28 Jun
Blog

Asus VivoBook Flip 14 Review: A Fast, Cheap AMD Laptop

Asus Vivobook Flip 14 review 3

Asus VivoBook Flip 14 2021

"The Asus VivoBook Flip 14 is a powerful budget laptop despite the disappointing display and build quality."

  • Outstanding productivity performance

  • Mostly attractive aesthetics

  • Affordable

  • Active pen is bundled

  • Upgradable RAM and storage

  • Mediocre build quality

  • Glossy display

  • Below average battery life

Everyone likes a good budget laptop. They may not seem as exciting as the latest and greatest, but budget-conscious laptops have their place. Not everyone has the resources or the need for a laptop that costs well over $ 1,000, but everyone deserves great things. Finding a diamond in the rough can be a lot of fun.

Most manufacturers have a distinct budget lineup, and in Asus' case, that's the VivoBook. The company recently launched the updated VivoBook Flip 14, an AMD-powered 360-degree convertible 2-in-1 designed to deliver solid performance and an exciting experience at a low laptop price.

I checked the VivoBook Flip 14 configuration for $ 629 (if Asus offers it on their website, it will sell for $ 600) which has an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB PCIe -SSD and a 14-inch IPS Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) display in the increasingly old-fashioned 16: 9 aspect ratio. You can also get a version with a 256GB SSD for just $ 529. Attractive features for the price, but does the VivoBook Flip 14 keep its value proposition?

design

The VivoBook Flip 14 is mostly made of plastic, with the lid lined with an aluminum alloy. You don't have to buy plastic for this price, but it's not uncommon. Unfortunately, the build quality was not up to the usual Asus standard, with a lid that bends with too little force and can cause LCD distortion, quite a bit of flex in the keyboard deck, and a case base that yields to pressure. The similarly priced Acer Swift 3 is more solidly built, and for around $ 300 you can grab the HP Envy x360 13, which is also much better built – unsurprisingly, both machines are on our list of best budget laptops . You won't find many 14-inch 2-in-1s at this price level, so I can't think of a direct comparison that we tested.

Aesthetically, the VivoBook Flip 14 is a little more impressive, if a little strange at the same time. It comes in a “Bespoke Black” color scheme that covers 99% of the chassis. There's a bright silver logo on the lid and some chrome bars around the touchpad, but that's mostly it. It is strange that the Enter key has a lime green border and lettering and stands out rather boldly – but at the same time I would say garish. And it's the only element on the laptop that bears that color, so it's not part of a theme.

If you're usually struggling to find Enter, the bold color scheme helps, but I usually don't run into this predicament so the color scheme detracts from the aesthetic for me. Still, I think the VivoBook Flip 14 looks better than the Swift 3 and is on par with the Envy x360 13. In fact, it's as attractive as a more expensive notebook like the MSI Prestige 14 Evo and has a more distinctive look than the Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 2-in-1, which is also about $ 300 more expensive.

The bezels are a bit big with a screen-to-body ratio of 82%. Premium laptops tend to be 90% or better, but the VivoBook Flip 14 isn't bad for a budget device. That makes the chassis a bit bigger, and it's not the thinnest or lightest 14-inch laptop at 0.72 inches and 3.31 pounds. The Yoga 7i comes in at 0.69 inches and 3.09 pounds, while the MSI Prestige 14 is 0.63 inches thick and weighs 2.85 pounds.

The Acer Swift 5, another 14-inch clamshell, is just 0.59 inches thick and fairly light at 2.31 pounds – it's also twice as expensive. Looking at our budget competition, the Acer Swift 3 is 0.63 inches thick and weighs 2.65 pounds, and the HP Envy x360 13 is 0.65 inches thick and weighs 2.92 pounds. Obviously, the VivoBook Flip 14 doesn't win the thin and easy battle.

Asus built its ErgoLift hinge into the VivoBook Flip 14, which is a nice touch considering the overall complexity of the 360-degree hinge. It works well, raises the keyboard deck to a more comfortable typing angle, and theoretically offers additional space for air to circulate – except there are no vents on the bottom of the laptop. Rather, the air is sucked in via the keyboard, so that the usual thermal advantages are not available. Anyway, the hinge is a bit stiff and the lid takes two hands to open, but it keeps the display in place in clamshell, tent, media, and tablet modes.

Asus has also built in some upgrade options. The SSD slot is easily accessible if you ever want to upgrade the memory, and of the test device's 8 GB of RAM, 4 GB is soldered to the motherboard and the other 4 GB is plugged in. So you can swap this out for an 8 GB chip if necessary and increase your RAM to 12 GB. A maximum of 16 GB is available, which of course has to be configured when ordering the laptop.

Connectivity is good, with a USB-A 2.0 port, a USB-A 3.2 port, a USB-C Gen 2 port, a full-size HDMI 1.4 port, a 3.5mm audio jack and a microSD card reader. A proprietary connector provides power, and given the AMD chipset, there is no Thunderbolt support. Wireless connectivity is a bit behind the times with Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2.

performance

The VivoBook Flip 14 featured the first six-core Ryzen 5 5500U CPU we tested, and I was curious to see how it compares to the various Tiger Lake variants from Intel and the Ryzen 7 series. I got away impressed.

It didn't dominate Geekbench 5, with the lower single-core score typical of AMD chips and the more competitive multi-core score. It landed in third place in the comparison group, behind the Asus ZenBook 13 UM325UA with an eight-core Ryzen 7 5800U, which dominated, and the MSI Prestige 14 Evo with its four-core Intel Core i7-1185G7. In PCMark 10, the VivoBook Flip 14 took second place behind the ZenBook 13 and did particularly well in the content creation of this test. Accordingly, the Ryzen 5 5500U is competitive with Intel's Core i7 and significantly faster than the Core i5.

The VivoBook Flip 14 was particularly convincing in two particularly compute-intensive apps, Handbrake and Cinebench R23. In the Handbrake test, which encodes a 420 MB video as H.265, the Asus was 31 seconds faster than the Prestige 14 Evo and only seven seconds behind the ZenBook 13. The results in the demanding Cinebench R23 test were similar, where At least in multicore mode, the VivoBook Flip 14 took just second place behind the ZenBook 13 and was significantly faster than the Prestige 14 Evo. And the Ryzen 5 5500U is a real step up from the previous generation, making the VivoBook Flip 14 an impressive budget performer.

As with all current Ryzen laptops we tested, the VivoBook Flip 14 excels in CPU-intensive tasks and will go through the typical productivity workflow. It can handle creative applications too, although its Radeon Graphics doesn't offer much in the way of enhancing applications that the GPU can take advantage of. Of course, this also applies to Intel's integrated Iris Xe graphics. In this comparison group, only the HP Envy 14 with its Nvidia GeForce GTX-1650 Ti brings real added value for these applications. Everywhere else, the VivoBook Flip 14 will do exceptionally well, especially given its $ 630 price tag.

Underdog Bench 5
(Single / multiple)		 Handbrake
(Seconds)		 Cinebench R23
(Single / multiple)		 PCMark 10 3DMark time spy
Asus VivoBook Flip 14
(Ryzen 5 5500U)		 1102/5432 131 1180/7579 5191 1099
MSI Prestige 14 Evo (Core i7-1185G7) 1593/5904 162 1479/6680 4866 1465
Acer Swift 3 2020 (Ryzen7 4700U) 1120/4831 152 N / A N / A 975
HP Envy x360 13 (Ryzen 5 4500U) 1101/4485 176 N / A N / A 902
Asus ZenBook 13 UM325UA
(Ryzen7 5800U)		 1423/6758 124 1171/7824 6034 1342
HP Envy 14 2020 (Core i5-1135G7) 1398/4741 190 1343/5028 5178 3147

One area that won't impress is gaming. The 3DMark Time Spy test result is nothing special, and the VivoBook Flip 14 performed poorly in Fortnite. It only managed 25 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and medium graphics, in line with laptops with Intel Iris Xe graphics. It reached 15 fps in epic graphics, which in turn corresponds to Intel's integrated GPU. Simply put, the VivoBook Flip 14 is not a gaming laptop at any cost.

display

Spend $ 630 on a laptop and you'll be giving up on something. There is usually a big tradeoff in display quality and the VivoBook Flip 14 is no exception.

First, it's not very bright at just 230 nits (we like to see 300 nits or more). This is almost identical to the 233 nits of the Acer Swift 3, and so the VivoBook Flip 14 is not alone among budget laptops with a weak display. The contrast is also poor at 720: 1, below the Swift 3's 770: 1 and well below our preferred threshold of 1000: 1. The Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 performs even worse with 690: 1, which shows that it is not only true budget laptops that suffer from poor contrast.

Next came the VivoBook Flip 14's colors, which were incredibly narrow. The coverage of the Adobe RGB color space was only 50% and the sRGB color space was only 66%. That's well below the 70% and 95%, respectively, that we normally see minimums on mid-range and premium laptops – and the HP Envy x360 13, which is on our top budget list, scored 71% and 96%, which is much better is. I notice that the Swift 3 was in the same class as the Asus at 48% and 64%, respectively. The VivoBook Flip 14's color accuracy was better than the Swift 3's 4.76 at a Delta E of 2.62 (1.0 or less is considered excellent), while the Envy x360 13 got a lower 2.26.

Subjectively, the VivoBook Flip 14's display wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. It's enough for web browsing and productivity apps, but that's about it. Viewing media on the 2-in-1 device was also not a terrible experience despite the poor colors and contrasts.

Two downward facing speakers provide audio with Harman Kardon tuning. The speakers get loud, but also distorted, with crackling at any volume above 80%. Treble was blown out and mids muffled, which resulted in a tinny sound. Of course there was no question of bass. You'll be fine with system sounds and the occasional YouTube videos, but anything else requires headphones or a pair of bluetooth speakers.

Keyboard and touchpad

The keyboard on the VivoBook Flip 14 is eerily reminiscent of HP's Specter keyboard, which is purposely a good choice. It offers good spacing, large keys with attractive and easy-to-read lettering and a number of Home, PgUp, PgDn, End and Fn keys on the far right. Unfortunately, although it looks like a Specter keyboard, it doesn't feel like it. There's a lot of travel and a nice click to the switches, but the ground motion is too abrupt. There's no crisp jump like HP, and the overall typing experience isn't nearly as comfortable. I would rate this keyboard a few steps behind the Specter and Dell XPS keyboards and way behind Apple's Magic Keyboard on the latest MacBooks. I will notice that the three-level backlight is even and useful.

To be clear, the touchpad is way too small. There's still plenty of room on the keyboard deck for a larger version, and the small size is reinforced by the fingerprint reader in the right corner. The touchpad is a Microsoft Precision version, so it works fine with good support for Windows 10 multi-touch gestures, but it's tiny.

The display is of course touch-enabled, as it is a 2-in-1, and an Asus active pen is included. It supports Windows 10 inking well, with smooth strokes and precise response.

The fingerprint reader mentioned above has Windows 10 Hello support for passwordless login. It was quick and accurate during my tests, and it was welcome on such an inexpensive laptop.

Battery life

Asus only put 42 watt hours of battery into the VivoBook Flip 14, which is not much for a 14-inch display even with Full HD resolution and a powerful CPU. I wasn't expecting great battery life.

Starting with our web browser test that ran through a number of popular websites, the VivoBook Flip 14 lasted nine hours. That's a little less than average for this class of machine, but not a terrible result. The Acer Swift 3 managed just eight hours, while the HP Envy x360 13 managed a little over nine hours. In our video test, which plays a Full HD Avengers trailer until the battery runs out, the VivoBook Flip 14 lasted 12 hours, again slightly less than average, but not too much compared to the Swift 3's 10 hours disappointing. The Envy x360 13 beats both with 13 hours.

The VivoBook Flip 14 lasted just over two hours in the PCMark 10 gaming test, which stresses the CPU and GPU, which is average for the test. The Lenovo Yoga 7i managed just over 2.5 hours, and we didn't test the Swift 3 or the Envy x360 13 with this benchmark. In the PCMark 10 Applications test, which is the best indicator of battery life, the VivoBook Flip was again below average with just over nine hours. That still beats the 8.5 hours of the Yoga 7i.

Overall, the VivoBook Flip 14 was only a hair behind the pack in terms of battery life. It will likely take a full working day if you don't put too much stress on the CPU, but it definitely suffers from the small battery. However, this is again a budget laptop, and so the results are pretty good if you keep the price in mind.

Our opinion

The VivoBook Flip 14 is really very fast for a $ 630 laptop. Its build isn't the best, its battery life is slower, and its keyboard isn't one of my favorites. But a laptop that works like this for so little money shouldn't be neglected.

If you have a demanding productivity workflow or occasionally use creative applications, the VivoBook Flip 14 will give you the performance you are looking for. And nothing else is so bad about the laptop that you shouldn't think twice about it.

Are there alternatives?

I'll start with the Asus ZenBook 13 OLED UM325UA. It's not a 2-in-1, but it costs just $ 170 more for a color-accurate OLED display, a faster AMD Ryzen 7 5800U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB PCIe solid-state drive. If your budget isn't that tight and you don't really need a 2-in-1, then the ZenBook 13 is a great option.

If you need a 2-in-1 and your budget is limited, the HP Envy x360 13 is a solid alternative. It's also a little more expensive, but you get better performance, better battery life, and a better display. What do you dislike?

How long it will take?

The VivoBook Flip 14 isn't the most solid notebook we've tested, but it's not bad for a budget device. It won't withstand extreme abuse, but with normal wear and tear at home and in the office, it should last for several years. You won't be surprised by the one-year limited warranty.

Should you buy it?

Yes, if you don't need a color-accurate display and you are short of money. The outstanding performance of the VivoBook Flip 14 makes up for many of its weaknesses.

Editor's recommendations



13 May
Blog

Asus Zenfone Flip Review: The Selfie Master Returns

Asus Zenfone 8 Flip review

Asus Zenfone 8 Flip Review: The Selfie Master Returns

"The Zenfone 8 Flip's unique motorized camera module makes it the best selfie camera you can buy, but the rest of the phone goes unnoticed because of its sturdy body and recycled design."

  • Motorized camera means amazing selfies

  • Excellent audio

  • Ideal for playing

  • Fast, reliable software

  • No water resistance

  • No wireless charging

  • Big and heavy

If you expect the Zenfone 8 Flip to be a radical departure from the Zenfone 7 Pro, you will be disappointed as the phone is almost identical to the 2020 flagship on the outside. It's also not exactly Asus' big release for 2021, evidenced by the lack of a "Pro" suffix. This honor actually goes to the “compact flagship” Zenfone 8.

So should you even care? Yes, as some important changes have been made internally and the technically very clever motorized camera module means it's still one of the best smartphones you can buy if you really love selfies. Just don't expect the rest of the phone to delight you in the same way.

design

Give or take a few tenths of a millimeter, the Zenfone 8 Flip is exactly the same size and shape as the Zenfone 7 Pro. Asus may have kept the Zenfone 8's body less than 70mm wide to make it easy to use with one hand, but the Zenfone 8 Pro doesn't. It is 77 mm wide, 9.8 mm thick and weighs 230 grams. The back is made of glass, the body is made of metal, and the flip camera module is made of liquid metal for strength and lightness.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The flip camera is the reason you buy the Zenfone 8 Flip because it allows you to use the rear cameras for selfie tasks too. The motor – a wonderful piece of technology on a small scale – quickly flips the camera out and over the top of the phone so that the three cameras are pointed at you. It's a very mechanical experience as you can hear and feel the motors and gears working at the same time, a very unusual tactile feeling on a modern smartphone. It's fast and smooth, and Asus has upgraded the components to improve durability. Now it promises to last at least 300,000 flips compared to 200,000 on the Zenfone 7 Pro.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I like the flip camera. It's unique, works very well, and has features not available on any other smartphone. However, the entire Zenfone 8 Pro package is dated as the design hasn't changed at all from last year's phone, and it arguably isn't much different from the Zenfone 6 Flip either. The Zenfone 8 Flip is big, heavy, thick, and just not nifty or pretty enough compared to phones like the OnePlus 9 Pro, iPhone 12, and Samsung Galaxy S21. This makes the Zenfone 8 Pro more difficult to sell, despite the pull of the flip camera.

screen

The 6.67-inch AMOLED screen on the front of the Zenfone 8 Flip, made by Samsung, is not interrupted by a punch or notch, as the flip camera makes something like that irrelevant. It has a refresh rate of 90 Hz, a touch sampling rate of 200 Hz, a maximum brightness of 1,000 nits and special features such as a DCI-P3 color gamut. Asus claims the bezels are smaller than the Zenfone 7 Pro, but I don't see much of a difference.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

It's the popular 20: 9 aspect ratio that's shared by phones like the Galaxy S21 and OnePlus 9. As you'd expect, it's great for watching videos and games. It's an FHD + resolution, but I didn't miss the higher resolution that phones like the OnePlus 9 Pro offer under normal circumstances, and it also extends the battery life. It doesn't have an extreme curve on either side, so it's mostly flat, which can be attractive too.

For lengthy viewing sessions, the size and weight made the Zenfone 8 Flip more tiring than lighter and more compact devices, and while the screen is bright and colorful, the lack of a front-facing selfie camera cutout isn't enough to excite me about having it over one of the other really impressive phone screens like the iPhone 12 Pro, OnePlus 9 Pro, and Galaxy S21 +.

camera

The Zenfone 8 Flip has a total of three cameras, all of which are in the same module. The main model is a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 with an aperture of f / 1.8, phase-detection autofocus and 8K video recording with electronic image stabilization. The second is a 12MP Sony IMX363 wide angle camera with f / 2.2 aperture and auto focus, and the third is an 8MP camera with 3x optical zoom.

Asus Zenfone 8 Flip Review Mirrored CameraAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

Asus Zenfone 8 Flip Review Flip Cam BackAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

Asus Zenfone 8 Flip review cam angleAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

For a rear camera, the Zenfone 8 Flip's setup is decent but not outstanding, but for a front camera setup, it's about the best you can get. All of the above features, as well as various video modes, are ready for selfies too. That means wide-angle selfies, 3x zoom selfies, and even 8K video selfies if that's what you really want, and absolutely no other phone offers the same functionality in its front-facing camera.

Even the Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra, with its tiny rear screen, isn't as easy to use as the Zenfone 8 Flip for high-quality selfies, as you're staring at the full 6.67-inch screen as you shoot. The Asus camera app is great too and offers plenty of speed to suit its functionality. The flip module can be set to different angles via a context menu that allows you to take photos from unusual angles. The motorized flip camera has an automatic panorama mode where it moves for you instead of moving the phone and a tracking mode.

All of this is very good, but does the camera take good photos? It's technically very similar to the Zenfone 8's camera, which means the photos are very easy to share due to the strong HDR effect and bright, eye-catching colors. I think they look great, and I prefer this to an underexposed shot that I have to edit before I want to share it. It's not very consistent, however, and the wide-angle camera struggles with difficult lighting. I stuck to using the main camera and 3x optical zoom, which adds to the versatility of the Zenfone 8 Flip's camera.

You can choose different angles for the flip module with the push of a button, but I'm having trouble finding a scenario where this makes a lot of sense. The auto panorama mode is effective and improves sewing because there is no camera shake when panning. The motion tracking also uses the motorized module and keeps up very well, provided the subject isn't moving too fast. While all of these fun little features work well, they are a little tricky and probably won't get used very often.

The Zenfone 8 Flip has a good rear camera that takes photos that you love to share without messing around with a lot of editing and an amazing front camera that takes better selfies than any other phone. It's a strange statement when you know the back and the selfie camera are one and the same. Compared to other phones like this one, the Zenfone 8 Flip's unique camera feature ensures that it stands out from the selfie crowd.

Performance and software

Asus' ZenUI interface is based on Android 11 and roughly corresponds to the experience you get with a Google Pixel phone. It is therefore relatively free of unnecessary apps, functions and functions. It's clean, easy-to-use software with a lot of Android features that I like, including a great dark theme, simple settings menu, standard notifications without changing the notification shade, and an easy turn-off screen when you hold down the power button. It may sound silly, but these make the phone logical and pleasant to live with on a daily basis. It was completely reliable too.

asus zenfone 8 flip review appsAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

Asus Zenfone 8 Flip Review AngleAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

Asus Zenfone 8 Flip Review Refresh RateAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

Asus Zenfone 8 Flip Review Screen HandheldAndy Boxall / Digital Trends

I really enjoyed playing on the Zenfone 8 Flip thanks to a combination of the monster performance of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, the 20: 9 aspect ratio screen, and the superb audio I'm used to from Asus. It's not quite on par with the ROG Phone 5, but it's pretty close with a deep, melodic, and distortion-free sound at almost any volume. I've played Asphalt 9: Legends for more than an hour in one session (shhh, don't tell my editor) on the Zenfone 8 Flip, and this is where the weight and size can give the phone an edge as the weight makes it easy to grip.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The 5,000 mAh battery is much better than the cell in the Zenfone 8. It took up to two days with moderate use with Wi-Fi, and is slightly longer than a day even with some lengthy gaming sessions and WhatsApp video calls. The phone supports Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 and Asus' 30 W HyperCharge with the included network block. Wireless charging is not possible.

Price and availability

The Asus Zenfone 8 Flip has 8 GB of RAM and either 128 GB or 256 GB of storage space and costs $ 972 from 799 euros. US price and availability have not been confirmed at the time of writing. The Asus Zenfone 7 Pro sold for around $ 800 in the US. So if the Zenfone 8 Flip makes it too, we're assuming it will be somewhere near that cost.

Our opinion

Living with the Zenfone 8 Flip was like going back to early 2020. The design wasn't really a winner before, it's just too heavy, and seeing it again in 2021 is unhappy and makes the phone look and dated feel. The size and weight will put some people off, but I found it works in favor of the phone when gaming, especially when combined with the excellent sound. However, you definitely know you have a 230 gram phone in your pocket.

The Zenfone 8 Flip lives and dies from how badly you want the flip camera. If you take a lot of selfies, the features and specs on paper are second to none, and you'll get great results compared to any phone with a single front camera. However, if you are serious about mobile photography in general, better phone cameras are not available for much more money.

It might be an impressive piece of technology, but the flip module means the Zenfone 8 Flip is not water-resistant, nor can the phone be charged wirelessly. Asus makes a good case for not including wireless charging. It helps control the battery life with wired charging and special modes. Sometimes it helps, and both it and an IP68 rating are generally considered a basic data sheet these days.

Where's the Zenfone 8 Flip? It's typical of Asus: a well-made, well-designed and well-equipped device that serves a niche with a unique function. It's the same offering as the ROG Phone 5 for gamers and the Zenfone 8 with its compact flagship design. You'll know right away if you are going to love the versatility of the Zenfone 8 Flip's flip camera, but if the selfie skills don't excite you, there are better phones for you.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. Based on the Zenfone 8 Flip for around $ 900 (we don't yet know the official US price), the OnePlus 9 Pro for $ 969 or the Apple iPhone 12 Pro for $ 1,000 are our top recommendations. Both have a lot of power to play with, beautiful screens, and very powerful cameras. They're generally better all-rounders than the Zenfone 8 Flip, with helpful everyday features like very fast wired charging, wireless charging, and more attractive, lighter designs.

When you shop for everything to do with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, sometimes it still can be found for around $ 1,000and it's an amazing value for that. Usually it wouldn't be an alternative to a phone that costs less than $ 1,000. If you're looking to spend less than $ 980, both the $ 699 Google Pixel 5 and the $ 830 Apple iPhone 12 are great.

How long it will take?

Asus includes a special case for the Zenfone 8 Flip, which can be used to lock the flip module so that it is not activated unexpectedly. The company says the mechanism is stronger than before and capable of at least 300,000 flips. It is also automatically retracted if a fall is detected. The module makes any kind of water resistance impossible. So you need to be careful if you want the phone to last a long time.

Asus promises two Android system updates as well as 5G on board if you use the fast network now or plan in the future. There are several battery charging modes, including a scheduler, to keep the battery performing for years to come. The only thing preventing the hardware of the Zenfone 8 Flip from feeling fresh in two years is the design, which is already a year old.

Should you buy it?

No. Unless you're really into selfies and can envision a scenario where you might want an 8K video selfie, the Zenfone 8 Flip doesn't have the general appeal of many of its competitors.

Editor's recommendations




12 May
Blog

Asus Zenfone 8 Review: Small Size Isn’t Everything

Asus Zenfone 8 review

Asus Zenfone 8 Review: Size isn't everything, and this tiny phone proves it

"The Asus Zenfone 8 is a well-designed, carefully thought-out compact flagship, but it competes against the competition due to issues with screen sensitivity and battery life."

  • Small and light

  • Great, but pretty simple camera

  • Bad battery life

  • Screen responsiveness issues

  • No wireless charging

toAsus does not want to compete with the Galaxy S21 Ultra or another massive smartphone with the new Zenfone 8. Instead, it targets phones like the iPhone 12, Google Pixel 4a 5G, and Pixel 5 by creating a powerful mobile phone that fits well in your hand and pocket. The Zenfone 8 is a compact flagship and a really well designed one, but the bigger question is, does anyone really want something like this anymore?

The Zenfone 8 has been my main phone for a while now, and if I'm being completely honest, I missed a bigger phone despite its capabilities. However, if you're tired of stretching screen sizes with your thumbs, you will likely feel completely different. However, Asus doesn't have the right basics with the Zenfone 8 and there is a risk of it getting lost in the crowd. Let's go into that in more detail.

design

Asus has set itself some difficult goals with the Zenfone 8. They wanted a phone less than 70mm wide and less than 150mm high because the phone is convenient for one-handed use. It works because the Zenfone 8 is 68mm wide and 148mm high and I can reach most areas of the screen with my average sized hand without stretching or juggling the phone.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The Samsung Galaxy S21 is a bit longer and wider, but the Pixel 5 and iPhone 12 Pro are much closer to the Zenfone 8 and both are equally manageable with one hand. The iPhone 12 Mini is considerably smaller than any other. The Zenfone 8 may be compact, but it doesn't really fill a niche in the market as Asus seems to believe.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Asus used Gorilla Glass Victus above the screen and 3D frosted glass on the back of the phone to give it a sleek look. The Zenfone 8 is elegant, but also slippery, which makes one-handed operation awkward as it constantly asks for freedom. The 3D curve on the sides makes it comfortable to hold, but the smoothness means you'll end up gripping it pretty tight. However, it comes with a plastic sleeve that has a more grippy texture which will alleviate the problem – provided you don't mind using it.

Google Pixel 5 from left, Asus Zenfone 8 and Apple iPhone 12 Pro Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

There is another problem with the Zenfone 8. It's a bit boring to look at. The back is plain, the camera module is modest and very ordinary, and the black color of my test device doesn't give it much life either. The only flash of color comes from the electric blue on / off button, but it's not enough to improve the look of the phone beyond the mundane. The Google Pixel 5 is no longer the dullest phone on the table when the Zenfone 8 is around.

screen

The compact size extends to the screen. The Zenfone 8 has a 5.9-inch AMOLED screen with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, making it smaller than the 6-inch Pixel 5 and 6.1-inch iPhone 12 Pro. It looks excellent, with 1100 nits of maximum brightness and all of the nice contrasts, colors, and blacks we expect from an AMOLED screen, but Asus has yet to refine it. My review phone is running the final version of the software before it is released. More updates may be released soon after launch to address the following issues.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The first problem concerns touch sensitivity and edge detection. The Zenfone 8 may have small bezels and no dramatic curvature, but it really suffers from phantom touches. I accidentally open endless apps, swipe down the notification shadow or switch between features without wanting to, and find myself handling the phone carefully to avoid these things. Very frustrating.

While not a big phone, Asus added a one-handed mode to the Zenfone 8 that minimizes the display in the lower part of the screen – the exact amount it covers can be adjusted in the settings – to make it easier with use with one hand. It seems like overkill after making a tiny phone, but what's worse is how it activates. You'll need to swipe down on the screen at the bottom. Due to the oversensitivity of the screen, this is likely to be a real problem. Usually the notification shadow or the app taskbar is displayed. When one-handed mode is activated, the slightest breeze will hide it from the screen.

Asus Zenfone 8, from left, Google Pixel 5 and Apple iPhone 12 Pro Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I also haven't finished yet as the fingerprint sensor in the display is slow and unreliable. After annoying yourself about the Galaxy S20's built-in fingerprint sensor, which was fixed on the S21 series, and the lightning-fast fingerprint of the OnePlus 9 Pro, going back to a sensor that doesn't work very well seems unnecessary these days . There is also a face unlock feature, but it doesn't match the speed of other phones. The security of the Zenfone 8 is a cumbersome proposition.

camera

For an Android flagship, it's a surprise that the Zenfone 8 isn't filled with camera lenses. There are only two on the back – a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 with optical image stabilization and a 12-megapixel Sony IMX363 wide-angle camera – and a single 12-megapixel selfie camera in a hole in the screen. All three have autofocus, which is a nice change, but no optical zoom function. It's all shockingly reluctant to Asus when some others may have added a useless macro camera to get a "better" spec sheet.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The results are generally very good, although it is clear that the HDR effect is strong even when set to Auto. Personally, I don't mind the look, but others will find it very stubborn and prefer to turn it off. Adding a "bracketing" series, where three photos are taken with different exposure values, can also be responsible for this look.

There is a tendency that the camera is sometimes underexposed in difficult lighting conditions. You will find that these photos need editing to improve their appearance. The wide-angle camera is particularly sensitive to this and there isn't always much consistency between cameras. The photos taken with the main camera are vivid and vivid, and the scenes have a lot of depth and emotion, which encourages creativity.

It's a shame there isn't an optical zoom, but Asus adds a "lossless" 2x crop to the main camera. This function is somewhat hidden on the busy viewfinder screen as it is not located next to the main / wide-angle switch, but is controlled via a separate button in the corner. Otherwise, the app is very similar to other systems in terms of usage, but is sometimes a little slow with the trigger.

Instead of seeing what Samsung is doing with multiple lenses, Asus took inspiration from Google and gave the Zenfone 8 a pair of powerful cameras that take good photos. However, avid photographers will miss the versatility of an optical zoom.

Performance and software

Asus used the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor for the Zenfone 8, which is definitely a flagship processor. It has up to 16 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage space. I didn't notice any difference in performance compared to the Galaxy S21 +, OnePlus 9 Pro or Xiaomi Mi 11, which all run on the same chip. It's fast and powerful enough to play Genshin Impact smoothly and complete all of your daily chores with no hassle.

The software is Android 11 with Asus' ZenUI, which looks and works very similar to Android on Google Pixel. Unlike Asus' glitzy, optional sci-fi-style Android user interface on the ROG Phone 5, it's clean and uncluttered here, but still has tons of features. Some of the more useful Inones include the same Game Genie mode as the ROG Phone 5, which improves the phone's performance and operation while gaming, as well as special modes for scheduling battery charging.

Aside from the on-screen frustrations, the Zenfone 8 offers a true flagship phone experience in terms of performance and software in a compact package. The Snapdragon 888 has enormous reserves of energy and ensures that the phone will last for years, even if you play many of the latest games.

Battery and sound

A 4,000 mAh battery and the support of an included 30-watt Asus HyperCharge quick charger and Qualcomm Quick Charge 4.0 should clearly set the Zenfone 8 apart from the competition in terms of battery life – but this is not the case. In my use, the Zenfone 8 disappointed with a shorter than expected life, especially when used moderately hard.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Although most of my day is connected to Wi-Fi and the phone is used for general calls, emails, social media, and some photos, the day usually ends around 40%. With phones like the Galaxy S21 Ultra, this type of usage usually leaves at least 60%. It gets a lot worse the more you use the phone a little more.

On a day with an hour of play, 30 minutes of video, multiple calls, and an hour-long WhatsApp video call, the battery hit 5% at 9 p.m., which is not good at all when phones like the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G get two days off a similarly sized battery . Go outside to the real world, where the phone was forced to connect to a regular cellular network and the battery drains faster than expected, even with minimal use.

The Zenfone 8 is not a phone that works hard when you want the battery to last a long time. Here, too, there may be updates that change the performance of the battery in the future, although, according to Asus, I am using the final version of the software. Quick Charge 4 took 90 minutes to charge, and the 30W HyperCharge block added 60% in 25 minutes. There's no such thing as wireless charging, a technology Asus prefers not to use to better manage cell life, but it's still a given on a flagship phone today.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

As with the ROG Phone 5, Asus worked with audio experts at Dirac on the Zenfone 8, and its two stereo speakers – powered by a Cirrus Logic CS35L45 amplifier – sound excellent. There's also Hi Res support and Qualcomm's Aqstic codec. There's even a 3.5mm headphone jack, a real rarity these days. All of this together makes the Zenfone 8 one of the best sounding phones you can get.

Price and availability

The Zenfone 8 is launching in the US, but at the time of writing the exact date and price has not been confirmed. In Europe, the Zenfone 8 starts at 539 euros for the 6 GB / 128 GB model, then rises to 599 euros for the 8 GB / 128 GB version and 699 euros for the top 16 GB – / 128 GB phone. Which region gets which model is also unknown, but it is possible that the Zenfone 8 with 8GB / 128GB is the cheapest available in your area.

Our opinion

Do you regret getting a "small" phone today? It really depends on what you want to do with it. The convenience of the Zenfone 8 disappearing into your pocket is great and can be used with one hand provided it's in the case. However, I missed out on a bigger screen, even the slightly larger 6.1-inch screen on the iPhone 12 Pro, while watching videos for an extended period of time.

Many have been complaining about the relative scarcity of compact, high-performance phones for some time, but there is indeed a healthy selection out there and it is an open question whether many people will actually buy them. If you're a firm believer in the compact phone, the Zenfone 8 should be at the top of your shopping list because the shape and size of the phone are mature. Plus, it has the same power and capability as massive phones like the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

However, the Zenfone 8 has major battery life issues, security options are slow, and the camera does not appeal to those who are serious about mobile photography. I like the Zenfone 8 and Asus' dedication to not following the crowd, but the downsides of the Zenfone 8 make it a tough sell over the competition.

Is there a better alternative?

The Zenfone 8 faces serious competition from Google and Samsung, as well as a challenge from Apple when you're ready to spend a little more. The Google Pixel 4a 5G is slightly larger than the Zenfone 8, but at $ 499 and a strong camera, it's a good buy. The Google Pixel 5 is just as compact as the Zenfone. It also has that fantastic camera and guaranteed software updates, but it costs $ 699. The Samsung Galaxy A52 5G has far better battery life, a great screen, and a decent camera for $ 499.

The Apple iPhone 12 Mini is $ 699 and is a true compact phone, while the slightly larger iPhone 12 is $ 799. The iPhone 12 Pro is the model we really recommend, but at $ 999, it's significantly more expensive than the Zenfone 8.

How long it will take?

Asus will be rolling out two major Android software updates for the Zenfone 8, but the timing may not be as immediate as it is with phones like the Google Pixel. The housing is both waterproof and dustproof according to IP56 and IP68. The Gorilla Glass Victus should provide adequate scratch and splinter protection for the screen. In addition, a basic cover is included in the scope of delivery, so that the Zenfone 8 should be very durable. With 5G and the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor, it easily lasts two to three years before a replacement needs to be considered.

Should you buy it?

No. If a software update doesn't improve battery life, screen responsiveness, and fingerprint sensor performance, it can't quite keep up with the competition.

Editor's recommendations




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




04 Nov
Blog

Asus ROG Swift 360Hz Review: Only Skill Will Hold You Back

asus rog 360hz pg259qnr review dsc02115

Asus ROG Swift 360Hz PG259QNR

"The Asus ROG Swift 360Hz PG259QNR is a great, competitive gaming monitor."

  • Unmatched clarity of movement

  • Very low entry delay

  • Buttery, fluid gameplay

  • Excellent stable stand

  • Including desk clamp

  • 1080p only

  • Limited mainstream appeal

When buying a new gaming monitor, you need to find the perfect balance between price, picture quality, gaming performance, and features. Finding the best monitor for all of your needs can be difficult. But what if all you care about is absolute gaming performance and nothing else?

Asus' new ROG Swift PG259QNR may fit your bill just right. Be warned, however, that thanks to its ultra-fast 360Hz 1080p display, this monitor is a one-trick pony intended only for the most competitive gamers.

design

As a monitor designed for competitive gameplay, two things stand out. First and foremost, it is not very large at just 24.5 inches diagonally. More importantly, the stand is set up like a tank.

You might not think it matters, and while I'd normally agree with you, competitive gameplay is quite a physical activity. From quick mouse movements to quick slamming of the keyboard, your movements can jolt your desk, and the vast majority of monitors jiggle like fresh jelly.

But not the PG259QNR. The stand Asus built for this display absolutely plants it on your desk and won't let it move no matter how aggressive you get with your gameplay.

For those who don't like a large stand, the display also comes with a desk clamp that replaces the funky stand, as most monitor arms again allow too much wobble. So we can't help it that VESA mounts are not supported.

Regardless of your choice, the stand offers a range of settings including height, tilt, rotate to portrait, and swivel. This is impressive when you consider the stability of the monitor. Rotating it to portrait is of course not required, but it helps if you connect the cables after you have run them through the stand.

The ROG Swift 360Hz isn't afraid to take a stand.

This display has no curve, and its 24.5-inch size may seem small to some gamers. For competitive people, however, this means that they can see the entire game without moving their heads. If you've ever wondered why 24-inch monitors are popular in tournaments, now you know.

All in all, this is one of the most aggressive displays I've seen, with tons of accents and a huge RGB LIT Asus ROG logo on the back that engulfs a quarter of the property.

Connections and controls

There isn't much connectivity to be found on the PG259QNR, but it doesn't have to be. You want to use the DisplayPort 1.4a interface to get the most out of this monitor, as the HDMI 2.0 connection limits the maximum refresh rate to "only" 240 Hz instead of the full 360 Hz. DisplayPort also enables G-Sync at 1 Hz to 360 Hz. This is the largest range I've seen on a monitor.

Next to these two inputs there is a power connection socket that is fed by a small external 90 watt power module. There is also a headphone jack and a two-port USB hub with an upstream connection to your PC.

Asus' on-screen display (OSD) is not particularly attractive, but it is functional and extremely easy to navigate. The monitor has a main direction switch that will bring up the main menu when it is interacted with in any way. This menu contains segments for activating Nvidia Reflex Analyzer, a game menu with game-related settings like FPS counter, fraudulent crosshair, dark gain, overdrive settings and more.

Of course, there are also settings to adjust brightness, contrast and color, as well as options for shortcuts, lighting effects and general monitor settings.

picture quality

When it comes to image quality, you may be wondering why the display doesn't come as a QHD monitor. After all, 1080p isn't very sharp, and today's GPUs should be powerful enough to run popular esports titles at high frame rates at QHD.

There's a simple reason: bandwidth. DisplayPort 1.4a offers just enough bandwidth to transmit 1080p at 360 Hz to the monitor. Until we get a new interface or a manufacturer implements DSC (Display Stream Compression), 1080p is the upper limit if you want a 360 Hz monitor. Since the panel is not very large, the picture still looks quite sharp.

Asus has equipped the PG259QNR with an IPS panel, which means that the viewing angles are excellent. Slight bleeding and IPS glow are minimal on our sample and much better than curved ultrawide monitors. The PG259QNR produces a very consistent, even and clean image.

But where IPS normally produces star colors, it seems that some sacrifice had to be made with this panel. It's by no means terrible, but with coverage of 98% of the sRGB space and 73% of the AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 space as tested on our Spyder X Elite, you won't be blown away with vibrancy. saturated colors.

We also tested the color accuracy, which resulted in a Delta-E (Difference from Real) of 2.12 in the standard “Racing” mode, with the sRGB profile achieving a better result of 1.68. Note that sRGB mode disables brightness control and instead uses the built-in light sensor to determine the brightness.

Oddly enough, both values ​​are worse than the calibration report provided by Asus, which stated a Delta-E of 0.53. However, this may be due to different devices and test conditions. Either way, the PG259QNR produces accurate colors so you can use it for non-professional color grading if necessary.

The Asus PG259QNR delivers too much in terms of brightness and contrast performance.

The display is characterized by brightness and contrast. Asus claims a brightness of 400 cd / m2, but our sample exceeded 415 cd / m2. The panel also exceeded the stated contrast ratio with a contrast of 1200: 1, which is an impressive performance for an IPS panel. The white point was exactly at 6500K, which is great.

We calibrated the monitor to see if we could improve its performance but made few gains. Only the color accuracy has been improved to 1.35 so calibrating the PG259QNR can produce some gains.

But let's face it, you're not buying this monitor anyway because it can reproduce colors, and its color rendering is more than enough for competitive gameplay. Given this monitor's focus on the raw refresh rate, Asus could have cut the color accuracy and contrast – but thankfully, it didn't.

Gaming performance

It's time to get down to the brass nails and talk about what really matters – gaming performance. In that regard, the PG259QNR is at home with a mind-boggling 360Hz refresh rate. You are probably wondering why you need 360 Hz and if you can tell the difference.

At 360 Hz it's not about fluidity and smoothness. It's about reducing latency

If you are not a competitive gamer this monitor is not for you. The jump from 144 Hz to 360 Hz takes a trained eye to see, but at 360 Hz it's not really about increasing fluidity and smoothness. Rather, the point of this insanely high refresh rate is to reduce latency so you can see the enemy before they can see you. The difference is only milliseconds (we're talking less than 10 milliseconds compared to a 144Hz display) but that's a lot in the competitive world.

Now, I'm not a competitive gamer (I just don't have the time or the skills) but I asked a veteran friend to try this monitor out in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and you should have seen the grin on his face. He landed shot after shot, shot after shot, and definitely felt like a better player compared to his 144Hz panel. The PG259QNR is for when you want to know that the only thing holding you back is your skills.

This monitor is so fast that all you can do is hold back your skills.

There is one thing to keep in mind when viewing this ad. We tested it on a PC with an AMD Ryzen 9 3900X and an Nvidia RTX 2080 Super graphics card. When we launched Destiny 2, the highest frame rate this system managed was around 170 FPS with the graphics at the lowest settings. Even in CS: GO, we only occasionally jumped over 300 FPS.

If you are going to buy this display, make sure your system has a processor with a very powerful single core performance.

So I checked out the Task Manager to see what happened and this confirmed my suspicions. The CPU had a bottleneck in the system, as only a few cores worked almost 100% and the graphics card was used to around 70 or 80 percent, often even less. I picked the 3900X for its multi-core performance, but it's not as powerful as Intel's alternatives on single-core, and games rely on that to get really high frame rates at low resolutions like these.

When buying this display make sure you have a processor like Intel Core i9-9900K, Core i9-10900K, or wait for AMD's Ryzen 5000 CPUs as these are expected to deliver amazing single-core performance.

Of course, even if you don't, you will still benefit from this advertisement. You don't have to hit 360 FPS to take advantage of it as you will benefit from reduced latency and become a more competitive gamer even at lower frame rates.

Nvidia Reflex Latency Analyzer

As I said, the PG259QNR is all about latency, which is why Nvidia's Reflex Analyzer technology is packaged in. This is essentially an extension of the G-Sync module that allows you to measure the time from click to display. When combined with the right hardware, you can numerically display the benefits of faster viewing. We tested the function with Destiny 2 and the ROG Chakram Core mouse from Asus. (You should note that not many games are currently supported.)

You use it by connecting the monitor with DisplayPort and the USB hub to your PC, and then connecting the compatible mouse to the red USB port on the monitor. This allows the monitor to recognize when you click. Then activate the Reflex Analyzer via the OSD of the monitor, which displays a detection rectangle that you place over the trigger, the nozzle or the part of your weapon that reacts first so that the monitor can recognize when your click is visible on the screen Changes.

With the Nvidia Reflex Analyzer, you can be sure that you will see your actions as soon as possible.

With this option in Destiny 2 with the minimum settings, we achieved a response time of approx. 14 milliseconds. Increasing the settings to the highest value increased this number to about 21 ms. This isn't a huge difference, but it can be the difference between landing a shot or landing a shot. We couldn't run these tests in CS: GO because the game is incompatible.

However, if you are not using an RTX 2080 Super but a GTX 16 series card, the latency will be longer. The same goes for other factors like graphics settings or background tasks that can decrease your frame rate. Ultimately, it's just a tool that lets you see the real latency benefits of upgrading your system or changing game settings, rather than estimating latency based on your frame rate.

Our opinion

Asus' ROG Swift 360Hz PG259QNR is an extremely fast gaming monitor that shows the entire view in a relatively small area so you can see everything at once. With a response time of 360 Hz and 1 ms it ensures that you see the enemy and shoot them before they see you. This can help you get a head start on competitive online games.

However, at $ 699, the PG259QNR isn't affordable. So you have to wonder if you need a monitor as fast as this or if you prefer something more immersive like an ultrawide display.

Are there alternatives?

Yes. MSI is expected to launch its Oculux NXG253R monitor with similar specs for $ 799 in November. Acer built the Predator X25, which also has a 360 Hz panel. If you don't mind dropping to 240 Hz to save real cash, Dell's Alienware 25 is a great half-price option.

How long it will take?

The Asus PG259QNR should last as long as any monitor – at least five years. However, if you're using it for competitive gameplay, don't be surprised if something even faster pops up in esports.

Should I buy it?

Yes. It's not for everyone, but the Asus ROG Swift 360Hz PG259QNR absolutely raises the bar for competitive gaming monitors while avoiding any major issues that could affect the fun.

Editor's recommendations




06 Oct
Blog

Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371 Review: Tiger Lake Doesn’t Roar

asus zenbook flip s ux371 review olympus digital camera

Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371

"The ZenBook Flip S UX371 is one of the first Tiger Lake laptops, but it does not make optimal use of Intel's new processor technology."

  • Very solid build quality

  • Spectacular display

  • Excellent keyboard and useful NumberPad touchpad

  • Very good port selection

  • Disappointing processor performance

  • The gaming falls short of expectations

Intel has released its latest architecture, Tiger Lake, which promises higher performance for both the CPU and the GPU. We've already looked at an Intel Tiger Lake prototype and were impressed with the performance of the platform. Now we had time with our first full Tiger Lake system, the Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371.

This 2-in-1 laptop is priced at $ 1,500 and comes with an 11th Generation Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB PCIe solid state drive (SSD), and a 4K OLED display. It looks strong on paper, but does it meet our high expectations?

performance

It is risky to be one of the first companies to bring out a laptop based on a brand new platform. Asus may have run counter to this risk with the ZenBook Flip S, as its benchmark results don't live up to Tiger Lake's promise. I blame the CPU's overly conservative vote. During all of my CPU tests, the fans barely spun even under the heaviest loads. I had to listen carefully to the bottom of the case to hear they were running at all. That tells me the laptop isn't working hard enough to keep the fans busy. I tried setting the Asus fan speed utility to performance mode but it made no difference.

In Geekbench 5, the ZenBook Flip S was faster than laptops with the 10th generation Core i7-1065G7, but not by much, mostly in single-core mode. It scored 1,535 single-core and 4,913 in multi-core mode. Compare this to the Microsoft Surface Book 3 13, which runs the Core i7-1065G7 at 1,316 and 4,825 points. The Samsung Galaxy Flex with the same 10th generation CPU scored 1,264 and 4,583 points. We didn't expect that from Tiger Lake.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

In our handbrake test, which converts a 420MB video to H.265, the ZenBook Flip S lasted one second less than four minutes, identical to the Surface Book 3 13. In the older version of the same test, the ZenBook Flip S lasted two seconds under four minutes and hit the Galaxy Flex by just 16 seconds. Again, this is not the expected performance.

I ran Cinebench 20 and the results were even worse. The ZenBook Flip S achieved 482 points in single-core mode and 1,254 points in multi-core mode. The surface book 3 13 managed scores of 429 and 1,433.

The benchmark results don't live up to Tiger Lake's promise.

Note that the Intel Tiger Lake reference laptop we tested with a Core i7-1185G7 performed much better on all of these benchmarks – even better than the clock speed increase would indicate. Geekbench 5 scored 1,563 and 5,995 points, respectively, and the handbrake test was completed in less than three minutes. The Cinebench 20 scores were 463 and 2092. These scores (with the exception of the single-core Cinebench score) represent bigger differences than I would have expected between the two Tiger Lake CPUs.

I contacted Asus and I am confident that they will run their own tests and set the thermal profile to allow the laptop to reach its full potential. If I get better results with a firmware update, I will revise this review accordingly.

Play

It's hard to tell if the ZenBook Flip S is realizing its gaming potential as we don't have any other laptops with the exact same CPU and GPU combo. The closest is the Intel reference notebook. So here I am primarily comparing it, although we have to consider the CPU differential.

The ZenBook Flip S scored 3,947 points in Fire Strike, while the Intel reference laptop scored 5,181 points. The Asus performed much better than the older Acer Swift 5 with Intel Iris Plus graphics, resulting in a score of 2,120. However, I can't help but think that, given the reference laptop's score, there should be a bigger difference.

Next, I ran Civilization VI, where the ZenBook Flip S reached 31 frames per second (fps) at 1080p and medium graphics. That is much less than the 45 fps of the Intel reference laptop. The Asus switched to ultra graphics and managed 17 fps, while the Intel reference laptop ran at 26 fps. The Asus also seems to underperform here. Note that the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 with the integrated Radeon graphics from Ryzen 4000 achieves 45 fps in 1080p at medium details.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

Next, I tested Assassin's Creed Odyssey. The ZenBook Flip S has a 4K display, but I've limited my testing to 1080p for reasons that will become immediately apparent. The ZenBook Flip S managed 11 fps in 1080p with the high graphics preset. While this title is well beyond the capabilities of the GPU, it's disappointing that the HP Specter x360 13 with Intel Iris Plus graphics, which averaged 12 fps, essentially tied the ZenBook powered by Tiger Lake

In Fortnite, the ZenBook Flip S only managed 13 fps in 1080p and high graphics. The Intel reference laptop achieved 34 fps and the Specter x360 13 with Intel Iris Plus ran at 12 fps. Again, this is not what I expected.

That's all of the gaming benchmarks I've run given the disappointing results. As with the CPU test, if I get a firmware upgrade that affects these results, I'll get back to me.

Battery life

The ZenBook Flip S has a battery capacity of 67 watt hours in its thin and light frame, which is impressive for a laptop of this size. At the same time there is the power-hungry 4K OLED display and a new generation of Core i7, which I have not yet passed through our official battery tests. I wasn't sure what to expect.

Unfortunately, the ZenBook Flip S decided to throw us a curveball again. Our most demanding Basemark web benchmark test, which is supposed to show how long the laptop lasted when you hit the CPU and GPU, wouldn't end its test loop. I've tried several times and been unsuccessful. Unfortunately, this means that I cannot report on the longevity under load.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The ZenBook Flip S lasted almost seven hours in our web browsing test, which gives a good idea of ​​life in moderate everyday life. Given the 4K OLED display, this isn't a terrible score, although it is pretty weak compared to the Full HD-equipped Dell XPS 13 that lasted for around 12 hours. Note that the ZenBook Flip S lasted more than an hour longer than the HP Specter x360 13, another popular notebook with an OLED display. Even so, you will likely struggle to work a full day without joining.

In our video test of a Full HD Avengers trailer, the ZenBook Flip S lasted 12.25 hours, which is almost three hours longer than the Specter x360 13. I would have expected this test to be most affected by the display. but the ZenBook Flip S did pretty well. The XPS 13 lasted two hours longer, but that's less of a difference than I expected.

Overall, the ZenBook Flip S offers good battery life for a laptop with a 4K OLED screen. If you plan to be out of the office for eight hours or more, consider taking your charger with you, but the battery will last long enough that you don't need to bring a charger for everyone but the longest of meetings.

design

The ZenBook Flip S is a good-looking laptop with a black aluminum case that is complemented by diamond-cut edges made of red copper (Asus). The usual Asus concentric vortices decorate the lid. It all adds up to an elegant design that works in both a coffee house and a conference room.

The laptop is built robustly. The lid, the keyboard deck or the bottom of the case are not bent, bent or twisted. The 2-in-1 hinge is a little too stiff to open with one hand, but it does an excellent job of holding the display in place in clamshell, tent, media, and tablet modes. It's at least as big as laptops like the HP Specter x360 13 and Dell XPS 13, which makes sense given the premium price.

The ZenBook Flip S doesn't have the thinnest bezels, which is a departure from other newer ZenBook models. The side bezels are thin and the top bezel is adequate, but the lower chin is quite large, adding to the overall footprint that is required. The Specter x360 13 is about the same size, but significantly less deep. However, the ZenBook Flip S is thin at 0.54 inches and light at 2.65 pounds. This is comparable to the Specter x360 13, which weighs 0.67 inches and 2.88 pounds. With thinner bezels, the Asus is more convenient to transport.

Connectivity is strong for a laptop this thin and light with two exceptions. On the left is a full-size HDMI 2.0 port and two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 ports. There is a USB-A 3.1 port on the right. Unfortunately there is no SD card reader, which is a disappointment, and Asus made the strange decision to ditch the 3.5mm audio jack and instead switch to an included USB-C to 3.5mm dongle to leave.

Apparently, Asus customers preferred the HDMI port, so the company decided to remove the 3.5mm jack instead – which is an unfortunate choice as you now have to forego a USB-C port to get some Connect headphones. Wireless connectivity is through the latest features available, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, and I saw excellent performance during my review tests.

display

The ZenBook Flip S is one of a growing number of laptops that come with OLED displays, which I find very good. The other OLED laptops we tested consistently deliver great viewing experiences, and I was excited to see if Asus picked a panel as good as other manufacturers.

As I found out when I tested the display with my colorimeter, Asus opted for a spectacular display that has practically no weaknesses.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

First, it's incredibly bright at 492 nits, more than most of the OLED panels we tested. For example, the version of the HP Specter x360 13 has 405 nits, which is still very bright but is not in the same stadium. As usual with OLED, the contrast of the ZenBook Flip S display is extraordinarily high at 491,630: 1 (the Specter x360 13 at 405,210: 1). Compare that to the Dell XPS 15's excellent 1480: 1 IPS display, which is tall for an IPS display but nowhere near as jet black as the Asus'. These numbers exaggerate the difference in the real world, but OLED's contrast offers an obvious advantage in movies, games, and high-resolution photos.

The color gamut with 100% sRGB and 99% AdobeRGB is another strength of the ZenBook Flip S display. The XPS 15 barely beats either of them at 100%, but few displays we've tested recently come this close to maximizing both color spaces. And the ZenBook Flip S is also color-accurate with 0.88 – anything below 1.0 cannot be seen by the human eye and is considered excellent. The Specter x360 13 was less accurate at 1.29. The gamma of the ZenBook Flip S display was also spot on with the ideal gamma curve of 2.2.

Asus opted for a spectacular display that has practically no weaknesses.

Put simply, this is a bright, high-contrast display. I love it as a writer because black stands out against white backgrounds and incredibly wide and precise colors. This is a display that would make any creative professional happy. Whether you're looking at it objectively through a colorimeter or subjectively for any task you want – including bingeing video, which is a real treat – this is a superior display.

The sound from the two downward facing speakers was clear with little distortion at the highest volume. The speakers could get pretty loud with nice highs and mids even though the bass was missing (not surprising). You want to use headphones for music and serious seizures, but the sound is more than good enough for the occasional YouTube and Netflix.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ZenBook Flip S inherits the same keyboard as Asus in the ZenBook 14 UX425 and is a good choice. There is a lot of spring travel, a lot of key spacing and size, and a lighting mechanism with a floor effect that is clear and precise. My favorite keyboards remain the Magic keyboard on the MacBook and the ones that HP uses in the Specter lineup (and the latest Envy 15), but the ZenBook Flip S comes close.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The touchpad is large and wide and contains Asus' NumberPad 2.0, which transforms the touchpad into an LED-illuminated numeric keypad. You turn it on with a long press of a button in the right corner and change the brightness with a button in the left corner. It works fine, and turning on the NumberPad doesn't interfere with using the touchpad as a touchpad. If you enter a lot of numbers, you will appreciate the function.

Mark Coppock / Digital Trends

The touch display is responsive and an active pen that supports 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity is in the box when the laptop ships. However, one didn't come in my box so I couldn't test the pen.

Finally, Windows 10 Hello support is provided by an infrared camera and facial recognition. It was quick and accurate during my tests, and while I prefer a fingerprint reader, it offers an easy sign-in option.

Our opinion

At $ 1,500, the ZenBook Flip S is firmly in the premium segment. And part of what might justify that price tag – on top of the exquisite OLED display – is that it's one of the first laptops to come with Intel's Tiger Lake platform. Unfortunately, Asus has some work to do in order to take advantage of the new platform. The ZenBook Flip S behaves more like a last-generation laptop. This directly reflects how Asus has optimized the laptop's performance.

Otherwise, the ZenBook Flip S is a well-built and attractive 2-in-1 device that can hold its own against other laptops with similar prices and features. It's just such a disappointment that we didn't see Tiger Lake at its best.

Is there a better alternative?

The main competitor of the ZenBook Flip S is probably the HP Specter X360 13, which still runs 10th generation CPUs. It has an equally beautiful OLED display, is a bit smaller, and works just as well. You also spend a few hundred dollars less to configure a similar computer.

If you don't need a 2-in-1, the Dell XPS 13 is a very compelling option. It was recently announced that it is joining the Tiger Lake Club. Once it does, I'm sure it will perform well. It's the best 13-inch clamshell notebook out there, making it a viable competitor to almost every other 13-inch machine.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook Flip S is a rugged laptop that will last forever. It's well built and configured with the latest technology so you can be productive for years. As always, we'd love to see more than a year warranty, but Asus offers one year accident protection.

Should you buy it?

No not yet. When Asus fixes the performance issues, the ZenBook Flip S suddenly becomes a very compelling 2-in-1 device. Until then, I would hold back.

Editor's recommendations




06 Sep
Blog

Asus ZenBook 14 UX425 Review: A Fantastic Value

asus zenbook 14 ux425 review 2020 05

"The Asus ZenBook 14 is an extremely portable laptop at a greatly reduced price."

  • Solid build quality

  • Elegant design

  • Useful keyboard and touchpad

  • Great battery life

  • Incredible value

  • No headphone jack

  • A touchscreen option is missing

Asus has an incredible number of ZenBook models, and not all of them stand out.

The last Asus ZenBook 14 we tested, the UX433 model, was one of them. It lacked some features that left it behind – like no Thunderbolt 3 ports that are unforgivable in a premium laptop – and it was average in several areas where the competition excels. This year Asus quietly launched the ZenBook 14 UX425 model, which adds some missing features and makes some noticeable improvements across the board – all while lowering the price.

I have a model with a 10th Generation Intel Ice Lake Core i5-1035G1 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a 512 GB solid-state drive (SSD) and a 14-inch Full HD IPS display (1,920 x 1,080) tested with low power consumption only consumes one watt of power, half the usual two watts. What's pretty noticeable is that this configuration is only $ 800 – add $ 100 and you get a Core i7-1065G7 with Iris Plus Graphics. Has Asus made enough improvements to make the ZenBook 14 better than its competitors, especially considering how low it is?

design

Asus has been working hard for a number of years to make laptops that use small frames to fit into smaller cases. In this sense, the ZenBook 14 UX425 is smaller in almost all dimensions than its predecessor, the UX434, thanks to the 90% screen-to-body ratio. It's the same width but a little less deep and now only 0.54 inches thick compared to 0.67 inches. It also comes in at 2.58 pounds compared to 2.98 pounds.

The focus of the UX425 model is clearly on being thin and light, rather than incorporating some of the more powerful features of the UX434 like a discrete low-end GPU. Miniaturization puts the ZenBook 14 in good company; For example, it's not far from the LG Gram 14's 2.2 pounds – and this is a laptop that was explicitly designed to be as light as possible. The ZenBook 14 competition will likely include more popular 13-inch laptops like the Dell XPS 13. It's thinner than the XPS 13 (0.57 inches) and lighter (2.65 pounds). That's impressive for a 14-inch laptop.

Asus did not save on the processing quality either. The ZenBook 14 has an aluminum case that feels quite sturdy and has passed a number of military certification tests. I could pick a few nits, of course. The lid is a bit flexible and the keyboard has a touch of flex. Overall, the laptop feels solid despite its lightness.

The hinge is also perfect, easy to open with one hand and still hold the display in place. Kudos to Asus for developing a laptop that feels it deserves a premium price despite being close to the budget range.

Aesthetically, the ZenBook 14 looks very similar to a ZenBook. This is done on purpose – Asus is just as important to give their ZenBooks a uniform look as Lenovo is to the ThinkPad line. On the lid is Asus' iconic concentric swirl with the Asus logo on the right in the middle of the circles.

Otherwise, the laptop is simple but cleverly designed and looks quite elegant to me. Asus shows its design here too and the ZenBook 14 can hold its own in the looks department. My test device was pine gray, but a purple nebula is also available.

Connectivity would be great if it weren't for a blatant omission. On the left side of the laptop is a full-size HDMI 2.0 port with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support. That's huge – previous ZenBooks skipped Thunderbolt 3 and it was a blatant faux pas compared to other premium laptops. At $ 800, it's even more impressive. On the right side you will find a USB-A 3.2 port and a microSD card reader (a shame that it is not a full version). Wireless connectivity is cutting edge with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

What is the omission? Asus had to free up some space given the laptop's thin bezel, and the company had the choice of removing the HDMI port or the 3.5mm audio jack. Apparently, the customers they interviewed preferred the HDMI port and the audio jack was omitted.

It comes with a USB-C to 3.5mm dongle, but that was a big mistake in my opinion. If you have two Thunderbolt 3 connections, adding an external monitor – or using a dock for multiple monitors – is trivial. But do you use one of the ports to connect headphones or speakers? Sorry Asus, this doesn't make sense to me.

performance

The Asus ZenBook 14 UX425 uses Ice Lake Intel 10th generation CPUs, and my test device was equipped with the Core i5-1035G1. This is a mid-range 15 watt processor that should offer solid productivity performance, but shouldn't be considered for demanding creative endeavors.

In my tests it performed relatively better on synthetic benchmarks than on real tests. In Geekbench 5, for example, the ZenBook 14 achieved 1,209 points in the single-core test and 4,321 points in the multi-core test. That's quick for the CPU, as it outperforms laptops like the Acer Spin 3 with 1,215 and 3,615 and the Acer Aspire 5 with 1,129 and 2,899.

The ZenBook 14 lags behind in certain content creation tasks.

However, in our handbrake test that converts a 420MB video to H.265, the ZenBook 14 took almost five and a half minutes to complete the test. The Acer Spin 3 was done in just over four minutes and the Acer Aspire 5 15 seconds faster. I was surprised that things went so bad on this test – the trailing edge and air vents provide little support when the lid is opened, which should improve airflow and allow for more sustained performance. Even so, the ZenBook 14 lags behind in certain content creation tasks.

That doesn't mean it isn't a good performer for its targeted productivity tasks. If you're not doing demanding creative tasks, the ZenBook 14 is fast enough.

However, don't expect real games. The laptop comes with entry-level Intel UHD graphics, which should be limited to older titles and esports titles with lower resolutions and graphical details. You should try the Core i7 model with its Iris Plus graphics to play light games.

display

So far, the design and performance have been top notch for a $ 800 laptop. Next up is the display, a component that companies sometimes forego in order to squeeze in under a certain price.

Asus didn't do anything like that with the ZenBook 14. This would be a very good display for a premium laptop and an excellent display for the mid-range price. This is the average (for premium laptops) in just one area: the color gamut is 94% of sRGB and 72% of AdobeRGB. These colors are wide enough for productivity and multimedia applications and only creative professionals would disappoint.

From there, however, the display is above the premium average. The brightness is relatively high at 352 nits and is well above our preferred threshold of 300 nits. The contrast is 1,060: 1, which is above our preferred 1,000: 1 ratio and well above the 800: 1 average you'll find on most premium productivity machines. Color accuracy is very good at 1.42 (1.0 or less is considered excellent), and Gamma is just about right at 2.2.

I enjoyed using the display while writing this review – text popped, colors were bright and not over-saturated, and there was plenty of brightness no matter where I worked (except in direct sunlight, of course). I would be happy with this display in a laptop that costs twice as much as the ZenBook 14.

This display is much better than the LG Gram 14 2-in-1, and while it can't compete with the Full HD display on the Dell XPS 13, it's not far away – and the ZenBook 14 is hundreds of dollars less expensive .

Keyboard and touchpad

One of my favorite keyboards adorns the Specter line from HP and some newer Envy models. It has large buttons with plenty of spacing, plenty of travel, and a light mechanism that still provides a click, precise feel. Why do I mention the HP keyboard? Because the one Asus built into the ZenBook 14 looks and feels remarkably similar. It even has the same row of Home, PgUp, PgDn, and End buttons on the right edge.

I'm not saying Asus copied HP on purpose, but whatever – it's an excellent keyboard that comes close to the HP version. I'd say I like it almost as much, although the Asus iteration is a little too light with its touch.

The touchpad is another standout feature of the ZenBook 14. It's considerably wider this time around and therefore quite large for the size of the case on a Windows 10 computer. More importantly, it has a smooth and comfortable glass surface for accurate tracking and clicking. Of course, it includes Windows Precision drivers that make multi-touch gestures and general swipes a dream.

Asus remains adamant when it comes to adding touch displays to its clamshell laptops.

Most notable, however, is the NumberPad 2.0 feature, which embeds an LED number pad on the touchpad that is useful for anyone who needs to enter numbers. You can turn the NumberPad on and off easily enough by touching and briefly pressing an icon in the top right corner of the touchpad. Change the brightness by touching and holding an icon in the upper left corner. Turning on the NumberPad doesn't interfere with using the touchpad as a touchpad, which is a good thing.

However, Asus remains adamant when it comes to adding touch displays to its clamshell laptops. There's no option with the ZenBook 14, and that's a favorite of mine. I hate using a laptop without a touch display. I'm also used to using my thumb to scroll through web pages and tapping buttons that appear without having to activate the touchpad. I could be in the minority here, however, so Asus may have simply decided that it isn't worth the extra weight and thickness for a (theoretically) small number of users who want the feature.

Windows Hello support without a password is provided by an infrared camera and facial recognition. It works quickly and accurately, and while I prefer a fingerprint reader – which the ZenBook 14 doesn't have – it's a useful feature.

Battery life

Asus increased the battery capacity of the ZenBook 14 UX425 in this generation from 50 to 67 watt hours. It's huge. As already mentioned, the display is also a 1-watt version with low power consumption, which, in our experience, usually leads to an excellent battery life. I was hoping that the ZenBook 14 would follow suit.

As it turns out, the ZenBook 14 did very well in our test suite, even if it doesn't quite match some of the other laptops with low-power displays. It took more than four hours in our most demanding Basemark web benchmark test, which is a solid result, and which is most affected by the CPU and GPU, and the least by the display. Compared to another powerful 14-inch performer, the LG Gram 14 2-in-1 with 72 watt hours of battery life, it only lost a minute. The Dell XPS 13 lasted about 20 minutes longer.

In terms of battery life, the ZenBook 14 is an all-day performer and a lot more.

However, the ZenBook 14 caught our eye in our next two tests. First, our web browsing test made it to 11 hours, a strong score that lagged the LG Gram 14 by 18 minutes and the XPS 13 by about 30 minutes. In our video test, in which a local Full HD Avengers trailer is looped, the ZenBook 14 managed just under 15 hours, compared to the LG Gram 14 with about 16.5 hours and the XPS 13 with about 12.5 hours.

It's hard to be disappointed with results like this, although I expected a better result given the low-power display. The Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1 with its low-power panel lasted a remarkable 21.8 hours in our video test. This is where the savings on the display make the biggest difference. Still, the ZenBook 14 is an all-day high performer and so much more. You can expect to have a full day of work with enough battery life to binge Netflix that evening.

Our opinion

At $ 1,200, the Asus ZenBook 14 UX425 would be a superior, thin, and light laptop that comes highly recommended. At $ 800, I'm more inclined to call it a bargain.

Regardless of the price, the Asus ZenBook 14 is a great laptop with a solid all-metal construction, a refined, thin and light design, a great keyboard and useful touchpad, and fantastic battery life. Throw in a $ 800 prize and we're talking about exceptional value.

Is there a better alternative?

The LG Gram 14 is an option if you want a 14-inch display that approaches the lightness of the ZenBook 14. You'll pay more, but get similar specs, and the Gram 14 won't be nearly as thin. Another 14-inch option to consider is the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7, an AMD Ryzen 4000-based laptop for $ 100 more that is faster and has even better battery life.

If you don't mind shrinking the screen size, the Dell XPS 13 is a more expensive alternative. The performance will be a little better, the display will be a little higher quality and the battery life will be a little better. But it will also cost more.

If you're looking to save some cash, consider the Lenovo Flex 5 14, a 14-inch 2-in-1 with AMD's Ryzen 4000 CPU. It's faster and almost as well built as the ZenBook 14, but it won't even come close to reaching its battery life. It's also only worth $ 600 and offers quite a bit of intrinsic value.

How long it will take?

The ZenBook 14 UX425 is well built and configured with the latest technology. You will be productive for years. The one-year warranty is disappointing, as usual, but Asus offers one-year accident protection.

Should you buy it?

Yes. If you're looking for a thin and light laptop for productivity and media consumption, you can't go wrong with the ZenBook 14. And you won't be spending much either.

Editor's recommendations




01 Sep
Blog

Asus ZenFone 7 Review: The Selfie Connoisseur’s Choice

Asus Zenfone 7 Pro review forehand

Asus ZenFone 7 Pro Review: The Best Selfie Camera You Can Get on a Phone

"Thanks to the motorized flip camera of the ZenFone 7 Pro, the phone has the most versatile selfie camera available."

  • The reversing camera is equipped with numerous functions

  • The front camera is the best you can get

  • Bright, colorful screen

  • Long lasting battery

  • No water resistance

  • Heavy

For the ZenFone 7 Pro, Asus has brought back the motorized flip camera it introduced for the ZenFone 6, but added to its list of capabilities and features to make this phone a dream phone for selfie lovers. Anything you can do with the rear camera – wide angle, 8K video recording, super sharp telephoto – you can do for selfies, and that is what makes it very special indeed.

The rest of the spec has also been improved, and therefore the price has increased over the previous model. So should you still consider the ZenFone 7 Pro if selfies aren't that important to you? Let's find out.

design

Asus wants to build your muscles. The Zenfone 7 Pro weighs 230 grams, significantly more than most large flagship devices. Take this and the 240-gram ROG Phone 3 to step up the intensity of your home workouts. It's 9.6mm thick and you really notice the size and bulk of the Zenfone 7 Pro when you compare it to its closest competitors, the OnePlus 8, LG Velvet, and iPhone 11. The weight is fairly evenly distributed but is definitely biased towards the top of the phone due to the motorized flip camera module.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The camera module is a significant improvement over the Zenfone 6. It sits flush with your body and doesn't move when you shake the phone around. This largely prevents annoying rattles. It's made of strong and light liquid metal, but it's bigger than the Zenfone 6, but I think that's why it looks better. The engine has been revised compared to the original and is quiet and fast. However, the software often prompts you to perform a recalibration check, especially after the phone has knocked.

The larger flip module isn't the only visual enhancement. The narrower bezels around the screen give the phone a modern look, and moving the fingerprint sensor to the side does the same. The sensor performs various functions, e.g. E.g. a double tap to open the Google Assistant, or it can be programmed to open an app of your choice. Fortunately, adding new features didn't affect the speed or accuracy of the fingerprint sensor and it works very well.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The back of the Zenfone 7 Pro is made of glass, but it doesn't really feel like it and is so slippery that it feels like it's been greased at the factory. The panel feels warm and is surprisingly flexible. An almost hollow sound is heard when typing. The green, almost blue color is attractive, but the tactility of the panel itself isn't as comfortable as on the OnePlus 8 Pro or LG Velvet, or as comfortable to hold as on the Huawei P40 Pro, and without a lot of grip, the weight sometimes means two hands are required to keep.

The glass back doesn't feel cheap, but I doubt the durability, which is an issue with a phone this size, weight, and smoothness. Asus may know this as it has two sleeves in the box – one sturdy and one transparent. I suggest you use one. The fact that the otherwise perfectly acceptable-looking ZenFone 7 Pro is 40 grams heavier than the ZenFone 6 is an unfortunate misstep and makes life with it harder than it should be.

screen

Bigger, wider, brighter and more colorful sums up the differences between the ZenFone 7 Pro and the ZenFone 6. It's a 6.67-inch AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 90 Hz and an aspect ratio of 20: 9. Asus even used the special tuning that makes the display of the ROG Phone 3 on the 7 Pro so pretty . Asus isn't wrong about brightness either, it's stunning and even makes the iPhone 11 Pro look a little dark.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

However, it's not that natural to look at. When you watch Carfection's Ferrari F8 Spider review on YouTube, the road isn't as atmospherically gray as it is on the iPhone, and the yellow car pops off the screen with such aggression that you reach for your sunglasses. If you like high-energy AMOLED screens with borderline radioactive colors, the ZenFone 7 Pro won't disappoint. However, watching videos shows the slightly quiet sound from the stereo speakers, and it would have been great to hear the same brilliant Dirac audio from the ROG Phone 3 on the ZenFone 7 Pro.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

It's worth talking about the screen's overall responsiveness here. The 90 Hz refresh rate should be considered standard at this price point, but it is significantly enhanced by a one millisecond response time and a 200 Hz touch sample rate. What does that mean? The ZenFone 7 Pro always feels snappy, responsive and fluid regardless of the app used. Coupled with some software tweaks for speed, the phone always feels modern and powerful.

The flip camera eliminates the need for a notch or hole punch and improves film viewing. If you notice the notch or hate the punch, the ZenFone 7 Pro's pretty, uninterrupted screen is just what you want.

camera

The Asus Zenfone 7 Pro has the best selfie camera in the business. With selfies filling your gallery app, this phone gives you plenty of opportunities to get creative, with a variety of features, modes, and general capabilities than any other selfie camera you've used before. How is that possible? It is Asus' decision to use the motorized flip module to turn the rear view camera into a front camera.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

You get a 64-megapixel Sony IMX686 main camera sensor with an aperture of f / 1.8, 8K video recording and optical image stabilization, as well as a 12-megapixel ultra-wide sensor and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with optical image stabilization and a 3x optical zoom. Features include 4K time-lapse video recording, slow motion video at 4K and 120 frames per second, and special features like auto panorama and motion tracking.

To make this clear, all of these features are available in the selfie camera and the results are dramatic. The colors are vivid, the exposure is just right, the edge detection in portrait orientation is excellent. When was the last time you took 8K video with a selfie camera or took a sprawling 113-degree selfie with an extremely wide frame? With the ZenFone 7 Pro, you can do all of this and more.

The flip module itself has been redesigned and redesigned to be more robust, faster and more powerful. It requires regular calibrations, but according to Asus, the endurance tests are good for 100 flips a day for five years, which makes it twice as powerful as the ZenFone 6 module. It's also adjustable. You can move the module from flat to completely upside down in 0.5 degree increments, which is very fluid.

From a technical standpoint, it's a work of art and enables some fun features. The automatic panorama function is excellent, with very effective seams and a really large scale. It is not immediately clear how to best take advantage of the module's adjustable angle. However, if you start experimenting, you will find that often it is not about the photos you can take, but rather the benefits of holding the screen at an angle that you can properly frame different shots, such as picture taking. B. from below without guessing the frame or lying on the floor.

asus zenfone 7 pro review wide angle "class =" m-carousel - image dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn5.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/zenfone-7-pro-wide-angle- 640x640. jpg "srcset =" https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAAZenFone 7 Pro wide angle Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

asus zenfone 7 pro review standard "class =" m-carousel - image dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn6.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/zenfone-7-pro-standard-640x640.jpg "srcset = "https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7ZenFone 7 Pro Standard Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

asus zenfone 7 pro review 3x zoom "class =" m-carousel - image dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn7.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/zenfone-7-pro-3x-zoom- 640x640 .jpg "srcset =" https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAAZenFone 7 Pro 3x zoom Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

I'm also impressed with the consistency between the standard and wide-angle camera, where shots from both appear similarly dynamic, although photos can be a bit boring at 3x optical zoom. It also repeatedly warns that you are too close to a subject and may move back for better focus when taking close-ups, even though the final photo is properly focused.

Overall, though, I had a lot of fun using the ZenFone 7 Pro's camera and figuring out how best to use the fun motorized module. I also don't feel like I've scratched the surface of what it can do, and that's a good feeling. It's unfortunate that the flip module adds to some of the phone's drawbacks – weight and lack of water resistance, for example – but the ZenFone 7 Pro is the phone of choice for selfie aficionados.

Software and performance

The Zenfone 7 Pro uses the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 Plus processor with 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage. Here's how it works in some benchmark tests, but the phone didn't complete a Vulkan test on 3DMark and crashed halfway. The same problem occurred with the ROG Phone 3.

Geekbench 5: 3125 multi core / 980 single core

3DMark Sling Shot Extreme: 7,706 (OpenGL)

These values ​​are slightly lower on the Asus ROG Phone 3, but it has less RAM, similar to the OnePlus 8. I played Asphalt 9 Legends and Hill Climb Racer without any problems and the phone didn't get hot either. However, it feels warm during extended periods of time where a number of apps are used and calls are made.

asus zenfone 7 pro review apps "class =" m-carousel - image dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn2.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/asus-zenfone-7-pro-apps-640x640. jpg "srcset =" https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

asus zenfone 7 pro evaluation fingerprint sensor "class =" m-carousel - image dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn3.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/asus-zenfone-7-pro-fingerprint- sensor- 640x640.jpg "srcset =" https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP//yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAThe side-mounted fingerprint sensor has programmable linking functions Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

asus zenfone 7 pro check settings "class =" m-carousel - image dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn4.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/asus-zenfone-7-pro-settings-640x640. jpg "srcset =" https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

asus zenfone 7 pro review cases "class =" m-carousel - image dt-lazy-no "src =" https://icdn5.digitaltrends.com/image/digitaltrends/asus-zenfone-7-pro-cases-640x640. jpg "srcset =" https://www.digitaltrends.com/data:image/gif;base64,https://www.digitaltrends.com/R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7Two cases come with the Asus ZenFone 7 Pro Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Asus is stuck when it comes to 5G. If it wasn't added, the phone would be cheaper, but its long-term appeal could suffer, while the addition leads to the price increase being accepted. Unfortunately, the only way to get it was to include it and so the price went up. 5G is for the future and currently offers few benefits to regular consumers, even if there is no 5G connectivity in an area where you live.

There's no such mystery to the software, as Asus continues to build ZenUI into a neat, easy-to-use, and relatively bloat-free version of Android, as we've seen with the ROG Phone 3 and ZenFone 6. There are a number of improvements here that increase speed, such as: B. Cut the phone startup time to 13 seconds and speed up everything from loading thumbnails to unlocking the phone with the fingerprint sensor. It's clean and tidy and I have no problems with it.

battery

Asus talks a lot about extending the battery life, not really daily, but about the life of the phone. It includes graphs and data on how overnight charging, wireless charging, mega-fast wired charging, and other bad habits of the battery (at least according to Asus) reduce the cell's capacity to hold a charge for years. Measures have been taken for the ZenFone 7 Pro to reduce long-term battery degradation and to keep its capacity longer.

Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

The cornerstone of this battery care system is a slow charge option, where the battery is 80% charged when you first plug it in at night and the last 20% is zapped just before the scheduled wake-up time. You can set this to only charge the battery at set times or not to fully charge it to protect it over time. If you dive even deeper, you can shut down apps, prevent them from starting automatically, and limit background activity as well.

ZenFone 7 Pro battery mode options Andy Boxall / Digital Trends

Wireless charging isn't on board due to concerns about Asus' battery and one such feature that takes up even more space in the already large phone. That didn't stop the ZenFone 7 Pro from coming with a quick wired charger, however. The zipper is 60% in 35 minutes and 100% in 90 minutes. The useful life is good, but not incredible. With moderate usage, I've spent two days on the ZenFone 7 Pro's battery, but with heavy usage with camera, games, and video calls it's really difficult, and around 11pm on those days. The battery had dropped to 5%.

Make no mistake, you are not scared of a day here but don't expect it to be two full days if you use it hard.

Price and availability

Asus has announced the Taiwanese and European price for the ZenFone 7 Pro, but has not yet confirmed the US price. It costs 799 euros, which is the equivalent of $ 950. Based on how Asus has converted prices in the past, the ZenFone 7 Pro could cost around $ 799.

The final release date has not yet been confirmed, but Asus acknowledges that it has been difficult to find a ZenFone 6 for sale and has announced that the ZenFone 7 Pro will have a bigger range on offer. We'll update here as we learn more about availability in the US.

Our opinion

The ZenFone 7 Pro's flip camera makes it the absolute best selfie smartphone you can buy. Coupled with the great software, pretty 90Hz screen, and thoughtful features like battery saving technology and 8K video recording, the ZenFone 7 Pro is a good value even at a higher price point than the ZenFone 6. However, if selfies aren't yours, the phone's size and weight are too heavy compared to others in its class.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes. The biggest downside to the ZenFone 7 Pro is the overall size and weight of the device. If you are concerned about this, there are several much slimmer and lighter phones available for roughly the same price. The $ 700 OnePlus 8 is a great everyday phone with reliable software and a good camera wrapped in a 180 gram case. The $ 600 LG Velvet also weighs 180 grams and looks even better than the OnePlus 8, is waterproof, and has a great screen.

Alternatively, the iPhone 11 is still priced at $ 700, though a replacement is in sight, with plenty of power, good battery life, and a powerful camera. Do you want something else? Check out the $ 700 Motorola Moto Edge with its stunning screen, great battery life, and unusual design.

How long it will take?

The ZenFone 7 Pro isn't waterproof, but it does come with a decent, sturdy case that should protect it from too much damage. The phone's specs are good, and Asus promises that two major Android software updates will be available for the ZenFone 7 Pro, including the Android 11 update that will be released by Google later this year. However, the time frames for these updates vary. Coupled with Asus' efforts to ensure that the battery stays fresh over time, it means the phone will last at least several years depending on your needs.

Should you buy it?

Yes. For selfies, there's no other phone that comes close to the ZenFone 7 Pro, and luckily the rest of the phone is impressive too.

Editor's recommendations




03 Aug
Blog

Asus ROG Strix G15 Review: A Gaming Laptop That Glows

Asus Rog Strix G15 review 01

Asus ROG Strix G15 review: the gaming laptop that lights up

"The Asus ROG Strix G15 offers just enough power to justify its 144 Hz refresh rate."

  • Solid gaming performance

  • RGB lighting is unmistakable

  • High refresh rate

  • Good thermals

  • Thick and chunky

  • No webcam or secure registration

Higher refresh rates have become the main theme for gaming laptops in recent years. Thanks to the performance increase, even gaming laptops at the budget level receive refresh rates of more than 60 Hz.

Asus' eye-catching new gaming laptop, the ROG Strix G15 for $ 1,000, is one of the cheapest laptops you can get with a 144 Hz screen. My test device was only equipped with an Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti, the entry-level option for serious mobile games.

Is that enough to properly power a 144 Hz display? Let's find out.

design

Asus designed the ROG Strix G15 in collaboration with BMW, which at first sounds interesting. Unfortunately, the car-inspired aesthetic is nothing new – it has been in the DNA of gaming equipment for many years.

The design collaboration leads to a plastic gaming laptop with many ribs, lines and structured materials. This is fake brushed metal that you can feel at your fingertips. Nevertheless, I prefer the look over something gaudier like the Acer Predator Helios 300.

The ROG Strix G15 is made entirely of plastic, although the structural integrity of the ROG Strix G15 is rather tank-like. The lid is the only weak point. It is easy to bend or bend and the hinge slams the lid unless it is at least 50% open.

The all-round light bar brightens your desk with a dash of RGB color.

My device came completely in black and Asus says it is a "professional person". Frankly, nobody will confuse it with anything other than a gaming laptop. Laptops like the Razer Blade or MSI GS66 Stealth are better suited for a meeting (if you still have them).

What the ROG Strix G15 has are lights. A lot of lights. The keyboard has a backlight for each key. This is just the beginning. The ROG Strix G15 has an “all-round light bar” that brightens your desk with a dash of RGB color. The LEDs themselves are not directly visible and leave a diffuse glow underneath. It's a nice effect that sets the Strix G15 apart from the sea of ​​other black gaming laptops.

The ROG Strix G15 is not thin or light. It weighs 5.7 pounds and is just under an inch thick. Even the Dell G3 gaming laptop, which is chunky in itself, outperforms the Strix G15 in portability. The Strix G15 also has a large footprint thanks to the placement of the connections on the back. To compensate, the laptop has a solid chin bezel. There is a significant gap between the display and the rest of the case. This means that the screen sits higher than some 17-inch laptops when open.

The ROG Strix G15 has a typical keyboard layout, although there are some eccentricities. I like the colorful WASD buttons and the additional function buttons on the side. Asus has also pulled some important keys from the function bar, e.g. B. the volume control. Unfortunately, the buttons used are mushy and feel imprecise.

The touchpad works well for a gaming laptop in this price range. It has a smooth surface and traces well enough, although Asus has opted for old-school, left and right physical buttons that feel dated and cut into the usable touchpad area. As with many Asus laptops, you can turn on a digital number pad on the touchpad because the keyboard lacks one. It works pretty well, but the accountants won't be happy.

Ports

The ROG Strix G15 follows the trend to move many less used ports into the background. Here are your video output options, whether via HDMI 2.0 or USB-C. The USB-C connector is not a Thunderbolt 3 and does not support a power supply. To charge, you have to stick to the proprietary barrel connector, which is also on the back next to an RJ45 Ethernet socket.

The only ports on the sides of the device are three USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 ports and a headphone jack. The right side is completely port free.

The Strix G15 does not include a webcam like most Asus gaming laptops sold today. This decision makes sense in a vacuum, as Asus knows that gamers who stream need a better external webcam. However, this decision is timed poorly due to the sudden popularity of work from home.

Finally, the Strix G15 does not include an IR camera or fingerprint reader for secure Windows Hello logins. It includes the latest Wi-Fi 6 for connectivity and Bluetooth 5.0.

display

The display makes the ROG Strix G15 an interesting gaming laptop. But not because the picture quality of the panel is so impressive. It's sub-par in almost every way, and the colors are the biggest downside.

It only affects 65% of the sRGB color space, which is poor compared to 98% of a laptop like the Razer Blade or MSI GS66 Stealth. Even the affordable Dell G5 SE reaches 98%, as do midrange laptops like the Lenovo Yoga C640. It has a light green hue, which makes my skin look almost sick in a YouTube video we recorded. However, this is less noticeable in games.

It's not a bright panel with a maximum of 278 nits, but the matte finish helps avoid sharp reflections. Let's face it, you'll likely be playing games in dimly lit rooms anyway.

The refresh rate is the outstanding feature of the display. A year or two ago, 144 Hz was the standard for high-end gaming laptops like the Razer Blade. Nowadays 300 Hz screens have raised the standard, while the ROG Strix G15 can be configured up to 240 Hz. At this price, it is still rare on gaming laptops, which makes the screen of the ROG Strix G15 a highlight of its gaming experience.

Game performance

The ROG Strix G15 may only have a poor Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti for graphics on board, but don't underestimate it. Modern 3D titles can be played back without any problems even at maximum settings. It can reach 64 fps (frames per second) in Fortnite, 56 in Battlefield V and 63 in Civilization VI. These are high enough, although they don't use the 144 Hz refresh rate much. If you only play with maximum settings, you won't notice the difference between this and a standard 60 Hz screen.

But it really seems if you reduce the graphics settings a bit. Frame rates increase significantly, and you feel the true power of a higher refresh rate. At medium settings, Civilization VI plays at 108 fps, while Fortnite reaches 86 fps at high settings (less than Epic). Interestingly, it matches the performance of the equally equipped Dell XPS 15 in almost every game for $ 600 less.

The problem? Not all games are as good as these easier titles. Battlefield V is a good example that still only achieves an average of 60 fps at medium settings. Of course you can set it to low if you really want to break 60 fps, but it's not fun. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is an even better example. In the middle setting "high", the game on the ROG Strix G15 only achieves an average of 42 fps. With Ultra High it is only 23 fps.

The system keeps the surface temperatures surprisingly cool even while gaming.

That is why Asus classifies this laptop as "E-Sport". If you're trying to play something more sophisticated – or just want to see more graphic details in your games – the ROG Strix G15 isn't for you.

Here the AMD-based Dell G5 SE is a convincing argument in itself. The AMD Radeon RX 5600M of the Dell G5 SE far outperforms the Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti – in some cases even 48%. On the other hand, Dell sells the G5 SE without 144 Hz in lower configurations. The high refresh rate of the ROG Strix G15 is more suitable for a certain type of player.

Of course, Asus also offers more powerful configurations of this laptop. For example, an attractive option might be the $ 1,500 model, which is equipped with an RTX 2070, a refresh rate of 240 Hz, 16 GB RAM and 1 TB solid-state memory. Razer offers a very similar blade configuration for a whopping $ 500 more.

In addition, the ROG Strix G15 has a cooling advantage over smaller gaming laptops. The system keeps the surface temperatures surprisingly cool even while gaming. This comes at the expense of fan noise (and case thickness), but you'll appreciate the cooling temperatures on the palm rests after long gaming sessions.

Performance in content creation

When it comes to non-gaming performance, the Dell G5 SE is again a problem in comparison. It has an eight-core processor compared to the six-core option in the ROG Strix G15. This means significantly better performance in high threading applications. With a focus on gaming, this may not be a deal breaker for the ROG Strix G15.

My test device came with the Intel Core i7-10750H, 8 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The performance in Cinebench R20 worried me a little. The single-core value even lagged behind measly 15-watt laptops like the Microsoft Surface Book 3. Thanks to the two additional cores, the Dell G5 SE was 26% faster in the multi-core test from Cinebench.

This directly led to how quickly the ROG Strix G15 also ran when encoding video. The Dell G5 SE was 27% faster encoding a 4K film trailer to H.265 in Handbrake. Of course, the ROG Strix G15 was not designed for this type of workload, but if you want to create content on the side (which doesn't depend on the quality of the screen), the ROG Strix G15 can do the job.

The ROG Strix G15 also has an empty M.2 slot for future expansion. You can also upgrade the RAM up to 32 GB.

Battery life

The ROG Strix G15 is not suitable for long sessions outside the wall.

Three hours and 50 minutes in our light web browser test are not good even for a gaming laptop. The Dell G5 SE lasted more than six hours in the same test.

The Strix G15 has proven itself in the video playback test, in which a local 1080p video clip is repeated until the battery is empty. The Strix G15 lasted eight hours and even beat the Dell G5 SE by an hour and a half. Unfortunately, this doesn't match the battery life of a typical workload.

In my daily workload, which consisted of a dozen browser tabs and some applications, it took about four hours on a single charge. There are far better gaming laptops for battery life.

Our opinion

The Asus ROG Strix G15 is a good choice for a certain type of player. It is the cheapest 144 Hz gaming notebook you can buy and offers just enough power to use it in some games. The image quality of the display is disappointing and there are a lot of frills missing from more expensive gaming laptops. Most gamers will be happier upgrading to a laptop with at least one Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti, but the ROG Strix G15 is a good place to start if you need cash.

Are there alternatives?

The Dell G5 SE is a problem for the ROG Strix G15. It is more powerful in almost every way. If you can raise the price to $ 1,050, it even comes with a 144 Hz screen. However, the ROG Strix G15 offers a higher refresh rate with cheaper configurations and has a more polished housing.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 3i for $ 920 is one of the few cheap gaming laptops with a high refresh rate. It's 120 Hz instead of 144 Hz, but you probably won't notice the difference. It comes with a slower Core i5 processor, but it's also a little cheaper than the ROG Strix G15.

How long it will take?

The ROG Strix G15 is a well-built laptop, but its graphics card isn't the fastest. In a few years, you may find that newer games find it difficult to play smoothly. However, the ability to update RAM and memory is a plus for the durability of the ROG Strix G15.

Asus offers a standard one-year warranty on its laptops. After that you are alone.

Should you buy it

Yes. If you're an e-sports player who cares more about frame rates than graphic details, the ROG Strix G15 gives you just enough power.

Editor's recommendations




123