ASUS ZenBook 14 Ultra-Slim Laptop 14" Full HD NanoEdge Bezel Display, AMD Ryzen 7 4700U CPU, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB PCIe SSD, NumberPad, Windows 10 Pro, Pine Grey, UM425IA-NH74 - Only at Newegg

Pros: Good value for large RAM and SSD. Great graphics performance for an ultrabook.

Cons: Using all eight cores for more than 30-45 seconds will bring temps to 95° C or higher and force a reboot. This is worse when using the laptop closed (but with the bottom raised off the table for better airflow) with a monitor but will happen even when the laptop is open. It is sadly a classic case of ASUS underprovisioning the cooling solution with a single heat pipe and AMD not having enough experience to do effective thermal throttling on mobile. As a developer who often needs to compile significant programs, I was thrilled to have so many cores, only to have this issue become apparent within the first month of use. I don't plan on buying ASUS laptops or AMD again after this.

Overall Review: Wanted to like this laptop, but it is making it hard for me to do my job, so I cannot recommend it.

Pros: Solid Construction Large battery=long battery life Excellent keyboard layout and typing Useful trackpad/keypad Thoughtful design and features Wifi 6

Cons: Dongles vs jacks (minor) Screen could be brighter (minor)

Overall Review: I did my research before ordering this laptop. Through this research I knew most of the pros and cons of the UM425IA and how it compared to others similar to it. Reading reviews on line from sites specializing in notebooks/ultrabooks would lead you to believe that the best rated models are much better than those not at the top. The UX425/UM425 models from Asus were not at the top of anyone's list of ultraportables when I was doing my research though they were liked. After using this computer, though, I can only conclude that the actual differences between similar brands/models are very minor and that these sites tend to split hairs. I looked at just about every 14" ultraportable laptop from the major manufacturers (Dell, Acer, HP, Lenovo, MSI, and Asus) priced under $1000US. Comparing features, I put them all in a spreadsheet and it came down to only a couple of contenders with the UM425IA clearly on top. At the time of purchase, this was the only laptop in this price range with the new gamechanging R7 4700, 16gb of ram, 1tb SSD, Wifi 6, and Windows 10 Pro in this group. It also had the largest battery and, though something of a gimmick, the keypad integrated into the touchpad. It's sister, the UX425IA at the same price with the Intel i7 has half the ram and half the SSD size. The Thunderbolt 3 port on that model is not compelling enough to make up for a slower processor, less ram, and less storage space. The group of "last year's" AMD models featuring the R7 3700 are, by all accounts, not nearly as fast as the new 4700 and only a few have Wifi 6. Now, on to the actual review. I am blown away at how good this laptop is compared to my previous home laptop. However, I am also more than impressed by the UM425IA compared to the Lenovo T470 I used at work. It's far more responsive (I LOVE Windows Hello), battery life is much better, and the keyboard layout and typing quality are better as well. Even my one worry, the 250nit display, is just as good in use as the display on the Lenovo. You probably know that this laptop is available with two different displays. The standard display in this NH74 model is a 250 nit (i.e. not especially bright) display whereas the optional 400 nit display is both brighter & more efficient. Would I have loved to have the 400 nit version? Sure. However, when I contacted Asus, the agent that responded to my query said there were no 400 nit versions coming to the US in the foreseeable future. Also, it would likely have pushed the price beyond my budget. For me, the standard display is actually quite good. I have been able to adjust to a pleasing tone and the brightness is fine. It's worth noting that I do not use this laptop outdoors. If I was a college student doing schoolwork outdoors under a tree, it might not be up to the task, but if you are using this indoors, there is no problem. The other consideration beyond brightness (i.e. power consumption) is something I can't comment on other than to say that I get a full day of browsing, document creation, and videos without even thinking about needing a charge. I listed the display as a minor con, but that's only because I know it's not as bright as other models. I actually am fine with it. The size and weight are typical ultrabook 14 stuff, so nothing to note except that the construction is solid and does not creak. One concession to size by Asus is the lack of ethernet and headpone connections (USB dongles are provided). I thought about this before ordering and rationalized that I use wifi almost exclusively and only occasionally plug in a headset. Would I prefer to have hard jacks for these connection? Of course. Actually, my biggest problem with this isn't the actual lack of jacks, but keeping up with dongles. The keyboard layout is fantastic. I particularly like having the large Home, End, and Page UP/Down buttons on the right side. Compared to every other laptop I can remember using, the typing feel is the best I've ever enjoyed. The Lenovo T470 I used is very similar, but this Asus has great feedback and I rarely make typing mistakes. The glass touchpad is very good and am learning to like the keypad function, too. My only wish is that I would like the power button to be somewhere above the keyboard so I wouldn't put it to sleep by mistake. I am initially pleased with this laptop. As I use it more, I'll update this review. If you are going through the process of looking at ultra portable reviews, you will find that most "like" this model, but none "love" it. Don't let the lack of love for the UM425IA disuade you. I think it's a great laptop and a great relative value. 3 month update: Outside of issue with waking from sleep fixed with a firmware update, continues to works great in constant use. Fast performance and battery life is dawn to bedtime (just don't block bottom vents!). All positives from original review still apply. Would buy again tomorrow. Highly recommend.

Pros: It has the power for my current uses mostly work. I do have a game loaded slightly older one but runs well

Cons: In brighter environments the screen is a little hard to see.

Overall Review: Great little power house for basic uses.

Pros: Speed Lightweight Looks

Cons: I was quick to get a docking station for more ports. BT audio connection required a bit of troubleshooting to get correctly setup (mPow buds, needed to turn off telephony suite)

Overall Review: This will be my 4th Asus product and I've loved them all. This is an update to my travel kit and replacement for a Surface Pro 3, i7 and 16gB ram setup. I was concerned with total horsepower and longevity for a travel laptop, and thus far the AMD setup feels as powerful as any i7 setup I've used recently. I'm a heavy Chrome user and felt the extra ram makes a big difference. The whole package is elegant, slim, light, and looks fantastic. I'll agree with the smudge comments but also say it hasn't detracted from my pleasure.

Pros: The build quality is pretty good. I really liked the keyboard and the trackpad.

Cons: The only thing I'm disappointed with is the fan noise. Its absolutely annoying! I didn't use any programs, all I did was downloading the first windows updates( the first things you when you buy a new pc..) and the fans went crazy. After that I entered bios and saw the fans going up to 5300 RPM.

Overall Review: My brother have the pervious model (the silver one with 3700U ryzen) and it seems to be better, no noise at all and the laptop is more than 1 year in use. In my opinion Its just impossible to use this model. i really like quite fans espaically when the laptop is for my academic degree. I used the laptop for no more than 30 min. Just did the first steps of the first startup and i want to refund it.

Pros: Easy to remove from the box due to the lid lifting the laptop up as it is opened. Incredibly light weight. Initial operation is fast.

Cons: Non-dedicated power port. Lose a usb c slot during recharging.

Overall Review: Overall, purchase was better than expected and the limiting factors on the rating is not neweggs fault.

Pros: The build quality is really nice; I've had experience with an aluminum HP Envy and a Lenovo Ideapad and you can really feel the difference between an aluminum palm rest and the plasticy one Lenovo uses. Specifications of the unit are really high--around this price range, you'd be pressed to find a laptop with 16GB RAM and 1TB of SDD Storage with the powerful Ryzen processors. Face ID biometric is a game changer. My previous laptops had no form of biometrics and this was my first experience with Face ID on a laptop. The implementation is amazing. It's not something that would make or break a laptop for me, but it's a great feature nonetheless.

Cons: I had two units with the exact same issue: overbearing fan noise. I'm fine with some loud fans under load, but even when doing things like restarting the laptop or even on completely idle, the fans would not stop spinning. Checking the BIOS, the fans were spinning at around 3500 RPM but temperatures were reported at around 40C. To be fair, both of my units were confirmed to be defective by both ASUS and Newegg, I wouldn't risk it again. The screen quality isn't the best. Having used a glossy panel for about 1/2 a decade, I thought getting a more matte panel would be nice. Still, the colors seemed really washed out compared to my old panel. Glossy panels have issues outside but the overall quality of the screen is really poor. For those that care, this thing is a HUGE fingerprint magnet. Just taking the laptop out of the the plastic wrap left the top panel completely littered with fingerprints. The concentric circle design is also nice in theory, but the ridges and feel make it less comfortable to clean than my old HP Envy. I always felt like there was always dust stuck in the lid somewhere. A bit more minor, but this laptop comes with a huge sticker on the right side of the trackpad. For those that care, it's not super difficult to take off (keep prying at it with your fingernails and it comes off pretty easy), but it's not super ideal. Depending on the user, this might be a big deal, but this laptop doesn't have a headphone jack. Sure it comes with an adapter, but it's still an inconvenience. Unless you primarily use bluetooth headphones/earbuds, I wouldn't consider this laptop.

Overall Review: As much as you think you can handle loud fan noise, the noise from this laptop (in both standard and whisper mode) even after reducing CPU power, disabling turbo boost, updating Windows and BIOS, among countless other strategies to reduce the noise, this thing seemed like it was running full tilt ALL THE TIME. If you ever intend to use this at school or work or in public in any capacity, I cannot, in good interest, recommend this laptop. If you're solely going to be using this laptop in private connected to headphones at all times so you can't hear the fan noise, I'd more likely recommend a desktop than this. I think fan noise is a woefully under noted trait in a laptop. Very few reviews address it at all and the ones that do (specifically from Hardware Canucks and W2Best) deliver conflicting reviews about the noise. Even then, they each show many other issues with the laptop. The quality control with ASUS is an issue, and even if their customer service is good, going through the wait to get this laptop considering the high demand and then returning it within a week is just not worth the time. Hopefully this helps!

Pros: Fast, Slim, snappy

Cons: Turns off randomly when in use on battery power, fans can get noisy, they seem to always be running, can get hot

Overall Review: I wouldn't recommend this. The unit I received turns off randomly when In use. I've narrowed it down to find that it only occurs when the laptop is running on battery power. It is also more likely to occur when I physically move the laptop or the screen. I've already gone through the ASUS tech support and they don't have a solution. When the issue occurs, the laptop turns off and sometimes I am unable to turn it back on without plugging it in. When it does turn back on, it shows the regular ASUS boot page, indicating that it is turning on from being "shut down". Then it will re-open to anything I had open prior to the shut down. It keeps tabs and any other applications that I had open.