ASUS ZenBook 14 Review 2020

ASUS ZenBook 14 Review: Best to Buy?

Hi,

   Welcome to Techno Beyond. Today we are going to take the review of the asus zenbook 14. And there are some really good features about this ultra book that might make it one of the best devices in that category but that being said i do have some frustrations with it. So let’s get started.

•  Specs:

     This version has an 8 core 8 thread Ryzen 7 4700U 16 gigabytes of dual channel lpddr4x memory operating at 3732 megahertz a one terabyte nvme ssd and a 14 inch ips display with a peak brightness of 250 nits. There’s also a 400 nit screen option that one uses one watt of power. Colour options are here too with pine grey or lilac mist.

• Price:

     Pricing is a little bit all over the place right now. Technically you should be able to find it for 900$ or 900 euros or about 1100 Canadian. This is the highest inspect available but if that's too expensive for you there are other options going down.

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• Size:

     In terms of size like with all ultra books the zenbook 14 is literally focused on portability before anything else but it does have a full 14 inch display crammed into a body that's no bigger than most 13 inch laptops. It’s also super thin at just 0.6 inches and it weighs about 2.5 pounds.

• Charging:

    The wall adapter for the zenbook is pretty straightforward but the charging cable is only 78 inches or 198 centimetres long which is a lot shorter than notebooks with a power brick style setup. It can fast charge up to 60 in less than 50 minutes.

• Build Quality:

     The build quality honestly the days of less expensive notebooks feeling cheap are mostly gone and this notebook is proof of that. Most of the chassis is plastic except for the lid which has a spun metal finish but everything else feels super sturdy. The metal lid does attract a lot of fingerprints.

• Hinge:

     We really like the hinge mechanism asus has used here because it elevates the entire surface to a slight angle which makes typing a lot more natural and comfortable. The display is actually stabilized by your work surface so there's very less wobble as you're working on the laptop.

• Display:

     The display it's matte so reflections won't be an issue. This is the 250 nit version. Asus nailed it in the colour accuracy department with a 97% sRGB along with respectable adobe RGB and dc ip3 numbers. For a 900 ultra book these are some really good numbers.

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• Webcam:

     The video quality it's actually significantly better than the xps 13. The microphone sounds really good so you shouldn't have an issue with Skype meetings or just casual business meetings. You can easily take this thing for that.

• Speakers:

     The speakers are bottom facing its pretty good but it's not as good as the xps 13. Honestly for casual media consumption just watching YouTube videos here and there this thing should get the job done.

• Ports:

     On the left-hand side there's a full-size hdmi output and two usb 3.2 gen 2 type c connections either one of which can be used to charge a laptop. On the right hand side there is usb 3.2 gen 1 type a port. There’s also a micro SD card reader. There’s no 3.5 millimetre headphone jack. There is also an usb a to LAN adapter. Some versions do come with a travel case.

• Keyboard and Track pad:

     The keyboard has an edge to edge design there is no fingerprint reader. It also is backlit but only in white and there are three brightness options. Lighting is well done on this notebook. The keys themselves are pretty good. The track pad is really good asus has implemented a glass surface so finger navigation is absolutely smooth. The primary left and right buttons are also integrated and they are nice. This numpad if you press the button long enough it'll turn on. There’s also brightness adjustment when you hold the key.

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• Upgradability:

     The lpddr4x is soldered onto the motherboard. A ton of space is taken up by that massive 67 watt hour battery personally. The one thing that you can upgrade is the Intel 660p SSD but I’m not sure if you would want to it's a decent size at a terabyte and it has pretty good read and write speeds.

• Battery:

     The battery is something really impressive about this laptop. Usually we see 65 watt hour batteries on gaming notebooks but here it's attached to a thin and light notebook and it's super-efficient. All day battery life while browsing the web or running basic productivity suites. When the system is put under a constant load battery life drops to a pretty normal rate and that's probably due to the 8 core processor.

• Performance:

     The ryzen 7 4700u in here is rated to run at a base clock of 2.1 gigahertz and a boost up to 4.1 gigahertz. It has a 15 watt TDP rating though it can be configured from 10 to 25 watts depending on the notebook design. In this case the zenbook starts off really strong which would be beneficial for a shorter test but over the long run its clock speeds gradually reduce even in the highest performance mode. After a few minutes they levelled out to about 2.15 gigahertz while CPU temps were below 70 degrees by the end of the test the 47u was sucking down just 13 watts.

• Gaming Performance:

     Gaming performance the zenbook 14 keeps pretty far ahead of other more expensive notebooks. The 4700u doesn't have the fully enabled Vega graphics like what's found on the 4800.

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• Conclude:

     We are really impressed with what asus has been able to deliver with the zenbook 14. For the price i think they've nailed the build quality it's just surpassed expectations. The keyboard is really nice the track pad is great. The screen is also colour accurate but i would recommend picking up the 400 nit version because that's a lot brighter so outdoor visibility would be a little bit better.

• My Opinion:

     No’s going to buy an inexpensive ultra book for hard-core video editing but if you are someone who's just planning on casually doing some cuts here and there. You can get away with adobe but then keep in mind those longer export times are certainly something to consider. The 4700u is not a slow processor it actually gets through a lot. The battery life is just phenomenal that's one of the amazing factors. The removal of the headphone jacks the fact that they illuminated one of the crucial connectors.

     So that’s it in today’s review of Asus ZenBook 14. I hope you enjoyed it. What you think about this device let us know in the comment section down below. If you have any feedback for us your welcome you can comment down below. You can take the email subscription that is totally free so you can get notified when we post. Follow us on the social media for latest updates. Stay tuned on Techno Beyond for latest updates and information related to Tech.