ASUS ZENBOOK A14 VS APPLE MACBOOK AIR 13 (M4): Titan duel

The Macbook Air 13 is really the closest to the perfection you will find on a small laptop these days.

But the Asus Zenbook A14 also impressed me, with its really lightweight weight that avoids feeling indebble, and its combination of a beautiful OLED screen and an excellent battery life. Is it good enough to dethrone the Macbook Air 13?

Specifications and configurations

The ZenBook A14 only has two configurations. The base model costs $ 1,000 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus, 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB SSD and an OLED FHD+ 14.0 inches. You can update 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD for $ 1,200.

The Macbook Air 13 is a more configurable laptop. The $ 1,000 base configuration has a 10 -core 10 -core CPU M4 chipset, 16 GB of RAM, a 256 GB SSD and an IPS retina screen of 13.6 inches (the only option). The 10 -core/GPU M4 CPU update 10 cores faster adds $ 100, while the 24 GB update of RAM costs $ 200 and 32 GB of RAM costs $ 400. The storage can be updated to 512 GB for $ 200, and the largest SSD of 2 TB adds $ 800. That makes the MacBook Air 13 more expensive cost 2.199 dollars.

The ZenBook A14 is better configured at the lower end and costs significantly less at the upper end. You get more storage with the Macbook Air 13 more expensive, but you will also pay more for it.

Design

It is the thinnest laptop that can be bought today and, nevertheless, he manages to feel incredibly solid in his hand with a type of density that exudes quality. And it looks very good, with a simplistic but elegant aesthetic that benefits from several attractive colors. The hinge is remarkably soft and keeps the lid in place, and transporting it demonstrates the meticulous Apple’s attention to the design given its incredible balance.

The ZenBook A14 has ceraluminium material with its strange but comfortable texture. And the extremely lightweight weight of the laptop was a bit surprising, but it is a well -built laptop and nothing weak, unlike other very light laptops that I have carried. It does not have the same general sensation as the Macbook Air 13, and is not so cohesive in its aesthetics.

when comparing these laptop designs, I remember that it is the smallest things that can make a big difference.

Speaking of small things, Zenbook A14 has one of the best keyboards on a laptop with Windows. The design is spacious and the keys are large enough. But the switches, although reasonably light and agile, had an action to play background that simply did not feel well well. Apple’s Magic Keyboard, on the other hand, is simply perfect in its design and consistency, and the switches allow writing at full speed, without errors, for a long time without fatigue me.

Changing to the tactile panel, the Apple Force Touch Háptic version with its Force Click function is large and perfect. It is the best touch panel on a laptop today, regardless of size. The mechanical tactile panel of the ZenBook A14 was fine, but it could not really be compared. The difference is a little greater this time.

In terms of connectivity, the ZenBook A14 has inherited ports of which the MacBook Air 13 lacks. In addition, it has two fast USB-C ports, one of which is used to load. The MAGSAFE 3 dedicated cargo connection of the Macbook Air 13 leaves its two Thunderbolt 4 ports available, but in general, the connectivity of the ZenBook A14 is better. Both have wireless connectivity that is a generation behind. To log in without password, the A14 ZenBook uses the facial recognition of Windows 11, while the MacBook Air 13 has Apple’s touch ID integrated in the ignition button. Both methods worked well.

Finally, the MacBook Air 13 has a higher resolution 12MP webcam with support for the functions of Apple Center Center and Desk View. Its image quality was better generally than the 1080p webcam of the ZenBook 14. But, the ZenBook 14 has a neuronal processing unit (NPU) faster than the neural engine of the chipset M4, and at this time, the Microsoft Copilot+ PC initiative has more functions driven by AI than Apple Intelligence. If you like AI, ZenBook A14 will provide you with a more complete experience.

Performance

The ZenBook A14 uses the Snapdragon X Plus chipset of Qualcomm, which is an 8 -core ARM architecture aimed at balancing efficiency and performance. Its Adreno integrated graphics are not the fastest, and the ZenBook A14 version does not impress in terms of graphic performance. It faces the last architecture based on M4 Arm of Apple with 10 CPU nuclei and eight graphic nuclei (a 10 -core GPU is available).

In our benchmarks, the Macbook Air 13 was significantly faster. That is both in the performance of a single nucleus, which will be more displayed in the common tasks of productivity and editing of images, as in tasks of several nuclei as the video edition. And its graphic nuclei were much faster, which made it a more viable lighting machine (although not in the same class as laptops with Windows with discreet graphics or m4 Pro or Max chipsets faster).

In general, the Macbook Air 13 is more agile and sensitive. But Zenbook A14 would probably be fast enough for many users. I must add that the MacBook Air 13 has no fans, but it remains fresh, which makes it a quieter option than the ZenBook A14.

Screen and audio

The ZenBook A14 is remarkable for the very intelligent choice to commit to a lower screen resolution on an OLED screen that has the bright and dynamic colors of that technology and blacks such as ink. While its 16:10 FHD+ (1920 x 1200) OLED screen of 14.0 inches is not the most clear that exists, that could matter less to many users than the incredible thing seen by showing photos and transmitting high dynamic video (HDR). The 16:10 2560 x 1664 IPS screen of 13.6 inches of the MacBook Air 13 is much more clear, and it is also a good example of that technology, it cannot match the vitality of the ZenBook screen A14.

You can see it in the results of our target colorimeter, both taken with a spyderx elite datacolor. The Macbook Air 13 screen is brighter, but that of the ZenBook A14 has wider and more precise colors. With almost perfect blacks, Zenbook A14 also had a much greater contrast.

Both are very good screens. But, the Zenbook A14 screen is simply better for more users.

Portability

The ZenBook A14 is incredibly light, while the Macbook Air 13 is incredibly thin. In general, partly due to its slightly smaller screen, the MacBook Air 13 It feels as the most portable portable computer. In fact, however, both are easy to transport.

One of the main strengths of the Macbook Air 13 with the arrival of Apple Silicon has been its incredible efficiency. He has been the class leader for a while, with few peers. However, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X chipset has given Apple Silicon a race for its money.

The Zenbook A14 was surprisingly competitive, especially taking into account its OLED screen. The MacBook Air 13 lasted much more when you press it a lot, as in our Battery Test Cinebench R24, but otherwise the Zenbook A14 did it quite well. Both laptops will last more than a full day of work, and that is impressive.

The ZenBook A14 obtains one A by effort, but not one A+

Zenbook A14 is a very light laptop, with a solid productivity performance, a large battery life and a bright and colorful OLED screen with blacks such as ink. It is a solid representative of a new wave of laptops with much better windows.

Even so, the Macbook Air 13 has the right thing to stay at the top. It is much faster, on the one hand, and works perfectly silently. It is more balanced and has a more elegant feeling. And last more when you try more. It is still the best laptop of this class that can be bought today.