I’ve spent the past several months working with the ZenBook S, a premium Windows ultrabook from ASUS. Here’s what to expect from this $1499 laptop, an impressive option for those looking for a combination of sleek design, performance and portability.
I’ll have this evaluation unit for an extended test before it ships back to ASUS, so watch for those long-term results later in coming months.
Premium Design With Clever Functionality
There’s no denying that the ASUS design team did a fantastic job with the ZenBook S. This is a laptop with visual appeal in spades. The unibody case is made of anodized aluminum in Deep Dive Blue (my review unit) or Burgundy Red, in a spun-metal finish with diamond-cut Rose Gold edges and gold keyboard backlighting.
It’s thin and light (0.51-inches and 2.32 pounds in the case of my review unit), with a 13.3-inch NanoEdge display that offers an 85% screen-to-body ratio.
The ultra-thin design includes what ASUS calls an ErgoLift hinge. It amounts to an overhang on the lid that raises the back of the laptop as the lid is opened. This approach has several advantages. It creates space beneath the laptop’s bottom for more effective cooling. It also makes for more ergonomic typing, by tilting the keyboard by up to 5.5 degrees.
And speaking of typing, the ZenBook S has a great keyboard/trackpad combo. The full-sized chiclet keys have 1.2mm of travel, a slight concave curve and adjustable backlighting. Combined with the adjustable tilt, this is a laptop that’s very comfortable to type with. The trackpad is glass covered, and responsive (often a weak point in Windows laptops I test), with an integrated fingerprint sensor with Windows Hello support.
Beautiful, 4K NanoEdge Display
While the ZenBook S is a beautiful laptop to look at, once opened the NanoEdge display takes over.
It’s available in Full HD, but on my review unit it’s a glossy, 13.3-inch 4K UHD panel with 3840 x 2160 pixels, 100% sRGB color gamut and wide-angle viewing. There’s not much to say about the display other than that it is gorgeous —bright, colorful and razor sharp. The difference between this and the display on the 2017 MacBook Air I use daily is striking.
The display also offers multi-touch support and stylus input.
High Performance
Performance and ultra-thin used to be two very different things and laptop buyers were largely forced to pick one or the other. However, with Intel’s latest chips, the two are increasingly found together and the ASUS ZenBook S is a perfect example of how you can have performance without having to lug around a boat anchor of a laptop.
My review unit was equipped with an 8th generation, quad-core Intel Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB M.2 SSD. The combination is potent. Productivity software, web browsing with a multitude of tabs open and other typical tasks didn’t cause the laptop to break a sweat and general operations such as navigation and file copying were lightning fast. Just don’t expect to use this as a gaming laptop. The integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620 are perfectly capable of driving two external monitors at 4K resolution, but serious mobile gaming really requires a graphics card.
USB-C
I have mixed feelings about USB-C. Naturally, I’m all for the standard, which offers many advantages. But I’m also a little wary about laptops that ditch legacy ports altogether, because that means dongles and docks for connecting to most existing (and many currently available) accessories and peripherals.
The ZenBook S takes the all-in approach on USB-C, but at least provides three of the ports so there’s no juggling required if you want to charge and connect a device at the same time. Two of the ports are the latest Thunderbolt 3 version, while one is of the first generation USB 3.1 variety. There are plenty of high speed ports for charging, running external displays or connecting accessories like external hard drives or thumb drives, but be prepared for the use of dongles (ASUS includes a few in the box) or a USB-C hub.
ASUS ZenBook S Key Specifications (as Tested)
- 13.3-inch LED 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) NanoEdge touchscreen display with stylus support
- 8th generation quad-core Intel Core i7-8550U CPU
- Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620
- 16GB LPDDR3 RAM
- 512GB M.2 PCIe SSD storage
- 2 x USB-C (Thunderbolt), 1 x USB-C 3.1 Gen 1
- Dual band 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.2
- Audio combo jack
- Full-sized backlit keyboard, glass touchpad with integrated Windows Hello fingerprint reader
- Harman Kardon certified stereo audio, array microphone with Cortana and Alexa voice recognition
- HD webcam
- 50Wh 4-cell lithium-polymer battery rated at up to 13.5 hours
- Includes 65W USB-C power adapter, protective sleeve, and USB-C adapters
- At thickest point 0.51-inches, weighs 2.31 pounds
- Windows 10 Pro
Battery Life
As is usually the case, battery life supplied by the manufacturer is based on what amounts to a best-case example. In this case, the “up to 13.5-hours” claimed by ASUS was reached on a model with a Core i5 CPU, a Full HD display with screen brightness set at 71%, running a specific Office scenario.
In real life, the results with my review unit were considerably less. With a more powerful Core i7 CPU and a much more energy-hungry 4K display, there was no way it was going to be close. I tend to use the laptop with the power management setting tilted more toward performance, the display brightness higher and the keyboard backlighting is often on as well. Besides basic productivity (primarily writing), I usually had a web browser going in the background and occasionally streamed video. My average battery life was more in the six to eight hour range, which is still decent for a laptop of this size and capability. If you are more aggressive with the power management settings all-day battery life shouldn’t be a challenge.
If you do want more time away from an outlet without giving up the ZenBook S form factor, in August ASUS announced a model with extended battery life, rated at 20-hours.
Recommendation
I evaluated quite a few new Windows laptops in 2018, and the ASUS ZenBook S is the one that really stood out for me. The $1499 price tag means there are plenty of ultrabooks that are less expensive —and Apple’s new MacBook Air is in the mix too— but when you start looking at what that $1499 for my review unit gets you, the price actually starts to look pretty attractive.
For example, for just $100 more than the high end version of the new MacBook Air, you get double the RAM, double the storage, an additional USB-C port, a higher resolution display with touch support, and a Core i7 CPU instead of a Core i5. Plus the ZenBook S is thinner and weighs less. Those are lot of upgrades for $100…
If you’re in the market for a premium ultrabook, with sleek style, plenty of performance and a stunning display, the ASUS ZenBook S is one of the best options among the 2018 releases.
