I’ve been waiting for this gaming laptop deal all month, but Best Buy just swooped in at the eleventh hour

I’ve been holding out for the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 this Black Friday. All month long I’ve stared at that $1,599.99 MSRP, remembering all the discounts I’ve seen on the OLED RTX 4060 configuration this year so far. I checked back every day, just waiting for the opportunity to shout about one of my favorite machines – and nothing. I even scurried over to Best Buy this morning, hopeful that official Black Friday gaming laptop deals had made a dent in that price tag, still nothing.

Now it’s finally dropped.

Best Buy has just posted a $400 discount on the latest version of Asus’s popular 14-inch gaming laptop, dropping that $1,599.99 rate that’s haunted me all the way down to $1,199.99. That surprised me, I was fully expecting a return to the previous record-low, a $1,249.99 sales price last spotted in September. Instead, we’ve got the cheapest price yet on one of the best gaming laptops on the market.

I’d almost given up hope on this offer appearing at all. After all, Black Friday gaming laptop deals have actually been landing all around us for weeks. Best Buy has been keeping this one back for maximum impact, then, which means I wouldn’t wait too long to dive in here. This could well be gone by the end of the day.

Today’s best Black Friday gaming laptop deals

Amazon: budget rigs from $515Best Buy: up to $400 off Lenovo and AsusDell: now starting from $699.99HP: up to 75% off doorbustersLenovo: up to 29% off LegionNewegg: prices from $489.99Walmart: HP from $499

Should you buy the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14?

(Image credit: Future)

I’ve always been a fan of Asus’s compact Zephyrus, so when the brand changed its design this year, I was worried. Those fears were calmed as soon as I got my hands on one. This is still a super slimline gaming laptop built to offer pretty solid performance while still blending in with more sophisticated ultrabook aesthetics. It’s just a machine that’s been built for both gamers and the more productive among us.

I take my laptop with me whenever I travel, and this is the exact kind of form factor I love. It’s super slim, super quiet, and doesn’t scream with its RGB lighting and angular corners. I’d recommend the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 to those after a hybrid machine for both work and play first – after all, it’s significantly cheaper than the Razer Blade 14. The skinnier form factor means you do sacrifice some performance compared to chunkier RTX 4060 rigs, but considering this is one of the thinnest and lightest gaming laptops I’ve tested so far I’m more than happy to sacrifice power for functionality on this occasion.

That does mean it’s not one for those chasing the absolute highest framerates possible – that’s where a larger machine is required, like the Alienware M18 or Lenovo Legion Pro 7i Gen 9. You’ll find similar prices on the former among today’s Black Friday offers, but the Lenovo bumps you up to an RTX 4070 at its cheapest level – and that’s a good deal higher than this sales price.

There are plenty more Black Friday deals where that came from – check out all the best Black Friday gaming PC deals and best Black Friday Steam Deck deals for more.