ASUS ZenBook 13 UX331UA Ultra-Slim Laptop 13.3” Full HD WideView display, 8th gen Intel Core i7-8550U Processor, 8GB LPDDR3, 256GB SSD, Windows 10, Backlit keyboard, Fingerprint, Icicle Gold

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This is a bargain laptop. The core I7 8550U Kaby-Lake processor is the same one youll find in most high-end laptops these days, and better that the Y processors in the new macbook air. It has a generous number of connections; full size HDMI, USB 3, Usb2.1 and USB-C (3.1 specs), along with a Micro-SD slot and a 3.5mm headphone /microphone jack. The screen is a non-touch 1080P and a backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader. All in a 2.6 lb (by my scale) aluminum package. I have read some criticism of the keyboard, but personally I find it as good as any laptop keyboard and have no complaints. But, I do not write novels or technical manuals for a living so my typing is pretty basic and your mileage may vary. The down-firing Harmon Kardon branded speakers are OK. But in my opinion, people who insist on blasting there speakers for sound either live alone or dont mind annoying people around them. I have always preferred headphones. Needless to say, for a laptop that is almost $400 cheaper than its rivals, there are some compromises. The screen is only HD and not the current QHD on most higher-priced laptops. But seriously, it is a 13" screen. The text on 1080P is already tiny for my bifocal wearing eyes, how small would it be at 2560? Thats not a deal breaker for me. The USB-C does not support power or display port. You still need the (standard ASUS) Power adapter to plug it in. There is only a 256GB SSD option and it is SATA-III. Finally it only comes with Win-10 Home, a Core I7 should have Pro. I did spend the money for a Pro upgrade. All things considered, it is hard not to like this laptop. For a light weight easy to transport laptop it is excellent The I7 CPU provides plenty of power for almost any portable use. The machine powers up quickly and smoothly, the fingerprint reader works flawlessly (for me). For my use, I just could not justify paying an extra $350 - 400 for a similarly specd laptop. And I have had excellent experiences with Asus products. this laptop is an more than adequate replacement for my 6 year old desktop and laptop combo.

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Pros 1. Quality of materials-reminds me of the Macs I used for twenty years 2. Speed 3. Features I specifically wanted-backlit keyboard, hi-res screen,etc. Cons 1. Sound- harmon/kardon should be ashamed (speaker placement is awful, too) 2. Keyboard audio control requires two hands 2. Fingerprint ID doesnt recognize my print(s)- unusable

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Keeping this simple Pros WIFI card is extremely fast Micro SSD card reader and USB port are extrely fast CPU is pretty damn fast WIll actually play lower end games flawlessly size of the mouse pad and the way its button work are great size and weight are remarkable for its performance The biometric fingerprint scanner actually works great for me and make it much easier sign in on win 10 rather than typing my MS account pass Backlit keyboard FTW microphone works really good love the color/texture/finish on its case cons webcam is terible. Dont care. Didnt even realize it had one until after using it speakers are hardly loud enough to hear anything thats it

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In my recent quest to find a good laptop for my work, I have tried about 8 different ones (I have tried 5 different Asus laptops - Vivobooks and Zenbooks) ad found every Asus laptop to be glitchy. Seriously, I wonder why the hell can Asus not build a laptop that is not so glitchy. Feels like an amateur built them. Touchpad glitches are very common with Asus laptops and on this laptop, the screen also flashes red/blue suddenly and then disappears. So why did I try so many Asus laptops if theyre super glitchy? Because everything else about them is perfect - the screen size, the SSD, the matte finish, speakers, and the super quiet fan noise... I was hoping that Id find one without a glitch, but that hasnt happened yet... each one of the Asus laptops glitched in some way.

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I purchased this laptop to replace an aging ASUS UX31A, which had served me well. This laptop felt like a worthy successor, until I tried out the webcam: it is non-HD, VGA, with 480 pixels of vertical resolution. I did not even think to check this before purchasing since my circa-2013 laptop had an HD webcam. If you dont care about the webcam, this seems like a great computer. I ended up returning it since I primarily use a laptop for video conferencing.

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I bought this ZenBook UX331UA-DS71 to replace my much-loved ZenBook UX330UA from late 2015, hoping for an upgraded version of the same laptop. Overall, there have been many improvements, but Im returning it because the screen is noticeably crooked and uncentered relative to the edges of the display, and part of the screen actually goes off the display (see three attached photos). In the photo of the blue setup screen, the bottom right corner has a wide and angled offset from the screen edge, something that cant be seen at either of the top corners, where the blue goes all the way up to and beyond the screen edge. The slanted display orientation can be seen somewhat in the setup screen, but is much more noticeable with Microsoft Word (second picture), Chrome (third picture), or any application with context menus or tabs that extend to the top left corner of the screen, where they are clearly cut off by the edge of the display. The third picture also shows a screenshot of that screen pasted to MS Paint, where there is no slant. Pros: Great look and feel -- lightweight, and the icicle gold is actually more of a silver color with a slight golden tint that is barely noticeable Great price for the hardware -- for a 256 GB SSD, latest Intel 8th gen quad core i7-8550U processor, and excellent battery life, this laptop is definitely a bargain, and unique in its niche price point/hardware combination compared to the Lenovo Yoga series, Dell XPS 13, Microsoft Surface series, and the latest MacBook Air. The computer boots in less than 10 seconds and runs very fast with this processor/SSD combination. Several improvements over the ZenBook UX330UA: speakers are louder, trackpad is less noisy and "clacky", and the keyboard is now elevated above the laptop surface rather than in a slightly depressed section that easily accumulates dust and debris. It also appears to have fixed the issue of occasional random crashes when the UX330UA tries to sleep, an issue that caused me to return and replace the UX330UA three times through Amazon before accepting that this was probably just an issue for every computer of this model (though at this point I havent used this UX331UA enough to say for sure that its fixed). Backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader are nice feature additions Cons: Display is crooked (see above). This is my main reason for returning this laptop. The top of the laptop is a shiny material that attracts and retains smudges Trackpad has some issues. At times it seems to have a lag before the cursor moves, and this doesnt seem to correlate with CPU load. The laptop runs a little hot sometimes, even when Im only doing medium-load tasks like editing graphics in Illustrator or doing spreadsheet work. With the UX330UA, I never felt much heat even when the fan was running at full speed. Overall: great laptop with a few very minor issues that wont be dealbreakers for the average user; great value for a portable machine that will last all day!

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OK, it comes with its share of bloatware that takes a bit of combing through to dispose of. But the machine is quick, lightweight, and the screen is crystal clear. I really dont use the camera or speakers, so have withheld comments. My wife has a previous generation of the same laptop, and has used it for a couple of years without problems. This was the main reason I selected this brand and model over similarly priced laptops.

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Slower than my 5 year old ASUS laptop, may be Windows 10 issue. Touchpad is horrible, I mean horrible. The pointer jumps all over the place, like others have said in reviews. I have been watching for solutions on the web, and all I find is a bunch of frustrated customers. Most of the time, my notebook is barely usable.

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I have had this laptop for about 4 months and its extremely glitchy. The mouse pad works sporadically. The fingerprint sensor is crap and it takes very long for the computer to boot up. I have had an asus before this as well and I loved that laptop but this one blows.

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The ASUS laptop is the perfect size and weight for my needs. Im sitting in bed typing this review and I cant be more pleased. The set up was a breeze. I use it for business and home. It is powerful enough for all my needs and extremely portable.

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