OLED is king of the current gaming market, with bright colours, a strong contrast, a wide viewing angle, and fast response times lending to its appeal. Republic of Gamers (ROG), as a leading industry brand, is no stranger to technological prowess, so it’s no surprise that its latest Zephyrus G14 and G16 laptops will embrace the upgrade.
Announced at CES 2024, the devices are the first in the gaming-focused lineup to offer a OLED panel. The pair comes armed with 3K resolution (2,880 x 1,620), a 0.2-millisecond response time, and a variable refresh rate of 120Hz and 240Hz, alongside improved audio. The Slash Lighting array has replaced the signature AniME Matrix display, adorning the lid with customisable patterns that pulses up and down the length.
Weighing 1.5kg and 1.85kg respectively, the ROG Zephyrus G14 and G16 are slimmer and lighter than their predecessors. The laptops now ship with a CNC aluminum chassis and three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, but are built differently under the hood. Where the former is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 8000 Series processor and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, its 16-inch sibling can equip up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 processor 185H and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card.
Cooling technology has also been upgraded as a whole. The Zephyrus G14 features thermal Grizzly liquid metal on the CPU, a tri-fan cooling solution, and 2nd Gen Arc Flow Fans, while the G16 sports a custom vapour chamber and dual-fan designs.
Elsewhere, the first 18-inch Nebula Display HDR display is set to debut on the ROG Strix SCAR 18. A refresh of the company’s elite gaming laptop series, it joins the Strix SCAR 16 in offering upgraded mini-LED panels that tout a QHD resolution (2,560 x 1,440), a 240Hz refresh rate, less than three milliseconds of gray-to-gray response time, and a 16:10 aspect ratio. Both machines top out at an RTX 4090 GPU, and packs 175 watts of max TGP (short for Total Graphics Power) each.
More notably, ROG’s 2024 laptop lineup, including these newly announced Zephyrus and Strix SCAR models, will feature built-in AI acceleration. This technology works with brand new processors to bring improved performance and power efficiency, with specialised AI Tensor Cores on NVIDIA RTX laptop GPUs enabling AI prowess in creative apps, productivity, gaming, and more.
The ROG Strix series retails from S$3,199 on 26 January and will be available on the ASUS Online Store, ROG Experience Store Bugis, and selected authorised retailers. Pricing for the Zephyrus G14 and G16, meanwhile, starts at S$3,099 and S$3,299 respectively. Both devices will be available starting 23 February in two colourways: Eclipse Gray and Platinum White.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
