Reading about the Asus Zenbook A14 simply fails to capture its essence—you must witness it personally. This 14-inch ultraportable laptop caught attention at **CES 2025** in Las Vegas, receiving praise as the “lightest Copilot+ PC in the world.” It secured an **Innovation Award** in the Sustainability & Energy/Power segment and garnered several “best of” recognitions, including one from us at the CNET Group. Made from an eco-conscious material known as **Ceraluminum**, the Zenbook A14 merges an ultra-lightweight design with advanced Qualcomm power efficiency, a dazzling OLED screen, and a gesture-responsive trackpad—all starting at just $899.99.
### A New Benchmark for Ultraportables?
The Zenbook A14 seems to represent the future of ultraportable laptops, reminiscent of the iconic moment when Steve Jobs first revealed the original MacBook Air from a **brown envelope**. Having spent time with it in Asus’ exclusive CES suite, I feel compelled to label it the new standard for lightweight laptops—barring any significant issues with Windows on ARM compatibility. Its elegant design, attractive pricing, and AI-enhanced features make it a notable contender in its domain. A fun detail: the “A14” in its title resembles the term “Air,” hinting at its potential to be a transformative device.
### What Is Ceraluminum?
Ceraluminum, abbreviated as “plasma ceramic aluminum,” is Asus’ exclusive magnesium-aluminum blend. It offers resistance to scratches and shocks, and it’s completely recyclable. Asus states this material is frequently utilized in high-end watches and aerospace technology, but the Zenbook A14 is the inaugural consumer electronics product to feature a **fully Ceraluminum chassis**. Earlier Zenbooks only utilized it in their lids. The composition provides the laptop with a luxurious matte finish that exudes quality.
The production technique is equally groundbreaking. Asus employs an innovative aluminum anodization process where the chassis is immersed in a water bath and subjected to high-voltage electricity. The duration of the immersion dictates the final color—the longer the immersion, the deeper the hue. This technique is more eco-friendly than conventional acid-based anodization and removes the necessity for dyes.
The Zenbook A14 will be offered in two sleek colors: **Zabriskie Beige** and **Iceland Gray**. Both shades have a slightly textured appearance up close and showcase a metallic Asus Zenbook emblem on the lid for contrast. Thanks to this finishing process, each laptop has a unique look.
### Initial Thoughts: Lightweight and Stylish
The most remarkable attribute of the Zenbook A14 is its weight—or rather, its lack of it. Weighing in at just 2.18 pounds for the Iceland Gray variant and 2.4 pounds for the Zabriskie Beige model, it surpasses many laptops in its segment. For context, it’s up to half a pound lighter than the current 13-inch MacBook Air series and only marginally thicker. Everyone who handled it at the Asus showroom couldn’t help but be impressed by its portability.
This laptop is evidently tailored for students and mobile professionals. Its **32-hour battery life** (rated for video playback) stands out as another key feature. If Asus’ promises prove true, it would mark the longest-lasting laptop Mashable has ever evaluated, surpassing the previous record by nine hours. Asus claims you can confidently leave your charger behind for an entire day’s usage. We look forward to testing this in a comprehensive review.
### Display and Functionality
The Zenbook A14 features a **14-inch FHD OLED display** with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 600 nits of maximum HDR brightness—100 nits brighter than Apple’s M2 and M3 MacBook Air models. The keyboard provides a gratifying tactile feedback, and the touchpad is equipped with Asus’ **Smart Gestures**, allowing you to modify brightness, manage volume, and browse videos with simple swipes.
Port options are plentiful, featuring two USB4 ports, one USB-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port for external displays, and a headphone jack. These attributes render it a flexible option for work and leisure.
### Configurations and Pricing
Asus is presenting two configurations of the Zenbook A14, both featuring Qualcomm’s **Snapdragon X** series processors:
1. **Iceland Gray Model**
– Weight: 2.18 pounds
– Specs: Snapdragon X CPU, 32GB RAM, 1TB storage
– Price: $1,099.99
– Availability: Launching Jan. 13 via Best Buy and Asus’ online store
2. **Zabriskie Beige Model**
– Weight: 2.4 pounds
– Specs: Snapdragon X Plus CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage
– Price: $899.99
– Availability: Launching in March as