The Asus ZenBook Flip 13 is a design masterpiece that offers excellent battery life, has very good graphics, and packs lots of pep for most of what you’d need to do on a svelte 130inch convertible laptop.
Most of us will remember this machine for what it has under its sleeve, and maybe what it doesn’t have. If you’re looking for a super-slim laptop, you’ll be awed by the thin profile, and its impressive 11th-gen Intel Tiger Lake Core i7-1165G7 chip and the gorgeous OLED screen will make you forget it doesn’t have a 3.5mm analog audio jack.
Asus offers the ZenBook Flip 13 in various configurations, our review model is the UX363EA-AH74T is the high-end model, that features a Tiger Lake Core i7 CPU and an IPS-level screen, available also as an optional OLED panel. There’s also an Intel i5-1135G7 model, with various memory and storage options.
These specific components aside, though, they share the rest of other traits, so this review applies to any ZenBook Flip 13 configuration you might be interested in.
Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-AH74T Specs
Here is the Asus ZenBook Flip 13 configuration sent to Digital Weekly for review:
- CPU: Intel Core i7-1165G7
- Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
- RAM: 16GB
- Screen: 13.3-inch, IPS 1080p, 300 nits
- Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
- Camera: 720p IR webcam
- Weight: 2.87lbs (1.30kg)
- Operating system: Windows 11 Home
- Size: 12.01 x 8.31 x 0.55 inches
When Thin is Too Thin
The thin design of the Asus ZenBook Flip 13 is without a doubt one of its standout features. At just 0.55 inches thin, we can’t afford but wonder whether this clamshell laptop is, maybe, too thin; and at only 2.87 pounds, this is a featherweight Ultrabook.
One other thing on design is the ErgoLift feature that lifts the keyboard toward you as you fully extend the screen. This greatly helps as it makes typing more enjoyable that it would otherwise be.
Like all other Asus ZenBooks, the UX363EA-AH74T gets an aluminum chassis that has a s sleek brushed metal design on the lid, radiating out from the Asus logo emblemed off-center on the front. It’s a familiar design, but you’ll not be embarrassed to whip it out in public.
Case of missing Audio Jacks
The edge-to-edge keyboard is comfortable enough for prolonged use, but some people might find the key layout to be a little cramped and the trackpad is not as responsive or as satisfying as you’ll find in competing convertibles such as the Dell XPS 13.
Layout and feedback aside, this keyboard is backlit with bright white LEDs and a dedicated Caps Lock indicator. The illumination system is fairly bright and uniform, but some light creeps out from the keycaps and you’ll easily notice this with everyday use.
Beneath the keyboard, at the middle of the chassis, Asus implements a spacious glass clickpad with Precision drivers and secondary NumberPad functionality that’s also available in their clamshell UX325/UX425 models. It’s smooth, reliable, and sturdy surface, just a little stiffer than I’d like.
When it comes to connectivity, the Flip 13 has two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A, an HDMI 2.0 output, and a microSD slot. You notice the absence of a headphone jack, which we’d honestly preferred to see in place off a microSD card slot. Well, if you need to use your headphones, there’s a dongle you can us to convert a USB Type-C port to a 3.5mm audio jack.
A vibrant touchscreen, available in OLED too
As a convertible, the ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA has a touchscreen with a 13.3-inch panel, which is available as either a FHD IPS with 100% sRGB coverage or as a FHD OLED with 100% DCI-P3 premium option.
The latter is a premium upgrade, but is brighter and is something to consider as a professional looking for a true, color-accurate display in your ideal work ultrabook.
However, this machine’s performance might not suffice for complex creative tasks that require a dedicated graphics card, that’s why you might be inclined to stick to the more IPS choice of the ZenBook Flip 13.
The model we’re reviewing is a fine option for daily use, with almost 100% sRGB color coverage, excellent blacks and contrast levels, decent viewing angles, and 300-nits of brightness. That level of brightness is OK for indoor use, but it may not be enough for bright environments, especially with the kind of gloss screen used here.
A Productivity Work Horse
- Intel Evo Platform - The perfect combination of performance, responsiveness and battery...
- 13.3 inch OLED Full HD 4-way NanoEdge bezel display with Windows 11 Home
- Fast storage and memory featuring a 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD and 16GB LPDDR4X RAM
Our review unit, the UX363EA-AH74T is a mid-specced iteration of the Asus ZenBook UX363EA, boasting an Intel Tiger Lake Core i7-1165G7 processor and Intel Iris Plus graphics, 16GB of memory, and a 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD.
Looking deeper at the specs, this chip is based on the late-2020 Intel Tiger Lake i7-1165G7 hardware, the same module implemented on a multitude of other ultrabooks of this generation. This is a 4C/8T processor, very fast in single-core tasks, and averagely capable in multitasking, especially when allowed to run at higher TDP settings.
Graphics are the major novelty in this tiger Late platform, and the i7-1165G7 gets the most capable version of the Iris Xe iGPU, with upto 96 Execution Units clocked at up to 1300 MHz (on paper).
As for the memory, our configuration gets 16GB of LPDDR4x 4266Mhz of RAM out-of-the-box, in dual-channel and the mentioned 1TB, a mid-performance option. This SSD is fine for daily use, but it occasionally heats-up and throttles when copying large files, but you can replace it easily by removing the back panel.
The CPU and memory are soldered on the motherboard and non-upgradable, and inside you will realize most of the internal space is occupied by the battery. As ever, this ZenBook Flip runs a lot quieter on daily use, as the fan rests idle most of the time, and only kicks in with more intense multitasking.
Finally, the ZenBook UX363 gets a 67Wh battery, larger than what you’d normally find in a 13-inch ultrabook. It delivers one of the best battery life cycles we’ve seen in an Ultrabook that isn’t running an ARM chip, coming within striking distance of the MacBook Air (M1) by a couple of hours, lasting nine hours twelve minutes in HD movie test to the Air’s 11 hours and 21 minutes.
Verdict – Asus ZenBook Flip 13 Review
The Asus ZenBook Flip 13 is one of the best Ultrabooks around, but it may not suffice for everyone, especially if you need it for graphics intensive tasks.
On one hand, Asus nailed the design and the build quality is impeccable, they put in a decent screen and added a set of useful ports, alongside the Intel Tiger Lake hardware and a large battery. I also find the clickpad to be among the better you can get in a Windows laptop these days.
On the other hand, Asus left out the 3.5mm audio jack, and I don’t like it, but I can live with that. Still, I don’t fancy the squashed keyboard system and the illumination system that lets the light creep out annoyingly under the keycaps, especially since it’s not the most compact 13-inch laptop out there, and Asus have already shown they can implement a superior keyboard in their 14-inch devices.
With all that in mind, and if we factor how much Asus charges for the Core i7 ZenBook Flip 13, I feel that this configuration delivers better value, as long as you’re primarily looking for a daily-use convertible and you’re OK with the cramped keyboard.
Well, I can’t end this up without mentioning the competition. In this market, this ZenBook has a price-advantage over most other 2-in-1 Ultrabooks, such as the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, the HP Spectre x360 or the Lenovo Yoga C730, and is among the first 2-in-1s to boast Tiger Lake hardware.
Anyway, that wraps up our Asus ZenBook Flip 13 UX363EA-AH74T review, and the best thing I can say this is an excellent Ultrabook to carry around to work or college. It’s almost certainly the most well-rounded 2-in-1 laptop available right now at this price point.
Last update on 2022-06-23 at 21:11 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 OLED Ultra Slim 2-in-1 Laptop
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