Asus Zenbook 13 OLED review: An excellent value
Our Verdict
The Asus Zenbook 13 OLED delivers splendid value, offering nifty performance, remarkable bombardment life, and a beautiful OLED screen for under $1k.
For
- Stellar bombardment life
- Beautiful 1080p OLED display
- Great operation
Against
- Middling sound quality
- Inconsistent webcam
- No headphone jack
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Asus Zenbook 13 OLED delivers fantabulous value, offering peachy performance, remarkable battery life, and a cute OLED screen for under $1k.
Pros
- +
Stellar battery life
- +
Cute 1080p OLED display
- +
Great performance
Cons
- -
Middling sound quality
- -
Inconsistent webcam
- -
No headphone jack
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED specs
Cost: $799 to first, $899 every bit tested
Display: thirteen.iii-inch 1080p OLED
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U
GPU: Integrated Radeon graphics
RAM: 8 GB
Storage: 512 GB SSD
Ports: (2) USB-C, (1) USB-A, HDMI ii.0, MicroSD card reader
Size: xi.98 10 7.99 x 0.55 inches
Weight: 2.v pounds
There'due south a new model of Asus Zenbook on the market sporting a vibrant OLED display and the latest CPUs from Intel and AMD, but the existent kicker is the price: information technology starts at just $800, making this quite probable the cheapest OLED-equipped laptop effectually, and one of the best xiii-inch laptops you can buy — and indeed, one of the all-time laptops catamenia.
At that price you might worry that you're sacrificing performance, battery life or build quality, but after spending a few weeks reviewing an AMD-equipped Asus Zenbook 13 OLED ($799 to starting time, $899 as reviewed) I'm pleased to report that you accept nothing to worry about. While there are a few drawbacks, overall this is an fantabulous laptop that should stand up you in skillful stead for both piece of work and play.
Asus Zenbook xiii OLED review: Price and configurations
- Remarkably cheap for an OLED-equipped laptop
- Look to pay betwixt $800-$i,100
As I write this the Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is bachelor via select tertiary-party retailers and Asus' own website for a starting toll of $799. For that y'all become the 13.three-inch 1080p OLED screen, an AMD Ryzen 5 or Intel Core i5 CPU, 8 GB of RAM,and either a 256 GB or 512 GB SSD. At the time of publication the Intel-equipped model ships with the smaller SSD, and when I asked why an Asus representative told me information technology was a result of CPU cost differences, supply challenges, and the limits of Intel vs. AMD motherboards.
Of class, you tin can pay a chip actress for a model configured with meliorate components. The virtually expensive version currently sells for $one,099, and that gets you lot a Zenbook thirteen OLED with an Intel Cadre i7 CPU, sixteen GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD.
The model we received for review retails for $899, and it packs an AMD Ryzen vii CPU, 8 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD.
Asus Zenbook xiii OLED review: Pattern
- Slim and light, with sparse bezels
- ErgoLift hinge design looks absurd, could make typing more comfortable
The Asus Zenbook xiii OLED unit I reviewed is easy to carry and looks good on a desk-bound, weighing in at a trim ii.five pounds and measuring just 11.98 ten 7.99 x 0.55 inches. Its grayness and matte all over except the lid, which sports a fingerprint-attracting spun-metal finish replete with showtime Asus logo.
The AMD model I reviewed is currently only available in this grayness color (Asus calls it Pine Grey), but the Intel-equipped Zenbook xiii OLED is also available in a nice purply-silverish shade called Lilac Mist.
Open up the laptop and you're greeted with a beautiful 1080p OLED display surrounded past overnice thin 4.4mm bezels on either side. The elevation and bottom bezels are a little thicker (6.5mm and 12.9mm, respectively), but they're all the same small enough that it's like shooting fish in a barrel to forget virtually them when you're caught up in whatever'south happening on the screen. If your middle does wander over them you lot'll find they're matte grayness plastic, a good reminder that fifty-fifty with the OLED display, this is nonetheless a budget-minded laptop.
Still, that doesn't detract from the experience of using this Zenbook 13, which felt pretty solid and sturdy throughout my fourth dimension testing information technology. I never noticed whatsoever appreciable screen wobbling or weakness in the chassis, and when I grabbed the keyboard deck in both hands and tried to bend information technology I didn't notice whatsoever meaning flexion, though there were some disconcerting sounds of plastic bending.
When you open the laptop on a flat surface yous might discover the back of the keyboard lifts up slightly, a result of the Zenbook's ErgoLift hinge. The idea, according to Asus, is that by designing the lesser lip of the screen housing to stick out beneath the laptop and push its rear up a few degrees, you'll enjoy a more ergonomic typing position and improved cooling and speaker performance.
In my experience, it didn't brand a noticeable difference over other laptops I've worked on, but I did feel comfortable typing on the Zenbook's slightly raised keyboard. The laptop never got noticeable warm in my lap, either, and the speakers practise sound pretty good, then mayhap in that location's something to this ErgoLift design. At the very least, information technology does make the laptop expect slightly cooler when sitting open on a desk.
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED review: Display
- 1080p OLED screen delivers nice deep blacks and saturated colors
- A bit too reflective in bright light
The thirteen.3-inch 1080p OLED display is one of the major selling points of this Zenbook, and in person it looks nice and vibrant. It's pretty rare to notice an OLED screen in a laptop you can buy for less than $one,000, and I'one thousand happy to study that information technology does a swell task of helping contrasts stand up out, achieving nice deep blacks besides as brilliant, saturated colors.
In our testing nosotros plant the Zenbook xiii'south OLED screen can display 132% of the sRGB color spectrum, which basically ways it can make colors expect over-saturated. That means it's not groovy for accurate photo editing, just if you lot just want to use information technology for watching videos and playing games, you lot probably won't notice.
Asus claims the display can striking a tiptop effulgence of 400 nits, and in our testing nosotros found that to be virtually truthful: at its brightest setting several corners of the screen achieved peak brightness of 396 nits, which is better than the Dell XPS thirteen's OLED display (361 nits) or the Samsung Milky way Book Pro 360's AMOLED screen (264.4 nits).
However, the Asus Zenbook 13's OLED screen still doesn't become bright enough to keep yous from seeing your reflection in it on a sunny day. I'yard not talking most taking it out on a picnic at loftier noon, either; I ready the laptop up at maximum effulgence near a window with indirect sunlight to accept the photos you see in this review, and you'll probably be able to spot my reflection in several of them. Information technology'south inappreciably a dealbreaker, merely information technology can be a picayune distracting when you lot're trying to spotter something during the 24-hour interval.
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED review: Ports
- No headphone jack, though there is an adapter packed in
- USB-A port and HDMI out are nice to take
The Asus Zenbook 13 OLED sports a pretty respectable array of ports for a xiii-inch ultraportable, with one caveat: there'south no headphone jack. At that place is a USB-C-to-3.5mm adapter packed in with the laptop, however, so you can nonetheless utilise wired headphones if you're willing to sacrifice the use of one USB-C port.
Of course, the adapter is one more thing you'll have to tote around with y'all and go on track of; to minimize your odds of misplacing it, I recommend just leaving it plugged into your headphones when non in use.
There are ii USB-C ports (which are besides Thunderbolt 4 ports, on the Intel-equipped models of Zenbook 13) along the left edge of the laptop, alongside an HDMI port for hooking upwards an external display.
Along the correct edge you'll notice a microSD bill of fare reader and a classic USB-A port, which is handy to take if you (like me) are still using a few older USB-A accessories.
Asus Zenbook xiii OLED review: Performance
- AMD Ryzen seven CPU delivers swell performance
- Speedy difficult drive transfer rates and video editing speeds
In addition to existence quite ability-efficient (as y'all'll encounter below when we beginning talking about battery life) the AMD Ryzen vii 5700U CPU driving our Zenbook 13 review unit proved more than powerful enough to tackle daily computing tasks without breaking a sweat. I was able to load information technology upwardly with xx+ Chrome tabs, plus 15 or then Edge tabs, plus 3 streaming videos (from Twitch, YouTube, and Amazon Prime), and it never once hitched or stuttered.
When we put it to the test using the Geekbench v.4 multi-core CPU benchmark, the OLED-equipped Zenbook 13 earned a strong score of half-dozen,411. That's remarkably practiced for a laptop of this size and price; for comparison, the Dell XPS 13 OLED with its Intel Core i7-1185G7 got a score of v,420 in the same exam, and the fifteen-inch Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 (with its Intel Cadre i7-1165G7 CPU) earned 5,575.
When we tasked the Zenbook 13'due south 512 GB PCIe NVMe G.two SSD with copying 25 GB of multimedia files, information technology managed to attain a transfer rate of 873 MBps. That'due south pretty speedy, and it's faster than the Dell XPS 13 OLED (742 MBps) and the Samsung Milky way Book Pro 360 (869 MBps).
Nonetheless, when we challenged the Zenbook to transcode a 4K video downwardly into 1080p using Handbrake, it pulled it off in only 8 minutes and 22 seconds. That's over twice as fast as the Dell XPS 13 OLED (18:12) and the Samsung Galaxy Volume Pro 360 (sixteen:24), both of which cost hundreds of dollars more than the Asus. In short, this graceful picayune OLED-equipped Zenbook delivers a lot of power for not a lot of coin.
If y'all want to play games on it, you should accept a pretty proficient time -- every bit long as you don't ask the ZenBook 13 OLED to run anything that demands a discrete graphics menu. In the course of easily-on testing I enjoyed playing older, less demanding games similar Crusader Kings three, Othercide, and the Banner Saga trilogy with zero problems. They look dandy on the OLED display, and I noticed no meaningful slowdown.
When nosotros put the ZenBook 13 OLED through the Sid Meier's Civilization Half dozen: Gathering Storm graphical benchmarking test, the Zenbook achieved an boilerplate framerate of 23.6 frames per 2d. That'due south just slightly improve than the Dell XPS 13 OLED achieved when running the same test at 1080p, and it'due south non up to the 26.9 frames per second the Samsung Milky way Book 360 was able to reach in the same test.
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED review: Audio
- Loud, serviceable sound quality
- Speakers tin go muffled with laptop on your lap
The Zenbook thirteen's speakers pump out pretty expert sound from beneath the laptop, and when I gear up it upward on a desk at maximum volume and walked away I was able to pick out vocals and bass beats pretty clearly from several rooms away. I didn't find any significant difference in sound quality when I fix the afore-mentioned ErgoLift hinge in unlike positions, but I did notice the Zenbook tin can get quite muffled when you lot have it on your lap. Obviously ,that's not a huge problem since your ears are just a few feet away at almost, just it does make music sound less rich when you lot're using the laptop in its eponymous setting.
I didn't hear any meanginful baloney or tinniness to the sound, even at maximum volume, but neither did I notice any particularly impactful bass, sharp trebles, or warm, rich vocals. In brusque, the Harman Kardon-certified speakers on the Zenbook 13 are completely serviceable, only I doubt you'll be impressed by the way music and movies sound coming out of this device.
Asus Zenbook xiii OLED review: Keyboard and touchpad
- Comfortable keyboard
- Practiced touchpad, merely the congenital-in NumberPad is a pain
With well-spaced keys that have ane.4 mm of travel, the keyboard on the Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is quite comfortable to type on, and after a little time with information technology I was able to reliably hitting over 100 WPM on the 10fastfingers.com typing test. There'south no fingerprint reader or other fancy tech hiding in the keyboard, but in that location are some surprisingly useful function keys forth the pinnacle row, including my favorite: a fundamental defended to bringing upwards a tool that lets you "snip" screen captures in various shapes.
The touchpad beneath the keyboard is wide and easy to use, and I never had trouble using information technology to tap, drag, and (via Windows Gestures) swipe my way through the workday. However, I did take a lot of trouble reliably using the number pad congenital into the touchpad. Branded the Asus NumberPad, it's a neat idea -- in theory: there's a small calculator icon in the top-right corner of the touchpad, and if you tap it a layout of numbers and operators glows to life on the touchpad itself.
It looks a chip like a calculator'south cardinal layout, and in that location'southward some other small icon in the height-left corner which toggles the NumberPad'due south brightness level. Yous tin also swipe in from the top-left corner to bring up the Windows reckoner app, allowing yous to quickly start punching and crunching numbers.
Unfortunately, I had a difficult time getting it to piece of work reliably, even after weeks of using the Zenbook. Information technology took about that long for me to figure out the verbal right place to utilise force per unit area in order to activate the NumberPad, and I still can't reliably alter its brightness level. I also tin't seem to become whatsoever app to reliably register number inputs from the NumberPad except the calculator; when I bring information technology upwards to dial numbers into a text field -- like the Chrome search bar, for example -- sometimes the app registers the numbers I'm inputting, but merely equally frequently it reads my taps on the NumberPad as taps on the touchpad.
This chop-chop becomes frustrating, and if I hadn't been trying to master information technology for the purposes of this review I'd have quickly given up and merely used the number keys on the keyboard.
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED review: Webcam
- Webcam is good enough, but not great
- Built-in IR sensor lets you use Windows How-do-you-do facial hallmark
The 720p webcam congenital into the upper lip of the display won't leave you looking terrible in your side by side video telephone call, but information technology'll hardly aid you lot look your all-time. While reviewing information technology I consistently saw muted colors and slightly grainy image quality, only if you lot're using it to make calls indoors from an evenly-lit room it'south hardly a trouble.
However, I did encounter some issues when I used it while sitting near a window. The Zenbook 13'due south webcam seemed to accept trouble with the indirect (albeit vivid) sunlight, and it regularly left me lit upward similar a spotlit affections in the school nascency play. Again, information technology didn't cause problems during calls, but it wasn't ideal.
The IR sensor built into the top lip of the display makes this webcam compatible with Windows Hello facial authentication, which is expert news if you lot similar to log into laptops using your face.
Asus Zenbook xiii OLED review: Battery life
- Incredible xv-hour bombardment life
- It charges quickly, too
It's always exciting to find a laptop with improve battery life than advertised. The OLED-equipped Asus Zenbook 13 is i such car: Asus says it lasts up to 13 hours on a single bombardment charge, only in our battery test -- which tasks the laptop with continuously browsing the web over Wi-Fi with its effulgence set to 150 nits -- it lasted a remarkable 15 hours.
That'southward fantastic battery life that beats most laptops of the same size, including the Dell XPS 13 OLED (seven:59) and the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 (13:33). Information technology's fifty-fifty amend than the long-lasting MacBook Air with M1 (xiv:41), though not quite on par with the MacBook Pro with M1 (16:25).
The Asus Zenbook xiii OLED charges quickly, also; I plugged it in at 3% battery, and an 60 minutes later it was at 67%. 30 minutes subsequently that it was topping ninety%, meaning you lot shouldn't have to wait long to charge upwardly before heading out.
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED review: Heat
- No need to worry nigh scorched laps
Y'all shouldn't have to worry well-nigh a scorched lap while using the OLED-equipped Zenbook thirteen, every bit I never noticed any uncomfortable warmth while using information technology to play games, watch movies, or piece of work on projects. When we pointed a heat gun at information technology during testing the hottest nosotros saw information technology get was 92.8 degrees, just behind the vent on the underside of the chassis.
Asus Zenbook xiii OLED review: Verdict
- Remarkable operation and battery life for the price
- Possibly the cheapest OLED-equipped laptop on the market
The AMD-equipped Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is an excellent value, offer an center-catching 1080p OLED display and exceptional bombardment life in a slim, lightweight packet for less than a thousand bucks.
Sure, the speakers aren't amazing, the webcam leaves something to be desired, and there's no headphone jack, only these are stumbling blocks you tin work effectually. If you need a zippy niggling ultraportable with a great screen that will final y'all all solar day long, you can't do meliorate than the OLED-equipped Asus Zenbook xiii at this price.
Alternatively, y'all could become the Intel-equipped model if you similar the thought of having Thunderbolt 4 ports and Wi-Fi 6 (this AMD model is still Wi-Fi 5), simply I can't vouch for the performance or bombardment life of those laptops.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/asus-zenbook-13-oled-review-an-excellent-value
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