THE LATEST ZenBook Flip is strange. It
has a 10th-gen Intel CPU, but still uses
the compact Max-Q version of Nvidia’s
GTX 1050, a two-year-old graphics card.
It’s got a 360-degree hinge, but it’s thicker
than any convertible we’ve seen recently.
The trackpad doubles as a tiny screen
with numeric keypad functionality, but
Asus still saw fit to squeeze a physical
numpad on the keyboard.
It’s an odd, anachronistic product, as
full of older hardware as it is brimming
with innovation. The chassis is fairly
bulky, with a 15.6-inch screen making
the overall build a lot larger than sleek
convertibles such as the HP Spectre x360
and the Dell XPS 2-in-1. It’s not heavy,
mostly due to the plastic chassis, but it
does feel chunky and outdated.
That 360-degree hinge is a lot sturdier
than the plastic outer shell suggests,
raising the keyboard slightly toward the
u s e r i n l a p t o p m o d e a n d e n s u r i n g m i n i m a l
movement when using the Flip 15 in other
configurations. The keyboard doesn’t
share the same robust construction,
though, with some keys making the entire
plastic assembly flex alarmingly. The
backlighting also isn’t very impressive.
The trackpad, on the other hand, is
a work of genuine beauty. It’s the same
ScreenPad Asus has been touting for a
while, but upgraded to the ScreenPad 2.0:
a dinky display that contains customizable
quick-access apps, from a digital
numpad to handwriting tools
and Spotify. It runs up
to 1080p 60Hz,
but the default
1000x500 makes
It’s chunky and it’s weird, but we’re still intrigued
Asus ZenBook Flip 15
7
VERDICT Asus ZenBook Flip 15ZEN GARDEN Gorgeous
4K touchscreen; well-
implemented trackpad display; good
sound quality.
LANDFILL Sub-par keyboard; some
outdated hardware; slow SSD.
$1,550, http://asus.comSPECIFICATIONSProcessor Intel Core i7-10510U
Graphics Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q
RAM 16GB LPDDR3 @ 2,133MHz
Screen 15.6-inch 4K IPS (3840x2400)
Storage 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD
Keyboard Island-style backlit
Battery Four-cell 57Wh
PSU 120W power adapter
Weight 4.2lb
OS Windows 10 Home 64-bittouch controls easier. Using an external
mouse is a good idea to free up the
ScreenPad, but it shifts back to trackpad
use with a single icon tap, and feels good
to use; it’s wide, and has a robust click.
The Flip 15 is also equipped with an
excellent display, a 4K panel with 10-point
touch control. It’s vibrant, with great
color density, and makes using the Flip 15
in tablet mode delightful. It’s larger and
heavier than most tablets, which means
holding it up isn’t too comfortable, but it’s
perfect for a Netflix binge in bed.
Despite some peculiar design
choices, the Flip 15 does perform OK.
Most games are playable above 30fps at
1080p Medium or High settings, with less
demanding titles such as Fortnite running
great. This is no gaming laptop, but the
GTX 1050 does put in the work, outpacing
integrated graphics; the Flip 15 definitely
meets the needs of casual gamers.
So it handles graphics well, but it falls
down in other areas; CPU performance
wasn’t terrible but wasn’t impressive
either, while SSD read/write times were
disappointingly slow compared to other
recent laptops. The device as a whole isn’t
particularly well equipped for handling
heavy video editing and 3D rendering
tasks, but it’s capable enough. The battery
life is decent, although the discrete GPU
and ScreenPad 2.0 definitely hamper it.
In terms of overall performance, we’d say
that we were thoroughly whelmed.
So, we can’t outright recommend the
ZenBook Flip 15 from a performance
standpoint, especially not when it costs
a hefty $1,550. Thankfully, it’s bringing
more to the table than just a GPU from2018 and last-gen memory. The big,
beautiful display makes this one of the
best laptops around for watching video
content, and the ScreenPad 2.0 is well
implemented. It certainly has its uses,
whether it’s displaying tools for Microsoft
Office or keeping music under control.
Speaking of music, the Flip 15 has a
surprisingly good set of speakers. Anyone
working with sound professionally will
still want to use headphones, of course,
but the Harman Kardon audio is genuinely
good, handling both music and dialogue
well. Connectivity is another area where
the Flip 15 excels, as it boasts two USB-A
ports, a USB-C port, headphone jack,
SD card reader, and an HDMI port for
connecting a second screen.
As is often the case with laptops,
what you see is not what you get. On the
surface, the ZenBook Flip 15 is pretty
awesome—an excellent screen with a
tiny bezel, funky trackpad display, and
two-in-one functionality all seem like
the perfect ingredients for a great laptop.
But unless you’re particularly drawn to
the innovations on display here, there are
definitely superior systems out there for
the same price. –CHRISTIAN GUYTONOur notebook zero-point is the HP Spectre X360, with an Intel Core i7-8565U, integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620, and
8GB of DDR4-2400. Rise of the Tomb Raider is tested at 1080p at the highest graphical profile.BENCHMARKS
ZERO-
POINT
Cinebench R15 Multi (Index) 561 758 (35%)
CrystalDisk QD32
Sequential Read (MB/s) 3,100 1,644 (-47%)
CrystalDisk QD32
Sequential Write (MB/s)^557 879 (58%)
3DMark: Fire Strike (Index) 1,062 5,167 (387%)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (fps)^5 27 (440%)
PCMark 8 (index ) 2,543 3,250 (28%)
Battery Life:
Movie Playback (Minutes)^840 620 (-26%)
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%maximumpc.com MAY 2020 MAXIMUMPC 67