Asus Zenbook UX330 - Hands On Review

The Zenbook UX302 Sanu Laptop from Asus: A Budget Powerhouse with a Twist

As the name suggests, this laptop may not exactly roll off the tongue, but it's certainly worth getting to know. What's often overlooked is that there's more to this laptop than meets the eye, particularly when it comes to its latest upgrade – an eighth-generation Intel Core i5 processor from Intel.

If you're in the market for a new laptop and are looking for a budget-friendly option, the Zenbook UX302 Sanu should be right at the top of your list. With its impressive performance, great display, and thin design, it's hard to find fault with this affordable laptop. The price tag? A mere $750, making it an even more attractive option.

While there may be cheaper laptops out there, none quite match the UX302 Sanu in terms of covering all the essentials. The standout feature of this laptop is undoubtedly its CPU performance. In our tests, we've seen a significant jump in multi-core performance, with a 42% increase in growth compared to the previous generation processor. This may seem like a lot, but when you consider that the $1,300 MacBook Pro and the $1,500 Surface Book both come with similar chip technology – albeit an older generation – it's clear that this laptop is offering significant value for its price.

But what about the design? Well, the UX302 Sanu doesn't disappoint in this department either. The laptop still rocks a plain design reminiscent of other Zenbooks, but it's actually fairly well-built and not as flimsy as you might expect. The bezels around the display may not be everyone's cup of tea, but the screen itself is quite good – a well-balanced HD display with great contrast and natural color reproduction.

One of the most impressive things about this laptop is its thickness and weight. At just half an inch thick, it's actually thinner than some laptops that are known for their thinness – like the MacBook Pro and even the 12-inch MacBook. And weighing in at a mere 2.6 pounds, it's also super light, making it easy to take on the go.

Of course, no laptop is perfect, and the UX302 Sanu has its share of compromises. The trackpad, for example, can be a bit wonky at times, although the gestures are generally okay – they just need a bit more refinement. And yes, the high-powered eighth-generation CPU has resulted in a slight reduction in battery life compared to the previous generation. But even with this drawback, you'll still have no problem getting through a full workday on this powerful laptop.

So what sets the UX302 Sanu apart from other budget-friendly laptops? In short, it's its value proposition. With a price tag of just $750, it offers incredible performance and features that would normally come with much more expensive laptops – like those high-end MacBooks or Surface Books. It may not be everyone's first choice, but for those on a budget who still want the best, this laptop is definitely worth considering before spending a lot of money on something you don't really need.

Overall, the Zenbook UX302 Sanu Laptop from Asus is an excellent choice for anyone looking for a powerful and affordable option. With its impressive performance, great display, and thin design, it's hard to find fault with this budget-friendly laptop.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is the Zenbook ux302 Sanu laptop from Asus now I know that name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but really there's a lot more to this laptop than meets the eye most notably has a new process of the eighth to Gen Intel Core i5 processor from Intel so if you're in the market for a new laptop here's why this budget laptop really should be considered the standout feature of the Zenbook ux302 nice display great performance or thin design it's the price tag a $750 it's been our favorite budget laptop all year and now it has the new eighth generation Intel Core i5 processor thrown in for good measure there are certainly cheaper laptops out there but none that cover all the essentials the way this one does the star of the show is really the CPU performance the version that came with the seventh generation processor was already performed with the top of its class and now it's even faster in our test it's made a huge jump especially in multi-core performance where it made a 42% increase in growth with the 8th gen CPU if you don't believe me that this chip really doesn't belong in a laptop this cheap consider that the $1,300 MacBook Pro and the $1500 surface book to come with that same chip except it's actually a generation back again this only cost $750 it also comes with 8 gigs of RAM and 256 gigabytes of solid-state storage the look of the 2017 UX 330 UA is unchanged from the previous year's model keeping the same plain design of a lot of these Zen books it's kind of plastic chassis but it's fairly well built and it's not as flimsy as it might look you might not like the bezels around the display but the screen itself is actually quite good it's a well balanced HD display that has really good contrast natural color reproduction it's nothing fancy it's not 4k or touchscreen but it gets the job done the most important thing to know about the design is how thin it is at just half an inch thick this laptop is actually thinner than laptops that are known for their thinness like the MacBook Pro and even the 12-inch MacBook it's also super light at just 2 point 6 pounds which again is lighter than the MacBook Pro for IO the UX 330 UA again has the basics covered it's got two USB a ports 1 USB C port a headphone jack a full size SD card slot and a micro HDMI port it's all pretty standard but it's nice to see a C's throw in at least one USB C port for the sake of future proofing this laptop does come with a couple of compromises though the first is the trackpad which isn't horrible but it can be a little Skippy at times the handles gesture is OK but it really takes some getting used to and it certainly could use some work also the high powered eighth-generation cpu has actually resulted in a slight reduction in battery life the previous version had amazing battery life lasting over 13 hours playing in HD video while the new version gets 2 hours less than that it's still better than all of its competition at this price range it's just no longer running laps around them so this new model does trade battery life for performance boost but even considering that you'll have no problem getting through a full workday on this really thin powerful laptop so again the story with this laptop is really the value at $750 you're getting a laptop that's thinner than something like a macbook pro but also something that performs better than an entry-level version of the dell XPS 13 those are both really great laptops but this does it for a lot cheaper so it might not be your first choice it's really one that should be considered before you spend a bunch of money on a laptop that you don't really needthis is the Zenbook ux302 Sanu laptop from Asus now I know that name doesn't exactly roll off the tongue but really there's a lot more to this laptop than meets the eye most notably has a new process of the eighth to Gen Intel Core i5 processor from Intel so if you're in the market for a new laptop here's why this budget laptop really should be considered the standout feature of the Zenbook ux302 nice display great performance or thin design it's the price tag a $750 it's been our favorite budget laptop all year and now it has the new eighth generation Intel Core i5 processor thrown in for good measure there are certainly cheaper laptops out there but none that cover all the essentials the way this one does the star of the show is really the CPU performance the version that came with the seventh generation processor was already performed with the top of its class and now it's even faster in our test it's made a huge jump especially in multi-core performance where it made a 42% increase in growth with the 8th gen CPU if you don't believe me that this chip really doesn't belong in a laptop this cheap consider that the $1,300 MacBook Pro and the $1500 surface book to come with that same chip except it's actually a generation back again this only cost $750 it also comes with 8 gigs of RAM and 256 gigabytes of solid-state storage the look of the 2017 UX 330 UA is unchanged from the previous year's model keeping the same plain design of a lot of these Zen books it's kind of plastic chassis but it's fairly well built and it's not as flimsy as it might look you might not like the bezels around the display but the screen itself is actually quite good it's a well balanced HD display that has really good contrast natural color reproduction it's nothing fancy it's not 4k or touchscreen but it gets the job done the most important thing to know about the design is how thin it is at just half an inch thick this laptop is actually thinner than laptops that are known for their thinness like the MacBook Pro and even the 12-inch MacBook it's also super light at just 2 point 6 pounds which again is lighter than the MacBook Pro for IO the UX 330 UA again has the basics covered it's got two USB a ports 1 USB C port a headphone jack a full size SD card slot and a micro HDMI port it's all pretty standard but it's nice to see a C's throw in at least one USB C port for the sake of future proofing this laptop does come with a couple of compromises though the first is the trackpad which isn't horrible but it can be a little Skippy at times the handles gesture is OK but it really takes some getting used to and it certainly could use some work also the high powered eighth-generation cpu has actually resulted in a slight reduction in battery life the previous version had amazing battery life lasting over 13 hours playing in HD video while the new version gets 2 hours less than that it's still better than all of its competition at this price range it's just no longer running laps around them so this new model does trade battery life for performance boost but even considering that you'll have no problem getting through a full workday on this really thin powerful laptop so again the story with this laptop is really the value at $750 you're getting a laptop that's thinner than something like a macbook pro but also something that performs better than an entry-level version of the dell XPS 13 those are both really great laptops but this does it for a lot cheaper so it might not be your first choice it's really one that should be considered before you spend a bunch of money on a laptop that you don't really need\n"