Asus ZenBook UX425JA Review
Slender and lightweight laptops are changing into extra inexpensive, and it is at all times just right to peer producers taking note of what folks in point of fact need. If, like me, you spend maximum of your day the usage of a pc and feature to hold it with you anywhere you cross, it had higher now not develop into a burden. Fortunately trendy laptops use narrow SSDs and CPUs that do not require very heavy cooling, and naturally it is protected now to drop optical drives and a number of other legacy ports, all of which lend a hand.
Nonetheless, whilst I do in fact like having all of the newest hardware and high-end specs, usability is simply as essential as with the ability to take a look at a number of containers on an inventory. Particularly, I search for a relaxed keyboard and trackpad, battery existence, portability, and durability. If those components aren’t in position, the uncooked energy, seems, and different bells and whistles rarely subject.
That is why I am reviewing the Asus ZenBook UX425JA as of late. This 14-inch ultraportable weighs simply 1.17kg which is lighter than even the current-gen MacBook Air, however guarantees versatility and gear. I have been impressed with earlier ZenBook UX-series models, so let’s examine what the most recent one has in retailer.
The ZenBook UX425JA has Asus’ trademark concentric ring trend in brushed steel
Asus ZenBook UX425JA design
Essentially the most hanging side of the ZenBook UX425JA is simply how skinny and lightweight it’s. It is a 14-inch pc this is smaller than some 13-inch fashions from now not too way back. It is usually simply 14mm thick at its thickest level. Asus says it has used an aluminium alloy for sturdiness. All the frame is steel, together with the keyboard deck and backside. This type is to be had in a Pine Gray end, which Asus describes as “calm” and “smart”, and I love the truth that there are no blingy gold accents this time.
The frame in reality seems rather blue-grey below shiny mild. There is an off-centre Asus brand at the lid, with the trademark Zen-series concentric circle design radiating out from it. The brushed steel impact may be very delicate and you may now not even understand it in the beginning. General, this can be a good, professional-looking pc that you’ll be able to lift with you anyplace. The identical 13-inch ZenBook UX325 type is to be had simplest in Lilac Mist, which is rather less impartial.
Asus claims that that is the arena’s thinnest 14-inch pc with a complete set of ports, however that is a contentious declare. Certain, you get a full-sized HDMI output and a normal USB Kind-A port, which I do recognize, however there is no three.5mm audio socket. Like on modern smartphones, Asus it sounds as if idea it will be ok to drop this fundamental, common usual (which even Apple hasn’t executed on its maximum minimalist laptops) and I strongly disagree. You do get a dongle within the field — extra on that later — however this might be an enormous inconvenience in lots of scenarios.
The left and correct display screen borders are 2.9mm skinny, however there may be sufficient room above the display screen for a webcam the place it must be. That is essential, since face popularity is some other one in all this pc’s promoting issues. No less than modernity and practicality had been balanced right here. The display screen itself is non-glossy, which is superb for productiveness.
The ErgoLift hinge is helping with airflow and is alleged to beef up typing convenience
Opening the lid inclines the decrease part of the pc at a moderately unnoticeable three stage attitude. Asus says this improves ergonomics, however it is extra to do with permitting higher air consumption throughout the vents at the backside and exhaust from correct above the hinge.
At the decrease part we now have a slightly well-spaced keyboard that almost reaches the perimeters of the pc’s frame. Instantly, I spotted the row of devoted paging keys at the correct, which I at all times like to peer. The arrow keys are sadly compressed into one row, however are a lot wider than same old and also are rather remoted, so they are simple to seek out by way of contact by myself.
The keyboard is relatively relaxed. The motion is a little spongy however key go back and forth is just right for the sort of narrow frame, and not anything is misplaced. The facility button within the top-right nook is a bit of stiffer than the others to lend a hand save you unintentional presses. You get 3 ranges of white backlighting however I discovered the sunshine leaking throughout the bottoms of the keycaps a little distracting.
You will not get Asus’ exotic ScreenPad LCD screen trackpad here, however there are nonetheless a couple of hidden methods. With one faucet within the higher correct nook, the trackpad can transform a host pad, which is tremendous handy for fast calcuations and information access. The backlit numbers paintings identical to a bodily quantity pad, and there are even math symbols. The most productive phase is that whilst the quantity pad is lively, it could actually nonetheless differentiate between trackpad faucets and intentional use of the numbers, so you’ll be able to proceed to transport your cursor round and make a choice issues as same old with out switching modes. The backlight will flip itself off after a couple of seconds of inaction, however the quantity pad might be able to spring again to existence when touched.
Now not simplest is that this tremendous handy, however there may be some other shortcut. A swipe inward from the higher left nook will pull up the Home windows Calculator app, and some other swipe will push aside it. The mix of shortcuts can in point of fact come in useful occasionally. As for the trackpad’s fundamental capability, its beneficiant dimensions make running in Home windows a breeze, and it used to be at all times easy and correct. Home windows 10 multi-touch gestures additionally labored properly for me.
Asus ZenBook UX425JA value and specs
Beginning at Rs. 79,990, the ZenBook UX425JA is not probably the most inexpensive pc, however costs have risen around the business of overdue, in order that’s one thing to issue into your acquire resolution. The 13-inch ZenBook UX325 begins on the identical value. The bottom variant has a Core i5-1035G1 CPU with Intel UHD built-in graphics, and 8GB of RAM. I am reviewing the variant priced at Rs. 95,990, which has a Core i7-1065G7 GPU with extra robust Intel Iris Plus built-in graphics and 16GB of RAM.
Those CPUs are Intel’s 10th Gen ‘Ice Lake’ 10nm models, that have a couple of trendy options reminiscent of AI-based acceleration for sure varieties of workloads. They are additionally intended to run successfully in narrow laptops with out producing a lot warmth or chugging an excessive amount of energy. Asus has used soldered, non-upgradable LPDDR4X RAM, however each variants have a modular 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD.
The whole-HD 1920×1080-pixel has a 300nits most brightness which is just right sufficient for productiveness and leisure. Asus advertises any other top rate fashions with colour-calibrated monitors and complicated gamut protection, however now not for the ZenBook UX425JA.
When it comes to connectivity, there may be an HDMI 2.zero video output and two Thunderbolt three Kind-C ports at the left. The Thunderbolt ports improve DisplayPort video output and USB Energy Supply charging. At the correct, you get a USB three.2 Gen1 (5Gbps) Kind-A Port and a microSD card slot. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth five spherical out the wi-fi choices.
Asus bundles USB Kind-A to Ethernet and Kind-C to a few.5mm adapters with the ZenBook UX425JA. The audio dongle seems to be lively, and is Prime-Res qualified. This nonetheless does not make the loss of a three.5mm socket k — you may want to plug in a couple of earphones for any selection of causes when out and about, and there is no telling if you’ll be able to have a couple of Kind-C or Bluetooth earphones to hand. The material sleeve that is incorporated with this pc does not also have a pouch for the dongle and naturally it will be simple to lose.
There is a 67Wh battery, and Asus claims as much as 22 hours of productiveness. You’ll use both of the 2 Thunderbolt three ports to price this pc. The incorporated 65W adapter is moderately compact and is USB Kind-C Energy Supply compliant. This may increasingly help you temporarily price the battery from 0 to 60 p.c in below an hour, however you’ll be able to additionally price it slowly the usage of different Kind-C adapters or perhaps a energy financial institution.
There is no three.5mm audio socket however you get audio and Ethernet dongles within the field
Asus ZenBook UX425JA utilization and function
I had a in most cases delightful time the usage of the ZenBook UX425JA. It is mild sufficient to take anyplace in even a small bag, however you may now not wish to use it immediately in your lap as a result of the vents at the backside. I used to be satisfied that there used to be little or no fan noise, even if operating heavy workloads. The centre and left aspect of the keyboard can get a little heat however the palm leisure spaces stayed relaxed all through.
I used to be a bit of cautious of bodily durability, bearing in mind how narrow and lightweight this pc is. The lid does not flex a lot in any respect despite the fact that, and there is no warping on display screen once I attempted. The hinge runs all the width of this pc and makes touch along with your table floor when open, so the lid remains moderately solid. I additionally favored the truth that the bottom remains solid when opening the pc with one finger. Alternatively, the keybed does flex a bit of bit when typing.
The keyboard and trackpad are relaxed and simple to paintings with. I spotted some degradation of distinction and coloration constancy at the display screen when observing any content material at a pointy attitude. I don’t believe this pc is especially nice for leisure in a gaggle, however it used to be superb for simply me sitting immediately in entrance of it. The audio system produce strangely loud and crisp sound, with just about no distortion, however the bass is susceptible.
Home windows 10 ran completely superb, and the ZenBook UX425JA booted temporarily sufficient. I had no hassle with on a regular basis apps, operating a number of browser tabs together with Internet apps and streaming video concurrently. Asus has preinstalled McAfee LiveSafe which did pester me with very massive pop-up ads to buy a subscription.
There is a full-sized HDMI port and two Thunderbolt three ports at the left
The MyAsus dashboard app gives machine diagnostics, buyer improve, motive force updates, and a couple of promotional gives on downloadable device. You’ll regulate parameters for battery well being, show coloration modes, fan profiles, and extra. There is additionally a ‘Hyperlink to MyAsus’ function that allows you to pair an Android or iOS telephone by way of Bluetooth and obtain calls and notifications at the pc, together with the power to respond to notifications. You’ll additionally switch recordsdata and URLs when you have the MyAsus app put in in your telephone. On Android, there may be additionally the power to reflect your telephone’s display screen or use it as a longer show.
The 512GB SSD confirmed sequential learn and write rankings of 1856.5MBps and 976MBps respectively in CrystalDiskMark 6, and this efficiency contributes to the whole snappiness of the ZenBook UX425JA. Compressing a three.24GB folder of varied recordsdata with 7zip took 2 mins, 52 seconds, and transcoding a 1.3GB AVI record to H.265 in Handbrake took 1 minute, 46 seconds.
As for general machine efficiency, PCMark 10 reported rankings of four,205 and three,443 in its usual and Prolonged runs respectively. Cinebench R20 finished its single-threaded and multi-threaded render checks with rankings of 436 and 1,383 respectively. POV-Ray’s benchmark check ran in four mins, 24 seconds.
The ZenBook UX425JA is not a gaming pc by way of any stretch, and graphics energy is proscribed to the built-in Intel Iris Plus GPU. You’ll be expecting to run easy 3-D video games, or possibly some older titles at low settings, however maximum moderately trendy AAA video games don’t seem to be going to paintings. 3DMark’s Time Undercover agent and Evening Raid checks submit 810 and seven,483 issues respectively. I fired up Shadow of the Tomb Raider and controlled simplest 14fps on the Lowest graphics high quality environment with the solution pulled all the way down to 1280×720. Disabling anti-aliasing totally raised that to just 17fps.
Asus makes some spectacular claims about battery existence. In real-world use, I wasn’t ready to get anyplace close to 22 hours of use, however I did arrange to get thru a complete Eight-10 hour workday with mild browser-based apps operating and a few media streaming within the background. The CPU-intensive Battery Eater Professional benchmark ran for a three hours, 24 mins which is excellent.
At the correct, you’ll be able to discover a USB three.2 Gen1 Kind-A port and a microSD card slot
Verdict
I in point of fact just like the ZenBook UX425JA, and I feel that Asus has executed really well general, handing over the sort of transportable but succesful pc. It has no serious shortcomings, and its efficiency and battery existence might be superb so long as you don’t seem to be anticipating to do severe content material introduction paintings or play trendy video games. Scholars and dealing people will love it so much.
Whilst this pc must be treated with care, it is lovely robust for one thing so narrow and lightweight. The keyboard, trackpad, and display screen are just right for productiveness and the light-up quantity pad is in actuality helpful with out detracting from core capability.
In fact it is not absolute best, despite the fact that. The largest downside I’ve is the loss of a normal three.5mm audio socket, and I might luckily business a couple of millimetres and grams to have one. It is frankly ridiculous that a pc has attempted to ditch this usual, and I do hope this is not the start of a pattern. The show is rather underwhelming for leisure, despite the fact that superb for productiveness. Additionally, in the event you had been hoping for a touchscreen or mobile information, you will have to glance elswhere.
The ZenBook UX425JA will compete with Xiaomi’s Mi Notebook 14 Horizon Edition at the low finish, and the Dell XPS 13 and HP Spectre models in addition to the MacBook Air (2020) when you have a beneficiant price range. The variant I examined formally prices Rs. 95,990, which is so much to pay. Nonetheless, a pc like this may have price a lot more now not too way back. The Core i5 variant at Rs. 79,990 might be extra sexy, and is an engaging possibility for many who need one thing one step up from the mainstream.
