Asus - Asus Zenbook S13 UX392F

Asus

Asus Zenbook S13 UX392F: on the verge of perfection

Aprox. 1599€

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Asus seeks to shake up the world of ultraportables with its Zenbook S13 by offering a screen that is out of the ordinary. But the PC has much more to offer.

Our review

Presentation

Zenbooks have always been the showcase of Asus' expertise in the field of ultraportables. With this new model S13, test version UX392F, the Taiwanese brand wants to differentiate itself from the competition by betting on the most visible part of its product: the screen.

While some manufacturers, such as Microsoft or Huawei, rely on a screen in 3: 2 format for their laptops, Asus takes the opposite by offering a screen in classic horizontal format. More so, Asus wants to impress the user by promising a screen to front ratio of 97%, the highest on the market. The average is indeed around 80%, but some manufacturers bet on this aspect, in particular Dell with its XPS 13 which reaches 87%. One thing is certain, the strategy works, the "wow" effect being very present when using the PC for the first time. But beyond an exceptional screen, Asus offers with its Zenbook S13 a product of excellence that still deserves a few settings to be perfect, especially in terms of battery.


Presentation

Construction

For this new model, Asus has pushed the high-end aspect to the limit with a brushed aluminum chassis that looks great on all parts of the PC. Visually, the design is very successful and remains in line with the manufacturer, especially with this brushing in a circle on the screen cover.

Light, aluminum also has the advantage of being solid. Thus, the PC does not bend under pressure. In addition, this material is not sensitive to fingerprints or scratches.

Like the previous models, the Zenbook S13 delivers other design discoveries, such as the screen that supports the keyboard. Once the Zenbook S13 is open, the base of the screen rests on the support on which the PC is placed, which has the effect of tilting the keyboard by 4 ° for a more pleasant typing.

The other genius of the design of this PC lies in the impressive ratio of its screen - we talk about it in more detail in the dedicated part. This helps reduce the size of the PC, which has a 13-inch chassis while the screen is 14 inches.

The keyboard is well designed. Provided with a certain resistance and a short stroke (1.4 mm), the keys provide a pleasant feeling during writing sessions, reinforced by a fairly large space between them. This keyboard has four levels of backlight (white) to work serenely in dark environments. It should be noted that it does not have a numeric keypad (this is not surprising on a 14 inch format) and that the "enter" key adopts a long format, which can annoy the user who will tend to press reflex on the "* "key. Pity. The trackpad is efficient and responds perfectly to user requests. Likewise, the fingerprint sensor is of high quality, quick to unlock the PC.

The connection of the Zenbook S13 is very complete for its format. Thus, on the wafers, the PC has two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C ports, a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-A port, a microSD card reader and a mini-jack. Added to this is a hub supplied with the PC which plugs into USB-C and which provides an HDMI output as well as two USB ports (one C, the other A). Practical, especially since this type of accessory usually costs around twenty euros.

It is easy to disassemble the Asus Zenbook S13 with a precision screwdriver. Once the cover is removed, the user does not have access to much and can only change the SSD (M.2 2280 format) if the mood takes him. It is not possible to add RAM - this being integrated - no more than a second storage unit, no additional M.2 or SATA port being available. Pity.

The Asus Zenbook S13 knows how to manage its heating, despite some really regrettable small missteps for an ultraportable. During our usual test protocol, ie the Metro Last Light benchmark for one hour (remember that the PC has an Nvidia MX150 graphics card), the PC has distributed its heat well in its upper part. Only downside, the grid under the PC which rises to 41 ° C. If the heat is not unbearable, it can however be unpleasant when the PC is placed on the user's lap, but this should not happen during gaming sessions, circumstances where the PC is most stressed. The PC is quiet at noise level, not rising above 41 dB.


Construction

Screen

The Asus Zenbook S13 UX392F has a 13.9-inch non-touch IPS screen with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 px. As previously mentioned, Asus is investing a lot on its screen to arouse desire, with a screen / frontage ratio promised at 97% by the manufacturer, but calculated by us at 94%, which remains the highest on the market. A feat allowed thanks to its 4 mm borders. For comparison, the Huawei Matebook X Pro offers a screen / front ratio of 90% and the Dell XPS 13 of 87%.

Note also the webcam placed in a small appendix on the top of the screen, which also serves as a notch to open the computer. The whole gives a larger screen impression.

contrast 1,575: 1 Delta E 2 temperature 6,525 K

All this is fine, but worthless if the Zenbook panel is not up to par. Fortunately for the user, this is not the case here. It even has one of the best tiles we have had in our labs. The screen benefits from a contrast of 1,575: 1 thanks to a perfect dynamic contrast, which allows it to display deep blacks without difficulty. Respect for colors is also there with an average delta E of 2. The only small weakness is at the level of light greens, but remains marginal, since overall, all the colors displayed are true to the colors of origin. The color temperature is also excellent. Measured at 6,525 K, it is almost at the 6,500 K level of the video standard. The screen therefore does not draw towards blue or red.

The brightness is also excellent, since it has been calculated at 488 cd / m². In fact, this means that it will be easy to work outdoors, despite the reflections very present on the shiny tile. Only small shadow on the board, at 15 ms, the remanence is a bit high, but remains correct; the average is around 13 ms for non-gaming computers such as ultraportables. Asus therefore gives us a screen of excellence, a real pleasure to watch with the naked eye. A point mastered from start to finish.


Performances

The Zenbook S13 UX392F has an Intel Core i7-8565U processor (4 cores, 8 threads, base frequency at 1.8 GHz, turbo frequency at 4.60 GHz), 16 GB of RAM and an SSD 512 GB M.2. A very powerful configuration on paper that does not reserve any surprises on this side.

During our usual test protocol (video editing, photo editing, file compression and 3D calculation), the Zenbook S13 reached the index of 91. This places it in the average of high-end ultraportables on the market, like the last XPS 13 model. The PC is obviously above its counterparts with a Core i5, such as the Surface laptop 2. The S13 therefore provides sufficient power to work on software that uses computing power, such as photo editing or editing software.

Note also the presence of a GeForce MX150 graphics card which allows you to give a boost to certain tasks, but also to play games with very low power consumption like Overwatch by making some concessions.

Some entry level laptops feature an Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics card. A card that suggests that this kind ...


Mobility / Autonomy

The Zenbook S13 bets on its transportability with a dream weight of 1.1 kg and adopts dimensions of 316 x 195 x 12.9 mm. It has a food also thought for ultra mobility, which weighs only 221 g. Finally, Asus offers, as an option, a faux leather pouch that adds protection

However, it is by focusing on autonomy that the Achilles heel is revealed. During our usual test (Netflix in Chrome, backlight off, headphones plugged in and brightness set to 200 cd / m²), the PC shut down after only 4 h 14 min. A really low score for an ultraportable that we are more used to seeing on a gaming PC. This is a real problem for a computer supposed to adapt to ultra-mobility, and whose competitors manage to last more than 8 hours.

A poor performance which is explained by the power management mode set by default to "Asus Recommended" which takes precedence over Windows management. Once the "normal use" mode is selected and all the preinstalled software removed from the computer like the awful McAfee antivirus (a process that we detail in our news lab), the autonomy goes up to 8 h 40 min! A radical improvement which is explained by better energy management, but which requires some manipulation on the part of the user. It is thus placed in the average of current ultraportables, but still remains far from the leaders of the market, like the XPS 13 with its 11 hours of autonomy.


Audio

The Zenbook S13 has decent speakers considering its very thin format. The intelligibility is indeed correct and the dynamic compression hardly present. It should be noted that the PC has audio software preinstalled, Audio Wizard, which the user is advised to leave with its default settings. We can however regret the bad placement of the speakers. They are in fact located under the chassis, at the front of the PC, with the consequence of giving an unnatural sound, as it is far from the screen, and depends on the surface on which the PC is placed. The sound will for example be muffled if the PC is placed on a tablecloth. In addition, the sound delivered is hissing and tends to lean towards the treble. However, this remains very honorable for the format.

Audio Wizard software should be disabled when listening to music through headphones, as it tends to distort sound. The headphone jack is quality, even if we deplore a certain lack of power - closer to a smartphone than an ultraportable.


Conclusion

The Zenbook S13 UX392F is one of the best ultraportables available on the market today. With an impeccable construction, an almost perfect screen and an appreciable power, it shows Asus' know-how in this area. However, it passes on the verge of perfection because of its battery, which requires some adjustments and which does not reach what the competition does. But this aspect put aside, the Zenbook S13 is a frank success.


Specifications