We live in an age when smartphones are everywhere, tablets are commonplace and even seeing the odd smartwatch isn’t that much of an oddity anymore. Yet, through it all, the laptop has stuck persevered and, by the looks of the laptops on these pages, for good reason — there’s little better when you want to get something done.

Asus ZenBook UX305

It’s almost a law of nature — if you push out a slim, ultraportable notebook these days, expect to face the inevitable comparisons with the MacBook Air. In that respect, Asus hasn’t shied away and reinvented the wheel with the ZenBook UX305. So you get a laptop that’s similar to the Air in terms of shape, slimness of profile and all-metal construction. It is remarkably thin at 12.3mm and weighs just 1.2kg, making the UX305 very easy to carry around in one hand, yet you get the full complement of USB 3.0 ports and a nicely sized keyboard.

Where it differs is where stuff counts — you get a much higher-resolution non-reflective 1,920 x 1,080-pixel screen on this 13in form factor, which is miles ahead of the MacBook Air’s. Asus was also the first to market with the new
Intel Core M processor, the same low-power range of chips that powers the new super-lightweight MacBook — the highlight of this chip is that it can be used without a cooling fan, which makes for a quieter, more resilient laptop. There’s 4GB of non-upgradeable memory, and a snappy 256GB solid state storage on which the 64-bit edition of Windows 8.1 comes pre-installed, thankfully without much bloatware.

In use, the UX305 proved to be capable of handling basic daily tasks (including watching high-res videos) with no obvious lag but I wouldn’t recommend trying heavy-duty gaming on this. What really seals the deal for the Asus is the sweet Rs 49,999 pricing, which takes this otherwise well-rounded and well-designed beauty to a whole
different level. Highly recommended.

• Rating: 9/10
• Price: Rs 49,999
• URL: http://bit.ly/TT-AsusUX305

 
HP Spectre x360

HP’s Spectre x360 is a whole different beast altogether — think of it as a love child of an Apple MacBook Pro and a twisty-turny Lenovo Yoga laptop. Like the Yoga series, the premium 13in laptop can flip from notebook to tablet and everything in between, as the hinge allows 360 degrees of rotation. The stark design itself harks back to Apple’s machined aluminium chassis made popular by the entire MacBook range, and the laptop takes some intelligent design cues from a ton of ultra-portables around to make the x360 not only one of the best looking laptops out there, but also one of the most thoughtfully designed. Just take a look around — despite the thin frame, there’s literally no compromise — three USB 3.0 ports, a full-sized HDMI port, and a comfy keyboard, among others — and no wasted space. Worthy of mention is the expansive touchpad, which is one of the largest I’ve seen on just about
any laptop.

For a laptop at this price, the x360 ought to pack in the works, and it does — there’s the latest Core i7 processor, 512GB of solid state storage, 8GB of RAM and — my favourite — an insanely pixel-rich 2,560x1,440 (quad-HD) pixel touchscreen display. If you think the 13in MacBook Pro’s 2,560 x 1,600 display is gorgeous, the Spectre’s is as well…plus it supports touch with the Windows 8.1 Pro.

In all, the x360 is a series of pleasant surprises, including a more-than-acceptable all-day battery life (given the screen resolution), but the experience comes at a price which rivals what you’d pay to Cupertino for their MacBook Pro. If you can afford it, it’s one heck of a laptop.

• Rating: 8/10
• Price: Rs 1.3 lakh
• URL: http://bit.ly/1QsWRWd

Nexian Air Chromebook

Chromebooks in general have been a bit of hit-and-miss in India — you get strong laptop-like functionality at tablet-like prices, but the dependence on constant Internet connectivity was an issue in the past. The latest set of Chromebooks from Xolo and Nexian will make a lot of folks sit up and take note — and that’s thanks to their Rs 12,999 price tag. Jaw-dropping price or a bundle of compromises? I took the Nexian Chromebook for a spin to find out.

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting too much in terms of build quality, but the Nexian Air surprises with its rugged splash-proof construction while remaining fairly light and slim. The 11.6in 1,366x768 display is good enough for Web browsing and basic video, and the keyboard and trackpad are okay for light users.

Since the first Chromebooks, ChromeOS has grown by leaps and bounds, and you get a ton of apps on the Chrome store to do most everyday tasks offline, including Office apps from Microsoft and apps for video/image editing. Two gigabytes of memory and 16 GB onboard storage are solid configuration options for the price, and the Chromebook’s instant-on-instant-off character had me picking up the Nexian rather than my laptop more often than not for quick emails and the like. If you’re not a heavy user, this may be just the right laptop at the right price for you.

• Rating: 8/10
• Price: Rs 12,999
• URL: http://bit.ly/TT-NexianAir