ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition Gaming Laptop Review: Compact And Stylish

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition: Specifications

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS
• Display: 14-inch IPS LCD 2560 x 1440, 120Hz
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
• Memory: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 1TB PCIe
• Battery: 76WHr
• OS: Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit

 

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition Design

If you are into electro music, then you might be familiar with the name Alan Walker, and the design of this laptop has been made over with inspirations from Alan Walker. It's like the brand has taken the regular version of the G14 and has made changes to its keyboard, external lid.

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition laptop also has colorful wallpaper. If you look at the top lid, there is an embossed logo with the Alan Walker signature. Similarly, the lid also uses elastic materials with ROG and Alan Walker logos.

Just like the regular G14, it also has the Spectre Blue AniMe Matrix LED lid, which can be used to display custom texts and images. As one can expect, by default, it showcases the Alan Walker logo. Last but not the least, the A and W keys are replaced by the Alan Walker logo, which is a minor but a fine touch that makes this a unique offering.

Coming to I/O, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition is at par with the competition (14-inch gaming laptops) with full-sized HDMI ports, USB Type-C ports, USB-A ports, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Kensington lock. I would have loved to see an SD card slot, maybe, Asus could include one in the next generation.

Overall, the design of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition is pretty on point. However, if you are someone who likes minimalistic design, then this might not be a device for you, and you can always consider the vanilla version of the ROG Zephyrus G14.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition Display

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition has a 14.4-inch IPS LCD screen with 1440p resolution. Given the lower screen size and 2K resolution panel, the display on this device looks sharp when compared to most gaming laptops (15-inch) with 1080p resolution.

The laptop uses a Pantone validated color-calibrated 8-bit panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. Hence, you get a screen that is sharp, vivid, and high-refresh-rate with 100 percent DCI-P3 color coverage. Do note that, this machine is also available with a 1080p panel with 144Hz resolution, which will be a more apt option for FPS gamers.

It also offers a great unboxing experience, where the retail unit comes with a DJ box, a pair of socks, and a cap with Alan Walker branding. These souvenirs will definitely make Alan Walker fans happy.

If I were to choose a model between the two, I will always go with the model that we are testing. It has a higher resolution panel with a slightly lower refresh rate, which will offer a better media consumption experience. Not just on paper, even in the real world, the color profile of the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition was pretty similar to the LG Ultragear-27GL850.

The Big Caveat

I have said this while reviewing the 2020 edition of the Asus Zephyrus ROG G14 and saying it again, a simple web camera would have made the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition a complete laptop. Given the condition of the current world, where video conferencing has taken the center stage of our life, a laptop without a web camera is something that is hard to recommend.

During the course of reviewing the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition, I used an external web camera -- the Dell UltraSharp 4K. If you are planning on getting this computer, make sure to invest in a good quality external web camera. Please include a web camera in the next version of this laptop, even if it is a low-quality one.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition Sound

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition has a stereo speaker setup and is possibly one of the loudest pairs of speakers on a Windows gaming laptop portfolio. This further enhances the overall music listening or even gaming experience.

Unlike most laptops, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition has top-firing speakers. The laptop does support Dolby Atmos for headphones and it works via both the 3.5mm headphone jack and the USB Type-C port. Overall, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition is one of the best sound laptops available in India.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition Keyboard

he keyboard on the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition, as said before as a bit of an Alan Walker styling with A and W keys replaced with Alan Walker logo. On top of that, the entire keyboard uses a combination of colors, which makes it colorful and trendy.

Coming to the performance of the keyboard, this is one good feeling keyboard. From the sound of the keystroke to how the key feels when pressed, it is on par with the keyboard of the gaming laptop. In fact, the key sound actually resembles the sound from a mechanical keyboard.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition Performance

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition is powered by the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS, which is an under-clocked top-tier CPU from AMD with a TDP of 35W. Similarly, the laptop comes with the NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti GPU with 4GB video memory with a 60W TDP. The laptop ships with a 160W power adapter, which is more than enough to offer full power to this machine.

Looking at the specs, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition can be considered as a mid-range gaming laptop, which should be capable of handling most games at 1080p resolution. The laptop also offers 1TB PCIe Gen3 based SSD storage with 16GB DDR4 RAM.

The amalgamation of these specifications makes the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition potent high-performance laptops for both gamers and content creators. The laptop also has an ErgoLif hinge, which raises the laptop by 15mm to improve airflow.

Coming to the cooling solution, the laptop uses a dual-fan design to dissipate the heat from CPU, GPU, and even RAM with their own dedicated heat sinks. Not just that, the laptop also uses liquid metal as a thermal compound, which is said to offer 10 percent better performance.

ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition Benchmark Performance

On popular benchmarks like Cinebench R20, the laptop posted 580 points on single-core CPU tests and 5130 points on multi-core CPU tests. Similarly, on the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark, the device posts a combined score of over 8000 points. Do note that, these scores, were, obtained in the turbo mode, where, the fans get a bit loud.

If you are happy with slightly lower performance, then you can use the laptop in either performance or silent mode. Coming to the gaming performance, we got over 75fps on GTA: V at 1440p resolution, and the laptop was also able to offer over 80fps on Valorant.

Verdict: A Stylish Gaming Laptop

The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition is a laptop that takes styling to the next level. Besides, it also offers great performance while normal day-to-day usage. I used this laptop as my daily driver for more than two weeks, where, it easily offered over six hours of battery life on a single charge. Do note that, you can also charge this laptop using a USB Type-C USB-PD certified charger.

If you are looking for a laptop that can handle almost any task, which can also play modern AAA titles, then get the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Alan Walker Special Edition. Do note that, there is also a regular version of the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, which is much cheaper than the Alan Walker Edition.