Not enough people are talking about the this MacBook Air alternative at CES 2026

January 7, 2026 TH Author

Prakhar Khanna holding the Asus ZenBook A14. — Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

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ZDNET’s key takeaways

Asus updates the ZenBook A14 with Snapdragon X2 Elite power.
The sub-1kg OLED laptop promises over 28 hours of battery life.
Wi-Fi 7, modern ports, and a tougher build arrive for 2026.

When Asus announced its all-new ultraportable ZenBook A14 last year, we were big fans. In fact, it became my primary laptop. At CES 2026, the company is updating its thin and light laptop with more power and adding a 16-inch option.

The 2026 ZenBook A14 is getting some upgrades but retains what made it great — an OLED display, long battery life, and plenty of storage, all under 1kg? The traveler in me is stoked.

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The new Asus ZenBook A14 (UX3407NA) is powered by the Snapdragon X2 Elite processor, which has an 18-core CPU consisting of 12 Prime cores and six Performance cores. The expanded memory cache, graphics performance per watt, and an 80 TOPs NPU should help it gain some needed processing improvements over last year’s model.

Asus also managed to cram a lightweight dual-fan system for thermal management inside the 0.63-inch chassis.

Thin and light ceraluminum

Like the 2025 model, the ZenBook A14 (UX3407NA) has a Ceraluminum construction for its lightweight form factor and improved durability.

Asus ZenBook A14 back-angle half-opened. — Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

Besides the unique texture, it offers an anti-scratch, smudge-free coating and meets US military-grade MIL-STD 810H standards. It is paired with all the Asus extras, like the EasyLift hinge (passing the one-handed open test with flying colors) and smart gesture touchpad.

I found last year’s hinge to be less tight than ideal, but this year’s hinge seems to hold up better. It remains comfortable to type on, and the trackpad is big enough to have plenty of space for gestures.

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The 0.98kg Asus ZenBook A14 features a 14-inch OLED display with an FHD resolution and supports Dolby Atmos and Snapdragon Sound technology for a more immersive media-watching experience. It comes in two configurations: 24GB RAM with 512GB storage and 32GB RAM with 1TB of storage.

Prakhar using the Asus ZenBook A14 (2026). — Prakhar Khanna/ZDNET

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Part of what makes the Zenbook A14 so work-ready is its nice selection of ports. It comes with a USB 3.2 Type-A port, two USB 4.0 Type-C ports with support for display and power delivery, one HDMI 2.1, and a 3.5mm audio jack. You also get an FHD camera with Windows Hello support. Wireless connectivity is taken care of by Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 standards.

Availability

The ZenBook A14 is rated to last more than 28 hours (video playback time) on a single charge, thanks to the 70Wh battery. Asus hasn’t revealed the pricing yet, and the laptop is scheduled to be launched in the second quarter of 2026.