Courtesy of ASUS Malaysia I was given a unit of ASUS Zenbook UX21 to review after the official launch of Asus Zenbook UX21 @ Luna Bar. I am actually looking for a laptop that suite my working schedule where I need to travel here and there and it's 1.1kg weight definitely make my life easier. No more overweight luggage. The ultrabook I am reviewing is 11 inch. The nicely curve body design and the aluminum construction making UX21 more elegant to use.
Lift the lid, reveal the mouse pad with simple design and bouncing keypads with the super-thin 11 inch screen showing Window 7 is on. Yeap, Asus Zenbook is one of the Ultrabook that can wake up from idle mode within 2 seconds. I don't have to shut it down every time I want to travel as when you close the lid it will automatic go to power-safe mode and preserve battery level.
Audio quality. Bang & Olufsen ICEpower speakers. The speaker is amazingly nice although it was tiny built between the screen and the keyboard. Consider quite good experience listen to music and watch video too. However, please don't expect this already-thin-ultrabook to give you good bass audio.
Talking about the screen (450 nits HD 1366x768), I tried use Picasa 3 to edit photos and the color showed looks quite accurate when viewed straight on. Of course, at extreme angles you won't able to see the images clearly. The screen is large enough to view most of the website (including my blog) correctly.
Maybe I should consider the UX31 with i7 and larger screen too so I can edit the images more correctly and smoothly.
Asus Zenbook UX21 connectivity is quite basic with total 6 ports. Two USB ports (USB 2.0+3.0 compatible), Micro HDMI and Mini Display Port Video Outputs with combined headphone and microphone audio jack. A USB Adapter for Ethernet port is included in the box if you prefer wired to wireless networking.
I tried the webcam to record video and it's face detection functioning quite well. Now I wonder where did I put my video hahaha.
Asus Zenbook UX21 features real time power forecast. I can switch between 'Battery-saving' and 'High-performance' mode to save more battery.
Asus Zenbook UX21 equipped with Intel Core i5-2467M processor running at 1.6GHz, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD are still an incredibly powerful combination in a laptop of this size. I didn't face any trouble to complete my daily task including running multiple applications. As for playing games? I don't think the spec is good enough for it still.
UX21's four-and-a-half-hour battery life will not be enough if you are like me using photo edit software in high performance and I would advice you to always bring your battery charger along. Good thing is that the battery charger no longer that bulky compared to other laptop.
FREE Leather Sleeve will be given when you purchase Asus Zenbook UX21/UX31. It looks elegant and classy but I personally don't think it is protective enough IF I accidentally dropped it on the floor.
People will surely compare with it's direct competitor 11" MacBook Air. Both of them are in similar built just that the major difference is the OS (of course). Apple fans will always support apple products, but what happen when something different is being offered?