ZenBook Flip S Experience - When premium meets work | Hungry Geeks

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Since last year, ASUS’ ZenBook line has been making waves be redefining their ultra-thin profile laptops. Last Computex 2017, they introduced the ZenBook Flip S, their take on the world’s thinnest convertible laptop.

Not being left out in the competition with the guns of the competition, ASUS combined their resources and strengths to give a premium laptop like no other.

ZenBook Flip S UX370UA Specs

Intel Core i7-8550U (Quad-Core)
13.3″ Full HD IPS Screen + Touch Screen
Internal Intel Graphics
512GB SSD
16GB DDR4 RAM
Fingerprint Sensor
2 USB Type C, Audio Jack, Power Button, Audio Toggle
1.1kg | 11mm thick

Design

The ZenBook Flip S is made of aerospace-grade aluminum alloy, ASUS claims that it is 50% stronger than previous versions. It still carries their flagship royal blue body with the traditional concentric design circle.

Gold accents on the chamfered sides, logo, and labeling in the keyboard gives this combination the distinction ASUS needs against other brands. It’s premium, appealing and definitely an eye catcher even as compared to other previous ZenBooks.

On the right, we have the power button and audio controls accompanied with the one-touch fingerprint access and a USB-Type C port.

While on the left is another USB-Type C cable and 3.5mm audio jack. Additionally, it has a battery / charging LED level indicator and exhaust for the dedicated fan.

The ZenBook Flip S admittedly is light, but not the lightest of it’s kind. The lightest hat laptop we experienced still is the Acer Swift 7, but of course moving onwards to 2017 we think a 100-200g margin isn’t that significant of a difference if you have better specifications.

The body feels premium, durable on the touch and doesn’t feel flimsy even with its thickness. The keyboard is a great improvement as compared to the previous ZenBook UX309 with shallow travel distance. It’s still illuminated, but ASUS did a better job of the illumination range and it feels more subtle especially at night.

Of course, the name Flip isn’t anything without showcasing its skill to convert. The ZenBook Flip can do a flip where it can do tent, tablet or entertainment mode.

The ZenBook Flip S feels light, right for a 13.3″ tablet should be. Navigating with the touchscreen feels like a normal touch notebook, the Flip S is responsive and fluid.

Display & Keyboard

The ZenBook Flip S has a 100% sRGB 13.3” LED-backlit Full HD (1920 x 1080) display, the glass is even made of Corning Gorilla Glass to make it durable.

Bezels are still prominent with the ZenBook Flip S, unlike the solution with the displays of the ZenBook UX430. But we could understand since ASUS aimed a balance of a full sized keyboard.

If you are familiar with the XPS 12 from Dell, the problem is the keyboard is too cramped. So we think ASUS still factored this to give an overall balanced experience.

We definitely appreciate the different keyboard feel of being in blue and gold. Travel distance is slightly shallow as compared to a 14″ laptop, but it’s minor to be a big deal.

Performance

The Flip S is powered by an Intel Core i7 8550U processor along with a PCIe 512GB m.2 SSD and 16GB of RAM. This combination is a powerhouse for any laptop that is needed for everyday use. Like in my day job, using social media platforms like Viber and WeChat for desktop, paired with Microsoft Office and web-based applications are all I need.

The Flip S was flawless in delivering an experience for my daily task, even basic photoshop was not a problem since I just mostly just resize, re-layout or enhance photos.

Even Chrome’s RAM eating performance wasn’t much of a problem thanks to the 16GB RAM, paired that with the touchscreen function; we were able to do things in tablet mode easier like selecting photos or presenting a PDF to my colleagues.

Speakers

The Harman Kardon speakers in the ZenBook Flip S is a total of 4pcs, it delivers loud audio with appreciative bass-like feel. We were able to enjoy videos with crisp and loud detail, perfect for watching a marathon.

In our test in watching funny recaps of ABS-CBN’s wildflower, all volume is ample enough for 1-2 persons watching and even better if in tablet mode since the speakers are more directed towards you.

Battery Life

Playing non-stop videos got me 3 1/2 hours of battery life, but usual work scenario gives me around 4-5 hours. That’s including constant Wi-Fi connection and casual side play of Spotify music via earphones.

While ASUS promotes up to 11.5 hours of battery life, it’s nowhere near based on our experience. Though the charging time is fast as we got 50% in around an hour of charging (Turned on) already.

We suspect the Core i7-8550 processor and it’s dedicated fan is too strong for the battery capacity. Perhaps ASUS can still fix this with software optimization since our review unit is still not the final production unit.

Charging is via USB-Type C port, so make sure to have your adapters ready should you need a mouse and USB since one will always be occupied. My suggestion is to get a Bluetooth mouse to avoid having one port always used.

Conclusion

To end, the ZenBook Flip S is a darling to use as compared to my ZenBook UX430U. I was able to maximize my time with better multi-tasking thanks to the bigger RAM and faster processor.

It’s sleek, gorgeous to look at and impressive to hold. Definitely worthy one of ASUS’ premium laptop. What we really like as compared to my 60k range laptop is the color accurate sRGB screen, especially that my work is based on marketing.

Overall, the ZenBook Flip S even has a dedicated stylus to do more multi-tasking and artistic work. But unfortunately, we weren’t able to experience it since our review unit didn’t come with one.

For Php89,995 the Zenbook Flip S can also be a Core i7 ZenBook with dedicated graphics, you will just have to choose if you will need performance or portability. On the good side, the ZenBook Flip S can pretty much do everything except render 2k videos or play games in medium-high frame quality rates.

If you are the person who needs a laptop to be a status icon without doing intense graphics, then the ZenBook Flip S is an ideal laptop. Just be serious in using the touchscreen since that’s why it’s a convertible laptop.