ASUS Zenbook UX305UA Review

The ASUS Zenbook UX305UA-AS51 is part of a tech world preoccupied with the ongoing pursuit for ever-svelte gizmos. It’s unsurprising that ultrabooks are occupying an increasingly larger sliver of the market. It is a nicely designed system that packs a decent feature set that will satisfy college students and officer users alike. For instance, the sixth generation Intel Core i5-5200U processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB solid-state-drive more than enough for daily productivity.

That said, in 2017 the got a refreshed upgrade in the ASUS ZenBook UX330UA-AH54, which is our newest Editors’ Choice ultraportabe laptops. It features an even svelte, ultraportable design, alongside forward looking components including  a newer seventh-generation Intel Core i5 processor, useful connectivity options including the latest USB Type-C port, while remaining incredibly affordable that its rivals like Apple’s MacBook Pro that costs almost double for the same feature set.

Design and Build

The Zenbook UX305UA is clad in an attractive, slim aluminum system with laser-edged concentric circle patterns, which Asus says to be inspired by a ‘circular clock’, is surprisingly hard to describe at first glance. The laptop measures 0.6 by 12.8 by 8.9 inches (HWD) and weighs just 2.8 pounds. The metallic body definitely gives the system some little extra heft, but it still feels more solid and sturdy as a result, so the tradeoff is worth it.

However, we’ve seen some high-end ultraportables like the Lenovo LaVie Z HZ550 opt for super-thin materials in a bid to keep the laptops thin and slim as possible, but the build quality is sacrificed too much as a result. The Apple MacBook Air 13-inch bears very similar dimensions (0.68 by 12.8 by 8.94 inches), and is actually a little thicker and heavier at 2.96 pounds.

The display looks great, with a full HD (1,920-by-1,080) resolution and an In-Plane Switching (IPS) panel that offers wide viewing angles and good color. An anti-glare finish keeps the reflections to a minimum, though it does slightly dull the blacks shown on screen. Most notably, the display does not have touch capability, an omission that may limit its appeal to users who want to make the most of the touch-friendly Windows 8.1 interface and gesture controls.

The chiclet-style keyboard feels nice to type on—equivalent to past Asus ZenBooks, at least—but there is no backlight, which will be a bit of pain if you need to type something when the lights are lowered for a PowerPoint presentation. The accompanying touchpad is relatively large, measuring 4.1 by 2.9 inches, with a wide, clickable surface.

Ports and Storage

Despite the slim chassis, Asus outfits the Zenbook with a full complement of ports and connectors. On the right is a USB 3.0 port with USB Charger+, a sleep-and-charge solution that offers faster charging for smartphones and tablets. An HDMI Type D (micro) port offers video and audio output, while a headset jack supports headphones and a mic. On the left are two more USB 3.0 ports, along with an SD card reader. The laptop is also equipped with dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 for wireless connectivity.

For storage, there’s a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD). That’s twice the standard capacity of the Apple MacBook Air 13-inch or the MacBook Pro 13-inch, (both of which come standard with 128GB drives), but it’s on par with rest of the competition, like the Lenovo Yoga 900 and the Dell XPS 13 Touch, both of which come with 256GB drives. The keyboard is quite comfortable especially for marathon typing, but some will find it unfair not to have it backlit on such a decent machine.