The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 demonstrates that gaming laptops do not have to be bulky, overdesigned monsters. This sleek 14-inch system faced stiff competition from Razer, Dell, and MSI, but thanks to its flexible design, strong battery life, and willingness to try new things in the gaming laptop arena, the Zephyrus G14 ultimately emerged as the best winning gaming notebook PC.

For those who have yet to encounter the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, it's a powerful gaming laptop that looks more like a traditional productivity peripheral, with a 14-inch screen that is already smaller than most gaming laptops, and a 3.5-inch screen that is also smaller than most gaming laptops. It is also lighter and thinner at 3.5 pounds and 0.7 inches, respectively.The ROG Zephyrus G14 comes in a soothing silver or black, rather than an aggressive red and black color pattern. If you were to use this computer all day at the office and then take it home to pummel your enemies in Apex Legends, you would feel right at home in both tasks.

This system also comes with some pretty powerful hardware, including an AMD Ryzen 9-4900HS CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q GPU, 16GB memory, and 1TB SSD. While not all new games can be played at maximum performance, it is far more powerful than any other gaming console currently on the market. It also has a 1080p, 120Hz screen, so it can (and usually does) run games at well over 60 frames per second. For even more clarity, the screen can be pulled up to a 1440p display.

It's easy to make the ROG Zephyrus G14 your main system at home, with an HDMI port, USB-C port, and multiple USB-A ports on the side. Simply connect an external monitor, keyboard, and mouse, and the Zephyrus G14 can easily match the performance of most 1080p gaming desktops on the market. [Benchmarks show that the ROG Zephyrus G14 can run Shadow of the Tomb Raider at 49 fps, Hitman at 87 fps, and Grand Theft Auto V at 115 fps, which is equal to or better than competitive systems from Dell and Razer. The 120 Hz screen also allows for remarkably fast frame rates without having to worry about an external monitor.

Competition for the ROG Zephyrus G14 was quite stiff; the Razer Blade 15 is a very gorgeous system, packing a lot of power into a very thin frame; the Alienware M15 and Dell G7 15 both have larger screens and the MSI GS66 Stealth is more powerful. But the ROG Zephyrus G14 is advanced in a way that no other gaming laptop is.

Asus envisions a machine that can equally and elegantly divide between gaming and productivity, which it feels is more realistic than "all gaming all the time." This idea, coupled with its superior performance, has put it at the top of this year's Tom's Guide Awards.