The 12.5-inch ASUS Zenbook 3 (UX390UA) boasts an INSANELY thin & light body along with the latest Kaby Lake chips. But form over function has resulted in a flawed ultrabook that’s hard to recommend…
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Is it worthy to buy it or better go for ASUS Zenbook UX310UA-FC332T that has almost the same features but is 500 euro cheaper?
ahh, ASUS or any manafacturer needs to make a big bulky laptop with 15 inches, cram it with a huge battery and a quad core i7. Make a nice application that can limit the TDP (is possible) and there you go, although if that were the case then people would have to pay through the nose
All of manufactures are going way to mental with this “thinness” trend.It is good to have it thin, but it will be easily bendable and rubbish battery life. Still look good as a working laptop.
The zen book looks nice
So basically you’re better off buying the MacBook? Ive personally had no issues with the m5 CPU and even run VMware on it. The one port thing is annoying but it has so many other good aspect to it I can overlook that. Not least that is runs silent…pretty important when using for work! Anything requiring more power is always better on a desktop or desktop replacement laptop anyway.
great vid mate! i was thinking of buying one of these! still not sure though
what laptop you would recommend for daily basic work?? and it can switch to tablet mode like the feature in windows 10
As explained in another review, the i5-7200u version of the Zenbook 3 does not have the fan noise issue. Also i’m currently averaging 7-8 hours with balanced, battery saver and 60% (should be able to get 9 hours+ with 40%) brightness on mine. I think that your/the i7 model is flawed and ASUS did make too many compromises with that version; the i7 just wasn’t meant to be put in a form factor this small. Acer tried to make a model just like the Zenbook 3 but they opted for the Core i5-Y variant (aka the Core M Kaby Lake) instead in the Swift 7. Also you failed to mention that the fan doesn’t actually sound like a fan but more like background white noise. I don’t have any issues with the one I own and it has replaced my MacBook Pro Retina as my portable device. Oh also, the XPS13 looks chunky compared to this thing.
Hey, have you tried Google Canary or just another browser? Most of the time it is just not utilizing the hardware acceleration for the device. For example, I have a Lenovo miix 2 with a Intel Atom Z3740, this device can stream 4k video from youtube without any stuttering but my dell xps 13 with i7 5600u processor was very noisy and hot just streaming 1080p videos.
Isn’t form over function the ENTIRE point of this computer?
Well I like mine. I have the Blue one with 16 gig / 512 gig ssd. I can fold it up and put it in my passenger side back seat pouch or take it in my gym bag if needed – super portable – and gives me a powerful windows computer that is the size of a national geographic magazine. I bought an adapter to connect to the older hdmi cable and can still charge and have additional usb ports. Screen is bright and its fast. This computer’s main benefit is its size – I can take it anywhere.
I have a great tip for you…don’t listen to silly pricks that request you buy a plant. Your videos are perfectly informative enough without added gimmicks. Great work, keep it up.
It’s weird that there’s this whole “thin” obsession for electronics lately. Some applications are cool, like a giant but thin TV screen in your house, and sleek designs like this thin laptop. (I’ll give it that, very nice design). But why make something so thin, and not useable? Only a few hours? Just like phones. I cringed when you were pressing down on that mousepad and the laptop was about to snap. Why are we investing in making things smaller, and thinner? Why don’t companies invest in longer battery life? I’d also trade a few millimeters for hours of more use. /endrant.
p.s. NICE video, Chap.
It’s just too expensive for what you get.
if this is too thin for you, give it to me, don’t complain, you petty little rich people… my laptop is a chromebook, without a working keyboard, i have used it for 3 years.
They’ve just tried to make it a Windows MacBook instead of trying to make theirs better, why wouldn’t they add an extra USB c port
I think we don’t have the same Zenbook 3 man… I have the i7 7500u and 512go version. And with it, I have 10 hours of battery life without power saving on, and he’s not noisy at all :/
can you make a review of asus ux360uak qhd ?
it doesn’t even have AM Radio, dealbreaker
Long time windows user but Im a switcher from a Mac Air and honestly really like it. I’ve had one for about 3 weeks. The single port, the jury is out there, its been a bit annoying, but no showstopper, especially when they do include a dongle with HDMI, USB3 and USB-C (powered passthrough capable). Im on 110v power and honestly fan noise only comes on when im gaming. Im a lightroom user as well as the usual office apps/ netflix etc. Battery – 5/6hrs sounds about right and I’m OK with that. I usually have mine plugged in anyway. I really wanted the Zenbook UX410uq and the Zenbook deluxe does look interesting, but with no firm release date for either in Nth America, who knows when it will actually go on sale!?
No, you’re not being too harsh.
The ASUS Zenbook 3 seems to be overpriced and targeting the wrong types of users. This would make for a decent $3-500 Chrome or Linux device, but a $1k+ laptop sans touchscreen with limited port selection and weak battery makes this a poor choice for running Windows 10.
Good review
Nice review. You should be hard on the critics, don’t change it. No mercy 🙂 If a laptop costs this much, it also should deliver ! Am I right that this one hovers around the price of a 2016 Macbook Pro 13″ ?…
It looks fantastic, it’s very small, very portable and for that reason I think it needs a better battery. Maybe the Dell XPS is a better laptop but the Asus looks fantastic.
I own XPS 13 i5 processor, and it has a coil whine noise when you do something graphic intensive. For example when you scroll down the window or watch a video or run many applications. It is annoying. I do not recommend this ultrabook.
Nice to see this zenbook 3 , very beautiful but a little bit expensive for me :p Thank you for ur ux310ua test , i just take it 🙂
my favourite aspect of this laptop is the design
nice videography
0:53
Case fan is possessed by spirit
I already gave pc centric this enormous tip on how to improve his channel. And I thought its only fair and good sportsmanship if I share this huge tip with you. Get a plant. Preferably a large 5ft or 6ft leafy house plant and stick it somewhere in the background. It would appear you have room in your shot for such a plant. And maybe, instead of everything being in focus.. Play around with the focus settings. But seriously I would like to see a large leafy house plant in your shot somewhere.
I’ve spent $1999 on my 2016 13 inch Macbook Pro (512G storage), I’m pretty impressed by the Screen, it looks really much better than Dell XP, or Asus laptops without Retina display, Surface Book is exceptionally great too, I think I got the right one for myself.
Cheers man, happy new year…:D…
Non-Apple laptops have some weird problem with backlit keyword. Keys are not attached with base and ligth comes around the keys which is not as aesthetic as Apple.
keys should only glow at the letter marking
I Hate black with yellow
I have the i5 model the fans don’t kick in at all even with 10 tabs. the battery lasts up to 7 hours on light to medium usage for me. I can watch 3 movies on netflix easily and still have some juice left.
i agree with you!
These type of laptops shouldn’t have fans.
No competition for a 12″ MacBook.
There is a lovely cooler master case there it appears to be one un released
Damn when you press those trackpad buttons. its terrible build quality in my opinion. piss poor construction.
good show old chap, blazingly honest review. ( which is why you always have my attention!) Tally to.
Hi Tom, great video and looking forward to your review of the deluxe model in future.
Can I ask which model of Dell ultra wide you have in this video? Looking at upgrading my 16:9 soon and it looks like a nice, matt panel.
Keep up the great work – I’m enjoying your high quality tech reviews and commentary, it’s refreshing to have it come from this side of the pond!
Great video
isn’t it just ugly?? i mean keyboard looks absolutely awful 🙁
I think all ASUS products have shit fans. It’s just a fact.
Good work Chap!
Is it a thing among windows 10 laptops that just hate Chrome? My surface pro 4’s fan is super loud if I use Chrome, to a point where I end up using Edge just to avoid it.
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