Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version
Worth: $1,999
CPU: Intel Core i9-12900H
GPU: Intel Iris Xe graphics
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 1TB
Show: 14-inch, 2,880 x 1,800 pixel
Battery: 6:02
Dimension: 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches
Weight: 3.09 kilos
After I was a child, I needed to be an astronaut. Translation: the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version is extraordinarily my jam.
An aesthetic match for anybody equally enamored with area exploration celebrates the twenty fifth anniversary of the primary Asus laptop computer to slide the surly bonds of Earth on an area mission. However I hear your groans, as “particular version” normally ends in a pretty-yet-underpowered laptop computer.
That’s not the case right here, because of a 16:10 OLED touchscreen show with a 2.8K decision, twelfth Gen Intel energy, DDR5 RAM and all of the premium touches you count on from an upmarket Asus system.
Does it ship on a space-inspired system that’s ok for an influence consumer’s workload?
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version worth and compatibility
The Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version we acquired is obtainable proper now for $1,999 at Newegg (opens in new tab), with a twelfth Gen Intel Core i9 CPU, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM and a 1TB SSD on board. That’s fairly steep, however then once more, that’s what you’ll be able to count on from a particular version laptop computer.
For higher worth, it’s value wanting on the customary ZenBook 14X OLED (opens in new tab), which sports activities an i7 processor, devoted GeForce MX550 graphics, 16GB RAM and a 512GB SSD for $1,399. That’s a little bit cheaper than the Acer Swift 5 and Samsung Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 at $1,549.
So, a second query in regards to the Area Version is evident: is there sufficient that’s “particular” about this particular version to warrant the extra funding?
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version design
Let’s minimize to the chase: this is likely one of the best-looking laptops this 12 months.
A shocking aluminum end with brushed edges feels impressively premium and durable, and the laser etchings on the lid welcome you to this one-of-a-kind type amongst a sea of metallic slabs. You’ll additionally discover the three.5-inch ZenVision show, which I admit is a gimmick, however it’s so cool when it springs to life with galactic animations.
This motif continues whenever you open the laptop computer. The laser etchings proceed from the shell and you can even see Asus at its space-saving finest on this second too, with a full dimension keyboard reaching the sides of the underside deck, an enormous trackpad and a shocking 14-inch show with 92% screen-to-body ratio (extra on these later).
Even right down to the small particulars, such because the small planet on the area bar and the latin proverb advert astra per aspera on the again (“by way of hardships to the celebrities”), every a part of it feels uniquely stuffed with persona.
The 14X OLED measures in at a svelte 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.6 inches with a weight of three.09 kilos. Dimensions like these beat out the 15.6-inch Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (14 x 9 x 0.46 inches, 3.1 kilos), however the Acer Swift 5 does pip it to the portability publish (12.2 x 8.4 x 0.59 inches, 2.6 kilos).
However wanting previous numbers, you’re getting a critically modern, sturdy system that could be a cinch to hold round and an actual eye-catcher to deliver out throughout a gathering.
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version ports
The 14X OLED Area Version packs a good array of ports. On the fitting facet, you’ll discover a microSD card slot, a 3.5mm headphone/mic jack, and a USB 3.2 Sort-A port.
On the left, you’ll discover an HDMI port and two Thunderbolt 4 ports to permit for quick switch speeds and connecting to a number of 4K screens.
Would I’ve most popular a full-size SD card slot? After all. However so far as expandable storage compatibility goes, I’ll take what I can get.
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version: Show
Particulars are crisp and colours are brilliant on this 14-inch, 2800 x 1800-pixel, touchscreen OLED show, which has been Pantone-validated for shade accuracy. Even higher, TÜV Rheinland licensed the panel for its low blue gentle and flicker-free expertise.
What does this all imply? In brief, it is a nice show to work on for lengthy intervals of time, with minimal eye pressure and a vividness for artistic work too, resembling utilizing Photoshop to tweak any photographs you seize (as I did for this evaluate).
After measuring the colour protection utilizing a colorimeter, we noticed some good upgrades to the sRGB shade gamut protection which hit 136.1%, which blasts previous the 123% premium laptop computer common. As for the 96.4% DCI-P3 shade gamut, this outperforms the Acer Swift 5 (93.3%) and Samsung Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional (87.5%). However this doesn’t come as a shock, given how incredible the panels have been in Asus programs as of late by way of shade accuracy.
However I do have two gripes with the show. First, the brightness peaked at 354.8 nits in our testing, which falls behind the Swift 5 (457 nits) and the Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional (373 nits). That brightness degree is powerful sufficient for many use circumstances, however in direct gentle, it will possibly get arduous to see what’s occurring on-screen.
And second, the touchscreen. No, not the potential, because the contact sensitivity is spectacular and the response time of your finger or stylus to the display is instant sufficient that I didn’t discover any seen lag. The issue appears to be the floor of the show. It’s clean, however there’s a considerably distracting seen grain-like texture that’s exacerbated when viewing brighter content material. This can be a coating that protects the display from scratches, however different firms have performed this with out getting in the way in which of content material.
It signifies that exhibits just like the spectacular Obi-Wan Kenobi sport incredible shade and actually showcase the distinction ratio in its darkest moments, however when the brightness is maxed out in daytime scenes, the show floor can detract from the present.
Plus, this isn’t the one show on the Area Version. I’m in fact speaking about that 3.5-inch ZenVision show, which is customizable inside the MyAsus app. Is there a lot level to it? Not likely, past exhibiting you the time and battery life whenever you shut the lid. However does it look cool when the astronaut flies by way of the star system on its tiny display? You guess it does.
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version keyboard and touchpad
The keyboard stretches out near the sides of the deck to supply a nicely-sized set of keys with a delicate scoop that your fingers fall into gracefully. Contact typing is a cinch on the 14X OLED Area Version and every change has a powerful quantity of depth to supply a pleasant tactile response.
I examined this utilizing the 10FastFingers.com typing evaluation and I hit my quickest rating of 87 wpm. For context, I usually hit 83-85 wpm on a laptop computer keyboard, which emphasizes how ergonomically sound this board is.
This comes paired with a generously massive touchpad.At 5.1 x 2.9 inches, you get extra floor space than the Acer Swift 5 (4.1 x 2.6 inches) and barely lower than the far bigger Samsung Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (5.2 x 3.5 inches). Given how shut the smaller display and body of the 14X will get to this, it feels gargantuan.
For many who spend their time programming or utilizing spreadsheets, the choice to activate a quantity pad on the touchpad is a superb addition for productiveness.
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version audio
As has grow to be customary for many premium Asus laptops, you’ll discover Harmon Kardon audio system in right here, which give spectacular readability and a good little bit of bass for video calls and leisure.
They even dealt with the depth of The Ghost Inside’s album “Returners,” which is an all-out assault of livid vocals, thunderous percussion and chugging guitars with no distortion.
With common laptops just like the Dell XPS 13 beginning to ditch the audio jack, it’s value noting that the 14X nonetheless has the three.5mm jack and audio manufacturing of the codec supplies loads of element.
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version efficiency
Beneath the hood, Asus has cranked up the efficiency of the 14X OLED with a twelfth Gen Intel Core i9-12900H CPU, 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM and a 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD.
I threw a lot stuff at this machine, together with Two Level Hospital operating within the background as I edited an enormous image on Photoshop, performed a number of 1080p YouTube movies, streamed on Twitch with OBS and ran a benchmark. Even below such strain, contact responsiveness didn’t lag and the system saved operating easily.
That is all because of that CPU, which hit a bonkers Geekbench 5.4 multi-core rating of 11,142. Unsurprisingly, this demolishes the Acer Swift 5 (9,859) and the Samsung Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (9,043) and zooms by the premium laptop computer common (5,956).
In customary multitasking, chances are high you’ll probably not discover the pace distinction between a Core i7 and i9, which makes this further efficiency headroom preferrred for a prosumer workload.
That’s additional emphasised by our Handbrake app benchmark end result, which noticed the 14X OLED Area Version convert a 4K video to 1080p in 7 minutes and 39 seconds — 2 minutes quicker than the competitors and nicely forward of the class common (13:27).
Not solely that, however high-capacity recordsdata are saved and loaded with a good pace on the M.2 SSD. Relaxation assured, this beast will sustain along with your intense workload. When transferring a 25GB file, we noticed speeds as much as 1,747 MBps, which completely anihilates the business common (825 MBps).
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version graphics
The configuration I reviewed gives built-in Iris Xe graphics, which might sustain with even probably the most visually intensive components of my workload like picture and video modifying. You’re not going to play any severe video games right here, however the graphics chip can greater than maintain its personal for loads of informal play.
The ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version hit a steady 36 frames per second in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm at 1080p. On the 3DMark Fireplace Strike check, the ZenBook proved its graphics energy with a critically spectacular 5,336 — exceeding my expectations for built-in graphics on this beast. In follow, this translated to me with the ability to play loads of Two Level Hospital and a few Forza Horizon 5 on decrease settings with ease.
I’d be curious to see how the Iris Xe graphics examine to the devoted Nvidia GeForce MX550 GPU in the usual 14X OLED.
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version battery life
On condition that Core i9 that’s crammed into this small system, I got here into this barely nervous in regards to the battery life. The fact is that whereas the 63WHr battery does maintain its personal a little bit higher than I anticipated, it’s not nice.
In our Battery Informant testing, we hit a complete time of 6 hours and a couple of minutes. That’s miles behind the Galaxy Ebook 2 Professional 360 (11:59) and Acer Swift 5 (11:24) and falls nicely under the premium laptop computer common (10:29).
My day includes a number of Chrome tabs, Spotify and Slack operating consistently, and the occasional use of Photoshop. Beginning at 9am, I reached 1pm earlier than needing to cost. Should you’re economical with energy over these lengthy intervals away from plug sockets, I’m positive you could possibly go longer, however this isn’t going to final to your entire working day.
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version webcam
In area, nobody can hear you complain in regards to the webcam — a minimum of that’s what Asus is relying on with this 720p shooter that leaves lots to be desired.
Even in a well-lit area resembling my spare room, the images look as in the event that they’ve been shot on the likes of that digital camera you clipped onto the underside of your Sony Ericsson T310 (shout-out to anybody who obtained that reference). Images are fuzzy and missing sufficient element to be good for something apart from the occasional Zoom name.
Not less than it’s good to have Home windows Hey assist because of the IR digital camera which makes use of facial recognition to quickly log you into the system and in the event you want higher video constancy you’ll be able to decide up one of many finest exterior webcams.
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version warmth
The story of prime temperatures of the 14X OLED Area Version is each a spicy one and an instance of how Asus is getting higher at warmth dissipation.
This reached a max temperature of 102.9 levels on the underside, which is a good bit above our 95-degree consolation threshold, however the trackpad stayed at a far cooler 79.9 levels — all after streaming a 15-minute video.
Simply ensure you give the followers positioned on the underside sufficient room to breathe and the 14X ought to keep comparatively cool
Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version software program and guarantee
Asus is getting higher at supressing its bloatware urges, which suggests you’re left with the MyAsus app and a quite insistent McAfee safety package deal.
The latter begins to really feel quite annoying after a couple of prompts, however a easy uninstall removes it. There’s lots of helpful stuff right here too, such because the EQ controls, fan management choices, ZenVision show customization, and the flexibility to regulate the white stability of the display.
So far as after-purchase assist goes, the ZenBook 14X OLED comes with a one-year restricted guarantee. See how Asus fared throughout Tech Help Showdown and Greatest and Worst Manufacturers, our annual particular studies.
Backside line
There’s no two methods round it: the Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Area Version is a cool laptop computer. The visible language is in contrast to the rest you’ll see in 2022, the ergonomic usability is incredible and the facility below the hood is sufficient to deal with much more intensive workloads.
However there are some flaws that show problematic, be it the often distracting show coating, the missing battery life or the upper temperatures of its underside.
General, it’s an ideal system and in the event you just like the area aesthetic, it’s well worth the cash. However don’t overlook which you could get (most of) the identical package deal for a less expensive worth in the usual ZenBook 14X OLED.
