Asus ZenBook 13 Review: A Good Laptop At A Reasonable Cost
The reviewed Asus ZenBook 13 costs $849 and comes with an Intel UHD 620 GPU, an Intel Core i5-8265U processor and a RAM of 8 GB, a 256 GB SSD, a glossy screen and a sleeve that is sleek black to hold the laptop.
Asus plans to launch the UX333FN version in February with its components up to the MX150 GPU and the 1 TB SSD from Nvidia GeForce. Additional options will also be available in Icicle Silver and with the anti-blink screen.
Design
At the center of the ZenBook 13, the Asus glossy gold logo is like a raindrop in the middle of a calm, Royal Blue Sea, which creates a symmetric winding effect across the entire lid.
At 2.7 pounds and 11.9x 7.4x 0.7 inches the ZenBook 13 is somewhat thinner than its nearest rivals. The HP Envy 13 t (2.9 pounds) and MacBook Air (2.8 pounds,0.6 cm) are all in the same size, but the XPS 13 is the lightest. The Dell XPS 13 can all be used to fill up the same size. The total weight of the Air Dell XPS 13.
Ports
While it is small and light, the USB Type A port and the HDMI port still have the space in it.
A power jack, HDMI 1.4 port, USB 3.1 port, USB port and USB type-C port are offered on the left hand side, and on the right side a microSD card, USB 2.0 port and headsets are supported.
Sadly, although this motherboard has a large selection of ports, we can see that no Thunderbolt 3.
Display
The Asus ZenBook 13, 1920x 1080, has 13.3-inch glossy screen but still it is vivid.
c screen covered 115% of the sRGB range, marginally below the average laptop premium of 117%. While Envy 13 t (106%) and MacBook Air (109%) did no better, XPS 13 nailed 119%.
Compared to the 321-nit average class, ZenBook 13 is disappointingly dim at 225 nits. The Envy 13 t (248 nits) and MacBook Air (234 nits) both make the average, but they are much brighter than the ZenBook. In comparison, with 375 nits of light, the XPS 13 trumps them all.
Touchpad & Keyboard
The ZenBook 13’s keyboard was punchy and effective, but the narrow keys distance and short length of the deck made the typing experience awkward. In contrast, the distance between the keys of ZenBook 13 is around 1.9 mm while the spacing between the keys of XPS 13 is 2.2 mm.
On my 10fastfingers.com typing check, I was only able to hit 58 words per minute, dropping behind my usual 66 wpm target. The main travel was also at 1.3 millimeters on the shallow side, but the keys had a strong 70 g force. We prefer to move between 1.5 and 2.0 mm, with a necessary intensity of at least 60 g.
Although the 3.9x 2.1 “touch pad is a little too low for me to use easily, the contact is sensitive and gentle. I didn’t have a problem using Windows 10 motions like swiping three finger button or scrolling two-finger.
Audio
The Music setting makes the sounds of the song more consistent, but the volume is also significantly decreased when I attempted to adjust the speakers with AudioWizard software. Certain options including video, recording, playing, and voice are included in the software but there is no equaliser.
Performance
The ZenBook 13, fitted with an Intel Core i5-8265U 8 GB RAM processor, is shredded by 40 Google Chrome tabs and three 1080p YouTube videos, without much of a stutter.
The ZenBook 13 scored impressively 15,110, sailing over the 12,899 premium laptop average and MacBook’s i5-8210Y Core (7,871) and XPS 13’s Core i7-8565 U (12,755) on the Geekbench 4 overall performance chart.
In 1 minute and 35 seconds, on our Excel Check, Asus ZenBook 13 compiled 65,000 names and addresses which is only 4 seconds slower than the average category(1:31). The MacBook Air dropped far behind at 3:26. The XPS 13 came out at 1:10 with the Envy 13 t (1:33) missing the mark.
Within 20 minutes 48 seconds, the Zenbook 13 transcribed 4 K to 1080p with the average premium laptop of 21:51, 13 t’ s time (22:44), and MacBook Air (37:24) as a comparison. The experiment was done with the XPS 13 at 19:20.
In just 12 seconds, Asus’ 256 GB SSD copied 4.97 GB of data with a rate of 524 Megabytes per second, not too much of the average 525-MBps category. Just 212 MBps was handled by the Envy 13 t’s 256 GB SsD and 565 MBps were managed by the XPS 13. Finally, theMacBook Air came on top and performed at a crazy 2.066 MBps of 256Go SSD.
Battery
With its incredible battery life the ZenBook 13 blew us away. As we surfed the internet over Wi-Fi at 150 nits, the ZenBook 13 lasted 11 hours 28 minutes, which crashed the average of premium laptop of 8:33. The ZenBook was being monitored for several hours, with the XPS 13 (7:50) and MacBook Air (9:32).
Graphics
The Intel UHD 620 GPU ZenBook 13 has scored 80,655, falling short of the 87,129 class average, on the 3DMark Ice Storm intolerable graphics benchmark. The Envy 13 t and XPS 13 are respectively 77,685 and 88,473 for the same GPU.
For real world gaming, ZenBook 13 struck the Dirt 3 benchmark 59 frames per second, which is perfection but less than the average 74-fps premium laptop. Behind the ZenBook was Envia 13 t (48 fps) and MacBook Air (22 fps), while the XPS 13 excelled with a range of 88 fps.
Final Verdict
Thanks to its high performance, combination with its impressively long battery life, the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333FA shines overall. The weak screen, however, is a compromise, and we want more space between keys.
A good alternative is the $899 HP Envy 13 t, a slightly brighter screen than the Asus and a snappy sensitive keyboard that offers decent performance. But the battery life of the HP is almost 2 hours less.
If you are willing to spend a little bit more, the XPS 13 is available for $1209 with a similar spec; it offers much better display, a full chassis of aluminum, an enlarged keyboard cover and improved graphic performance. The XPS 13 provides a battery life that is less than the ZenBook 13.
The ZenBook 13 is generally a good laptop at a cost that is not too high.
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