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 ASUS

★★★★☆ 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.