ASUS ZenBook 14 Ultra-Slim Laptop 14” FHD Display, AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU, Radeon Vega 7 Graphics, 16GB RAM, 1TB PCIe SSD, NumberPad, Windows 11 Pro, Pine Grey, UM425QA-XH99

It has everything that the 13″ version has (that I bought a year ago when it was new, and which has now replaced my wife’s ancient 10″ Asus convertible laptop) plus the missing 3.5mm headphone jack and Windows Pro with the only penalty being that it is slightly heavier and uses a 100W USBC PS (also slightly larger / heavier) instead of the 65W on the 13″ (at least the one that I have).

Please note that the native display is Only 1080p.

I have recommended this laptop (and the 13″) to all my friends and would continue to do so until someone comes out with a better one. I’ve been waiting for Anyone to beat Asus on the value / portability / features / useability spectrum for going on eight (8) years now, but no one seems to come close: If they even come close to features, the price goes through the roof! Must have features:

0. Value!
1. Min 16 GB RAM (has 32 – future proof)
2. Min 256 GB Storage (has 1TB – great for temporarily loading ups pictures to quickly and conveniently go through them before backing them up to attached storage, etc)
3. USBC charging (so you don’t have to carry and possibly lose a proprietary charger on the road)
4. HDMI Out (full size so that you can easily replace a lost HDMI-HDMI cable on the road) on the left so it doesn’t interfere w/ a possible mouse on the right
5. 2 USBC Superspeed on the left (so they don’t interfere w/ a mouse on the right)
6. USBA-3 on the right so that you can connect a mouse if you want (my wife)
7. microSD (nice for quick data transfer or to add more space
8. The ability to turn-off the touchpad (so an inadvertent palm touch doesn’t cause the cursor to jump (for a friend).
9. The availability of a numerical keypad (for the same friend)
10. Windows Pro (so that I can encrypt attached drives using MS encryption that I can easily move from PC to PC w/o having to install a new SW on someone else’s computer – a No-No)
11. Established name w/ good track record

Nice features:
1. Larger screen than the 13″ for a slightly heavier laptop (worth it to me)
2. US Military grade rating (no need for a heavy case when packing – but still need to be careful) has kept it’s 13″ sibling trucking along w/o a single scratch (knock on wood) travelling through dozens of airports, boat rides, etc. (knock on wood)!
3. The very external USBC hubs that attach rather loosely to my 1 year old 13.3″ seem to attach positively to this one (likely the 13.3″ issue is a bad luck fluke / bad batch or they may have gone w/ a better, more consistent manufacturer now).

Poor features:
1. Runs Hot if you are doing a lot of stuff (which I constantly do) but I am not sure that they can do much about it. Adding sturdy legs to lift the laptop would add weight for everyone, when people like me are rare. It runs quite fine under “normal” use (for most other people)
2. Asus needs to improve their ability to identify and update drivers, identify the ones that are causing the BSD (Windows Blue Screen of Death) and update them (or tell you to manually update them. I know that MS should be the one doing this, but….
3. Downward facing speakers OK but function poorly if you have it on a soft surface (that absorbs the sounds). Likely a packaging issue that cannot be helped in this form factor

This is a SUPER ultra light laptop. The machine itself is a little small but if you are going for minimalism this machine is perfect.
All in all it is a super powerful little laptop and has run circles around even my engineering laptops I have. Super impressive and even runs video editing software without a problem. I would suggest in getting an external drive or storage because 1 tb can get gobbled up kinda fast depending on what you are doing. All in all I recommend. It’s a great machine for the price, can’t beat it!