Asus knows not just how to make laptops but also ways to market them, making commitments that matters to users, something that’s seen in plenty on the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, which is different from the Space Edition. It’s one of those devices that you fall in love with immediately because there are so many things that are customer-focused.
One of the first in India to board the Intel 12th generation ship, you are promised a smooth journey for a long time, bringing the best out of Windows. There are three aspects that impressed me. First, display. Besides being thin and light, all the magic lies in the 14-inch OLED display. It’s that and some more — there is 90Hz refresh rate, which is usually amiss on laptops while you enjoy 2.8K resolution, compare that with the usual 1080p fare. The output is sharp, bright, contrast-y and, very importantly, accurate. Of course, you are guaranteed deep blacks. What I was more interested in was Photoshop, which worked flawlessly no matter the number of layers I threw at it. It has 100 per cent DCI-P3 coverage and 133 per cent sRGB coverage, in other words, a good deal of colour accuracy. Plus, the 16:10 aspect ratio goes well with enjoying videos. This is the best Windows 11 experience I have had, thanks to the smooth display, even though it can be slightly reflective. Okay, that’s more of a quibble and shouldn’t affect purchase decisions.
The full-size keyboard has good key travel and the trackpad is very responsive
A whole lot of power
The showstopper experience doesn’t end with the display. Taking it further is what drives the Intel EVO-certified laptop, powered by the new Intel 12th generation chipset. For review, we had access to the Intel Core i7 1260p variant, with 12 cores — four performance cores and eight efficiency cores. There are 16 threads and the CPU can go up to 4.7Ghz. Coming to the GPU, there is Intel Iris Xe Graphics and the RAM is the latest LPDDR5 and there 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 storage. That’s a lot of figures we are throwing at you but all of them point to blazing-fast performance, outdoing many benchmark scores. The read-write speed is amazing and the chipset is power efficient. Plus, you don’t have to worry about the irritatingly long Windows booting process. You can reach lock screen in around 10 seconds while hitting desktop in another two seconds extra.
Real-world tests live up to expectations. Keep as many tabs open on the Chrome browser as you want. Juggle between resource-consuming applications. Render 4K videos without any worry. Or indulge in some gaming. It’s a powerhouse.
Taking the experience a notch higher is the backlit chiclet keyboard with 1.4mm key travel and excellent key spacing. I could fly through copies without having to worry about the keyboard. And the trackpad is large and doubles as numpad. My only query is why keep the ‘delete’ key is to the right of the power button.
Should you buy it?
Ensuring that the ultrabook lasts several years is the excellent build of aluminium alloy with military grade certification (US MIL-STD 810H). The interior too has an aluminium alloy finish and there is the ErgoLift hinges, which helps when you open out the screen at certain angles while the keyboard rises slightly to making typing easy. In the sound department are two Harman/Kardon-certified speakers that have depth and clarity, something I wasn’t expecting. Otherwise, it’s a sleek and light ultrabook weighing only 1.39kgs.
Keeping the machine alive is a decent 75Whr battery while a 65W USB-C charger is in the box. However much the company claims, I managed around eight hours of screen-on time, which is sufficient for a day. Work pattern varies, so it’s difficult to pinpoint battery life for a working day. The ultrabook goes toe-to-toe with the Dell XPS 13. In case you are looking for an ultrabook, this one certainly sets new benchmarks.
The laptop is slim and light (1.39kgs)
At a glance
Device: Asus Zenbook 14 OLED
Price: Rs 104,990
Ports: USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, two Thunderbolt 4 supports display/power delivery, HDMI 2.0b, 3.5mm combo audio jack and micro SD card reader
High notes
- One of the best screens in the industry
- Excellent decision to go with Intel 12 generation chipset
- Good battery life
- Sturdy build
- Keyboard is well planned out
