTGENTECH

Extending RAM / memory stick replacement

It's possible to have up to 40 GB of total RAM (8+32) DDR5 4800MHz with some performance loss - see:

• [Reddit] Asus G14 (2022 - GA402) - Comprehensive RAM Upgrade Guide w/Benchmarks

• [YouTube] Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022 - GA402) - Comprehensive RAM Upgrade Guide w/Benchmarks

• [Reddit] [8BG + 8GB] -> [8GB + 32GB] DDR5 Memory Upgrade [Conclusion]

WiFi card

The card is hidden under SSD. Many people change the bundled MediaTek card with Intel AX210 for better performance or/and stability.

Storage

One M.2 slot for SSD.

Reviews

• [YouTube] Jarrod's Tech - all in one review

• [YouTube] Jarrod's Tech - extras, monitor response time, game benchmarks

• RTINGS.com

• notebookcheck.net (1)

• notebookcheck.net (2)

• ultrabookreview.com

Function keys

• M1 / M2 - sound volume down/up

• M3 - microphone toggle (mute/unmute)

• M4 - software quick access

• Fn + F1 - sound toggle (mute/unmute)

• Fn + F2 / F3 - keyboard LED brightness down/up

• Fn + F4 - cycle keyboard lighting modes

• Fn + F5 - cycle fan modes

• Fn + F6 - screenshot / crop (like Win+Shift+S)

• Fn + F7 / F8 - brightness down/up

• Fn + F9 - external display modes

• Fn + F10 - toggle touchpad

• Fn + F11 - sleep

• Fn + F12 - plane mode (any kind of connectivity off)

• Fn + arrows - Home/PgUp/PgDn/End

Photo of the keyboard

Screen scaling on 2560x1600 14" display

100% User Interface scale: Desktop, M$ Word

200% User Interface scale: Desktop, M$ Word

Frequent problems

List composed based on my observation of the communities:

• Low quality liquid metal, that dries or/and spills up

• Cheap screws for SSD and WiFi card

• Over-tight screws, causing chassis to crack

• Full metal hinge... which is glued to plastic

• Paint tearing off the chassis

• Issues or poor performance of WiFi module (MediaTek)

Not directly related to the device, but Windows Update is known for messing up AMD GPU drivers. If such thing happens - it's advised to uninstall them using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) and install again.

Third party tools:

• [Windows] G-Helper - open source alternative to ASUS Armoury Crate

• [Linux] Linux on ASUS ROG community has tools and guides how to use them

Operating system notes

• Downloads page for drivers, software, BIOS

• Backup following before fresh install:

  • C:\eSupport - device specific stuff, like AniMe Matrix support

  • C:\Windows\System32\spool\drivers\color - display color calibration file

• Based on popular opinion, ASUS Armoury Crate and related software significantly decreases performance and increases power consumption - removal guide: [Reddit] G14 2022 without Armory Crate (and question of how to enable Ultimate Mode / MUX switch)

• [Linux] Patching kernel shouldn't be needed as of 6.2 kernel

• [Linux] Most function keys should work - others can be mapped manually. I don't have a list, sorry.

Community

• "ZephyrusG14" Reddit

• "Zephyrus G Talk" Discord

• "ASUS Republic of Gamers: The Community" Reddit

• ASUS-Linux

• "Linux on ASUS ROG" Discord