The ASUS ZenBook S13: A Revolutionary Laptop Design
Hey guys, this is Austin. Take one look at the ASUS ZenBook S13, and you will see that there is a lot going for it. I want to give a real shout-out to ASUS for hooking us up with the ZenBook a little bit early. This won't be going on sale until around March or so, so we have a slightly pre-production unit, but beyond that, this thing looks dope.
This is a 97% screen-to-body ratio, which means that you're essentially getting a 14-inch screen in a 13-inch laptop size. The way they do this is with very thin bezels on the sides as well as a little bit of an anti-notch. A reverse notch? You got a little tab, maybe. Instead of moving the webcam down below the screen or onto the keyboard, this actually seems to be a pretty decent approach. It gives you a little bit of something to grab when you're opening up the laptop, and it means that you still do have a decent-quality webcam. Don't get me wrong, it's not amazing with a 720p resolution, but this is so much better than if it was like this.
The other key to this is the bottom bezel. It's there but you just can't see it, so that's thanks to the Ergolift hinge. So when you actually open up the laptop, what happens is that it lightly elevates the keyboard, and that has a couple of advantages, including making it a little bit more comfortable to type on, giving you more cooling, and importantly, totally making it look like there's not a bottom bezel of the screen at all. It's a really clever piece of technology, and engineering, and it's just smart. It also helps that this is a solid display. Now it's not a touchscreen, but it is only 1080p resolution, but honestly, I prefer that for battery life, and importantly, the panel itself is very high quality. It's very accurate and it's one of the brightest laptop displays we've ever tested.
Bezel-less smartphones have kinda taken over, and laptops are starting to take that trend, but what's cool about this is that it actually makes a big difference, right? I mean, you're getting a legitamately bigger screen in a chassis which is just as small as a lot of the other 13-inch laptops that we've been using the last few years. It's one of those things where there's no real downside, there's no real gimmicks here. It's just some smart ideas and a cool way of making a laptop just that little bit much better.
That brings us to the second claim to fame for the ZenBook S. This is the world's thinnest laptop with dedicated graphics, and yeah, that's pretty thin, 13 millimeters. The NVIDIA MX150 inside is hardly the most powerful GPU in the world, but it is a huge step up over integrated graphics. This is enough power to play most games as long as you don't mind turning down the settings a little bit. So, for example, here in Fortnite, I've got it at 720p Medium. We're able to get a pretty consistent 50 to 60 frames per second.
The only issue is that because this is so much power in such a thin light laptop, it means that it does run a little bit warm especially on the keyboard, and the fans, they can spin up a little bit too much. But overall, it's still an amazing performance.
Now, let's talk about the design. The fundamentals are all here. The keyboard feels great thanks to the Ergolift design. The touchpad is a little bit on the small side, but it works and it does have a fingerprint sensor, and you have a decent selection of ports. No Thunderbolt 3, but you do have two USB-C, a micro SD card reader as well as a full-size USB-A.
I'm really impressed with the ZenBook S. Not only is the bezel-less display nice, but more importantly for me, you're getting a lot of performance here without sacrificing the form factor. I don't have to carry around a heavier laptop to have my GPU and my 14-inch screen. Now, the only downside here is that the price is not announced yet, so as long as this is reasonably priced, I think that they've definitely got a winner here.
WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- Hey guys, this is Austin.Take one look at the ASUS ZenBook S13,and you will see that thereis a lot going for it.I want to give a real shout-out to ASUSfor hooking us up with theZenBook a little bit early.This won't be going on saleuntil around March or so,so we have a slightly pre-production unit,but beyond that, this thing looks dope.This is a 97% screen-to-body ratio,which means that you'reessentially gettinga 14-inch screen in a 13-inch laptop size.Now the way they do thisis with very thin bezels on the sidesas well as a little bit of a anti-notch?A reverse notch?You got a little tab, maybe.Instead of moving thewebcam down below the screenor onto the keyboard,this actually seems to bea pretty decent approach.It gives you a littlebit of something to grabwhen you're opening up the laptop,and it means that you still dohave a decent-quality webcam.Don't get me wrong, it's notamazing with a 720p resolution,but this is so much betterthen if it was like this.The other key to this is the bottom bezel.It's there but you just can't see it,so that's thanks to the Ergolift hinge.So when you actually open up the laptop,what happens is is that itslightly elevates the keyboard,and that has a couple of advantagesincluding making it alittle bit more comfortableto type on, giving you more cooling,and importantly, totallymaking it look likethere's not a bottom bezelof the screen at all.It's a really clever piece of technology,and engineering, and it's just smart.It also helps that thisis a solid display.Now it's not a touchscreen,it is only 1080p resolution,but honestly, I preferthat for battery life,and importantly, the panelitself is very high quality.It's very accurate and it's one ofthe brightest laptopdisplays we've ever tested.Bezel-less smartphoneshave kinda taken over,and laptops are startingto take that trend,but what's cool about thisis that it actually makesa big difference, right?I mean, you're getting alegitimately bigger screenin a chassis which is just as smallas a lot of the other 13-inch laptopsthat we've been using the last few years.It's one of those things wherethere's no real downside,there's no real gimmicks here.It's just some smart ideas anda cool way of making a laptopjust that little bit much better.That brings us to the second claim to famefor the ZenBook S.This is the world's thinnestlaptop with dedicated graphics,and, yeah, that's prettythin, 13 millimeters.The NVIDIA MX150 insideis hardly the mostpowerful GPU in the world,but it is a huge step upover integrated graphics.This is enough power to play most gamesas long as you don't mind turning downthe settings a little bit.So, for example, here in Fortnite,I've got it at 720p Medium.We're able to get a pretty consistent50 to 60 frames per second.The only issue is is that becausethis is so much power insuch a thin light laptop,it means that it doesrun a little bit warmespecially on the keyboard,and the fans, they canspin up a little bit.It's not crazy loud, butit's definitely much louderthan most Ultrabooks.Open it up, and we seethat's act, wow, okay.So, first of all, it has a dual fan setup,which does make senseconsidering we do havenot only a CPU but we also have a GPU.Also, I just realized,this says Unstoppable.What are they, like, trying tokeep JerryRigEverything out?(cheesy pop music)So it does look like youcan swap out the NVMe SSD,but what's really impressiveis just how big of a batterythey were able to fit.This is a full 50 watt hours.So usually when you add a GPU to a laptop,it means that not onlyis it pulling more powerso you need that bigger battery,but on top of that, there'sless room for an actual batteryas far as the physical space.You've gotta add roomfor the cooling, the GPU,but here they've got prettymuch a full size cell,and you've got the power to back it up.So in addition to the MX150,you have a Whiskey Lake8th-Generation Core i5 or Core i7.You also have up to 16 gigs of RAMand all the way up to aone terabyte PCIe SSD.Build quality is solid.So not only is thekeyboard deck very rigid,but even the screen reallydoesn't have any flex to it.A big reason for that is becauseunlike most other laptops out there,this starts life as asingle block of aluminumwhich is then CNC milled downto get what you see here.That's usually reservedfor very expensive laptopssuch as Razer as well as Apple options,so it's nice to see on a ZenBook,and I think it's probablypart of the reason whythey're able to get so much powerinto such a small and thin form factor.The fundamentals are all here.The keyboard feels greatthanks to the Ergolift design.The touchpad is a littlebit on the small side,but it works and it doeshave a fingerprint sensor,and you have a decent selection of ports.No Thunderbolt 3, butyou do have two USB-C,a micro SD card reader aswell as a full-size USB-A.I'm really impressed with the ZenBook S.Not only is the bezel-less display nice,but more importantly for me,you're getting a lot of performance herewithout sacrificing the form factor.I don't have to carryaround a heavier laptopto have to my GPU as wellas have my 14-inch screen.Now the only downside hereis that price is not announced yet,so as long as this is reasonably priced,I think that they'vedefinitely got a winner here.
