ASUS Zenbook UX305FA-ASM1 13.3 inch IPS Full HD Ultrabook Review

13.3" ASUS Zenbook UX305FA-ASM1
via Amazon

Fast, stylish and ultra slim construction- beautiful design with dark aluminium unibody, strong and durable ASUS Zenbook UX305FA-ASM1 is a 13.3 inch anti-glare Full HD IPS matte display that offers power, portability and long battery life thanks to super energy conservation and lack of hard drive but a good size SSD, as one of the first ultrabook computers on the market with a Broadwell Core M processor. It is not designed for heavy multimedia editing or advanced gaming but more for daily use- surfing the net, Office tasks and more, suitable for students and professionals that prefer portability and durability over power.

ASUS Zenbook comes with the latest 5th generation ultra low voltage Intel Core M-5Y10 processor (4MB cache) at 0.8GHz up to 2GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 so it adjusts automatically to whatever you’re doing- efficiency and speed, 8GB LPDDR3 memory at 1600MHz for advanced multitasking, large and responsive 256GB SSD to boot-up and wake up from hibernation (2 second instant-on with the Super Hybrid Engine) and loading heavy and large programs quickly and 64-bit Windows 8.1 operating system. Intel M-5Y10 is similar to Haswell Intel i3-4030U in performance and is sufficient for multimedia and office applications as well as more demanding stuff, with the Passmark benchmark score of 2752 as of today and a Thermal Design Power of 4.5 watts as it doesn’t generate any heat nor needs a fan.

13.3 inch FHD IPS panel anti-glare (no distracting glare even in the brightest rooms or outdoors) wide-angle matte display with a maximum screen resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and ultra-wide 170-degree viewing angle offers very decent picture quality and even when connected to a 4K external screen you can actually play videos up to 4K resolution. Light multimedia- video and photo editing and casual gaming is possible with the Intel HD 5300 graphics card that shares memory with the Intel M-5Y10 even though the system is built with mostly the energy efficiency in mind. Award winning audio by Bang & Olufsen ICEpower with SonicMaster Premium and large speakers and resonating aluminium design offers immersive sound that is clear and loud with fine details for your songs, videos and games and it comes with a 1.2 megapixel high definition webcam with 30 frames per second motion capturing (standard is 15fps in most webcams) and high-sensitivity sensors and offers great live chats with friends and family. ASUS AudioWizard with advanced controls and many pre-set sound profiles helps optimise sound for whatever you’re doing on the computer.

Signature aluminium unibody case slim and modern with laser-edged concentric circle pattern black Asus Zenbook UX305FA-ASM1 weighs 2.6 pounds and is only 0.48 inch thin- has a super modern and sophisticated look, form and functionality. Asus claims 10 hour battery life but it is probably up to 8 hours in practice, depending on what you’re doing and a standby of 2 weeks and you will be using the keyboard and the very large touchpad more than normal so a lot of thought seems to have gone into the design of keyboard with an ideal 1.5mm key travel so that it is ergonomic and very comfy to type on but there is no separate 10-key numpad due to size restrictions and the palm rest is rubberized. Connectivity options include the fast dual-band 802.11 AGN wireless, Bluetooth 4.0, 10/100/1000 Mbps LAN connection with a USB to Ethernet adapter, 3 x USB 3.0 ports (one of them is improved further with the Charger+ for 50% quicker device charging even when the laptop is off), a 2-in-1 SD card slot, a micro-HDMI port and a headphone/microphone jack.

Conclusion: ASUS Zenbook UX305FA is really beautiful to look at as it has the Signature ZenBook aluminum unibody that is very lightweight and super slim (it is actually the lightest and thinnest ultrabook) and works very quietly with the fanless thermal design, comes with the 5th generation Broadwell Intel M-5Y10 processor, large 8GB of memory and 256GB of SSD for both storage size and overall speed. Instead of fans for the processor and Solid State Drive you’ll find the chromium copper alloy coils for superior cooling. We also like the Full HD display with 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution and IPS panel with up to 170 degree wide viewing angles and the Grammy worthy sound system. The processor is not powerful enough to handle the heaviest and most demanding multimedia and games or extreme multitasking as the portability and long battery life are the key here, rather than power- will fit in any backpack easily to be carried to school or work. It is offered with a 12 month ASUS Accidental Damage Protection (but you do need to register) along with a 30 day Zero Bright Dot Guarantee so it is protected against spills, drops and power surges and if you need any assistance there is the 24/7 technical support line and if repairs are needed you get 2-way free standard shipping. Highly recommended at such wallet friendly price!

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