Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 AniMe Matrix – Review 2020

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 AniMe Matrix ($1,999) is a blinky, wild spin on the Zephyrus G14 we reviewed earlier this year. The original is one of the best gaming laptops (and values) of 2020, but this version adds a customizable “AniMe Matrix” LED grid to the lid. Using pinpoint lights and some included software, you can apply images, play back GIFs, and display the current time or battery life on the laptop lid itself. It’s a very fun and funky feature, and we’ve never seen anything else like it.

Now, of course, the dancing lid is a total luxury…granted. And not all images you might apply to it are readable when recreated in the lighting grid. This version of the laptop uses the same core components as the original $1,449 G14 that came through PC Labs, but the higher price comes from the LEDs and an increased-resolution 1440p screen.

One thing to note about that, though: The screen’s refresh rate drops to 60Hz from the original’s 120Hz, which may not be an attractive trade-off to some gamers (especially when you have to pay more for it). We didn’t give the AniMe Matrix version the full review treatment since it is otherwise identical to the G14 we reviewed earlier, but read on for our hands-on experience and a look at how the unique lid lighting works and what it can do.

It’s Still a Solid Design

Since the G14 AniMe Matrix shares a chassis design with the original G14 apart from the lid lighting, I’ll point you to the full review of that model for design and feature specifics. But let’s do a general rundown here.

The G14 is an exceptionally portable gaming laptop, measuring 0.7 inch thick and weighing 3.52 pounds. A 14-inch screen is a rare panel size for a gaming machine, and while the smaller display may not be to everyone’s liking, it really does let it live up the promise of a fully mobile gaming machine.

It helps that the aesthetics of the G14 are spot on, standing out from the pack but executed with taste. The white design is slick, separating itself from the many black gaming laptops on the market. The split lid design looks good, and in this case, holds the hidden lighting function. More on that to come, but if you want to check it out now, the video below runs through it…

The outer looks are backed up by a comfortable keyboard and a serviceable (if not especially noteworthy) touchpad.

Rounding out the build is a full complement of ports despite this laptop’s small size. On the left flank, you’ll see a USB Type-C port with DisplayPort out, an HDMI video output, a headphone jack, and the power port. On the right side, you get two USB 3.1 Type-A ports and a USB Type-C port. Wireless connectivity includes Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

Some Key Display Differences

One big difference here, and a factor in the higher price tag as much as the lid lighting, is the screen itself. The model we reviewed previously included a full HD display and a 120Hz refresh rate, but both are different here. The display on the AniMe Matrix unit features a sharper 1440p resolution (2,560 by 1,440 pixels) but a more standard 60Hz refresh rate. 

The denser resolution may please a segment of users, but I have to imagine most gamers would prefer the other display. For one, 1080p is less demanding than 1440p for gameplay, allowing for more consistently smooth frame rates. Also, the higher refresh rate on the 1080p screen is a benefit to gamers, because the screen can actually display those additional frames, making gameplay look smoother. Capped at 60Hz, any games that the laptop can run above 60fps will leave excess rendered frames on the table, unseen. You’re also paying more for this feature (in addition to the lid lighting), so that trade-off may not be worth it for everyone.

Otherwise, all else is equal. This includes the key components, namely an AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (Max-Q) GPU, 16GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD. In the initial review, we saw this combination deliver great gaming and all-around performance (especially at its price), with the processor in particular blowing out its equivalent Intel competition on raw multithreaded performance. For full details on its gaming performance, including full benchmark results, again head over to that original G14 review.

In this case, the laptop will be a bit less capable of gaming at 1440p, and so I may suggest turning down the most demanding AAA games to 1080p for a 60fps experience. Playing games at 1440p will be fine in some titles, but for those who like to max out settings and play at near-perfect frame rates, lowering the resolution will help.

Now…for Some Lid-Lighting Magic

With the laptop fundamentals out of the way, we can move on to the pièce de résistance, the LED matrix lid. The lid is split diagonally, with perforations on one side and a plain finish on the other. The LEDs are set within the pinhole-size perforations, though you wouldn’t know it if no pattern or image is currently active. 

The magic all happens from within the included Asus Armoury Crate software. Normally this utility is where you’d change RGB chassis and keyboard lighting, monitor component performance, and perform system-level tweaks. That makes Armoury Crate a natural place to put the controls to the AniMe Matrix lid, and you will indeed find the settings under the Devices tab on the left hand side.

There, you’ll be greeted with a virtual representation of what the lid looks like, alongside a number of settings and options. The virtual lid placement takes up two thirds of this screen, your canvas on which to apply preset animations or images of your choosing. The right third of the screen is home to all of the settings and options, and you will see a preview of whatever you select on the left.

Once you select a preset Asus animation or upload your own image (via the button in the top left corner), you can click and drag it around the virtual lid for best placement. You’ll quickly note that the actual area with customizable lighting isn’t that big, given the split design of the lid. It’s actually smaller than the full size of the perforations on the actual lid, as the outside edge rows don’t seem to have the lighting. 

This leaves you with only a little room to work, but it’s enough for most images. The PCMag logo fits snugly into the open area, as seen here. It’s a high-contrast picture so it shows up well, but many of the images and GIFs I tried did not. Anything with multiple colors or bright blocked backgrounds doesn’t show well, because the lighting brightness has trouble differentiating between the layers. This diminishes the usefulness somewhat, as it’s disappointing to see a good idea you had look like one big block on the lid. But plenty do work; you just have to experiment.

The settings allow you to designate a series of images or graphics to play in a loop, using an interface like a video-editing timeline. If you really want to go crazy with these options, rather than just setting something static or playing one looping visual, you can. Asus provides a host of preset graphics, some of which are Asus/ROG company branding and others that are simple effects.

You can also type in any text you’d like and have it scroll diagonally across the lid. Asus provides font, font size, and scrolling-speed options for this, as well. Other animations include an audio visualizer, located in its own tab, which is a fun option that pulsates along with your music.

Some of the coolest (and most genuinely practical) options live in the next tab over on the top right, named System Mode. Here, you can set the lid to display the laptop’s current level of battery life, as well as the current time or inbox messages. You can pick one of these options, or check all of the boxes; if you do that, the lid will consistently toggle through the three. 

You can even check an option in the Preferences tab to make these (and animations) stay on when the lid is closed. That adds some utility, as you can peek at the lid to see the time, or how much battery is left, when you’re carrying the laptop around or it’s on your desk, closed and charging.

Strictly for Animaniacs?

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 AniMe Matrix is a fun twist on the original laptop, which we already rated very highly. The lid is something entirely unique, and while it’s 100 percent a curiosity feature, it’s a really cool one. The animations are amusing, and the battery and clock options are useful additions.

At the same time, this version of the laptop adds a meaty $550 to the unit we reviewed, which itself was a $400 uptick from Asus’ $1,049 base model of the G14. That’s the cost of the higher-resolution (though lower-refresh-rate) screen, in addition to the LED lid. That’s a fairly hefty boost in the total cost just for those two additions, because the processor, GPU, memory, and storage are all the same. If money is no issue, and you are extremely drawn to the idea of the AniMe Matrix lid, you’ll likely enjoy this excellent laptop, even if it loses its “best value” status. But the original G14 remains the practical choice.

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