ASUS ZenBook 15 Ultra-Slim Compact Laptop 15.6” FHD 4-Way Narrow Bezel, Intel Core i7-8565U Up to 4.1GHz, 16GB DDR4, 512GB PCIe SSD, GTX 1050 Max-Q, IR Camera, Windows 10 - UX533FD-DH74, Royal Blue

I needed a laptop that is blazingly fast, but not for gaming. It seemed all of the laptops that came with the good speed stuff also were bundled with expensive displays, graphics cards and other bloat that I didnt need. Then, I found this Zen Book. Quad Core processor that clocks up to 4.1 ghz. 16MB of DDR4 RAM. A 512MB M2-PCIe SSD drive. Windows 10. Very reasonable price. Sweet. Be advised, some features you may expect might not be on this laptop. Specifically, it is not a touch screen. It doesnt have the latest/greatest graphics card. The keyboard isnt laid out as nice as my old Sony VAIO. But, it is fast. Really fast. I was concerned at first because typically there is a "getting started" document in the box. Nothing in this box except the laptop, and a card that says to plug in the power source. However, when I opened the laptop, a rather pleasant voice came on reassuring me that the installation was going to be a snap. And it was! It found my home Wi-Fi, and walked me through the entire setup. It installed Windows 10. Took a pic of my face for facial recognition log-on. Since the disk is SSD, the install was very quick. I was up and running in less than 10 minutes. I dont have any complaints at all with the Zen Book. The processor clocks up to 4.1 just as advertised. Even with a CPU intensive application executing full bore @ 4.1ghz, I can breeze through other tasks without hesitation. All of my complaints surround Windows 10. Im coming from Windows Pro 7.1, and some of the little conveniences I have come to expect arent visible in Windows 10 by default. Like a start button, go to desktop icon, decent calculator, etc. After a few hours of searching and trial and error, I have been able to overcome all of the Windows 10 obstacles, and have my environment set up just the way I want. If you are running into frustrations with Windows 10, just know that everything can be overcome - just get good at Googling your issue. One tricky issue I ran into that may be of help to someone out there who is upgrading from Windows 7.1: I have another 7.1 computer that has a discoverable printer attached. Every other computer in the house can see the printer, but not the Zen Book. It turns out the even though the printer is attached to a 7.1 computer that has no administrative password, this version of Windows 10 requires that you provide the username of the 7.1 computer in order to access the printer. I can access the shared files without the user name, but not the printer. After I provided a user name to the network manager, the printer appeared. I bought a cooling pad, as I am running this laptop at max speed virtually 24/7. Its been running now for over three days at constant 4.1ghz, and hasnt skipped a beat. I also bought a full licence for Windows Office 2016 Pro for $70 as a download, and the install process was flawless. If you are looking for raw speed and super functionality, this laptop + Office Pro 2016 is just the ticket. You dont need Windows 10 Pro, as most all of the Pro features are now bundled into the Home version. If you are not sure you need Windows 10 Pro, just go with the Home version.

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Build Quality: Very Good build quality overall. I believe it is all plastic, but it is a very nice/durable material and looks/feels like it could be aluminum. Very thin as well, a little thinner than the height of a penny for comparison. Weight is just under 4 lbs not including the (also small) power brick. With the thin bezels on the screen, the 15.6" screen does fit into a 14" size class as advertised and feels smaller than it actually is. The ergo-lift also works as advertised, raising it up very slightly but providing a noticeable improvement to cooling capacity and a more comfortable typing experience. As far as sound quality being increased by the lift as they advertise - the speakers fire from the front of the laptop, so it doesnt really do anything to that end. Speakers get fairly loud, but they are laptop speakers - dont expect much, thats what headphones/earbuds are for. Keyboard is the typical ASUS backlit chiclet keys - good quality and not mushy (something Ive gotten used to from using ASUS for a long time). The trackpad is also large, smooth, and overall good. The trackpad issue that some report, with it getting stuck, jumping, freezing, etc. I have encountered this, but it was not nearly as bad an issue as some claim, and it is a minor inconvenience at most when it does happen every now and then. Perhaps a fix will come about in the future, but I dont think it is a dealbreaker for me, also considering I use a wireless mouse most of the time. Hardware: The 15" models i7-8565u is very adequate in my usage so far. 16GB of ram is also more than most people would likely need, and the included 512GB SSD has plenty of fast storage, as well as providing very fast boot times. The GTX-1050 Max-Q GPU also performs well - I tested it in a few fairly demanding games, and it hits 60 fps in most games with lowered settings. This isnt a super high-tier gaming GPU nor is this laptops form factor fit for such a task, but for the casual gamer that wants to be able to do some light gaming on the go, but also not have to settle for the aggressive size, design, or price-tag of most gaming laptops, this is a great option. It looks professional and also remains quiet - with the max-q design label (meaning the laptop meets certain requirements, one of which is that it doesnt get much louder than 40dB at max load) this laptop gets no louder than a whisper, and in normal browsing or non-intensive applications, it is completely silent (fans off). The screen is good as well, a nice 60Hz IPS panel. The thin bezels look fantastic. It is not the brightest panel (as to be expected of an ultrabook meant to sip battery), but it gets the job done without blinding you. It is not an anti-glare screen, so you will get reflections in bright areas, but the screen is bright enough to overcome it most of the time. Also comes with Windows Hello support, and sign-in is very fast with this. Edit 1: I noticed that running some intensive tasks does cause the CPU cores to throttle once a core hits 89C. Some people are saying that it cant deal with the heat, which is true (and most of the time you probably wont be using the laptop so heavily that it would hit this normally), and I ran stress tests with the laptop plugged in and on maximum performance mode, to test this. On battery, and with some amount of battery saver mode on, you wont throttle, but the fans will still kick up a decent bit. However I remedied this by undervolting the CPU by about 70 mV - causing max temps under the same stress test to not exceed 85C max, which ceased any throttling. If you are seeing performance dips under heavy load, chances are you are throttling, and undervolting will reduce your temps. Edit 2: There is a quirk with the headphone jack i have run into. Apparently if you have headphones plugged in before running an application that uses the in-built microphone, the microphone will be disabled until you unplug and re-plug the headphones - or run the program before plugging in your headphones. Trying to find a permanent fix for this but no luck so far. It has an easy workaround, but it is a little annoying. Conclusion: I have only owned this product for a few weeks, but I have put it through its paces and it has performed wonderfully. Fast, cool, quiet, and powerful. What more could you want? All of my previous laptops have been ASUS products and have served me well, and the new Zenbook 15 has the same great quality I have come to expect from them. As an aside: I would hope that as the market moves towards higher refresh rate monitors, ASUS would start offering 120Hz+ panels on products other than the ROG series.

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This is my third laptop from Asus, and their products have been serving me well for almost 10 years. I still complain about the fact that there were no black version for this model, but Royal Blue still looks great. The battery life is a huge improvement from previous Asus products which I appreciate. The 15.6 inch screen with tiny bezel catches the sight of my friends right away. I recommend this ultrabook to anyone who do computer programming work as well as some light gaming.

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I work as a traveling software architect and consultant and this is probably the best laptop Ive owned. There are a number of reasons for that but the i7 85x has a burst performance that is blazing and works well for compilation. The NVIDIA graphics are sufficiently powerful. The battery life is great. The screen is clear and bright. The hard drive is screaming fast. Ive owned far more expensive laptops but this one really hits the sweet spot and for the price it is hard to beat.

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Fans dont run much at all during regular workloads and when they do its quite manageable. Screen is glossy, and not super bright, but it is pleasant to look at. It is mostly usable in direct sunlight, but not ideal. Still, I dont mind. Doesnt go insanely dim or anything, but dim enough for use in very low light at night. No PWM flicker on the screen either. Maybe occasional coil whine, but its very soft. I usually have no other fans or devices running and you cant hear the laptop at all. Performance is very good. Boot up is quick and snappy. Battery life is also excellent. I should be able to get 8-10 hours at light usage, 5-7 medium, and 1-5 heavy usage. Workmanship is good. Laptop feels solid and well built. Keyboard types well. I love it and would highly recommend it.

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Great computer, only one complaint. The other complaints about the trackpad are not untrue, but they are exaggerated. The track pad does go crazy sometimes, but its only for 10 seconds or so and doesnt happen very often. Otherwise, its a great piece of hardware with a gorgeous screen and is also very lighweight despite being powerful. Also the SSD is fantastic, and it allows the computer to boot up EXTREMELY fast.

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At this price bracket, i highly recommend this ultrabook, there are no other ultrabooks out there that offers an overall package close to what you get with the Zenbook 15. Build & Display: Love the overall design. Glossy and absolutely beautiful display. Windows Hello face unlock works flawlessly once you let it scan your face a few times. Performance: For the money, you are getting an i7 U-series processor, 16GB Dual Channel DDR4 RAM, GTX1050 MaxQ and a PCIE SSD, enough for some light gaming and some productivity tasks. Overall this is a very capable ultrabook. Ports: Almost everything you might need is accounted for including USB Type-C and a full sized Micro-SD slot. Keyboard: Typing experience is quite good, however the directional keys and number pad is smaller than normal. Trackpad: Hitches up very occasionally (once/twice in a day). I usually use a mouse so i dont really mind. Battery: Massive 70+ Wh battery and a medium sized charging brick, battery life is excellent on this machine. Software: Minimum bloatware, this is the Signature edition so expect a relatively clean windows.

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I teach engineering courses. I use Matlab, Office and simulation software, although I do not require much graphic work (which the architects would use, and in that case, they may need more powerful graphics card), in my case, in general, I am very satisfied with the capabilities and speed of the laptop (including the graphics card), apart from the fact that its nice to wear it and I often miss using the laptop, its addictive, this one in particular, its a pleasure to use it. It came with an additional network connector and a case. If it had been possible I would have extended the capacity of the SSD from 512 MB to 1 TB, although currently I am only using the third part of its capacity, projecting into the future, I would not like the disk to be full. Although I have not made exact measurements, with the battery I have worked up to 10 hours without charging it. In summary, I am very satisfied and happy with my new laptop.

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I really like this laptop!! The only think I think was a negative point was the fact that it didnt come this the OFFICE. I think this program is a must for computers like this.

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This laptop is super fast. I am amazed at how fast my MATLAB codes run. Also the quality of the screen is amazing, its super clear and large, especially for the small, 15 laptop. The laptop is light and the quality of construction is great. This was a huge upgrade from my hp envy.

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