It’s said that a thing of beauty is a joy forever, which means the ASUS ZenBook UX21E and UX31E are Ultrabooks that their owners will want to hang onto for a long, long time.
Key to the appeal of the ZenBook is its incredibly slender profile and the narrow teardrop shape of all-aluminium case tapers to a mere 3mm at its front edge. Despite weighing as little as 1.1kg though, the ZenBook still manages to be an extremely powerful ultraportable, with a range of Intel® Core™ mobile processors, up to 4GB DDR3 RAM and SSD capacities up to 256GB. Astounding portability and performance — now there’s a winning combination.
Now available in two new Hot Pink and Rose Gold colours, the ZenBook’s spun metal lid lifts on smooth hinges to reveal an interior that’s just as stunning as the exterior. The isolated aluminium keys of the full-size keyboard are a joy to type on, while the generously proportioned 16:9 multi-touch trackpad gives plenty of room to make use of its wide range of multi-touch gestures.
With a choice of high-resolution 11.6” and 13.3” LED-backlit displays, there’s a ZenBook to suit all portable needs and both models deliver superlative sound quality to match their vivid visuals, thanks to ASUS’ innovative SonicMaster audio technology.
Unbeatable battery life is a standard feature too, and ASUS Super Hybrid Engine II technology ensures an ultra-quick two-second resume time and up to two weeks standby time. The unique battery-saving mode can also extend battery life by up to 28% — just the thing for those times when a mains socket is nowhere in sight and there’s still work to be done.
As well as boosting overall performance, the ZenBook’s 6Gbit/s SATA SSDs make file management and application start times incredibly quick, but it doesn’t end there. Onboard USB 3.0 allows the ZenBook to exploit high-performance peripherals too, with data transfer speeds up to 10 times faster than USB 2.0.
The final key ingredient in the ZenBook’s recipe for mobile success is one that’s all too easily overlooked with powerful ultraportables like this — cooling. No one wants to sit with a computer on their lap that cooks their thighs, but there’s no chance of that with the ZenBook.
ASUS’ engineers have developed a custom cooling system for the ZenBook that uses beryllium copper components to improve heat dissipation, plus a V-shaped air channel behind the screen hinge that provides improved airflow. As a result, it runs up to 7C cooler than competing ultraportables, which means the only thing that ZenBook owners will find blistering is its performance.
SPECIFICATIONS
ZenBook UX21E
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit
- Display: 11.6” (1366 x 768) LED-backlit
- CPU: Intel® Core™ i3-2367M (1.5GHz), Core™ i5-2467M (1.6gGHz) or Core™ i7-2677M (1.8GHz)
- Memory: 2B/4GB DDR3 RAM
- Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 3000
- Storage: 64GB/128GB/256GB SATA 6Gbit/s SSD
- Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, miniVGA, microHDMI, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0
- Battery: 35Wh (4800mAh)
- Dimensions: 299 x 168.5 x 3~17mmmm
- Weight: 1.1g
ZenBook UX31E
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit
- Display: 13.3” (1600 x 900) LED-backlit
- CPU: Intel® Core™ i5-2557M (1.7gGHz) or Core™ i7-2677M (1.8GHz)
- Memory: 4GB DDR3 RAM
- Graphics: Intel® HD Graphics 3000
- Storage: 128GB/256GB SATA 6Gbit/s SSD
- Connectivity: 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, miniVGA, microHDMI, 1x USB 3.0, 1x USB 2.0, SD card
- Battery: 70Wh (6840mAh)
- Dimensions: 325 x 223 x 3~17mmmm
- Weight: 1.3g
Competition
For a chance to win an ASUS EeePC, simply post a comment on this article to one of the new colours of the ASUS ZenBook.
ASUS at MWC
Mobile World Congress takes place in Barcelona, Spain, from 27 February to 1 March 2012.
ASUS can be found in Hall 4, Level 4 at Stand HS14.
James Kidder