Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED review: A versatile, long-lasting OLED 2-in-1

Price When Reviewed

1199.99

Best Prices Today: Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED

$999.99

Ultrabooks carry the burden of getting to be ultra-light and ultra-thin whereas nonetheless offering the type of expertise that can have customers singing their praises. While producers usually make massive claims about their capabilities, in most, apparent limitations have a tendency to look after some time. Not so the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED which executes its position as a reliable, however highly effective Ultrabook to close perfection. This is a laptop computer that seemingly has all of it – a zippy high-end CPU, versatile convertible design, lengthy battery life and all of the mod cons of connectivity that busy professionals want.

With a shocking 2.8K OLED show and starter value of $999, Asus’s latest 14-inch convertible, can be reasonably priced sufficient to redefine the OLED laptop computer expertise, shifting it from the realm of the rich fanatic to everybody and anybody fortunate sufficient to choose one up. Read on to search out out extra.

Looking for extra choices? Check out PCWorld’s roundup of the best laptops accessible at the moment.

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Specifications

The Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED is available in two CPU configurations, both an Intel i5-1340P mannequin or Intel i7-1360P mannequin. Both include a 2.8K OLED show and 16GB DDR5 RAM as customary. The base mannequin with i5 comes with 512GB of storage and prices $999, whereas the i7 mannequin doubles the storage capability to 1TB for an additional $201 on the checkout.

Sizing up this providing in opposition to different Ultrabooks available in the market and simply based mostly on its specs the 14 Flip OLED could be very fairly priced. For instance, PCWorld lately reviewed the 13-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano which sports activities a i7-1360P CPU and a extra primary 1080p show, which on the time of writing price $1,714. Although, it needs to be famous, Lenovo now has an “available soon” label on this laptop computer on its web site, and the present value is unknown. The actual specs of our evaluation unit are as follows:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-1360P
• RAM: 16GB / 4800 MHz
• Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
• Display: 14-inch, 16:10 facet ratio, 2.8K (2880 x 1800p) decision, OLED panel, touch-sensitive, 90Hz refresh price, 0.2ms response time, 100 % DCI-P3 colour gamut, VESA certification
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: 2 x Thunderbolt 4, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, 3.5 mm combo audio jack
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.3
• Battery capability: 75WHrs
• Dimensions: 12.26 x 8.80 x 0.63 inches
• Weight: 3.31lbs (1.50 kg)
• Cost: Starts at $999 ($1199.99 this configuration)

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Design

As one of many 2-in-1 convertible fashions of Asus’s Zenbook line-up, this laptop computer is designed to be picked up and folded by way of 360 levels. That being the case, at 3.31 kilos its fairly light-weight. It’s additionally fairly skinny, measuring simply 0.63 inches by way of the chassis. That’s to not say it’s the thinnest Ultrabook you will discover – choices just like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano and Apple MacBook Air M2 have its measure right here – however on the upside, it does really feel somewhat extra sturdy than these Ultrabooks.

The sturdiness is most noticeable across the base of the chassis – I wasn’t in a position to get it to flex or squeak by making use of agency strain, so you might simply pile baggage on prime of it in a journey state of affairs and realize it’ll stand as much as the burden. The ErgoRaise hinges are massive and really feel highly effective too. They maintain the show at any angle you could want to place it – save half an inch from closed. This tautness means it’s a secure guess for utilizing in tent mode.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Being simply 14 inches in measurement, the 14 Flip OLED can be extraordinarily compact – though you’d be excused for considering it’s loads greater when the lid’s flipped open. That’s largely due to the 16:10 facet ratio, which extends the vertical viewing house greater than the ageing 16:9 panel format. In truth, with ultra-thin NanoEdge bezels and a formidable 87 p.c screen-to-body ratio, there’s ample panel house for evaluating a number of browser home windows or spreadsheets.

Silver is a typical colour in productiveness laptops, however not the Foggy Silver proven off right here. It feels somewhat extra rock ‘n’ roll, so that you don’t get as lots of these working vibes if you relax and watch movies at dwelling. The laptop computer’s sandblasted end additionally has a pleasant tactile really feel. I additionally appreciated the skinny geometric traces on the lid, which do a pleasant job breaking apart the uniform gray; they loosen up the laptop computer’s look even additional.

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Ports and connectivity

It could also be solely as thick as a chopping board, however Asus has nonetheless managed to pack in a good choice of ports on your varied enter/output wants. There are solely three USB ports on provide, one USB-A 3.2 Gen2 port in addition to two Thunderbolt 4 ports, however it’s a mix that can properly accommodate a mouse, keyboard and one other helpful gadget like a USB hub.

A HDMI 2.0 port and 3.5 mm combo jack spherical out the port choice – all-in-all making for a really aggressive productivity-focused providing.

The addition of the Thunderbolt 4 ports means this laptop computer is properly ready for the calls for of cellular or hybrid work. While these ports nonetheless use the USB-C connector kind, an enormous profit is they offer you entry to a few protocols – USB 4, DisplayPort 1.4 and PCIe 4 in a single port. They additionally present faster 40Gbs information switch speeds. And, simply certainly one of these can stream 4K content material to 2 exterior shows.

Indeed, should you’re a photographer needing to obtain information bigger than 100 megapixels from a drone or DSLR digital camera, or a videographer, architect, or director working with a 3D program like CAD, that is precisely the type of port kind you’ll need.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Loading webpages and movies was additionally a really fast affair on the 14 Flip OLED due to its Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, which is the most recent customary on provide. Wi-Fi 6E provides assist for the 6GHz wi-fi spectrum and offers sooner wi-fi speeds. It additionally boasts decrease latencies than the earlier greatest customary Wi-Fi 6. Suffice to say, you’ll seemingly discover it an actual productiveness booster should you’re presently utilizing an older laptop computer and do quite a lot of looking.

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Keyboard and trackpad

Typing on the 14 Flip OLED’s keyboard was very comfy, every of the keys feeling remarkably responsive. They have a beneficiant 1.4 mm journey, however extra importantly, they really feel good and springy due to rubber dome cushioning that meets your fingers with simply the correct amount of upward drive.

In a nutshell, that meant I may kind very flippantly with out changing into fatigued or getting sore fingertips or phalanges. I may additionally attain fast typing speeds with a noticeable discount within the variety of errors I usually make. The keys additionally characteristic chiclet backlighting in order that they’re simply seen at night time.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Overall, the structure feels properly balanced. Being a small laptop computer, you get a largely primary key choice. The arrow keys are somewhat longer horizontally than in some productiveness laptops, which made flicking by way of figures in spreadsheets somewhat sooner. Unfortunately, the identical can’t be mentioned for the operate keys, that are fairly small and really feel a bit cramped.

Unlike its bigger stablemate the Asus Zenbook 15 OLED, this laptop computer doesn’t have a devoted numpad – fairly you possibly can entry a light-up numpad by way of the laptop computer’s ErgoSense trackpad. The trackpad additionally helps multi-touch gestures in Windows, which is a good timesaver value utilizing. The trackpad additionally has a PVD anti-fingerprint coating, so it feels silky easy and gained’t simply maintain unpleasant marks.

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Display and audio

My evaluation unit’s OLED show has a decision of 2880 x 1800p which carries the moniker 2.8K. Asus claims the show covers 100 p.c DCI-P3 colour gamut and has 550 nits peak brightness ranking. It additionally boasts Pantone certification.

Looking on the high quality, and there was a excessive stage of element in photographs. The colours had been remarkably vibrant and saturated too. Indeed, evaluating colours on the OLED in opposition to pantone pattern printouts, I can confidently say the hues had been virtually indistinguishable.

The distinction was equally spectacular regardless of me solely with the ability to register a peak brightness of 335 nits with my Lux meter. That might have been because of the protecting Corning Gorilla Glass masking the panel, which for the sake of the show’s construct high quality, I used to be actually completely happy Asus included. Nonetheless, the blacks appeared remarkably deep, which made darker photographs actually standout.

Comparing video in opposition to that on my common work laptop computer’s 1080p 60 Hz IPS-level show and never solely did it look far more detailed, however it was additionally eminently smoother due to a better 90 Hz refresh price. Combined with the short wi-fi, this made watching information blasts and browser-based movies a extremely seamless expertise.

Touch performance has actually come of age in Asus’s panels judging additionally by how rapidly the panel responded to my finger presses. The laptop computer additionally comes with Asus’s subsequent technology stylus, the Asus Pen 2.0. This stylus has quite a few benefits over the earlier technology, together with a higher contact sensitivity (4096 versus 1024) and a wider vary of tip drive (5-350 g versus 10-300 g).

Basically, meaning you get a finer distinction within the thickness of the traces you draw, which in the end leads to your drawings wanting extra like actual pen to paper ones. Mucking about with the stylus in Windows Paint, I actually seen a marked enchancment within the linearity from different styluses I’ve tried out, particularly in diagonal and curved traces which appeared unjagged, even when zooming in to examine them.

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Audio and webcam

For audio, the 14 Flip OLED has two Harman Kardon-certified audio system. Generally talking, I usually discover the sound high quality in ultra-light 14-inch laptops to be somewhat tinny, however these audio system mustered a surprisingly clear and vibrant sound. However, their downwards-facing location beneath the entrance sides of the chassis meant I did lose some readability by the point the sound reached my ears.

The 14 Flip OLED comes with a 1080p digital camera with infrared performance to assist a hands-free biometric login by way of Windows Hello. It’s completely appropriate for conferences and conferencing in numerous environmental circumstances, for the reason that AI makes use of an ambient gentle colour sensor that adjusts the sunshine and colour temperature to largely hold your face wanting naturally lit and with out distorting any particulars. The noise cancellation algorithm additionally does a good job blocking undesirable background noise, so your conferences gained’t be disturbed by the often-noisy machinations of labor or dwelling life.

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Performance

The 14 Flip OLED’s Core i7-1360P processor is a high-end processor from Intel’s Raptor Lake-P household – particularly made for ultra-light and skinny laptops like this one. This chip options 12 cores (4 efficiency cores and 8 environment friendly cores) and boasts a 5GHz most turbo increase pace. For comparability’s sake, its efficiency has been in comparison with Intel’s Core i7-1270P (certainly one of final yr’s higher-end productiveness chips), so it’s thought-about properly ready for even essentially the most demanding of applications.

To check these claims I zeroed in on Maxon’s R20 Multi-Threaded benchmark. This CPU-specific benchmark flexes all of the cores of a laptop computer’s CPU to present us a sign of how properly it’s prone to fare when the identical occurs in an actual state of affairs. I graphed the outcomes beneath.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

In UL’s PCMark 10 benchmark, our laptop computer’s Core i7-1360P powered on by way of every of the productiveness duties to finish up with a PCMark 10 general rating of 5623. Considering this benchmark flexes each the CPU and the laptop computer’s graphics {hardware}, you might say our laptop computer’s result’s a strong effort for one which lacks a discrete GPU.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Looking at graphics efficiency, and the 14 Flip OLED achieved a rating of simply 1,671. A rating like that’s commonplace or sudden for a laptop computer that depends purely on its Intel Iris Xe chip to provide graphics. This type of efficiency is a far cry from the sort you’ll see in gaming and creator targeted laptops with discrete GPUs – though they’re additionally largely too thick and heavy to be classed as Ultrabooks.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

In abstract, these outcomes inform us a positive story concerning the 14 Flip OLED’s efficiency capabilities. They present us a laptop computer that may very simply energy by way of productiveness duties like spreadsheeting, video conferencing and net looking and simply as simply run demanding applications in Microsoft Office or Adobe’s Creative Suite. Admittedly, additionally they present us that the 14 Flip OLED’s 3D graphics efficiency is simply okay, that means it’s loads much less highly effective than laptops with discrete GPUs. Then once more, lighter 3D graphics efficiency is solely what Asus meant it for.

Besides, creators needing extra grunt within the graphics division are properly catered for in Asus’s 2023 lineup with choices just like the Asus14 Pro Duo OLED, which is thicker and heavier than our laptop computer, but additionally comes with a stunning 14-inch show. The 14 Flip OLED’s portability benefit is undoubtedly going to be the massive drawcard right here for many enterprise professionals, who most probably gained’t be doing a lot intensive 3D graphics work anyway.

Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Battery life

The 14 Flip OLED comes with a excessive capability 75Whr battery and a really small compact 65-watt USB-C charger. Mobile and hybrid employees – heck even workplace employees – aren’t all the time close to AC retailers. Ergo, a laptop computer just like the 14 Flip OLED ought to ideally have sufficient battery life to run a complete eight hour working day after which some.

To discover out if it does, I set a 4K film on repeat within the Windows Film and TV app and switched the battery to airplane mode. I additionally set the quantity to 50 p.c and plugged in an inexpensive pair of headphones to take care of the sound. Then I sat again and timed how lengthy it lasted till it ran out of juice.

As you possibly can see within the graph beneath, the 14 Flip OLED’s battery conked out roughly 12 hours later. This is a good size of time that ought to prevent from pointless disruptions all through your working day.

Dominic Bayley / IDG

Additionally, it’s reassuring to know you possibly can simply prime the battery up once more in a jiffy. Asus claims the laptop computer’s USB-C quick charger offers as much as 60 p.c of full cost in as little as 49 minutes. You can even use any customary USB-C charger within the occasion you allow the official one at dwelling, which could be very handy.

Should you purchase the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED?

The Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED is an distinctive possibility for enterprise professionals wanting a gorgeous and reliable workhorse with all of the mod cons. The 14 Flip OLED largely has all of it; it’s light-weight and ultra-thin, has wonderful connectivity and all the flexibility advantages of a convertible design. Plus, it sports activities a stunning OLED show, sturdy construct and a battery life that can go all day. Without a discrete graphics card, it’s not fairly the 3D graphics powerhouse many creators will want, however what it lacks in that division it greater than makes up for in portability.