The stunning, stylish touchscreen Ultrabook with a scratch-resistant finish
Asus made good at its promise
to officially reveal the Zenbook Infinity (UX301 and UX302), its super
thin but power-intensive touchscreen ultrabook, at Computex this week.
Just
several hours later, TechRadar and the Infinity were getting up close
and personal, and while Asus is yet to confirm a few final specifics, we
had more than enough time with it to form some initial impressions.
A few years ago, nearly every PC maker had its own version of the
idea ultrabook (some would call them MacBook Air clones), with a slim
body, low-voltage CPU, 13-inch screen, and a premium price. In 2014, the
nearly identical laptop everyone needs to have is a radically updated
version of that ultrabook, adding Windows 8, a touch screen, and a
better-than-HD screen resolution.
The Asus UX301 joins the Toshiba KiraBook, Apple MacBook Pro, Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro,
Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus, and others in offering a touch screen that
goes beyond 1080p. In this case, it's a 2,560x1,440 display, which has
so far proven to be slightly more common than the 3,200x1,800 version
found in the Yoga 2 and Razer's upcoming Blade 14.
In
either case, it's a lot of pixels to push on such a small screen, but
there are definite benefits in reading on-screen text and editing
high-resolution photos. It's not an extra feature that counts as a
must-have just yet, but just as touch screens have gone from oddity to
standard feature in less than two years, I can see these higher
resolutions coming to more and more laptops in the near future. Hopefully,
many of those future models won't cost quite as much as as this one. At
$1,899 (it's about $50 less at most online stores), this configuration
of the UX301 is about as expensive as non-gaming laptops get. The
components are appropriately premium, to be sure, with an Intel Core i7
CPU and big 256GB SSD, but only 8GB of RAM and no other particularly
unique features, aside from scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass 3 on both
sides of the lid. A 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro
with similar specs (but minus the touch screen, of course), is $1,799.
Likewise, a similarly configured Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus can be found
for about $1,750, with an even higher-res 3,200x1,800 screen. With just a bit of daylight between the prices of comparable laptops,
your preference will likely rest on subjective impressions of the
design, keyboard, and touch pad (all very good here, but the same could
be said for the Ativ Book 9 Plus, for example). And keep in mind, if a
better-than-HD screen is the main feature you're after, Lenovo's Yoga 2
Pro offers a 13-inch 3,200x1,800 hybrid for just about $1,000.
Design and features
The Zenbook was one of the first laptops
to truly embrace the ultrabook vibe, with slim, tapered metal shells,
and lids that stood out from the crowd with a circular pattern that some
say resembled rippling water. Here the same effect is generated not in
aluminum, but but under a Gorilla Glass 3 lid, over a dark blue
background. The big difference between this and other recent slim
ultrabook-style laptops we've tested is the incredibly high gloss finish
on the back of the lid -- as one would expect from a glass top layer.
At a
bit over 3 pounds, the UX301 feels hefty in the hand, solidly built,
but not as light as some other 13-inch laptops. However, despite the
generally tight-feeling chassis, a very minor bump onto a carpeted floor
left the power pin from the AC adaptor seriously bent out of shape,
although still functional. That's why Apple, for example, has a magnetic
power connection (although I've dropped and bumped plenty of Windows
laptops over the years with nary a bent power plug pin). The matte
black interior features a sunken keyboard with large island-style keys.
Important keys such as Shift, Enter, and Backspace are decently sized,
and the entire keyboard has a very MacBook-like vibe, from the layout of
the arrow keys to the power button at the very top right corner. Typing
was only slightly hindered by some keyboard flex around the center, but
you'll have to be a heavy typist to really notice. The
large clickpad-style touch pad is much better than the versions found
on the early Zenbooks of years ago. Back then, touchpad response was
finicky, and multi-touch gestures were near-useless. This version is as
good as any Windows laptop, with quick response and natural-feeling
inertial scrolling, but I had to turn off the Windows 8 edge gestures because they were too easy to accidentally trigger. The
13.3-inch 2,560x1,440 touch screen display is a system highlight.
Covered with edge-to-edge glass, the touch response was excellent and
off-axis viewing was decent, but not best-in-class. The ultra-high
resolution allows for an amazing level of zoom, and you can
pinch-to-zoom on pages of text to see the effect up close. The glossy
screen does, however, have a lot of glare under normal lighting
conditions, so you may end up twisting and turning to find a glare-free
angle. The speakers are from Bang & Olufsen ICEpower, a
subsidiary of the famous audio company, and sound decent for such a
small laptop, although that may be because they're fired from side-edge
speakers, which gives you an especially wide stereo image.
Touch
Technology with a human touch
Zenbook UX301 is wonderfully tactile, but
that goes well beyond just the feel of its sleek, smooth and durable
glass design. Windows 8 is designed with touch in mind and a dedicated
ASUS Human Computer Interface team help make it even more intuitive to
use with features like a responsive multi-touch display, and a large
touch pad with multi-touch support. The backlit keyboard with automatic
brightness control also means you'll always have a clear view of the
keys, so you can stay productive, even in complete darkness. So
whichever way you like to work, Zenbook UX301 has you covered.
10-POINT CAPACITIVE MULTI-TOUCH DISPLAY
Touch is such an intuitive way to
interact with a computer display, we've been trying to do it for decades
— just ask anyone who sells screen-cleaning kits. The good news is that
with Zenbook UX301, reaching out to touch the screen is no longer an
empty gesture. Its 13.3-inch multi-touch display responds to the
slightest touch in just 30ms, so you can tap an icon to open an app,
pinch a web page to make the text larger, and swipe across the screen to
switch between running applications instantly. Multi-touch makes
everything so much easier.
The power and performance you need
Zenbook UX301 is a high-performance
Ultrabook™ in every sense. A 4th generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor
with Intel Iris™ 5100 graphics make light work of the most demanding
tasks, and keeps you entertained with your favorite games and HD video,
even when you're on the move. Solid-state storage means applications
launch in double-quick time and, together with Super Hybrid Engine II
technology, boosts battery life and standby time to stretch out the time
between recharges. Two USB 3.0 ports support the latest high-speed
storage and recharge mobile devices in double-quick time, while
sophisticated thermal management means Zenbook UX301 never loses its
cool.
Portable power and performance
Zenbook UX301 is powered by 4th
generation Intel® Core™ i7 processors for seamless multi-tasking
performance and outstanding energy efficiency. A high-end 28W Core
i7-4558U dual-core option makes light work of even the most demanding
applications. Intel® Turbo Boost Technology gives a burst of extra speed
up to 3GHz when you really need it, while Intel® HD Graphics 5100 with
Clear Video HD technology gives silky smooth playback with Full HD
video.
Work all day on a single charge
Energy-efficient components like the
Intel® Core™ processor and solid-state drive help Zenbook UX301 last for
up to 8 hours on battery power, so you can get a full day's work done
before you need to recharge. Exclusive Super Hybrid Technology can also
boost battery life by up to 25% for less demanding tasks like web
browsing and watching video, so you can last even longer between trips
to the power socket.
Always ready when you are
No one should have to wait when they want
to get something done, which is why Zenbook UX301 wakes from standby in
just two seconds. Exclusive Super Hybrid Engine II technology gives up
to two weeks' standby time too, and automatically saves all open
applications and data to the solid-state drive when the battery drops
below 5% charge level gets too low. So you don't have to worry about
always leaving Zenbook Touch plugged into a power socket just because
you're not using it.
USB 3.0, the next-generation connection for faster data transfers
USB 3.0 is ten times faster than USB 2.0
and with two ports at your disposal, you can save photos, transfer MP3s
and open multi-gigabyte video files in a fraction of the time with
compatible storage. USB 3.0 has more power for mobile devices, too.
Smartphones and tablets recharge in half the time compared to USB 2.0,
even when Zenbook UX301 is switched off. USB Charger+ technology lets
you charge your devices on-the-go.
Audio
The UX301LA's headphone-microphone combo jack offers satisfactory power,
a succinct stereo image and no interference or background noise.
The speakers are no miracle-workers, but they'll get you through a
videoconference just fine. Just know that (as usual with ultrabooks) any
music you listen to will be reduced to the middle of the spectrum with
little-to-no bass or high-end.
Processing Power
The Intel Core i7-4558U dual-core processor ranges from 2.8 GHz to 3.3
GHz, placing it just ahead of the Core i7-4500U dual-core (1.8 GHz to 3
GHz).
This gives it an average performance about 5% faster than the i7-4500U
found in the Dell Inspiron 14 7000 Series, and about 19% faster than the
i5-4200U that equips the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 Pro.
That said, it's still a ways behind quad-core processors like the
i7-4700MQ, which is 20% faster on average. But in terms of everyday
usage, it's a highly capable chipset that can handle any type of task in
a reasonable span of time.
Gaming
One unique thing about the Core i7-4558U is that it has an Iris 5100
graphics chipset. This GPU has 40 processing units, which is twice as
much as the HD Graphics 4400 found in many similar ultrabooks, so we
were expecting better gaming performance on it.
Unfortunately, despite having twice as many processing units, it only
performs 10% to 15% better. It's still a night-and-day difference with a
dedicated graphics card, even a mid-range one like the Nvidia GeForce
GT 740M (40% better performance).
You can still play some recent titles, as long as they're ones that don't require much graphics processing power, such as FIFA 13 or Dirt 3,
but even then you'll have to lower the screen resolution in order to
get fluid gameplay. That said, it plays HD videos without a problem.
Battery Life
The UX301LA held out 6 hours and 15 minutes during our battery test of
continuous video playback in airplane mode with the screen brightness at
100 cd/m², headphones plugged in and the keyboard backlighting turned
off. That's excellent battery life (although, of course, the 13" MacBook Air and Sony Vaio Duo 13 last even longer).
Models, specs & options
Asus is offering a number of different configurations and options for the Zenbook Infinity UX301LA:
CPU
2.8-GHz Intel Core i7-4558U
Operating System
Windows 8 Professional
RAM
8GB
RAM Upgradable to
Hard Drive Size
Dual 128GB
Hard Drive Speed
n/a
Hard Drive Type
Dual SSDs
Secondary Hard Drive Size
Secondary Hard Drive Speed
Secondary Hard Drive Type
Display Size
13.3
Native Resolution
2560 x 1440
Optical Drive
None
Optical Drive Speed
n/a
Graphics Card
Intel HD Graphics 5100
Video Memory
Wi-Fi
802.11ac
Wi-Fi Model
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 4.0
Mobile Broadband
Touchpad Size
3.9 x 2.6 inches
Ports (excluding USB)
Headphone; Mini DisplayPort; Mini HDMI; USB 3.0
USB Ports
2
Card Slots
SD memory reader
Warranty/Support
1-Year International/1-Year Accidental Damage/30-Day Zero Bright Dot/2-way FREE shipping/24-7 tech support
The GoodThe
Asus Zenbook UX301 packs in a lot, including a better-than-HD touch
screen, big 256GB SSD, and Core i7 processor, in a slim, smart design.
The BadIt
costs more than most comparable better-then-HD laptops, including the
Retina MacBook Pro. The Zenbook doesn't feel as rugged as its price
warrants, and its battery life is unimpressive.
The Bottom LineAsus
was one of the first PC makers to go ultra-thin with its Zenbook line.
That latest UX301 version packs in nearly every high-end spec you'd
want, but it's priced out of reach for most, and lacks an all-day
battery.
Zenbook UX301 is wonderfully tactile, but
that goes well beyond just the feel of its sleek, smooth and durable
glass design. Windows 8 is designed with touch in mind and a dedicated
ASUS Human Computer Interface team help make it even more intuitive to
use with features like a responsive multi-touch display, and a large
touch pad with multi-touch support. The backlit keyboard with automatic
brightness control also means you'll always have a clear view of the
keys, so you can stay productive, even in complete darkness. So
whichever way you like to work, Zenbook UX301 has you covered.
Energy-efficient components like the
Intel® Core™ processor and solid-state drive help Zenbook UX301 last for
up to 8 hours on battery power, so you can get a full day's work done
before you need to recharge. Exclusive Super Hybrid Technology can also
boost battery life by up to 25% for less demanding tasks like web
browsing and watching video, so you can last even longer between trips
to the power socket.
Zenbook UX301 is wonderfully tactile, but
that goes well beyond just the feel of its sleek, smooth and durable
glass design. Windows 8 is designed with touch in mind and a dedicated
ASUS Human Computer Interface team help make it even more intuitive to
use with features like a responsive multi-touch display, and a large
touch pad with multi-touch support. The backlit keyboard with automatic
brightness control also means you'll always have a clear view of the
keys, so you can stay productive, even in complete darkness. So
whichever way you like to work, Zenbook UX301 has you covered.
Energy-efficient components like the
Intel® Core™ processor and solid-state drive help Zenbook UX301 last for
up to 8 hours on battery power, so you can get a full day's work done
before you need to recharge. Exclusive Super Hybrid Technology can also
boost battery life by up to 25% for less demanding tasks like web
browsing and watching video, so you can last even longer between trips
to the power socket. 
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