The beautiful and durable Asus Zenbook A14 from 2025 is my favorite laptop for most people on a $1,000 budget. Its light yet sturdy construction makes it ideal for frequent travelers and remote workers. I’ll also note that it’s the only laptop on this list with an OLED display, if that’s high on your wish list.
Check out the ZenBook A14 on sale at Best Buy, where it’s already been down to $550 (a steal). It starts with 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM.
I’ve been lusting after this 14-inch laptop since I first saw it at CES 2025. It’s an amazing Windows ultraportable and an amazing price.
Performance: The Zenbook A14 is a solid performer for the money. The MacBook Neo still beats it for single workloads (about 31 percent), but it’s 28 percent faster in multi-tasking situations. In fact, it has no multi-core competition among other laptops under $1,000. Compared to the $699.99 Acer Aspire 16 AI (above), which has a smaller Snapdragon X chip, this is the Snapdragon X in addition The chip offers 14 percent better single-core performance and 15 percent better multi-core performance. If you need a cheap laptop that can handle the weight, this one is up to the job.
Like the Aspire 16 AI, keep ARM-related software compatibility issues in mind here if you’re shopping for a college or gaming laptop.
Battery life: The Zenbook A14 lasted 21 hours and 47 minutes in our video before-death test, making it the eighth longest-lasting laptop we’ve ever reviewed. Our long-lasting MacBook died for 30 minutes recently.
Design: Picking up the Zenbook A14 for the first time often gets people excited. Asus builds its chassis from a lightweight magnesium-aluminum alloy called “Ceraluminum” that is scratch-, smudge- and shock-resistant. The base configuration is only 2.4 pounds, or 0.3 pounds less than the MacBook Neo, yet it does not feel weak. Ceraluminum makes it very strong without being heavy. It’s a bit thicker than the Neo, but still manages to squeeze in an HDMI port and a USB-A port.
In a market full of boring silver laptops, I think the modern look of the Zenbook A14 is refreshing. It has a “Zabrinskie Beige” yellow paint with a matte, almost ceramic-like texture, and is accented with bright gold logos. It’s different without really hating the office. Top that off with a bright, clear OLED display, and this laptop looks great.
Amount: I wouldn’t hesitate to pay full price for the Zenbook A14 – it’s a really solid price (but even better if you can get it at auction). Increasing your budget to the “cheaper” end of the spectrum eliminates any concerns about build quality and a great combination of strength and power for everyday production, even some simple creative work. In addition: OLED!
Note that Asus released the updated Zenbook A14 with Snapdragon X2 Elite chip for 2026. a lot better performance and longer battery life than the original model, but starts at $1,349.99. It might go on sale for less than $1,000 eventually, though it just launched in April, so don’t hold your breath.