ASUS ZenBook 14 (2026) Review: The Right Trade-Offs in the Right Places?

Announced at Computex 2026, riding the wave of several models that directly compete with it at the entry level, the new ASUS ZenBook 14 is among the affordable laptops with a premium look, launched in the wake of the MacBook Neo. With its OLED screen and three original color options, the device aims to appeal to a wide audience. A successful bet?

Reducing manufacturing costs, streamlining them. Every builder has its own method to achieve this. With its new Zenbook 14, ASUS chooses a single PC offered in three platforms. In other words, within the same chassis, ASUS offers three distinct configurations built around AMD, Intel, or Qualcomm chips… But with a major advantage over the competition: every machine is equipped with an OLED display. No matter which variant you choose.

So, presented under a triple choice and a solid proposition for the display, this new model arrives in front of financially constrained French buyers… In coral, Komodo, Zabriskie beige, or Arctic blue colors. So, should you cave in for under 1000 euros? The answer in our test, but first, here is the technical sheet of the model ASUS France kindly lent us:

In this Snapdragon X / 16 Go / 256 Go configuration, the new ZenBook 14 is marketed in France at 999 euros. The device starts at 799 euros in the 8 Go / 256 Go variant and its price climbs well above 1000 euros in the better-equipped Intel / AMD versions.

Design: sturdy, elegant, sufficient

Light (1.1 kg), yet a touch thick, the new ZenBook 14 owes its chunky profile (35.35 x 24.24 x 1.65 cm) to the single chassis it uses across configurations… Even with widely different AMD, Intel, and Qualcomm platforms.

The device must indeed be capable of housing powerful x86 CPUs like Intel Core Ultra or AMD Ryzen (and the robust cooling system that goes with them), as well as compact ARM Qualcomm Snapdragon X chips, far more modest, depending on what the end user wants to buy.

This rationalization allows ASUS to cut production costs, enabling us to offer this new model at a starting price of 799 euros in France. A trick that, however, results in a product that feels less airy than what the brand has sometimes given us in recent years for a 14-inch laptop.

Moreover, once again, ASUS does not skimp on connectivity. There is an HDMI 2.1 output, a USB-A 3.2 port, two USB-C 3.2 ports, and a headphone jack on this new model. Everything you need is therefore at hand. At least for typical office use intended here.

However, their keyboard leaves us in disarray. It shares all the faults of the 2025 ZenBook A14’s keyboard. Too soft in the middle, with very plasticky keycaps and a loud keystroke that, in our view, lacks precision, despite a key travel depth that seems fine-tuned.

ASUS, however, does hit the mark on calibration, generally correct right out of the box. It will still be necessary to adjust the color temperature slightly using the MyASUS utility to achieve perfect rendering. Overall, this screen remains one of the best you can find on a portable PC selling for 799 euros or more. Well played, ASUS.

Performance: what you need to work, not much more

As mentioned above, the ZenBook 14 we are testing here uses an ARM processor: the compact Qualcomm Snapdragon X (X1-26-100). Launched in early 2025 for entry-level PCs, this processor performed well in CPU tasks for everyday usage a couple of years ago. We will see if it remains competitive at the end of 2026, especially against the MacBook Neo’s A18 Pro or when pitted against Intel’s “Wildcat Lake” x86 processors used by models like the XPS 13 or the Acer Swift Air 14.

First, here is a quick recap of the configuration ASUS allowed us to test:

• Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon X — X1-26-100 (8 cores / 8 threads max at 2.97 GHz, 30 MB cache, 4 nm) with Hexagon NPU of 45 TOPS and integrated Adreno X1-45 graphics.
• 16 Go LPDDR5X memory
• 256 Go SSD (M.2 2280 PCIe Gen 4)