Two minute assessment
The Asus ZenBook 13 is again for 2021, loaded with the most recent AMD Ryzen 5000 series processors and sporting a full HD OLED panel for beautiful, vibrant colours and a few excellent CPU efficiency, however its Radeon graphics do not fairly match what Intel Iris Xe is able to and the dearth of Thunderbolt 4 assist and lack of a headphone jack means holds it again simply sufficient to maintain it from being really nice.
That's to not say this is not top-of-the-line Ultrabooks in the marketplace proper now, it positively is. From its glorious design and light-weight chassis to its shiny and vibrant 400-nit OLED show, this is without doubt one of the greatest trying ultrabooks going that is not the Dell XPS 13 and Apple MacBook Air (M1,2020), that's. It's additionally an excellent bit lighter than each of these, shedding out to solely the very lightest machines just like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano.
In phrases of efficiency, the AMD Ryzen 5000-series CPUs are among the greatest multitasking CPUs round, making gentle work of schoolwork, work work, or simply loading up on numerous Google Chrome tabs (having 16GB RAM positively helps as properly). The ZenBook 13 stumbles a bit although relating to its GPU efficiency, the place the AMD Radeon graphics are positively succesful, however lag behind Intel's competing Iris Xe built-in graphics.
Where the Asus ZenBook 13 really overpowers its rivals although is its battery life, due to a comparatively enormous 67WHr battery that runs for hours longer than a few of its main rivals just like the XPS 13.
Still, there are some downsides to the ZenBook 13 that may't go unnoticed, like its lack of Thunderbolt 4 assist or the dearth of a 3.5mm headphone jack, forcing you to make use of considered one of its few USB slots to attach a headset or to attach by way of Bluetooth. The keyboard and trackpad is perhaps a bit too cramped for some on the market, as properly, although it is not terribly so.
While these points do maintain the ZenBook 13 again considerably - and a few of these is perhaps real deal breakers - in the event you've acquired wi-fi earbuds able to go and you do not want essentially the most leading edge built-in graphics, it's best to positively give the Asus ZenBook 13 a glance.
Price and availability
Spec Sheet
Here is the Asus ZenBook 13 configuration despatched to SociallyTrend for assessment:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800U
Graphics: AMD Radeon
RAM: 16GB
Screen: 13.3-inch, OLED 1080p, 400 nits
Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD
Ports: 1 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 2 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (Display, Power, Data), 1xHDMI 2.1, MicroSD
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Camera: 720p IR webcam
Weight: 2.51lbs (1.14kg)
Size (W x D x H): 11.97 x 7.99 x 0.55ins (304 x 203 x 13.9mm)
Battery: 67WHr
The Asus ZenBook 13 (2021) is accessible now, beginning at $749 / £899 ($999 / £1,099 as reviewed) within the US and UK. Unfortunately, at the moment the 13-inch mannequin isn't obtainable in Australia, with the closest mannequin being the Asus ZenBook 14 (UM425).
There are some Intel-based variations of the ZenBook 13 as properly, although we've not examined them, so we won't converse to their efficiency versus the AMD Ryzen 5000-series fashions.
Design
The design of the Asus ZenBook 13 is certainly considered one of its standout options. At simply 0.55-inches skinny (13.9 mm) and a pair of.51 kilos (1.14kg), this can be a severely light-weight Ultrabook.
The aluminum chassis has a modern brushed metallic design on the lid radiating out from the Asus brand stamped off-center on the entrance. It's not an artwork piece by any means, however its not the sort of factor that you're going to be embarrassed to whip out in public.
The edge-to-edge keyboard was snug sufficient for us, however we sort for a dwelling. We can positively see how some would possibly discover the important thing structure too cramped, and the trackpad is certainly not as responsive or snug as you may discover on the XPS 13.
One factor that positively helps, although, is that the keyboard lifts up towards you as you absolutely lengthen the display screen, making typing on it extra nice than it will in any other case be.
When it involves ports, there are two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A, an HDMI 2.0 output port, and a microSD slot. You would possibly discover the absence of a headphone jack, which truthfully we might have most well-liked to see in trade for a microSD card slot.
We would not essentially name this a "creative workstation" so having a media slot normally used for pictures or recorded audio is not prone to see as a lot use as a headphone jack would have been.
Especially as a result of the audio system are down-firing. That implies that resting the ZenBook 13 on something aside from a tough, flat floor dangers muffling the sound.
They aren't the worst laptop computer audio system we have ever heard, although, given their configuration. During our HD film check, the audio system alone at 50% quantity managed to fill a small studio house fairly properly.
Performance
Benchmarks
Here is how the Asus ZenBook 13 carried out in our suite of benchmark exams:
GeekBench 5: 1,415 (single-core); 6,824 (multi-core)
CineBench R23: 7,773
PCMark 10 Home: 5,963
3DMark Night Raid: 13,305; Firestrike: 3,277; Time Spy: 1,306;
Blender Fishy Cat: 7 minutes 8 seconds; Classroom: 13 minutes 44 seconds
Battery Life (PCMark 10 check): 13 hours 50 minutes
Battery Life (SociallyTrend film check): 9 hours 9 minutes
The efficiency of the Asus ZenBook 13 is one thing of a blended bag. On the one hand, its CPU efficiency merely blows away competing Intel Core i7 chips just like the i7-1165G7 in multicore efficiency, although it lags behind when it comes to single core efficiency.
This is fairly typical for AMD chips, which are typically higher at multitasking than Intel's however lag behind with notably intensive apps that require greater single core energy, like gaming or video encoding. Fortunately, you in all probability aren't prone to do a lot of the latter on an Ultrabook just like the ZenBook 13, so the multicore efficiency is certainly extra related for common use and productiveness work.
Another space the place the ZenBook 13 slips a bit is in GPU efficiency. AMD Radeon built-in graphics have come a great distance, but it surely is not fairly as much as the extent of Intel Iris Xe's. In our 3DMark benchmarks, the Ryzen 7 5800U fell noticeably behind the i7-1165G7 within the XPS 13 and Razer Book 13.
Still, on condition that it is an Ultrabook, we did not anticipate something earth-shattering when it comes to graphics. Still, we want to see AMD's built-in Radeon graphics change into extra aggressive with Intel's. Maybe subsequent yr.
Battery life
The battery lifetime of the Asus ZenBook 13 was among the greatest we have seen in an Ultrabook that wasn't operating an ARM chip, and even then, the ZenBook 13 outperformed the MacBook Air (M1) by a few hours, lasting 9 hours and 9 minutes in our HD film check to the Air's 11 hours and quarter-hour.
In our PCMark10 battery benchmark, the ZenBook 13 averaged almost 14 hours (13:50, to be exact), with the shortest run being 11 hours half-hour, and its longest run lasting 16 hours 23 minutes. In the worst case, the ZenBook 13 falls simply shy of the XPS 13, lasting 11 hours half-hour to the XPS 13's 11 hours 47 minutes, and at its greatest, it lasts almost 5 hours longer.
Needless to say, it is a very spectacular consequence although not all too shocking given the bigger 67WHr battery for the ZenBook 13.
Webcam and microphone
The 720p HD webcam on the Asus ZenBook 13 is fairly normal so far as webcams go. Considering how a lot they've change into part of all people's life in 2020, we want to see a greater high quality digital camera, however the ZenBook 13 is hardly the one offender in that regard. Fortunately, there's a privateness swap that can shut the digital camera off. It's not a bodily shutter, but it surely's higher than not having any swap in any respect.
The microphone high quality was typically glorious, and our colleagues heard us loud and clear throughout conferences. We carried out a number of interviews for work as properly that went off with out a hitch.
Buy it if...
You want a multitasking champ
The AMD Ryzen 5000-series processors are pretty much as good because it will get the place common function multitasking and productiveness work is anxious.
You need excellent battery life
The Asus ZenBook 13 has among the greatest battery life in a laptop computer class recognized for distinctive battery life.
You need a very moveable laptop computer
At simply 2.51 kilos (1.14kg), this extremely skinny Ultrabook is extra moveable than most of its rivals.
Don't purchase it if...
You need higher than a 1080p show
The OLED panel on the Asus ZenBook 13 is beautiful, however it is just a 1080p show with a 16:9 ratio, not 3:2.
You haven't got a Bluetooth headset
Without a headphone jack, you may want a USB or Bluetooth headset if you wish to maintain issues quiet and/or personal.
You want high-quality graphics efficiency
Don't let the beautiful OLED show idiot you, this is not the sort of ultrabook that is going to carry out intensive artistic work like video enhancing or 3D rendering.
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