Asus has been busy launching laptops the whole year and yet comes up with some kind of innovative feature in each product to fend off the competition. Zenbook 14 (UX434) is one such product from Asus that comes with some fancy features and pretty powerful specs for the price it is being offered at. We have been using the laptop for couple of weeks and here is our review of it.
Design and screen:
The Zenbook 14 weighs in at around 1.2Kgs making it very comfortable to carry or use while traveling a lot. Right off the bat, the Zenbook 14 has a very premium look with metallic body, solid build and the signature Asus Zen circles design on the lid. There is a sturdiness when using the Zenbook 14 with absolutely no flex while using it. The hinge on the laptop screams premium as well with a nice golden color. The hinge also lifts the keyboard when the laptop is opened to give a pleasant typing experience.
As the name suggests, Zenbook 14 comes with a 14 inches display with FULL HD resolution and covering 72% of the NTSC color gamut. The 14 inches display is actually given in 13 inches form factor making the bezels very narrow and a whopping 92% screen-to-body ratio. The screens of Asus’ laptops have always been good in terms of quality and color reproduction, and Zenbook 14 also boasts of a similarly good screen.
Keyboard and I/O:
Zenbook 14 is supposed to be used primarily for productivity which includes a lot of typing on the move. And the keyboard here makes it very easy to type and provides a very natural feedback with the key travel. The keyboard is unlike the ones on other compact laptops which compromise on the key travel or the quality of the keys. The keys are backlit which enables easier typing in low lighting conditions.
On the left, we have DC input, HDMI port, USB 2.0 port and a USB-C 3.1 Gen 2 port. The right side houses a 3.5mm audio jack, USB-A Gen 2 port and a microSD card slot. The number of ports is comparatively good considering it’s a compact laptop. The top of the screen houses a web camera and an IR scanner that scans the face for unlocking the laptop when it is opened. Zenbook 14 comes with Harman Kardon tuned speakers which are loud enough to fill a room and the audio is clear as well.
Performance:
Zenbook 14 (UX434) is powered by the 8th generation Intel i7 processor clocked at 1.8 GHz. This paired with 16GB of RAM is adequate for a lag free windows experience and day to day tasks like browsing, videos and other multimedia activities. There is also 2GB of dedicated graphics in the form of Nvidia GeForce MX250 which helps in some of the graphics intensive tasks like video editing or even casual gaming. We were able to play games like GTA V and Fifa 18 with decent frames per second. Obviously, this is not a gaming laptop and so we should not be expecting a very high performance with the latest games around. The unit we tested had 1TB of PCIe 3.0 SSD which was fast and helped in quick loading times as well for applications and the OS itself.
Screenpad:
We had seen the Screenpad feature sometime back in the Asus Zenbook Pro and at the time of writing that review, it felt like like a bit of gimmicky feature. Now, Zenbook 14 comes with the second gen Screenpad that provides more options for multi-tasking and also productivity.
The Screenpad replaces the trackpad of the keyboard are with a high resolution secondary display which can be used in various cases and offers pretty good functionalities as well. We can use multiple applications at the same time with the addition of Screenpad, watch youtube videos and at the same time reply to your mails or notifications using it. Asus has provided some custom shortcuts which work in tandem with existing applications like the MS Excel, Word etc, for quick text formatting kind of things. There is also handwriting and gesture recognition enabled in the Screenpad which comes in handy.
Asus also has some pre-built apps which are baked right into the Screenpad as shortcuts for invoking them with ease. In case, the use wants to turn off the Screenpad, he can do so and it just acts as a regular trackpad with a matte finish.
Asus claims a battery life of around 14 hours for the Zenbook 14 which comes with a 50Wh battery. While we were able to get a battery life of around 7-9 hours with Screenpad always on, it is not close to the claimed figures and yet good when compared to other laptops in the segment. The charging is also quick, thanks to the 65W adapter.
Verdict:
Zenbook 14 is a perfect laptop if you are a student or a professional who prefers a solid yet compact laptop. It has the right mix of style and substance with premium looks and powerful configuration to breeze past any task without issues. The Screenpad is a unique feature which adds additional multitasking capabilities and turn some heads over as well. Zenbook 14 will definitely be one of the favorite laptops this year with it’s design, form factor and the performance.
The Zenbook 14 starts at a price of INR 79,990 and available at all leading online stores. The price might look steep but the features and quality of Asus overshadow the price.
You can also check out the Zenbook 15 (UX534) that was launched alongside the 14-inch variant. It comes with a powerful graphics card, bigger screen and larger battery which the company claims to provide around 17 hours of battery life. Below is the specs sheet of Zenbook 15 (UX534):
