Asus notebook: Great workhorse with good looks

Taiwan’s Asus has released a very slim, beautiful and lightweight notebook at a price that could prove a winner.

Asus Zenbook 14 (UX425) notebook.

Taiwan’s Asus has released a very slim, beautiful and lightweight notebook at a price that could prove a winner.

There are many beautiful notebooks in the market in 2020 with HP, Lenovo, Apple and Samsung among those delivering — but price can be an issue because of the value of the dollar.

The latest Asus notebook, however, costs from $1499 with an Intel Core i5 processor, or from $1849 for one with a faster Core i7 processor.

This notebook is by no means perfect: my tests show it is not suited to any challenging games, but for day-to-day work it could be what you need.

This particular model, the Asus Zenbook 14 (UX425), weighs a featherweight 1.13kg, and looks stylish. It has a narrow frame around the 14-inch HD display and a keyboard with well-spaced keys that makes typing easy.

Connectivity is a feature. On the left side there are two Thunderbolt 3-enabled USB-C ports, and an HDMI 2.0 port for linking the notebook to an external monitor. Thunderbolt 3 supports connection speeds of up to 40Gbps in theory; in practice, you get nothing like this, but its still one of the fastest available.

ASUS Zenbook 14 (UX425) notebook.

At right, you have a port for plugging in USB flash drives and older media, and a microSD card reader. These should satisfy your needs on the go.

While the keyboard is spacious, be aware that keys on the top row are half height. The arrow keys at the bottom right also are half height — awkward if you rely on muscle memory rather than sight to use them.

Also be aware that these models do not have touch screens. You need to use keys, mouse, and a trackpad, as you would with an Apple MacBook. If this worries you, look elsewhere.

Despite having Core i5 and i7 processors, these models are not speed machines — rather they are built for power efficiency.

The benchmarking software Novabench scored the CPU capability just above what you’d expect on a mid-level gaming machine. These laptops make do with on-board graphics.

The Zenbook has a large battery and, given th

ASUS Zenbook 14 (UX425) notebook.

e screen resolution is 1080p and not the higher resolution 4K, I’d expected long battery life. I got 5 hours 30 minutes watching at 50 per cent brightness. It’s OK but below, say, a 2020 MacBook Air, which played for 8 hours 23 minutes.

Both of these pale against the Samsung Galaxy Books S, which delivered a battery life of 16 hours. However, not all appli­cations will run on that platform.

Despite these factors: speed, no 4K or touchscreen, a wide-angle display and reasonable rather than stellar battery life, this is a great workhorse for daily use and it looks a million dollars.

The Asus Zenbook 14 (UX425) is to put in your briefcase for work, and throw it in your backpack for lectures. It comes in “pine grey” and “lilac mist”.