Asus Zenbook Flip 15 gives ‘flexible’ a new meaning – Review
The Asus Zenbook Flip 15 is powerful laptop with colour-accurate graphics. Here's what you need to know.
Photo: Supplied
The Asus ZenBook Flip 15 is a gorgeously designed portable and lightweight laptop, packing enough power under the hood to see you through the day.
My personal benchmark for performance is how many browser tabs I can keep running without a laptop slowing down or freezing altogether.
Well, not so much a benchmark as a bad habit, but nevertheless, the Zenbook Flip 15 (UX564P) powered through. I loved it for a few other reasons as well, though.
Asus Zenbook Flip 15 review
Design
It is without a doubt, one of the most stylish notebooks on the market. The brushed metal casing gives it a sleek finish while also reducing fingerprint stains.
The Asus Zenbook Flip 15 is also ultra-compact with a slim-bezel 4.5mm NanoEdge touchscreen and a precision-engineered 360° ErgoLift hinge.
The laptop has kickstand support to lift it off the desk when you’re using it as a regular laptop. You can, however, also flip it around and use it as a notebook, thanks to the hinge.
Flip it good
There’s a reason the Flip 15’s tagline is “flexible performance, effortless mobility”. The ErgoLift hinge enables you to fold the display at any angle.
Use the Flip 15 as a regular laptop, stand it like a tent (ideal for watching movies in bed on rainy days), use it as a tablet, or fold it full 360 degrees and hold it as a book.
Swipe to see tent mode.
Screen and display
The 15.6-inch NanoEdge touchscreen is made for colour accuracy and has a wide 100% sRGB colour gamut, bringing out the brightest brights.
It has a screen-to-body ratio of 90% and comes equipped with TÜV Rheinland for flicker-free operation, low blue-light emissions, and reduced reflections to reduce eyestrain.
Precision stylus
Artists and photographers – or designers in general – will love the Asus ZenBook Flip 15. The Stylus works with Windows Ink so you can capture notes on the go.
“You can also use the intuitive Ink Tools in Microsoft Office apps to input handwriting or shapes, or apply highlighting,” Asus says.
It’s perfect for digital art, photo touch-ups, photo editing, note-taking or just doodling in general.
I/O ports
The port layout just makes sense, I can’t really explain why. Port layout usually irritate the daylights out of me, but this felt right.
You’ll find two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports on one side, along with an audio jack and the power port. The Thunderbolt ports provide up to 40 Gbps data transfer speeds.
On the other side: One USB 3.3 Gen 1 port, along with an HDMI port and an SD Card reader slot. I would have been happier with more USB ports, to be honest.
Swipe to see more.
Performance and battery
The ZenBook Flip 15 is equipped with an 11th generation Intel Core H Series Processor and packs 16 GB of RAM, which turns it into a mobile powerhouse.
While you won’t be able to play the latest triple-A games on the highest settings on the Flip 15, it packs enough power to ensure a smooth gaming experience nonetheless.
It comes equipped with gaming-grade NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 so the graphics didn’t disappoint at all.
Admittedly, I couldn’t get around to testing games such as Grand Theft Auto 5 or Control, but Diablo 3 and Tropico 6 (don’t judge me) played well enough.
The battery lasted 11 hours on one charge, and 14 hours without streaming or gaming. While it’s not the longest-lasting battery I’ve tested, it’s good enough for day-to-day laptop needs.
Asus Zenbook Flip 15: Conclusion
I loved using the Zenbook Flip 15 in laptop mode – even Tent mode – but I wasn’t all that fond of Tablet mode. It was not comfortable to hold, even when balanced on my lap.
Other than that, it’s a powerful laptop with great, colour-accurate graphics and Harmon Kardon audio. It’s also beautiful and the brushed metal on the flipside is a nice touch.
Pros
- Display and graphics superb
- Long-lasting battery
- Thin and lightweight
Cons
- Limited upgrade options
- Not comfortble to hold in tablet mode
- Not enough USB ports
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