ASUS showed off a new Zenbook A14 laptop at CES 2025, which the company jokingly called Zenbook Air, hinting at competition with the MacBook Air
And this comparison is indeed appropriate. The laptop weighs less than 1 kg, which is about 250 g less than the MacBook Air. At the same time, the ZenBook A14 is superior to Apple’s ultraportable laptop in almost all respects, with features such as a 14-inch OLED screen and up to 32 hours of battery life. The only caveat is that it runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon X and X Elite chips, which limits compatibility with older Windows programs and some devices.
Another interesting thing is that the laptop is covered with a unique ASUS Ceraluminum material, which is noticeably different from a typical metal case. ASUS has been using Ceraluminum in its premium lineup for many years, but this is one of the first times we’ve seen it on almost every surface of a laptop (top lid, keyboard, and bottom).
Zenbook A14 is easy to open with one hand thanks to its advanced hinges. It also has a good number of ports, including one USB Type A connection, two USB C ports, HDMI 2.1, and a headphone jack. These are all connections that we are unlikely to ever see on a MacBook Air. ASUS says the keys have a 1.3 mm travel. The laptop is equipped with a 1080p infrared camera, Dolby Atmos speakers, and a Wi-Fi 7 module.
ASUS Zenbook A14 costs from $900 for a configuration with a Snapdragon X Plus processor and 16 GB of RAM (in a slightly thicker case weighing 1.09 kg). The lightest model weighing 990 g is available for $1100 with a Snapdragon X Elite chip and 32 GB of RAM.
Source: Engadget