ASUS ZenBook 14 Ultra Thin and Light Laptop, 4-Way NanoEdge 14" FHD, Intel Core i7-10510U, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB PCIe SSD, NVIDIA GeForce MX250, Windows 10 Home, Utopia Blue, UX431FL-EH74

Pros: I've always loved ASUS Products, so I was super excited for my new ZenBook. Let’s jump right in! + Aesthetics: I love the look and feel of my ZenBook. It’s light and easy to handle. The faux brushed metal looks professional and will hide scratches. A small bezel makes it easy to focus on the screen. The faint keyboard backlight is a nice touch, and I really appreciate that it didn’t come with a bunch of glamorous stickers and ASUS labels. + Screen Quality: Very high-quality screen for this price point. At bright settings, it really shines, while the blacks stay dark. It does an okay job standing up to glare, sufficient for my needs. + Fingerprint Sensor: Fast and accurate fingerprint sensor. Though it won’t control the mouse, the touchpad is so wide I never bump into it. + Function Keys: It may seem silly that I list this, but function keys aren’t always done right, but they are here. + Ports: Charging port, HDMI, 2x USB and 1x USB-C, SD Card reader, and (oh yeah!) a headphone jack. Perfect! + Speed: But this is really why you are here, and not still looking at that $450 laptop, isn’t it? Well, I can tell you, with the 256GB SSD, Core i5 8th Gen (Mobile) and 8GB of RAM, you get what you pay for. Of course, I’ve had no lag with general multi-tasking (word processing, 20+ browsing tabs, and playing music or videos). I’ve also had no hiccups playing Civ V at Low and some Medium settings. + ASUS RMA Process: I had to have a speaker repaired in my unit. Calling their support center was a surprisingly easy experience. Kudos, ASUS!

Cons: - Speakers: My biggest gripe with the computer is the quality of the speakers. No bass, kinda tin-can sounding. And there’s a very noticeable buzz with a small range of tones (think piano or voice) at anything higher than maybe 50% volume. I expected better from the price-point. - Trackpad: It’s...tacky. Like slightly sticky. And I have to admit, I’m not super impressed with the tracking. It will get a little jumpy especially if my finger is sweaty. And even though the gestures are intuitive, it doesn’t always pick up my multi-touches. - Bloatware: As to be expected with a name-brand product. - Rubber Quality: The rubber pads on the bottom on the computer and on the hinge to keep it from scratching have already gotten a little discolored, which is disappointing.

Overall Review: Overall, I would recommend this product for anyone looking for a Windows laptop that will last more than 3 years (thanks to the very nice specs). I expect my laptop to last 5+ years without issue. It’s not high-end, but it has some high-end quality features. What you will have to overlook or get used to are the cheaper speakers and the not-so-awesome trackpad. If those are really important to you, this isn’t for you. But for everyone else, definitely keep this on your short-list.

Pros: - Extremely thin and light form factor, very attractive design. - Super-sharp full HD screen with excellent color, brightness, and contrast. The display is advertised at 100% SRGB, and I can tell you, it looks very nice (coming from someone who does game design, animation, and video editing for a living). - The laptop turns on and shuts down very fast, usually within 3-5 seconds. This may seem like a silly thing to point out, but I appreciate not losing any time during powering up and down. - The keyboard is responsive and comfortable to use. I also like the multiple levels of key backlighting. - A few initial reviewers complained about the track pad. I've had no such issues, and find that it is nice to use. I also really like the fingerprint reader, which is embedded into the upper right corner of the trackpad. It is responsive and logs me into the machine quickly. - The harman kardon speakers sound pretty darn good! I listened some some music and played a few PC games over them, and they had nice stereo separation and a clear sound. Not bad at all for such a small, compact laptop. - I appreciate the inclusion of a full size HDMI connector! This makes connecting to external monitors, projectors, and other displays much easier (and cheaper) that having to use a USB-C to HDMI adapter, which many newer, smaller laptops require. - Inclusion of a multi in/out 1/8" connector is much appreciated. I really like how there is only one connection, and when you plug in your device (headphones, headset, mic, etc), a windows pops up asking you what you plugged in. Pretty sweet! Audio over headphones sounds great. - Bluetooth connection to my Bose Quiet Comfort 35 headphones was fast and easy. Audio sounded great. - Web browsing, MS Office, Google docs, and other general tasks are very fast. - Adobe software ran quite well for design and video editing tasks. - The laptop runs very quiet and does not seem to get hot, even while gaming. - I downloaded Steam and ran several games, and was impressed with the overall performance of the integrated Intel GPU. "Hollow Knight," "Inside," and "Broforce" all ran at maxed out settings, 1080p resolution without a hitch. I tested out "Bioshock" with full graphics settings on, and had to drop the resolution down a few notches to get a sooth frame rate. - The included power supply and mouse are small and light, which make packing them into a small laptop carrying case convenient. - I appreciated the inclusion of a fabric carrying case - nice touch!

Cons: - Wish there was room for one more USB 3.0 port, as well as a Ethernet adapter, but I understand these smaller machines do not have room for them typically. - The power adapter connection on the left side seems a bit wiggly. Don't think this is a huge deal, but the one on my small Lenovo Thinkpad has a much more tightly fitting connection and doesn't move around as much.

Pros: - Aesthetically beautiful - Superb performance with the Core i7 - Excellent IPS screen with barely-there bezel - Fast 512gb NVMe SSD - Great balance of portability and functionality - Minimal bloatware installed

Cons: - No possibility of upgrading RAM, so the 8gb installed is the max for the lifetime of the laptop. Hopefully this isn't a trend that continues for long. - Sound isn't the best, but adequate for a compact laptop, so not really a con.

Overall Review: This is a deceptively fast laptop, given it's compact nature, and effortless portability. On a typical day, I have upwards of 25-30 tabs open in Chrome while typing up an extensive Word document, listening to music. The Zenbook never broke a sweat - no lag, no stuttering, no delays. The 512gb NVMe drive is the perfect size for everyday use, and it is a very fast drive indeed. On the gaming side, it is a different story. The MX250 is a lower end GPU, and when coupled with only 8gb RAM, there are limitations for gaming. Most higher-end games struggle to achieve an acceptable framerate rendering most of them unplayable. That's not to say gaming isn't possible - some newer games are playable, though on low graphical settings. This handles somewhat older titles very well, in general, though! Aesthetically this thing is GORGEOUS. Very sleek, and well-built, every inch of it feels like quality. The IPS screen is beautiful and is well-complemented by the razor thin bezel. The size of the laptop is somewhat deceptive too, as (for me at least) it appears smaller than it feels while using it. Being my new "daily driver", it goes where I go, and it is a real breeze to carry. The only real knock is the lack of a RAM slot for upgrades, and it is a big one in my mind. Who does that?? All in all, I love the Zenbook, and will continue to use it as my main computer.

Pros: This notebook was delivered to me very fast and well protected with double box. On the first glance notebook is beautifully designed and materials chosen are just perfect. Lid and face panel are of matching blueish (ASUS calls this finish Silver Blue) color, lid has circular brushed pattern and keyboard surface panel has diagonal brushed pattern. Screen color reproduction is excellent and even throughout screen surface. Notebook comes with recent 8th generation Intel i5 processor with integrated GPU (UHD 620). Cooling system is well designed and CPU does not overheat under stress test (I used AIDA64 System Stability Test and ran test for 4 hours, CPU temperature of 84 degrees Celsius). Cooling fans are not very loud but can be heard in quiet room. Speakers on this notebook are harman/kardon branded and they sound loud enough to be usable indoors. 256 GB of built-in SSD are sufficient for portable notebook, but might not be enough if you are planning to carry large amounts of multimedia files with you. Notebook comes with 8 GB of RAM. Size of screen is 14” and it is perfect balance for being not to big or to small for internet browsing or movie watching. Ports available are: 1) USB-C, 2) USB-A 3.0, 3) USB-A 2.0, 4) HDMI, 5) SD-Card reader/writer. Built-in bluetooth module is a plus, as is a fingerprint reader (integrated into touchpad). One of the unique things about this notebook is that it lifts up far side of notebook when you open the lid, making keyboard tilt and easier to use, as well as providing space for air movement making for better cooling of internal components. Now some technical information, measured with AIDA64: RAM Read 30432 MB/s, RAM Write 32606 MB/s, RAM Copy 29096 MB/s, RAM Latency 111.2 ms.

Cons: It is very strange that designers of this notebook chose to use yellow color for the keyboard keys - because keyboard backlight is blueish, and keys are yellowish - very little light can get through, making keyboard backlight inefficient. Screen is glare and reflects lights behind notebook user making parts of screen hard to see.

Overall Review: Overall great very portable notebook with long lasting battery.

Pros: -Processor Intel Whiskey Lake quad core i7-8565U 1.80 GHz (up to 4.60GHz Turbo frequency) with integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 -mine came with 8GB RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD, great start options! -stunning quality Nanoedge display -great quality audio sound from built-in Harman Kardon speakers! -Military-grade case -gigabit fast wireless 802.11ac over 5GHz band -backlit keyboard -HD webcam and microphone -weighs only 3.2 lbs! -fingerprint reader is nicely integrated with touchpad, worked OK for me -battery life up to 10 hours -includes carrying sleeve

Cons: -It should come with Windows 10 Professional edition -it could have more USB 3.1 ports ... who needs USB 2.0 nowadays? -included optical mouse is wired, I think most people would have preferred a bluetooth mouse -8GB RAM might be too little for more demanding business apps, I will upgrade mine to 16GB

Overall Review: This laptop is marketed as Usage for "Business", not really "business" until it is sold with at least Professional Windows edition, Home edition is NOT "business"

Pros: Very pleased with this laptop.....the graphics and color is crisp, clean and a pleasure for videos, movies, games. Fast responses, and very nice sound....keyboard is also quiet and instantly responsive...included mouse lightning fast as well. Spent two weeks looking at specs and chose this model. No disappointment here. Will be great for photo editing and home business needs. Have owned only Dell in the past and made the jump to Asus zenBook....better machine on this level hands down. New egg was fast and had it in two days...

Cons: none, has not disappointed in any function so far.

Overall Review: I would recommend this set up and model to friends.

Pros: Fingerprint sensor - Lightning fast. Much faster than face unlock Screen - amazingly immersive Processor - amazingly fast while multi-tasking (chrome, excel, word, YouTube)

Cons: Speakers - a bit muffled sounding when not on a hard surface

Overall Review: - Would strongly recommend this product for average everyday usage - Would moderately recommend for gaming, but don't expect a professional experience

Pros: Excellent laptop and service. Delivered earlier than expected. I was reluctant to buy another laptop from America after the two faulty laptops bought previously. I was pleasantly surprised.

Cons: Not enough storage. Had to buy an external Hard drive.