Compact gaming laptop round-up 2024 - small(-ish) but mighty

When it comes to the chassis of our contenders, we can divide them into two groups, the truly compact, and the somewhat compact.
While the Blade and especially the Zephyrus are very small in exterior dimensions, the two Acer models are quite beefy and appear downright massive next to the G14.
Of course, the XMG's are the biggest notebooks of the bunch, which is mostly due to the larger display. However, since they are also a bit slimmer and not as deep, they take up a similar amount of space on your desk or backpack as the Nitro and the Helios.

The overall quality of the chassis is also vastly different between all of them, but even the Nitro 5, with its primarily plastic body does not really disappoint.
You get a little bit of flex in the keyboard area if you are really looking for it, but with stiff hinges and an overall sturdy construction, our most affordable notebook today does not give us any real reason to complain about here.

The Helios adds a metal bottom cover and slims down the chassis ever so slightly, but it still relies on the mostly plastic yet sturdy construction. That is not a bad thing per se, but considering that both the Zephyrus and our XMG models come in at similar price points, depending on the configuration, and sport metal chassis all around, the Helios appears a bit “blunt” if you put it next to the others.

While the hinges might be a bit wobbly for the Fusion and, to that extent, for the core models as well, the clean metal chassis is quite impressive for the XMG's barebones roots. It also uses its slightly bigger overall footprint to accommodate a numpad, and with its very subtle appearance, it might be the most office-friendly companion in our comparison group today.

For the Rog Zephyrus G14, we are looking at a compact, well-made machine that marries its ROG gaming DNA with an understated look. The overall quality of the chassis leaves no room for complaints, and it is one of the slimmest and lightest devices with this kind of performance in a 14" chassis. 

We have saved the best for last. The Razer Blade 14 is simply the benchmark for high-end laptop construction, with perfectly adjusted hinges, a clean design, and no flex anywhere. Our only real gripe with the CNC-machined aluminium body is that it picks up fingerprints left and right just by looking at it. 

Even though we are talking about compact laptops, all notebooks in our comparison feature a healthy port selection, and you should find almost everything you need on a daily basis.

Taking a look at the XMG Fusion 15 and Core 15 in the same chassis; both share a pair of USB-A ports and the only full-size SD card reader for today on the right. On the left, you can find a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A and Type-C connector and the 3.5 mm combo jack. Because of its larger size, XMG also outfits the Intel-based Fusion with a network jack, an HDMI 2.1, the power connector, and a USB-C Thunderbolt port at the back. The Core AMD variants have to make do with a simple 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, with an additional Mini-Displayport.

Shifting our focus to the Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 and Nitro 14, both laptops rock a microSD reader, an HDMI out, one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C with DP and PD, and a Type-A port on the right side. On the opposite side, we see one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A connector, an audio jack, and a power port. Acer has also included a USB 4 port on both models even though the Nitro 14 is a budget option.

For the Asus Rog Zephyrus G14, both sides of the machine hold one Type-A and one Type-C port with the latter being a USB-4 on the right and a simple Type-C with DP on the left. The left side also gets an HDMI 2.1 out, and an audio jack while the right side sports a microSD slot. The Razer Blade 14 has identical ports on both sides, save for the inclusion of an audio jack on the left and an HDM 2.1 port on the right.

When it comes to maintenance, both the Razer and the XMG share quite some flexibility under the hood. While the Fusion and Core use their bigger chassis, with two So-DIMMs and a pair of NVME slots, the Blade still allows for swappable RAM and a single NVME slot despite the much smaller footprint.

The ROG keeps the same storage upgrade options but the RAM is soldered, and as the biggest head-scratcher ever, both Acer notebooks can not offer much more despite the much, much larger chassis.
So the RAM is soldered for both of them and you only get a single NVME slot.

Regarding Input quality, we have to give it to Asus here; with a very generous amount of travel, a clear pressure point, and an overall satisfying typing experience, it's a great keyboard for typing and gaming alike.
In our opinion, the XMG is taking second place with a more spacious layout and the addition of a numpad. The switches are not quite as tactile as the ones in the G14, but it's still a very pleasant typing experience.

The keyboards on Acer’s gamers do a decent job, but they bottom out quite soft and do not offer much in terms of feedback. As such, the keyboards on the Nitro 14 and the Helios Neo 14 will take some getting used to in our opinion. The Razer Blade 14 does give the feedback that Acer laptops lack, but the keys feel very shallow.

For trackpads, all devices in our comparison do a good job with the Blade 14 providing the largest surface and perfectly weighted clicks. The offerings from Asus and Acer offer a similar if slightly less refined experience, while the trackpad on XMG laptops has a bit of a “sharper” click.

The display situation is quite good for all of our contenders, with both the Razer Blade 14 and the Rog Zephyrus G14 pulling ahead slightly. The panel on the Rog Zephyrus G14 boasts all the OLED benefits, like super deep blacks, high contrast, full DCI-P3 coverage, a quick response time of 0.62 ms gray-to-gray, and the best factory calibration. While it doesn't rock the contrast level of the G14, the Blade 14 features a high-quality IPS display with quick response times, no PWM, 466 nits of brightness, and almost full DCI-P3 coverage.

Thanks to the beastly Core i9-14900HX and its 24 cores, the XMG Fusion 15 is the fastest notebook when it comes to pure CPU horsepower with the highest scores across all of our tests. The Core 15 trails its sibling with an 8-core Ryzen 7 8845HS. The Predator Helios Neo 14 and its Core Ultra 9 185H are relegated to a close third place, while the Blade 14 essentially matches the Helios.

Finally, the Rog Zephyrus G14 and the Nitro 14 occupy the last two places in our chart. This comparatively low score of the Nitro 14 makes sense, since it only packs a 6-core CPU.

Moving over to the GPU side of things, 3D Mark reveals several surprises. As we have mentioned before, the Blade 14 still boasts one of the, if not THE fastest, 4070s of all notebooks we have tested so far. Even so, the XMG also, once again, makes great use of its bigger chassis and delivers what you would expect from both of NVIDIA's midrange mobile GPUs. 

The Nitro is quite the surprise, keeping up quite well here, while the ROG and the Helios do not quite perform up to snuff.  While we would be willing to forgive the Zephyrus, after all, we are talking about a really, really small notebook here, and the numbers we got from the much bigger Predator are simply disappointing.
Combining the higher-end Core Ultra 9 with a 4070 may not have been the best decision here since it seems like both core components have to fight for resources.

For creators who rely heavily on GPU acceleration, our Blender runs are good news for almost all notebooks. Again, the Rog Zephyrus G14 falls behind slightly because of its lower power levels. That said, we've used the Zephyrus G14, the Blade 14, and the Fusion 15 for our video production for Notebookcheck Reviews and have had no real issues. You might have to reduce the timeline resolution slightly if you are working with "heavier" codecs, which is quite fine, to be honest, on such small displays.