ASUS gave a sneak peek at their latest Zenbook 13 and 14 (UX325 / UX425) duo, a pair of highly portable laptops. They’re thin, and look stylish to boot to carry anywhere you go, with quite a few connectivity options including ports for HDMI, Thunderbolt ™ 3 USB-C®, USB Type-A and even a microSD card reader. Besides portability, it’s also built for performance. With Andrew Chan – Tech Marketing / PR ASUS, Jack Huang – CCG Sales Director, Intel dan Gary – Consumer PC Product Manager from ASUS Malaysia, here’s what you can expect:

MOBILITY

This are the slimmest 13- and 14-inch laptops yet, with metallic design. At a mere 13.9mm thick and weighing in at 1.07kg, they somehow still manage a full set of I/O ports as mentioned, including HDMI and USB Type-A, for your peripherals wherever you go.

BATTERY

No charger, no problem! With an expected battery life at a whopping 22 HOURS, the ZenBook 13 and 14 are essentially going to last forever, but if you need any top up, it has fast charge to bring it back to 60% in just 49 minutes. In adadition, it has USB-C Easy Charge support, so you can further boost that battery life with any USB-C standard 5-20V chargers. With PD support, there’s really no need for concern over these ZenBook batteries.

DESIGN

The Asus ZenBook 13 and 14 are both light, elegant and bearing an Aerospace Grade chassis. While the laptops may be small, it packs plenty of power to assist in productivity, be it indoors or outdoors, working or relaxing, solo or collaborative work.

DISPLAY

It’s not lacking in the screen department either, with a NanoEdge display and thin bezels that give it a 90% screen to body ratio for more immersive viewing. It may be a low power 1-watt display, it can still give 400 nits brightness and above, for clear images yet not being a strain on the battery.

CONNECTIVITY

As previously mentioned, you have most of your connectivity needs fulfilled with the ZenBook 13 and 14 with the full I/O port works including the HDMI port, full-sized USB Type-A port, Thunderbolt 3, two USB-C Thunderbolt 3 for fast charging, support for an external 4K UHD display and up to 40Gbps data transfer. It also comes with a microSD card reader for your smaller devices.

KEYBOARD, NUM PAD and IR CAMERA

• NUMBERPAD
  • Find the ZenBook 14 equipped with the innovative ASUS NumberPad 2.0, a dual function pad that works as a touchpad and LED numpad. Even if the NumberPad is active, the touchpad is still usable with a smart cursor control

• EDGE-TO-EDGE KEYBOARD
  • The ZenBook 14 introduces a new edge-to-edge keyboard design, allowing for extra buttons for other functions to increase productivity

• FUNCTION KEYS
  • For further convenience, you can screen capture, lock the webcam or access the MyASUS application through these keys
• IR CAMERA
• In tandem with the IR camera and Windows Hello, your face becomes your password, with the camera capable of recognizing your face in just a few seconds for almost instant secure access, and you don’t even need to worry even if you’re in a darker place!

PERFORMANCE

Packing the Intel® Core ™ i7 1065G7 processor, the latest 10th generation Ice Lake chip, multitasking, productivity and light entertainment is easier than ever. It also comes with ultrafast SSD PCIe® 3.0 x4 and Intel WiFi 6 Gig + (802.11ax).

SOFTWARE

Get access to the newest version of MyASUS, with a collection of applications and tools to maximize your ZenBook. Sync your iOS or Android phone to your laptop or for more after-sales support as necessary. That’s not forgetting popular apps and exclusive offers that you can get.

Find these in MyASUS:

• Software update 
  • BIOS
  • System drivers
  • Utility
• System Diagnosis
  • Proactive: Hardware diagnosis
  • Reactive: Hardware checks
• Hardware settings
  • Battery health charging
  • Tru2Life (for display optimization in brightness, sharpness and contrast)
  • Function key lock
    • Locked:  Hit the function key to launch commands at once
    • Normal: Hit the key first to change key
  • WiFi Smart Connect
    • On: Automatically connects to the strongest connection or any remembered hotspots
• Fan Mode
• Customer service
  • Sends you to the FAQ
  • Communicate with a representative through voice or text
  • Repair status of ASUS products

The smartphone integration is the most interesting one for the ZenBook 13 and 14:

• Hands-free Phone Call: Dial using your ZenBook
• Mirror: Share your phone screen with your ZenBook
• Screen Extender: Link to your tablet for more screen real estate
• File Transfer: Transfer using MyASUS File Transfer for easy moving of data
• URL Transfer: Share URLs of sites to other devices as needed
• Remote File Access: Open files anywhere, anytime

AUDIO

It may be small in many aspects, but the ZenBook 13 and 14 comes with an audio system by Harman Kardon for clear audio for both communication or entertainment.

MILITARY GRADE

The ZenBook 14 has undergone the MIL-STD-810G A.S. to ensure it truly stands to the test of toughness, put through pressure tests and extreme temperatures to ensure it works in any environment.

The official launch of the ASUS ZenBook 13 and 14 won’t be too long now. The Malaysian market will be receiving the Pine Grey and Lilac Mist colour options, with price and relevant promotions to be revealed soon.