Asus has today launched three new ZenBook laptops, namely the ZenBook 13, ZenBook S, and ZenBook Pro 15, in India. These were first shown off at Computex and CES earlier this year, alongside the slew of innovations at these tech expos.
These 3 ZenBooks span across the market segment, ranging from ZenBook 13 in the mid-range section to ZenBook Pro 15 in the premium one. Let’s take a closer look at the specs and features of each of these:
ZenBook 13
Starting off with the ZenBook 13, it is the latest addition to the Taiwanese giant’s ultra-thin and ultra-portable ZenBook series. The profile of this ultrabook comes in at just 13.9mm thickness and 985 grams, meaning you won’t even feel like you’re carrying the ultrabook with you.
This may make you believe that the ZenBook 13 is small and fragile but Asus claims that its ultrabook meets the MIL-STD 810G military standard for reliability and durability. This means it can easily survive drops and scuffs on falling.
It’s built from tough magnesium-aluminum alloy that’s amazingly durable and 33% lighter than standard aluminum alloy
The ZenBook13 sports a 13.3-inch Full-HD+ slim-bezel NanoEdge display, which has been powered by the 8th-gen Intel Core i5 or Core i7 chip, paired with up to 8GB of RAM and up to 512GB of PCIe SSD storage. You get a plethora of ports including a USB-C port, two USB Type-A ports, an HDMI port and a microSD card slot.
There’s a fingerprint scanner, stereo speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, paired with the company’s SonicMaster technology to provide you a lightweight multimedia powerhouse, that’s also highly durable. It will be available in two color variants, Deep Dive Blue and Rose Gold, and has been priced starting at Rs 66,990.
ZenBook S
This is the most premium ultrabook from Asus sports an ultra-thin 12.9mm body, with the highlight being its unique hinge design that lifts the keyboard to a ‘more comfortable typing angle’ of around 5.5 degrees. It is called “ErgoLift” and not only helps in typing but also helps for better heat management, as it brings in cool air to the bottom of the laptop.
The ZenBook S sports a 13.3-inch LED-backlit Full-HD (3840×2160 pixels) touch display with 5.9mm NanoEdge bezels all around, rated at 100% sRGB and 72% NTSC color gamut. It is powered by up to 8th-gen Intel Core i7 (8550U) quad-core processor, paired with 16 GB of LPDDR3 RAM, and 512GB of SSD.
You also get a fingerprint scanner at the top of the trackpad for Windows Hello, Harman Kardon-tuned ASUS SonicMaster stereo speakers, but no discrete graphics card. It also boasts fast-charging support, which means the 50Wh 4-cell lithium-polymer battery can be topped up by 60% in around 45 minutes.
The ZenBook S features a brushed metal unibody design and also comes with a MIL-STD 810G military standard certification, just like the ZenBook 13, but has been priced a lot higher, starting at Rs 129,990.
ZenBook Pro 15
While ZenBook S may be an ultra-thin ultrabook, Asus ZenBook Pro 15 is possibly one of the most innovative products in the company’s arsenal. This laptop comes with not just a single touchscreen, but two of them.
Yes, Asus has replaced the traditional trackpad with a 5.5-inch 1080p touchscreen, which is similar to Apple MacBook Pro’s touch bar in functionality. It’s designed to give you instant access to tools and shortcuts for Windows apps or dedicated ScreenPad apps like a numpad, music player, calculator or calendar.
You can even choose to multitask or mirror your smartphone screen to the ScreenPad, which are just a few things you can do right now. The soon-to-launch ScreenPad SDK will further extend its functionality.
As for the specs, the ZenBook Pro 15 features a 15.6-inch 4K Ultra-HD display and will be available in two CPU configurations, namely the latest 8th-gen Intel Core processors – Core-i5 8300H and Core-i9 8950HK. There’s up to 16GB of DDR4 2400MHz memory, up to 1TB SSD storage, and Nvidia GTX 1050Ti GPU (4GB RAM) to back this powerful beast.
The ZenBook Pro 15 has been priced starting at Rs 179,990 in India, which is quite steep. However, given the extra screen, we’d argue that Asus has added something new and innovative enough for the high price tag.
