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Asus Zenbook 14UX433F
THE 14-INCH LAPTOP THAT’S ALMOST ALL SCREEN.THE WORLD’S SMALLEST 14-inch laptop.
That’s Asus’s sock-it-to-you sales pitch for the
new Zenbook 14 UX433F. It’s not the only
thing this slick Intel-powered laptop has going
for it, of course.
There’s powerful quad-core processing, just
for starters. Claimed all-day battery life and
Harmon Kardon audio sweetens the deal, too.
But it’s that slim-bezeled ‘NanoEdge’ display
and the extremely compact proportions it
enables for a laptop in the 14-inch segment
that most defines the Zenbook’s proposition.
What’s on offer here, in effect, is a laptop
that feels like it’s from the segment below in
terms of size, but delivers a larger, more
ergonomic 14-inch viewing experience.
That means this 14 incher is barely any
bigger than many 13-inch ultrabooks, like
Dell’s XPS 13, while 14-inch Ultrabooks
including the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
are tangibly larger. Whether that’s enough to
stand out in a seriously crowded market of
premium portables, is another matter.
The Asus Zenbook 14 UX433F is all about
that screen. Or rather the lack of anything
much around it. The side bezels measure just
2.9mm, while the bottom clocks in at 3.3mm
and the top 6.1mm.
The net result is a pretty staggering 92%
screen-to-body ratio. Most notable is that slimbottom bezel. It’s what allows the Zenbook 14
to match the depth of 13-inch Ultrabooks with
relatively hefty chin bezels, like the Dell XPS
13, for overall depth, while only being slightly
wider in width.
What the Asus Zenbook is not, however, is a
truly ultra-thin and ultralight laptop. The likes
of the aforementioned Dell XPS 13 is
noticeably slimmer if no lighter and the super
slim Acer Swift 7 is a 14-inch alternative in a
whole different ballpark for thinness, clocking
in at 0.89cm to the Zenbook’s 1.59cm.
That said, there are upsides to a little
thickness, including space to fit a pair of
full-sized USB A ports. It’s just a pity that only
one of them is full 3.1 speed while the other
only offers the ancient and slow 2.0 spec.
If the Asus Zenbook 14 UX433F is all about
that screen, it’s a pity it isn’t slightly more
impressive beyond those headline grabbing
minimal bezels. However, it’s not a dud of an
LCD panel, to be sure.
The performance of the other core
components is more impressive. The Intel Core
i7-8565U quad-core CPU will be plenty for all
but the most demanding mobile workflows.
Ditto the Intel 512GB NVMe SSD, which
delivers desktop class storage performance.
If there are exceptions to all that, they
involve the graphics subsystem and the mere8GB of RAM. The former is no surprise for an
Ultrabook, just be aware that like any current
laptop that utilises Intel’s integrated graphics,
it’ll be pretty useless for all but the least
demanding games.
The impact of the 8GB system memory
limitation is less clear cut. Much will depend
on your typical usage.
For all its slim-bezel goodness, the
Zenbook’s screen is also merely OK. It’s not
the highlight it would have been with a
punchier, higher resolution panel. All of which
makes the Asus Zenbook 14 UX433F a solid
choice worthy of your shortlist but not
necessarily a no brainer.
[JEREMY LAIRD][ TECHLIFE#93]TESTBEN
THEHOTTESTGEARPASUS ZENBOOK 14 UX4
$1,899
http://www.asus.com/au
CRITICAL SPECS
1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8565U(quad-core,8MBcache,upto
3.5GHz with Turbo Boost); IntelUHDGraphics 620; 8GB
DDR4 RAM; 14inch, 1,920 x1,080,IPSdisplay; 512GB Intel
NVMe SSD; 1x USB-C, 1x USB-A 3.1, 1x USB-A 2.0, 1x
HDMI, MicroSD; Dual-band 802.11ac gigabit-class Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth 5.0; 3D IR HD camera; 1.19kg.WINNERAP
4P SSSTP OVED
AWA RDX 433 FdTHE ASUS ZENBOOK 14 UX433F
IS ALL ABOUT THAT SCREEN.
OR R ATHER THE LACK OF
ANYTHING MUCH AROUND IT.
THE SIDE BEZELS MEASURE
JUST 2.9MM, WHILE THE
BOTTOM CLOCKS IN AT 3.3MM
AND THE TOP 6.1MM.