ASUS Launched its new ZenBook Flip 13 (UX363) in August this year and now it’s finally available in Kenya at Ksh.145,000 from Elevetus Technologies Ltd.
ASUS is well known for leading PC innovation and design, at least we all agree with that, and the ZenBook Flip 13 (UX363) is no exception. The laptop features some impressive features, including a slim profile, a sleek NanoEdge FHD OLED touchscreen, plenty of ports and amazing battery life.
The ZenBook Flip 13 is powered by up to an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with Intel Iris Xe graphics and 16GB of RAM. For storage, it supports up to a 1 TB PCIe 3.0 SSD
It’s a premium laptop that runs smoothly for everyday use and should be in your list if you have some 145k and are looking for a laptop upgrade.
I spent a couple of days with the laptop, not enough time for an in-depth review. In this article, however, I will be sharing my favourite features about this laptop. Things that will actually make me chuck out that 14k without even flinching.
Premium touch, Great Display
As earlier mentioned, ASUS is on the lead when it comes to PC innovation and design. The ZenBook 13 is entirely made of metal with solid pieces of aluminum plastered on top of a plastic inner frame giving the laptop a premium feel. It’s a convertible laptop and feels really strong, not what I expected. The laptop weighs just only 1.3 kgs and features a profile of less than 14 mm, which results in a sleek form factor that’s easy to carry.
The laptop also features the exclusive 360° ErgoLift hinge design, which allows the display to be flipped to any position, according to the usage requirement. It’s a convertible laptop.
The ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 has an up to 13.3-inch FHD OLED touchscreen that supports 1920 x 1080 resolution and 0.2 ms response time. The colour accuracy is great. The display is a sleek NanoEdge FHD OLED touchscreen that is fully compatible with the newly designed ASUS Pen.
The ASUS ZenBook 13 is snappy with everyday use
For a silky-smooth performance, ZenBook Flip 13 is powered by up to an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with Intel Iris Xe graphics and 16GB of RAM. For storage, it supports up to a 1 TB PCIe 3.0 SSD.
Compared with the previous generation processor, the 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors provide better computing performance giving you a very smooth experience. According to ASUS, it can also enable FHD gameplay at up to 60 fps with better battery life and mobility than previously possible. The new processors revolutionize modern creative workflows with Intel® Deep Learning Boost AI acceleration and AV1 media encoding and decoding technology.
In addition, they integrate the latest, highest-speed Wi-Fi technology as well as new Thunderbolt™ 4 technology which of course we will be talking about later on to connect to a universe of peripherals and enable single-cable access to fast charging, external monitors, and extended storage.
The ZenBook Flip 13 gets everything done without too much struggle.
For the software, the laptop gets the standard MyAsus app which is exclusive software for ASUS laptops that houses all of the important ASUS apps for system control in one place, maximizing available space on the laptop. It allows for control over things like power profiles, battery and screen settings, updates among others.
For the keyboard, ASUS decided to go with an Edge-to-edge keyboard with independent function keys. Well, this implementation is not really bad and moreover, it is backlit, with bright white LEDs for convenient typing in dark environments. There’s also a dedicated Caps Lock indicator.
The ZenBook Flip 13 is available with NumberPad 2.0, an LED-illuminated numeric keypad integrated in the touchpad that makes up for the lack of physical numeric keypads in compact laptops. A single-touch sensor at the top-right of the touchpad turns NumberPad on and off, and a tap on the icon at the top left lets you choose one of two brightness levels. You can also swipe from the top left icon in any direction on the NumberPad 2.0 to activate the Calculator app on the main display. With the NumberPad, you can quickly perform data entry or calculations, and in Touchpad mode the glass covering provides super-smooth and precise fingertip control with multitouch gesture support.
Battery Life
This was actually my favourite and best experience for the two days I interacted with the laptop. The ZenBook Flip 13 comes with a 67 Wh battery, larger than what you’d normally get in a 13-inch ultrabook and can give you up to 15 or 16 hours of battery life.
The ZenBook Flip 13 also offers a fast charge function that charges the battery from 0% to 60% in just 49 minutes. This is impressive. A full charge from 0 to 100% should take you about an hour and a half.
With USB-C Easy Charge support, the ZenBook Flip 13 can be also used with a wide range of standard USB-C chargers (5V-20V).ASUS also has a 65-watt fast-charge adapter supplied with ZenBook Flip 13.
Dual Thunderbolt 4
I mentioned that I will also be talking about the Dual Thunderbolt 4 on the ASUS ZenBook Flip 13.
Here’s the thing, the new ZenBook features two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, each Thunderbolt 4 port can support up to 40 Gbps data bandwidth and dual 4K or single 8K display output, and it also can support the new USB 4.0 standard for exceptional compatibility.
In addition, ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 also offers a standard HDMI 1.4 port, and a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port. This makes it possible for ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 to easily output to a 60Hz 4K display, connect to storage devices or expand connections.
ASUS also added a micro SD card reader. Unfortunately, we are not getting a 3.5 mm jack, ASUS has instead replaced it with a USB-C to 3.5 mm adapter included in the pack. Ok, maybe they should have just kept the jack.
Remember as earlier mentioned, the laptop is available for purchase in Kenya from Elevetus Technologies at Ksh.145,000.
During the unveiling of the ZenBook Flip 13 in August this year, ASUS Co-CEO Samson Hu said: “This year’s lineup of laptops creates new experiences for users by placing cutting-edge technology at their fingertips. By empowering users with the latest display, audio, software and network connection technology, ASUS delivers incredible innovations and changes the way users relate to their devices.”
Follow us on Telegram, Twitter, Facebook, or subscribe to our weekly newsletter to ensure you don’t miss out on any future updates.
