The entry-point Asus ZenBook 14 is finally up for grabs in the US market, and this one is staring right at the MacBook Neo with a handful of practical perks. Just like the MacBook Neo, Asus’ offering also comes with an all-metallic build that uses the proprietary Ceraluminum material that we have seen on pricier ZenBooks.
But there are a handful of upgrades on this $800 laptop that set it apart from its $700 competitor from Apple. The most notable one is a 14-inch OLED display, which offers a much better viewing experience than what you get on the MacBook Neo. The port selection is also pretty generous, as you get a pair of USB-C ports, a full-size USB Type-A port, and an HDMI port as well.
Apple restricts the fingerprint sensor to only the pricier configuration of its laptop, but on the ZenBook 14, you get Windows Hello face unlock as the standard authentication protocol on all models. Oh, and did I tell you the keyboard is backlit on the Asus ZenBook 14? Yeah, that too! Take a peek at the innards:
| Model Name | UX3480QA-ZB/SE_S0A (8GB) / UX3480QA-ZB/SE_S0 (16GB) |
| Year | 2026 |
| CPU | Snapdragon X X1 26 100 Processor (30MB Cache, up to 2.97GHz, 8 cores, 8 Threads); Qualcomm Hexagon NPU up to 45TOPS |
| Display | 14″, 16:10 FHD (1920 x 1200) WUXGA OLED, 89% screen-to-body ratio, 300 nits, eDP1.2, DCI-P3 100%, 0.2ms response time, 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, 60Hz refresh rate |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Graphics | Qualcomm Adreno graphics |
| Memory | 8GB or 16GB LPDDR5X |
| Storage | 256GB PCIe SSD |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) Triple band 2*2 + Bluetooth 5.3 Wireless Card |
| Camera | FHD camera with IR function to support Windows Hello |
| I/O Ports | 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A 1 x HDMI 2.1 TMDS 1 x Audio combo Jack |
| Audio | Smart Amp Technology, built-in speaker, built-in array microphone, Dolby Atmos |
| Battery | 50WHrs, 3S1P, 3-cell Li-ion |
| AC Adapter | TYPE-C, 68W AC Adapter (Output: 20V DC, 3.4A; Input: 100~240V AC 50/60Hz universal) |
| Dimensions | 12.25″ × 8.50″ × 0.55″–0.67″ |
| Weight | 2.87 lbs |
| MSRP | $799.99 (8GB) / $999.99 (16GB) |
The machine draws power from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X processor, which also meets the Copilot+ AI performance criteria, alongside 8 GB or 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of onboard storage. A more powerful configuration featuring the Intel Core Ultra 9 386H processor is also planned for release later this year, but Asus hasn’t revealed the asking price yet. It will, however, be a lot more expensive.
The ZenBook 14 is now available in two memory configurations from retail outlets and Best Buy in the US. If you’re not entirely sold on the premise of Windows on Arm laptops, you can take a look at low-cost models running the vanilla x86-based Windows experience, such as the Dell XPS 13, or the recent crop of affordable laptops from HP (the Omnibook 3) and Lenovo (the IdeaPad Vibe), and the rest powered by Intel’s Wildcat Lake processors.