Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Overall we were very impressed with the Asus Zenbook. Neither power nor portability has been sacrificed in pursuit of the other and features that traditionally suffer, such as audio quality and battery life, have not been neglected.
Battery life, especially, isn't the worry it usually is with the Zenbook, but you need to make sure it's in the right power state - running on high performance means that the system flies - but it comes at a cost. For most purposes, running in power saving mode is more than enough.
We liked
There's so much to like about this laptop. It's a real PC ultraportable - the design is fantastic and it goes like stink.
Beautiful design can only come into its own when there's performance to match.And it's all here in spades.
The instant sleep and resume is exactly what you want in a laptop like this, and you'll find yourself quickly adapting to never shutting down. Unless, that is. Windows wants to install updates!
We disliked
There's surprisingly little we disliked about the Zenbook, but it must be said that the trackpad buttons grate especially. They are truly awful and mean that a mouse is recommended for serious work.
The keyboard takes a bit of getting used to and isn't as good as many - however, you quickly get to know it and it's not too much of an issue. The lack of a backlight is also a problem.
Graphics performance could be better but we realise that's slightly unrealistic for a machine of this type - we also weren't huge fans of the display.
Finally, you could say the design - though fantastic - is rather derivative. Still, unless you're a real design freak, you'll almost certainly find that you're not that fussed.
Verdict
While price may preclude some from purchasing the Zenbook, we have no problem in recommending it as one of the best ultraportables we've seen.
It's certainly a match for the impressive MacBook Air - and a real tonic to those who have wanted a performanceWindowsultraportable at a price point that doesn't require a remortgage. Yes, it's expensive. But it's so worth it.
