13 Apr
Blog

Wyze Watch Review: A $20 Smartwatch With Faulty Connections

Wyze watch rating Leader03

Wyze Watch Review: A $ 20 Smartwatch With Faulty Connections

"The Wyze watch is beating above its weight class, but inconsistent connectivity is too insane to recommend."

  • Premium hardware

  • Very affordable price

  • Nine days of battery life

  • Inconsistent connectivity

  • Lack of dial and variety of apps

  • No interactivity with notifications

  • No automatic tracking of anything but sleep

If you're the type who likes to put a dollar out, you are probably familiar with Wyze. The company has built its reputation on smart home devices, which offer around 80 percent of its competitors' offerings at around 30 percent of the price. From doorbells to cameras, Wyze has set a new price for a wide variety of smart home and wearable offerings. The latest is the Wyze Watch, a $ 20 smartwatch.

Buying a $ 20 smartwatch with nine days of battery life is a breeze. But along with that price tag comes an enormous number of lowered expectations. It's true that this watch doesn't have the same features that you'll find on most high-end smartwatches, but it does have a few. So let's get started.

Premium hardware

The first thing you'll notice about the Wyze watch is that it looks a lot like a high-end smartwatch. It is made of aluminum and has a silicone strap. There is a single button on the right side of the watch. On my 47mm device, you get a bright 1.75-inch TFT LCD touchscreen that runs on a 300mAh battery. On the back, in addition to the proprietary magnetic charger, are heart rate and blood oxygen sensors.

Wyze watch design and display

The watch comes with a comfortable silicone strap. You can also upgrade to a leather strap if you want. Overall, it looks like a premium watch, but unfortunately (and unsurprisingly) the premium feel stops there.

The performance is a bit sloppy. From lifting your wrist to see the time, to swiping the page to see your apps, there's just a little hesitation every time. It's barely noticeable and certainly not a deal breaker, but it's worth mentioning.

Mediocre software

The software on the watch is very simple. Most of the meaningful interactions take place in the app on the phone. This is the same app that you use to control your other Wyze smart home devices. Pairing the watch is crazy fast. Unlike most smartwatches and fitness bands I've used, just turn on the watch and launch the app. You add the clock to the app and you're done. You are done. It's amazingly quick and loved that part. This will require more smartwatches.

You can choose from just a few dozen watch faces, and apps are even more limited. There are only nine apps on the watch, including weather, shortcuts, blood oxygen, heart rate, and run tracking. You will also receive notifications on the watch from your phone. Notifications are decent in that you can read emails and texts, but there are no replies at all. There is also no microphone / speaker to take calls.

With the Shortcuts app you can control any other Wyze device that you have in your smart home. You can pause notifications on your doorbell or turn on the lights, all from the clock, which is really neat … assuming you have other Wyze hardware. If you're just starting out, your options are limited here. Wyze is really trying to build an ecosystem here, and it's not subtle.

The watch's connectivity is spotty at best and there is no WiFi. So you are limited to bluetooth connectivity. When the watch is plugged in, things work fine and quickly. However, as the day progresses, your watch suddenly receives a series of notifications at once, as if the watch forgot to feed on notifications all the time. If you rely on the watch to stay connected to your phone and keep in touch with notifications, look elsewhere.

Focus on the data

Now we come to one of the main reasons people buy smartwatches – fitness tracking and data. First, there is no automatic data collection of any kind other than sleep. If you want the watch to track your heart rate, blood oxygen levels, or exercise activity, you need to tell the watch to do so. It's not the toughest thing in the world, but it's something a watch is supposed to do on its own.

The Wyze watch is similar to a high-end smartwatch.

In terms of the data itself, the accuracy for step counting and training distance is around 10% to 15% less than that of a Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. This means that while my Galaxy Watch 3 measures 6,000 steps, the Wyze watch measures 5,000 to 5,400. The sleep tracking is pretty accurate, although the app showed waking phases that I don't remember. That doesn't mean they didn't happen, but I don't remember them.

Accurate data is the best, but even inaccurate data can be useful if it is consistently inaccurate. In my case, I found that the data consistently does not match the information on the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3. You can use the data the watch collects to learn certain things about your day. You may not know exactly how many steps you took, but you can know that you took 25% more steps today than yesterday. It's certainly not ideal, but it can be useful depending on what you're trying to get out of it.

The good news is that most of the flaws in the Wyze watch are due to the software. What Wyze needs to bring to the table here is more types of exercise, better notification interactions, and more variety in the watch faces. The photo faces help, but even the Xiaomi Mi Band 5 offers more variety in the dials.

What worries me the most about the watch is connectivity. To say it's picky would be generous. It is absolutely bad. If you rely on your watch for notifications, you will be let down. Data like sleep and exercise data is synced with your phone when you connect, so you won't lose anything. It's a relief, albeit a small one.

Our opinion

The Wyze Watch is $ 20, and you get more than your money on this smartwatch – but not much more. Wyze claims the battery will last nine days, which is in line with my tests. Having just a nine-day smartwatch is tempting.

Where the experience falls apart is the lack of watch faces and apps, as well as the connectivity issues. Hopefully Wyze will continue to develop the watch so that its capabilities improve in the future. But for what it is right now, it's not the worst way to spend a single Andrew Jackson.

How long it will take?

The Wyze watch is solidly built and has a water resistance of up to two meters. There is no reason to believe that this watch will not last long. How well Wyze supports software development on the watch depends a lot more on its longevity than on the hardware, which is well built and doesn't feel cheap at all. There is a one year limited warranty against defects.

Is there a better alternative?

Naturally. This is the bottom of the barrel in the smartwatch department. That’s out of the question. Even your traditional fitness trackers cost more than this watch, which is so cheap that it's difficult to get comparable experiences in a similar price range. The best competitor I see is the Xiaomi Mi Band 6, which has just been announced and will be out later this year. This fitness band offers a similar experience in that it is nice but not great when it is above its weight class.

Should you buy it?

If you are serious about fitness or notifications, then this is not the place to be. This watch makes a lot of compromises en route to the $ 20 price range.

Connectivity is the deal breaker for me. I would be willing to accept any other compromise if I knew this watch would notify me. To its credit, it hasn't missed a notification yet, but sometimes it has delivered them much later – and about 20 at a time – which doesn't do me any good.

Editor's recommendations




13 Apr
Blog

What Does Biodynamic Mean For Your Skin?

You know the value of organic well – but have you heard of the ecological and nutritional benefits of biodynamics? A further development of the organic, biodynamic cultivation methods improves both the quality of the agricultural ingredients and the environmental impact. What does this mean for your skin care routine? Think of fortified organic: pure and effective ingredients that contain even more vitamins, nutrients and active ingredients.

With an entire collection dedicated to certified Biodynamic® ingredients, Eminence Organics is way ahead of the trend. Read on to learn why biodynamics is taking the beauty world by storm.

Man hand picking crops

Biodynamic cultivation methods

Both organic and biodynamic methods emphasize soil health and prohibit the use of synthetic chemicals – but the biodynamic method goes one step further. Biodynamic farming is an ancient method that produces healthier, cleaner and more sustainable crops than traditional organic farming. Biodynamic farmers view the farm as a living organism that is self-contained and self-sufficient. It is a closed cycle that depends very little on human intervention.

In contrast to organic farms, in which imported organic materials may be used, the biodynamic farm has to meet its needs from the inside out. Biodynamic farmers use a variety of regenerative farming techniques, including crop rotation, composting, transplanting, and seed saving, to ensure the health and longevity of a farm. The plants are grown to the rhythm of the strong phases of the moon and the tides of the ocean and harvested in their strongest state. The farm is treated as a living, breathing, self-sustaining ecosystem with special space for wildlife. Natural growing techniques are used to build healthy, nutrient-rich soils. No harsh chemical pesticides or fertilizers are used.

The biodynamic agricultural calendar

Biodynamic farmers follow a unique planting calendar based on the location of the moon, planets, and constellations. After the lunar cycles, the biodynamic calendar helps farmers determine the optimal times for harvesting and growing crops. According to the calendar, the best harvest time is when the moon rises and the sap of a plant rises. When the moon sets, a plant's vitality resides in its roots and it is time to plant and sow.

Demeter Biodynamic® certification

Demeter was founded in 1928 and is active in more than 50 countries. The company is the official certification body for Biodynamic® products. This non-profit organization has the world's oldest ecological certification system for agriculture, production and labeling of Biodynamic® ingredients. Biodynamic products are subject to extremely strict certification standards. For example, the company that produces the raw product must be certified by the Demeter Association and the product must meet the required percentages of Demeter Certified Biodynamic® ingredients. In addition, all packaging must be free from fungicides, preservatives, fumigants and insecticides.

Managing Director of Demeter USA Elizabeth Candelario says: "Demeter Biodynamic® certification for skin care products is the strictest standard in the world, which is why there are very few skin care companies like Eminence Organic Skin Care that achieve this." In contrast to organic certification, which focuses on harvesting, For the Biodynamic® certification, the entire company must be certified. So far there are only 300 certified Biodynamic® farms in the USA.

Are Biodynamic Ingredients Better For Your Skin?

Biodynamic agriculture provides pure and effective ingredients that benefit the skin. Since the farm, plants and animals work together as a self-sustaining cycle, this system produces the most effective ingredients possible. When seeds are planted and plants harvested after the lunar cycle, the plants receive most of the moisture and goodness. In addition, only natural medicinal herbs and mineral composts are used to improve the soil and ignite vigorous plant growth, making the biodynamic flora free of any chemical fertilizers and pesticides. This agricultural approach grows products that are unusually high in nutrients and active ingredients and are free of chemicals.

Product selection

Facial Recovery Oil

Facial Recovery Oil

VIEW PRODUCT

Cornflower Recovery Serum

Cornflower Recovery Serum

VIEW PRODUCT

Beyond the organic collection

Eminence Organics has harnessed the power of these pure and potent ingredients in the luxurious Beyond Organic Collection, which is hypoallergenic and suitable for even the most sensitive skin. This skin care collection includes award-winning products formulated with ingredients from Demeter International Certified Biodynamic® farms, as well as Certified Biodynamic® products such as our Facial Recovery Oil. The next time you visit an Eminence Organics Spa partner, look out for the Demeter certification badges and experience the difference between Biodynamic®.

Studies have shown that, on average, Biodynamic®® ingredients contain:

Watch our In The Mix video to learn how our certified Biodynamic® ingredients improve the health of your skin and the planet:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ3SoSHfS2I [/ embed]

Have you tried biodynamic products? We'd love to hear if you think there's a difference between conventional, organic, and biodynamic ingredients! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and join the conversation on social media.

This article was originally published in April 2018 and has been updated for accuracy and completeness.

12 Apr
Blog

10 Do Anywhere Exercises for Strong Arm Muscles

The sculpted, thick, wide biceps and arms never go out of style. Turn on these guns and do it without going to the gym.

When the weather is nice, you want to show some skin. You haven't hit the gym as often as you wanted and your arms look a little flat. You may want to take some time to do exercises that specifically target your arms to make them slim, sexy, and shaped so that you are ready to go to the nightclubs, go on vacation with your best friends or looking great in photos during an upcoming event.

Continue reading

12 Apr
Blog

Noticeable Physical Change as a Result of Weight Loss Diet

When is weight loss noticeable? Anyone could wonder about it. There is no straightforward answer to how quickly or slowly your weight loss will be felt to answer this question. There are many different elements that can affect the outcome of your weight loss plan. One reason that affects how fast you lose your fat is where your weight loss is at. To learn more about your weight loss, you can also read an article here: https://reshape.me/articles/whats-your-weight-loss-stage. This article explains why the result can vary.

😉 Your starting size

In fact, your baseline size has a huge impact on how long or soon you will notice your diet results. According to Very fitIf your starting weight is in the Body Mass Index (BMI) obesity range, it may be impossible to notice your weight loss quickly. Even so, you may not notice any weight fluctuations with a larger frame. If you have a small body and a lower BMI, your weight may drop more slowly, but you may notice it faster. On the other hand, if you start out taller, you will likely lose more weight faster, especially in the early days of your diet.

😄 Your diet type

Some diet programs are designed to include a start-up phase that leads to accelerated weight loss, such as: B. Atkins, South Beach, etc. The popular programs usually include a start for a week or two when the eating restriction is more intense and the result is that you lose more weight.

During the starting phase, you can lose five pounds or more a week. Your weight loss will be felt earlier. The weight loss you experience at this stage is often the result of water loss due to a carbohydrate limit, not fat loss.

😃 Your carbohydrate intake

Limiting your carbohydrate intake can lead to rapid water loss. The water in your body is needed to store the carbohydrates. So if you decrease the number of carbohydrates you consume, you will also lose the water your body needs to store the carbohydrates.

If there are more than one person, losing water may make their height appear different. Losing weight of water, however, is not synonymous with losing fat. While you are limited, your carbohydrate intake is a smart approach to losing weight; A healthy eating program must be followed for continued weight loss to occur.

😦 Your measurement method for noticing weight loss

In the end, almost everyone wants to feel comfortable in their own skin and look good wearing their clothes. But how they measure their progress can affect how quickly they see the result? In most cases, they are likely to see the changes on the scale first, especially if they are on a high-tech scale. These type of scales can capture very small changes in your body weight, even a fraction of a pound that may be too small to be noticed.

After that, people usually want to see the changes in their clothing size as well. Clothing size wouldn't change right away, but you will feel that your clothes are starting to fit differently. Later on, your weight loss may prompt you to change your clothing size. Some people may notice immediately that their thighs, abdomen, or face change in size. It can be genetic. These changes can occur before or after you feel the change in your clothing size. Please remember This increase in muscle mass can lead to weight gain on the scales even though you are losing your body fat.

😳 Noticeable Weight Loss Timeline

Below is a sample timeline of when to stick to a healthy eating program that limits your caloric intake and a moderate exercise regimen – it can be different for everyone.

➔ The first week: Most people see the change in the scale but don't see a major change in your body.

➔ The second week: You are likely to notice the change in the way your body looks and feels. And exercise feels easier and your clothes feel looser.

➔ The third week: This is the beginning of your weight loss journey. If you are consistent in your diet plan, your body reactions will be better and you will feel that your diet is successful.

➔ The fourth week: It is possible that you are already losing enough weight to try different sizes of clothes.

➔ After the fourth week: You will get used to your new eating habit. You can begin to revert to an adjustment to the diet to maintain your weight depending on the amount in which you are losing your weight.

12 Apr
Blog

Does Fish Oil Supplementation Impact Recovery?

The fish oil supplement has drawn a lot of attention due to its health benefits. In particular, omega-3 fatty acid supplementation has shown beneficial effects on blood pressure, triglycerides, and heart rate

In addition, they have been shown to improve arterial dilation, have anti-arrhythmic and anti-inflammatory properties. All of this has been shown to have a protective effect against the development of cardiovascular disease

However, less is known about the role of fish oil supplement in recovery from strength training.

A 2020 paper2 by VanDusseldorp et al. Get to work on researching the effects of fish oil supplementation on various indicators of recovery after a strenuous bout of eccentric exercise

A 2020 paper3 by Heileson et al. found that the minimum effective dose for the fish oil supplement to elicit a positive recovery response was 2 g supplemented for at least four weeks.3 However, research has been contradicting what the appropriate dosage should be.

Therefore, in the aforementioned article by VanDusseldorp and colleagues, the dosage between the groups was set at 2g, 4g, and 6g, and the effects of a seven-week protocol of supplementing fish oil were examined. This paper looked at a well-controlled study: 2

"Use of a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind experiment; Participants were randomly selected to consume 2- (2G), 4- (4G), or 6- (6G) g / day of either FO or placebo (PL) supplement for ~ 7.5 weeks (8 participants per group (4 men and 4 women per group); a 6-week enema in the supplementation period, a week of familiarization tests at the beginning of the week and experimental tests at the end of the week, and three days of recovery tests). Muscle soreness, venous blood (to assess creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and muscle function indices were assessed prior to eccentric exercise and immediately after 1, 2, 4, 24, 48, and 72 hours (H) after exercise The participants continued to add until they reached the 72-hour time point. "2

  1. Participants completed eccentric squats on a Smith machine at a pace of 4-0-1 for ten sets of eight repetitions each with 70% of their 1RM and three minutes of rest between sets.
  2. In addition, participants had to complete five sets of twenty split jump squats with body weight.
  3. The primary metrics used to assess muscle damage and recovery were blood biomarkers, perceived pain, vertical jump, agility test, 40 yard sprint, and maximum voluntary isometric contraction.

The researchers observed that 6 grams of fish oil supplement had a beneficial effect on perceived muscle soreness.

The participants reported lower pain values ​​at all measurement times. The 6 g group also decreased the recovery time from vertical jump performance. In some cases, this also resulted in better blood counts when monitoring indirect markers of muscle damage compared to the other controls.

What does that mean in practice? Although the researchers found a beneficial effect on recovery from consuming 6 g / day of fish oil, the magnitude of the effect was still relatively small. Therefore, a cost-benefit analysis should be the basis for deciding whether to use this strategy.

I don't usually recommend many supplements to individuals.

However, from a health perspective, I generally find fish oil supplementation beneficial. If you choose to take it for this reason, you may also notice some minor benefits of improved recovery.

If you want a comprehensive analysis of primary recovery strategies and how to use them effectively for better results, I finally covered them on Kabuki Strength.4

References

1. "Effects of B Vitamins and Omega-3 Fatty Acids on Cardiovascular Disease: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study." BMJ. 2010; 341: c6273. Accessed March 17, 2021.

2. Trisha A. VanDusseldorp, Kurt A. Escobar, Kelly E. Johnson, Matthew T. Stratton, Terence Moriarty, Chad M. Kerksick, Gerald T. Mangine, Alyssa J. Holmes, Matthew Lee, Marvin R. Endito and Christine M. Mermier, "Influence of Different Dosages of Fish Oil on Recovery and Pain After Eccentric Exercise." Nutrients, US National Library of Medicine, NIH. Published online July 27, 2020. Accessed March 16, 2021.

3. Heileson JL, Funderburk LK. "The Effect of Fish Oil Supplement on Promotion and Maintenance of Lean Body Mass, Strength, and Recovery from Physiological Stress in Young, Healthy Adults: A Systematic Review." Nutr Rev. 2020, December 1; 78 (12): 1001-1014.

4. Daniel Debrocke, "Optimize Your Recovery For Maximum Strength." Online Kabuki Strength, accessed March 16, 2021.

11 Apr
Blog

How to Train an Older Adult

Robert Linkul is the National Strength and Conditioning Associations (NSCA) 2012 Personal Trainer of the Year. Robert runs Be Stronger Fitness, a strength and conditioning facility focused on training an older clientele. With their skills and experience, Robert and his team are uniquely qualified to provide adequate strength training for the older adult.

Read Next To Exercise An Older Adult At Their Original Breaking Muscle Source: https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/how-to-train-an-older-adult

11 Apr
Blog

Why Plantar Fasciitis is More Common Than You Think

Hasewaga et al. (2020) claim that one in ten people will develop plantar fasciitis when they investigate minimally invasive treatment for plantar fasciitis. The term itself refers to inflammation and microcracks of the plantar fascia. Your plantar fascia is a thick band of tissue that runs along the arch of your foot from your toes to your heel.

The plantar fascia becomes a source of pain in trainees who overpronate or wear flexible, minimalist shoes without the appropriate strength in their foot muscles. Symptoms are pain and tenderness along the arch of the foot and heel.

Read on to find out why plantar fasciitis is more common than you think at its original source of broken muscle: https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/why-plantar-fasciitis-is-more-common-than-you-think

11 Apr
Blog

Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) Cuffs for Boundary Pushers

When we think of fitness products that are paired with smartphone apps, the first thing that springs to mind is whether that product can be properly paired with the app on the smartphone. Fortunately, I can say with confidence that SAGA Fitness did an excellent job developing its smart Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) cuffs.

If you are preparing for competitions like the Crossfit Open, martial arts tournaments, or want to get a head start in your training, this product is a must have.

Let's discuss the various components of this product and how it has helped me improve my training efficiency.

Excellent quality and user feedback

The cuffs themselves are made of high quality material. You can feel it as soon as you put it on your arms or legs.

Anna Davey wears BFR cuffs

The cuff will inflate to match the settings you entered into the app and you can hear it.

From a user experience perspective, this is a great way to provide feedback to the user that the cuffs will adjust to the athlete's desired settings. I mean, the fact that you can feel the cuffs tighten around your limbs is one thing, but how else can you tell if they are no longer inflated?

I tried using the cuffs while working on my chin ups and bar muscles. The results have been phenomenal. After ten days of training, I was able to increase my repetitions. Note, however, that you should read up on BFR training before using it.

The app gives you recommendations based on the suggested settings. However, I'm sure you can agree that we should try to make every workout count. Also check out the infographic from Brad Schoenfeld, author of Science and Development of Muscle Hypertrophy. Great roundup of what BFR can and can't do for you (click the image for source).

Blood Flow Restriction (BFR) cuffs for Boundary Pushers - reviews, crossfit, martial arts, muscle building, crossfit open, pull-ups, fitness apps, fitness technology, training to restrict blood flow

Easy to use app and an intuitive user interface

Designing an application takes a lot of work.

However, designing an intuitive and easy-to-use application requires work and attention to detail.

The design of the user interface is simple and minimalist. This design enables the athlete / trainee to perform tasks in the app intuitively.

When I received the shipping package, it only contained the cuffs, USB charger, and Erin's note, the general manager of SAGA Fitness. There were no instructions.

However, please do not let that stop you from ordering the product.

It shows how simple and intuitive the entire product is.

It was a seamless process to download the app, set up a profile, and finally use the cuffs in training. An instruction manual wouldn't make it any easier.

If you love pushing boundaries

This is a product that I would recommend to serious exercisers and athletes.

If you love to push the boundaries of your limits, then most likely you will enjoy this product as much as I do.

Imagine that; I went from one bar muscle to five in a row in 10 days.

However, I am by no means saying that this is guaranteed to be the case for anyone who chooses to purchase a set of BFR cuffs on the SAGA fitness website.

What I am going to say is that if you exercise consistently, learn about BFR training, and finally introduce these BFR cuffs into your workout, you will see remarkable results.

I'm sure we can all agree that a weapon or device is only as good as the person using it.

11 Apr
Blog

Asus ZenBook 13 OLED (UM325) Review: AMD Laptop Perfection?

asus zenbook 13 oled um32 review 1

Asus ZenBook 13 OLED UM325 Review: AMD Laptop Perfection?

"The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED is an indispensable laptop as long as you don't need a headphone jack."

  • Awesome OLED screen

  • Excellent touchpad and keyboard

  • The battery life is spectacular

  • Very thin and light

I may have found the perfect laptop. Or at least something that comes very close.

It's not made by Apple, Microsoft, or even Dell. From the outside, it doesn't even look particularly remarkable. When I pulled the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED out of the box, I fully expected it to be another solid mid-range laptop.

Then I tested the 1080p OLED screen. And benchmarking the AMD Ryzen 7 5800U processor inside. And then he noticed how long it took on a single charge.

The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED has it all. Nearly. Despite a few flaws, the ZenBook 13 OLED (UM325) is a laptop that all potential buyers should consider when it hits general availability in May.

design

The appearance of the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED is the least noticeable feature. It's by no means a bad looking laptop – but if you've seen a ZenBook, you've seen this one. I'm not a big fan of the concentric circle on the lid or the plastered logo on the front, but it's one of the prettier laptops Asus made recently.

This is especially true when you open the lid and see what the laptop has to offer inside. Everything is beautifully laid out, including the oversized touchpad and new keyboard. The layout and keycaps are reminiscent of HP's Specter laptops – but that's not a bad thing. The extra column of buttons under the power button offers some extra functionality, and the font with the keycap feels modern and clean.

At 0.55 inches and 2.5 pounds thick, the ZenBook 13 OLED is both thinner and lighter than most of its competitors, including the Dell XPS 13, HP Specter x360 13, Surface Laptop 3 13, Razer Book 13, and MacBook Pro 13 in. This makes a very portable laptop that is great for on the go. Even if it just moves from room to room, the small footprint comes in handy.

Despite its size, the chassis is robust. You may feel some flexing when applying extra force, but it's not something you will notice in daily use. The hinge opens with one finger and is lifted off the table when it is opened, creating a slight ramp for comfortable typing. I usually don't like these kind of raised hinges, but Asus pulled them off in a way that isn't distracting or ugly.

The aspect ratio of the screen is the main disadvantage of the ZenBook 13 OLED's design. It uses 16: 9, which went out of style in 2021 in favor of larger, more productive sizes like 16:10 or 3: 2. When you go back to 16: 9, the screen feels stocky. More importantly, the screen has a chubby chin bezel due to the size at the bottom. It's not a thorn in the side, it's just not quite as modern as the Dell XPS 13 or the Razer Book 13.

Asus decided that you don't need a headphone jack on your laptop.

My final complaint with the design of the ZenBook 13 OLED is ports. For some reason, Asus decided that you don't need a headphone jack on your laptop. If Asus were going for a more minimalist setup, that would probably make sense. However, the ZenBook 13 OLED has HDMI and USB-A. Yes, it's an odd choice that is likely to piss people off who didn't realize there wasn't a headphone jack until they needed it.

Fortunately, Asus includes an adapter in the box, but it lets you close either of your two available USB-C ports.

Display and speakers

The Asus ZenBook 13 isn't the first 13-inch notebook with an OLED screen – it was the HP Specter x360. However, this laptop is the first to implement a 13-inch 1080p OLED screen. That's a big deal as OLED panels keep getting cheaper – and hopefully reach more people.

It's not that the ZenBook 13 OLED is super cheap, but compared to the 4K models that OLED is exclusive to. What's the big deal with OLED? Well you will tell the difference when you see it in person. With OLED, pixels are rented out individually, which means that black levels and contrast ratio blow conventional LEDs out of the water. It's not even close, especially on a glossy screen like this one.

The OLED panel feels like the future of laptop displays.

397 nits are bright enough to prevent reflections, but it's the colors that really make this display pop. 100% sRGB and AdobeRGB color spaces are unknown on a 1080p screen, and the color accuracy is among the best I've ever tested with a Delta E of 0.49. Photographers may complain about the lack of a 4K option, but they definitely won't complain about the colors.

The display is non-touchable, as is common with 1080p screens.

When it comes to panels and calibration, the ZenBook 13 OLED is the future of laptop displays.

The same is not true of the speakers. The chintzy audio comes from underneath the laptop and points directly at your table or lap. The sound is messed up, especially when compared to all MacBooks. With speakers in this location, this will always be a problem.

Keyboard and touchpad

I am very happy with the inputs on the ZenBook 13 OLED. I've already mentioned the keyboard's appearance, but it's also very precise and comfortable to type. The layout is comfortable and the 1.4mm key travel feels heavenly compared to many of the 1mm keyboards.

The keyboard does not contain a fingerprint reader. This is an odd feature that a premium device left out.

My only problem was the backlight. There are three levels of backlight brightness, but there are some noticeable uneven spots. It's quite light over the middle zone while others are darker. This is a pity.

The touchpad is similarly successful. It's extra wide, but great for rejecting palms when typing. Tracking is smooth, as are gestures. My only sucker? The click is a little louder than I like. This is especially noticeable if you're coming from a MacBook.

The laptop has a sloppy 720p webcam over the display. It's no surprise how bad it is, but this should be reserved for emergencies only. However, it does include a built-in IR camera for Windows Hello facial recognition.

performance

Thanks to the new Ryzen processors from AMD, the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED offers remarkable performance for a laptop of this size. My device came with the Ryzen 7 5800U, an eight-core processor with a base clock of 1.9 GHz. When you add 16 GB of RAM and one TB of SSD storage, you have a pretty powerful little computer.

This is the first laptop I tested with this chip and I was disappointed. This is a significant improvement over last year's Ryzen 4000 processors and a clear head start over what Intel offers. This is especially true of multi-core performance, of course, thanks to the additional cores and threads that AMD's 7nm chips offer.

Geekbench (single / multi) Cinbench R23 (single / multi) PCMark 10 3DMark Time Spy
Asus ZenBook 13 OLED 1423/6758 1171/7824 6034 1342
Dell XPS 13 (Core i7-1185G7) 1549/5431 1399/4585 n / A 1380
HP Specter x360 14 (Core i7-1165G7) 1214/4117 1389/3941 4728 1457
Razor Book 13 (Core i7-1165G7) 1548/5374 1508/4519 4878 1776
MacBook Pro 13 (M1) 1707/7377 1487/7547 n / A n / A
Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 (Core i7-1185G7) 1532/5415 1435/4409 4800 1648

What's the use of this for performance in the real world? All of the laptops listed above are great for everyday work activities such as multitasking, web browsing, office applications, and video conferencing. That is to be assumed.

The reason the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED beats its competitors in PCMark 10 is mainly because of its excellent content creation performance. If you want to run some creative applications like Photoshop or Lightroom on the side, the ZenBook 13 OLED will surprise you how fast it is with these heavier tasks.

The ZenBook 13 OLED remains an undeniable argument for AMD in 2021.

It's even a decent video production machine. It's 41% faster than the Razer Book 13 in H.265 video encoding in Handbrake, which shows the big difference those additional cores make. In Handbrake it is even 7% faster than in the Ryzen 7 4800U from last year when I tested it in the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7.

Now the ZenBook 13 OLED will obviously never again be compared to a 15-inch laptop with a discrete graphics card in real video editing. Even a modest 15-inch laptop like the HP Specter x360 15 (Core i7-10750H / GTX 1650 Ti) was 45% faster in PugetBench's Adobe Premiere Pro benchmark. This is also where the incredible performance of the MacBook Pro M1 exudes, which is just as fast as that of the Specter x360 15 in the same test.

That said, the ZenBook 13 OLED remains an undeniable argument for AMD in 2021, especially if you're not interested in a move to macOS.

Battery life

Battery life is the final trick in the case of the ZenBook 13 OLED. It took an amazing 15 hours and 46 minutes on our web browser test, which is as good as it gets for a laptop of this type. That was true for last year's AMD laptops, and it is true for this year as well. It beat the HP Specter x360 14 by nearly 9 hours and the XPS 13 by 7.5 hours. In fact, it only takes 19 minutes to keep up with the MacBook Pro!

The ZenBook 13 OLED's lower resolution explains some of this, but even when compared to other 1080p laptops, the ZenBook 13 OLED is way ahead of the competition.

Meanwhile, the ZenBook also lasted 15.5 hours while the video was looping. This is another test in which the MacBook Pro M1 dominates and it lasts over 21 hours. But here, too, the ZenBook 13 OLED is at least 3 or 4 hours ahead of many of the best Intel laptops.

Of course, your mileage can vary depending on how hard you push the system. With the ZenBook 13 OLED as my daily driver for almost a full week, I found it easy to get through a work day without a charge, and there was enough juice left to handle a couple of hours the next morning.

Our opinion

The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED is way ahead of the competition in almost every important category. The OLED screen is a standout feature, as is AMD performance and fantastic battery life. Do I wish it had a headphone jack and a 16:10 screen? Naturally. But the strengths more than make up for these mistakes.

The only caveat is pricing, which is still ongoing. Some international prices suggest the base configuration will be around $ 1,000 while our pimped up model is likely to cost a few hundred more.

Any alternatives?

The best choice is the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 chip. It's cheaper, faster, and has a higher resolution screen. Of course, it has neither an OLED screen nor a USB-A and HDMI connection.

However, if you don't want to upgrade to a Mac, the Dell XPS 13, HP Specter x360 14, and Razer Book 13 offer a competitive package. The XPS 13 is still the prettiest of the range and would still be my pick of the four laptops.

How long it will take?

The Asus ZenBook 13 OLED should last at least four or five years. The 16: 9 aspect ratio will continue to be a bit dated going forward, but the chassis and components are all sturdy and future-proof.

Should you buy it?

Yes. It's one of the most exciting laptops of recent times, especially if you're looking for an AMD device in 2021.

Editor's recommendations




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