The Asus ZenBook 13 is likely one of the best value laptops I’ve examined in a very long time. The ZenBook line has at all times packed in high-end options at surprisingly aggressive costs, however the newest mannequin stands out for two causes: a stunning OLED show and a Ryzen 5000U-series chip.
What’s exceptional about AMD’s new Ryzen 5000U-series processors is you get efficiency that always bests Intel’s newest 11th-generation (“Tiger Lake”) processors for considerably much less cash. The AMD model of Asus’ laptop computer begins at $800 for the Ryzen 5 mannequin, which is loads for most individuals. The costlier Ryzen 7-series mannequin I examined will get near the efficiency of Apple’s M1 chip in its recent MacBooks, however once more with a lower cost tag. The ZenBook 13 is a whole lot of laptop computer for not some huge cash. Still, that does not imply it is freed from quirks.
Cramped Keyboard
While the ZenBook 13 is a good worth, there may be one annoyance you may need to put up with: the keyboard. Some would possibly name it cramped, which it’s, however that is not my main situation. What bothers me is the additional row of keys on the proper facet with keys that will often sit in a NumPad, like Page Up and Home.
It finally ends up making the QWERTY space off-center with the trackpad. Every time I put my fingers down on both facet of the trackpad, I wasn’t touching the keys I believed I used to be touching. Thankfully, after a few week my mind adjusted and obtained used to it. The unhealthy information is that the closer-than-usual key spacing does result in an unusually excessive quantity of typos. I even foisted the ZenBook on my spouse for a few days to see if it was simply me, however no, she had the identical expertise.
The resolution right here is clear—ditch the additional row of keys and house out the remainder of the keyboard accordingly, however alas, it’s what it’s. It’s not a deal breaker, and I say that as a author who is continually typing. But I do recommend attempting this laptop computer earlier than shopping for to see if it bothers you.
Aside from the keyboard, there’s a lot to like about the remainder of this ZenBook’s design. These laptops have at all times been featherweight, svelte machines, and this newest mannequin is not any exception. It weighs in at somewhat over 2.5 kilos, and it is only a hair over half an inch thick.
When you open the ZenBook’s lid, the hinge lifts the rear of the physique off the floor, which provides the keyboard a snug 3-degree (roughly) slope. This additionally helps get some air flowing beneath the chassis to maintain issues cool. Whether or not it is a results of this design I’m unsure, however solely as soon as in all of my testing did I hear the followers come on. (And to be truthful, an hour-long assembly in Microsoft Teams will make any laptop computer sound like a jet engine.)
OLED and the Ryzen 5000U Series
Most of my preliminary curiosity within the ZenBook 13 was the AMD Ryzen 5000U-series chip, and it doesn’t disappoint. I ran some benchmarks in opposition to each the earlier AMD (Ryzen 7 4000 collection) and an Intel i7 Lenovo I’m testing as nicely. This is considerably apples-to-oranges, so I will not go too deep into it, however the 5000U collection outperformed each in nearly each multi-threaded take a look at, which is about what you’d count on. Where the Intel mannequin is prone to win is in gaming.
More attention-grabbing to me was the real-world expertise of rendering and exporting video, which was blazing quick, even subsequent to the Ryzen 4000-series machine, and watching HD video, which appears to be like nice on the 13-inch OLED show. This is likely one of the first laptops beneath $1,000 I’ve seen with an OLED show. It’s solely 1080p, in contrast to the 4K OLED in some Dell machines, but it surely nonetheless appears to be like incredible, with deep, wealthy blacks and extremely saturated colours.