Asus Zenbook 3 Deluxe UX490UA has been unveiled to the
public in Asus' Transcendence event last March 15. In one setting we could
definitely say that the new Zenfone 3 Deluxe is the bigger and improved
successor to last year's Zenbook 3. It caters improvements in several aspects
of the original Zenbook 3 like the battery life, necessary ports, fingerprint
scanner and keyboard familiarization. We were very lucky to have experienced
the new Zenbook 3 Deluxe, please join us as we dish out our hands-on review and
first impressions of this solid computing device.
Design: Display, Keyboard, Harman Kardon Speaker, Touchpad
The golden chamfered edge separates the new Zenbook 3
Deluxe from its little brother, Zenbook 3, in terms of design. This means that
it still has the faultless spun-metal design philosophy that we all love. The
flagship color is now in blue-gray hue which gives this powerful device more
premium register in the eyes.
The Asus Zenbook 3 Deluxe
Likewise, we now have thinner bezel which frames the
14-inch (in diagonal) Full HD display. Talking about Php 104,995 price, we do
feel that the device could have a QHD resolution. Asus, however, is very keen
on the said department. The company is stressing that the display covers 100%
of sRGB gamut with its 300nits of light intensity which is more than enough for
visual-centric users. Nevertheless, the screen still looks stunning with the
glossy layer Gorilla Glass 5 on top of the actual display module.
The frame also houses the new Harman Kardon four-way
speaker system. Though we have not tested how these speakers punch in real world, we could tell that
it's going to be an up-scaled experience basing on how we love the original
Zenbook 3's speaker.
There's also a noticeable difference in the keyboard. Its
backlit keys are now softer and offers convenient typing - Asus claims this to have
1.2mm depth of travel. The Zenbook 3 Deluxe's touchpad stages the return of
the fingerprint sensor on the top right corner. It's now wider with
character-based scribbling feature as text input to the device.
Hardware and Internals: Kaby Lake Intel Core i7, 16GB
The Zenbook 3 Deluxe body is slightly bigger than its
smaller brother. Likewise, this gives room for additional space for your
processor to cool down on top of the Asus proprietary liquid-crystal polymer
cooling system. Plus, the body now offers a generous number of ports for
connectivity. To be specific, the Zenbook 3 Deluxe sports three USB Type C
ports, all can be used for charging.
Plus, it’s also a breath of fresh air to know that two
ports have Thunderbolt 3 inputs. This means that you can have the flexibility
in using this ports for display, data transfer, etc. There may be no SD card
slot but the inclusion of a 3.5-mm standard audio jack could patch the former’s
shortcoming. The top of the line WiFi 802.11 ac and Bluetooth 4.1 also offer
the best wireless connectivity.
Under the hood, there’s a 7th Generation Kaby Lake Intel
Core i7 processor and a beefy 16GB DDR4 memory running at 2,133 MHz speed. In
terms of memory, you’ll get a whopping 1TB solid-state storage.
The Zenbook 3 Deluxe has a juicier battery life than the
standard Zenbook 3. The company stresses that it’ll have a reliable 10-hour
battery life. Given the fact that this iteration of the Zenbook line only
weighs 1.09kg and measures 12.7-mm thin, its definitely the ultraportable
computing device to beat.
Conclusion
Posing itself as the main competitor of the Macbook Pro,
the Zenbook 3 Deluxe could exceed expectations. The current offering is
absolutely an improvement to the very popular Zenbook 3. Though I must say that
Asus should’ve given an extra boost in the screen resolution at this price
standpoint, the exquisiteness of the design and hardware muscle could easily
make you forget that you’re looking at a Full HD display.
ASUS ZenBook 3 Deluxe (UX490UA) Specs
14-inch LED-backlit Slim 300nits FHD (1920 x 1080p)
16:9 Anti-Glare Panel, NTSC 72%, WV 60Hz
Corning Gorilla Glass 5
Intel Core i7 7500U Processor, 2.7 GHz (4M Cache, up to
3.5 GHz)
Integrated Intel HD Graphics 620
16GB DDR4 RAM
256GB/512GB/1TB SSD
Illuminated Chiclet Keyboard
Multi-format card reader
VGA Web Camera
Integrated 802.11 AC
Built-in Bluetooth V4.1
Microphone-in/Headphone-out jack
2x USB 3.1 TYPE C port (Thunderbolt)
USB 3.1 TYPE C port
Fingerprint reader
Quad-speaker w/ 4-channel smart AMP powered by Harman
Kardon
Windows 10 Pro
4-Cell 46 Whrs Li-Ion Polymer Battery
32.9 x 21.6 x 0, 1.29 cm
Php 104,995 for 1TB SSD variant
Php 89,995 for 512GB SSD variant
Php 81,995 for 256GB SSD variant
