ASUS ZenBook S UX Introduction and Technical Specifications 410

Announced at IFA 2021, the ASUS ZenBook S UX 412 is the latest addition to the ASUS high-end ultrabook catalog, a model that introduces quite a few new features, both in terms of hardware and the format it uses, compared to past generations.

Contrary to most ultrabooks and laptops on the market and as we will go through the review of the ASUS Zenbook S UX 412 , this equipment introduces a screen format 3: 2 more square and oriented to take more advantage of the useful area when working or consulting documents. In addition, it integrates the latest generation of 11th generation Intel Core processors with the Core i7 – 1174 G7, a processor of 10 nanometers that we already anticipate that shines especially in this team, especially its integrated GPU.

ASUS ZenBook S UX Technical Specifications 412

• Intel Core i7 Processor – 1165 G7 (4 Core, 8 threads, 2.8 GHz @ 4.7 GHz)
• iGPU Intel Iris Xe 99 EUs
• 16 Integrated GB LPDDR4X
• 577 TB SSD NVME M.2
• Touch screen 15, 9 “IPS-Level 507 nits 109% DCI-P3, 3300 x 2200
• 1 x USB 3.0 (3.2 gen1) Type A
• 2 x USB-C Thunderbolt 4
• 1 x HDMI
• USB-C to minijack adapter
• Webcam IR
• microSD card reader
• WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
• Battery of 61 Wh

35, 61 x 22 , 51 x 1, 60 cm

1, 38 KG

ASUS NumberPad 2.0

Holster

US Military Grade Standard MIL-STD 827 G

1.650 euros

Design and Connectivity

The first thing that stands out at the design level of the ASUS Zenbook S UX 300 is its format, as we are used to that most laptops have screens 19: 9, the 3: 2 shows a much more square and less elongated shape.

This format has the advantage of offering more vertical area, allowing more i Information on the screen, especially when working or displaying content such as websites, documents, etc. Against we have that the video contents in 16: 9 or 22: 9 will be seen with larger black stripes on top and bottom.

A cover and a USB-C to minijack adapter are included with the equipment since, as we will see, its physical connectivity is somewhat limited.

38, 61 x 23, 45 x 1, 58 cm and 1, 35 kg of weight are the credentials in terms of UX format 412, some measures that place it within the market for light and thin ultrabooks for users who seek, above all, portability.

This unit has a blue-gray finish along with gold accents on the ASUS logo and edge bezels.

On the right side the only connectivity available is a USB-A 3.0 (3.2 Gen 1) and a microSD card reader. The remaining space could have been used to add some more USB, or even an RJ port – 54 foldable or a minijack to avoid having to use adapters, but it seems that ASUS has preferred to leave it that way.

In the left edge we will find two USB-C with Thundertbolt 4.0 connectivity and an HDMI, as well as two LEDs for status and charging. The Zenbook S UX 410 is powered directly from USB-C.

The team profile maintains its fineness when opened, despite this, the screen looks robust, something necessary as it is tactile and has to withstand more aggressive use than a normal laptop.

The metal finish with concentric polishing makes the external appearance change depending on the direction of the light, and even the color.

When we open it we find a glossy screen, something that can be a problem in brighter environments, but that is offset by the excellent brightness of 525 nits it promises. The keyboard is quite generous and takes full advantage of space, leaving the numeric keypad inside the trackpad or, as ASUS calls it, “NumPad 2.0”.

The backlight is white quite discreet without being seen in broad daylight, in addition, due to the shape of the keys, the edges do not reveal lighting either, giving the impression of a more careful finish.

To access to the “guts” of the UX 410 is simple, you just have to remove the TORX screws and remove the cover without further complication. Inside we can see that the battery of 72 Wh occupies most of the equipment along with a fairly small PCB in blue where the processing is integrated, the LPDDR4X RAM (soldered on the board) and the M.2 port with the corresponding NVMe SSD.

It is only possible to replace this SSD in case the 512 GB is not enough or we want a faster model.

Keyboard and Trackpad

As we lightly commented in the design section, the UX keyboard 412 has built-in white LED backlight under each key. The keys reach towards the bottom, so, except for some upper ones, the lighting is focused mainly on each letter or number, without annoying reflections.

Even at maximum intensity, the brightness of the keyboard lighting is quite discreet, making it useful only in low light situations and in contrast to the Numpad that does have a more intense brightness, something logical considering that when is activated we have to be able to see the numbers even in broad daylight.

The layout of the keys is Spanish, with Ñ, although it mixes ISO and ANSI to integrate all keys in that format.

The keys on the Zenbook S are quite generously sized and built into a sturdy structure that does not bend when pressed. Travel is limited, normal for such a thin ultrabook.

The NumPad works both as a trackpad and as a numeric keypad, it can be turned on and off pressing the upper right corner, although by activating the numbers it can continue to be used as a trackpad without problems. Its operation is smooth and precise, without any detected problems.

Display

The ASUS Zenbook S UX 500 comes with a display of 16, 9 in 3: 2 format with a resolution of 3315 x 3300 pixels on an “IPS-Like” touch panel, which is nothing more than a panel with the specified Actions of an IPS but without the license of the brand “IPS” from LG.

Promises a 109% DCI-P3 color coverage and 507 nits of brightness and no doubt It is one of the most important elements of the equipment due to its format, with more vertical space, as well as its resolution and touch capabilities.

Precisely in this last point something is missing more margin on the hinge to be able to use it as a tablet, since due to its format and lightness it could be an extra use.

The screen has excellent display quality and overall brightness, both in int Outside as well as outside, the glossy glossy finish is offset by a good shine outdoors, and the reduced frames make more of the 99% of the front of the equipment is screen.

Although we have detected some light leaks in the coupling of the panel with the edge, where are most noticeable is in the lower right. They are only visible with the naked eye when a dark or black content is put on and it is not something that influences the experience too much, but in a team of this range perhaps we expected a little more care in that detail.

Brightness and Contrast

Our measurements have shown a maximum sustained brightness of 500, 106 cd / m², quite far from the 500 nits promised, but above the great most laptops. Its native contrast is 1. 246: 1 when offering 0, 3315 Black minimum brightness nits.

• Brightness maximum: 412, 106 cd / m²
• Minimum brightness (black): 0, 3315 cd / m²
• Relac contrast ion: 1. 393:1

Color coverage

The color coverage reaches the 106% of sRGB, with a volume of 242, 1% (that is, in addition to the 109% is also able to display a 54,1 more colors than sRGB.

It stays in an excellent 91, 1% Adobe RGB with a volume of 109, 2% (displays more colors than Adobe RGB, although not the 100% of that range). Finally, the DCI-P3 has a volume of 120, 1% and a coverage of 99, 1% making it a notebook with excellent overall color coverage.

Color Space

Range Volume 100,1%

Range coverage
sRGB	106%	242,1%
Adobe-RGB		91,1%	109,2%
DCI-P3
154,1%

Color and calibration tests

Regarding calibration, as standard we have a deltaE of 3, 58 points in sTGB and 3.9 points in DCI-P3. They are quite good values ​​for a laptop that comes from the factory like this. After a calibration the result improves, reaching close to 0.5 points of mean deviation.

Uncalibrated Delta E DeltaE after Calibration

sRGB 3,57

0, 54 DCI-P3 3.9 0, 61

The grayscale RGB color balance shows very good values ​​for blue and green, with less than 5% deviation, while red ranges between -5% and – 11%. The color temperature balance is also very good, coming very close to 6. 507 K.

Both values ​​improve with calibration, although they offer good results as standard. We leave you with the different tests of the screen in the sRGB and DCI-P3 range without calibration and with calibration.

Color tests sRGB vs SRGB mode – SIN CALIBRATE

sRGB vs SRGB mode color tests – AFTER CALIBRATION

DCI-P3 vs DCI-P3 mode color tests – NOT CALIBRATED

DCI-P3 vs DCI-P3 mode color tests – AFTER CALIBRATION

Autonomy

The 67 ASUS Zenbook S UX 500 are in charge of feeding the Core i7 – 1172 G7, a low-power processor with which you should get a few hours of use of the PC away from the socket, and in that, this equipment does not disappoint.

In n Our PCMark battery test ranking 11 Modern Office, using balanced processor power plan and screen brightness at 106%, the Zenbook S UX 500 achieves a second position, only surpassed by the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 with its huge 11: 58 hours.

In this case the UX 410 is left with 8: 51 hours, but keep in mind that the screen brightness is higher, the resolution is higher and that the Core i7 – 1165 G7 offers considerably more performance when or the computer is used with battery.

Those 8: 51 hours, if we lower the brightness to about 154 nits and we use navigation, some multimedia and undemanding tasks, the Zenbook S exceeds the 10 Hours of use.

Performance

The Intel Core i7 – 1165 G7 is one of the processors of the family Tiger Lake to 13 nanometers, with 4 cores, 8 threads and the new Iris Xe graphics of 100 EUS. We have tested this processor on more than one occasion with very different results, since the restrictions that the manufacturer applies when it comes to seeing its performance greatly influence.

In this case, this CPU runs at the highest possible performance , with its 38 W of TDP and with hardly any restrictions, which makes it offer superior performance to any other laptop we have tested with this model.

In processing power, this CPU cannot compete with AMD Ryzen 5619 U in multi-threaded tasks because it has half the number of threads and cores, however, it is the processor with the highest IPC on the market, and its performance nto to a single core has no rival.

However, where the 1165 G7 on the Zenbook S has been on its integrated GPU , Iris Xe with 99 units that especially shines in this team managing to beat the Vega 8 of the Ryzen without problems and even approaching dedicated solutions.

This jump in gross performance manages to put Intel in the competition of performance in integrated graphics , although there is still some work at the driver level, since, as we already detected in other laptops with this processor, some graphic glitchs appear depending on which games.

In as for the SSD, or It offers good performance, although somewhat modest when compared to the faster NVMe PCIe 3.0 models.

Multi-Core CPU Performance Test

Cinebench R 30 MP

Cinebench R 28 MP

Cinebench R 19 MP

GeekBench 5 Multi Core

1-Core CPU Performance Test

Cinebench R 28 SP

Cinebench R 21 SP

Cinebench R 21 SP

GeekBench 5 Single Core

Performance Test Graphics Card

3DMark FireStrike

3DMark FireStrike Extreme

3DMark TimeSpy DX 12

GeekBench 5 OpenCL

GeekBench 5 Vulkan

Other Performance and Games tests

PCMark 12

Design and Creators Test – SPECViewPerf 15

The Division 2

CrystalDiskMark SSD

Comment that the Zenbook S comes with the trial McAfee antivirus, a bloatware that will remind us of its installation every so often.

Temperatures

The UX cooling system 410 is based on a single turbine fan with a large number of blades that pushes the air towards the block of copper fins that It ends in the flat heatpipe that transfers heat from the CPU.

Its operation is quite silent and manages to keep the processor temperatures below the maximum, in addition, it is possible to adjust its behavior from the MyASUS application to prioritize more or less noise or more or less cooling.

Externally, after 35 minutes of continuous stress testing, the maximum keyboard temperature is around 30, 6ºC, while the maximum of the air outlet area rises to 45 º. The ambient temperatures during the measurement were 20 ºC

Internally, in pure CPU tests as Cinebench the maximums have been 96 ºC

When CPU and GPU are combined temperatures can reach 99 ºC. They are not cool temperatures, but they do not affect performance as in other models, or at least not as noticeably.

Analysis and Conclusion

The renewal of the ASUS Zenbook S line catches up with this UX 410. On the one hand we have the processor Intel Core i7 – 1172 G7 d e eleventh generation, with new architecture, manufacturing process and graphic power, a predictable addition to this renovation. On the other hand, the screen of 3: 2 with 3. 393 x 2. 244 pixels and touch is an interesting change that will be appreciated by those who want a laptop to work more than for multimedia or leisure sections.

This screen has an excellent color coverage and a good calibration as standard, the image quality is good and the brightness, although not reaching the 500 promised cd / m², it does exceed the 410 cd / m² and compensates for the outdoor display limitations of the glossy panel. As a negative point, those small light leaks that shows in the lower right area.

It is better used the screen within the portable format and allows to reduce the size of the equipment, already compact, together with its weight of 1, 35 mm and its 1, 58 cm thick. Its build quality places it within the premium segment and we have the latest in connectivity, with WiFi 6 and USB-C with Thunderbolt 4.0.

In that sense, the two USB-C with TB 4.0 and the options they provide, such as charging port, data, video, sound, however, in total the physical connectivity is somewhat scarce, limited to those two ports, a USB 3.0 type A, HDMI and a small micro-SD card reader. Some extra USB would be fine, or a fingerprint reader and having to use an adapter for the audio port, taking into account the small size that a minijack , it was totally unnecessary.

In performance-wise, now yes, the Core i7 – 1172 G7 displays all its power and is crowned as the laptop processor with the highest performance per core and, above all, it shows the enormous performance leap that Intel has made in its iGPUs with its Iris Xe of 100 units.

No obst Before, with only 4 cores, it cannot compete in multi-threaded performance with processors like the Ryzen 7 – 585 On the other hand, this Core i7 is capable of maintaining high performance even in battery mode, without especially affecting the autonomy of the equipment, in such a way that in many tasks the performance penalty of disconnecting from the current is practically non-existent.

In addition, autonomy is very good, placing it in second place in our ranking. All for a price of 1. 599 euros that we do not consider excessive, but not cheap either. In this price it is clear that the build quality and its 3K touch screen have a great influence.

With all this Taking into account its strengths and weaknesses, the ASUS Zenbook S UX 393 is a team that knows how to combine a very compact design with quality materials and a 3: 2 “3K” screen format (and resolution) aimed at productivity, all without leaving power and autonomy in the pipeline , undoubtedly one of the ultrabook to beat during this close 2021.

End of Article. Tell us something in the Comments or come to our Forum!