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Asus launches its thinnest ever ZenBooks with discrete graphics

by Mark Tyson on 19 January 2017, 14:01

Tags: ASUSTeK (TPE:2357)

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Asus has announced a pair of new ZenBook laptops it claims are the thinnest ever to feature discrete graphics chips. The ZenBook UX430 features a 14-inch display in a 13-inch class chassis, and the ZenBook UX530 is a compact 15.6-inch model with slim bezels. Whichever model you choose you can specify up to a 7th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, up to 16GB of RAM and up to a 512GB SSD.

Asus ZenBook UX430

Asus manages to squeeze this 14-inch screen into a 13-inch class chassis thanks to the ultra-narrow 7.18mm screen bezels. This laptop has an 80 per cent screen-to-body ratio, measures just 15.9mm thick and weighs 1.25Kg. The anti-glare screen offers wide viewing angles and 100 per cent sRGB colour gamut. Asus Splendid technology includes preset modes for your viewing pleasure, including a low blue light mode.

Inside you will be able to specify up to a 7th Generation Intel Core i7 processor, with up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM, up to 512GB of fast SSD storage, and Nvidia GeForce 940MX discrete graphics. The UX430's 50Wh lithium-polymer battery provides up to 9 hours of wall-wart freedom.

The following ports are available; a reversible USB Type-C port which also supports display output, a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A port, 1x USB 2.0, a Micro HDMI port, an SD Card slot, and audio I/O. Built-in audio is enhanced with 'Asus Golden Ear' with a smart amplifier designed with experts at Harman Kardon.

On the outside users will appreciate the iconic Zen spun-metal finish, with selected colours additionally introducing a brand-new crystal-like coating created using an advanced nano-imprinting lithography (NIL) process. Four colours are available; Quartz Grey and Shimmer Gold, and the Royal Blue and Rose Gold models with the aforementioned crystal-like coating.

A full sized backlit keyboard features sturdy single-piece support for rigidity and provides a 1.4mm key travel. The laptop's large glass-covered touchpad includes a built-in fingerprint reader and supports the Windows Precision Touchpad (PTP) standard, plus palm-rejection, gestures, and handwriting input. There's an HD webcam in the screen bezel and the built-in array microphone supports Cortana.

Asus ZenBook UX530

This larger Zenbook features many of the UX430 qualities but thanks to its greater size can fit a full sized HDMI port and can be equipped with the more powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 950 GPU. This larger machine has a 15.6-inch anti-glare slim-bezel display, is just 16.9mm thick, and weighs 1.63Kg. Asus is selling the ZenBook UX530 in Royal Blue with the crystal-like NIL coating, or in Quartz Grey with the classic sandblasted spun-metal finish.

Both the Asus ZenBook UX430 and UX 530 will become available from Q2 in the UK. Pricing will be revealed nearer that time.



HEXUS Forums :: 5 Comments

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Lost me at 940mx, why not stick a 6870HQ and run with the Iris Pro 580 graphics, simalar performance, better CPU performance (Quad vs Dual core) and hte GPU isnt constrained by only having 4x PCI-E lanes to the CPU.

Power draw on would be about 5 watts more with the 6870HQ but its a tider solution, PCB could be smaller so larger battery.
Platinum
Lost me at 940mx, why not stick a 6870HQ and run with the Iris Pro 580 graphics, simalar performance, better CPU performance (Quad vs Dual core) and hte GPU isnt constrained by only having 4x PCI-E lanes to the CPU.

Power draw on would be about 5 watts more with the 6870HQ but its a tider solution, PCB could be smaller so larger battery.

simply because people (idiots) know certain component names i.e. gtx950 ok gaming card, i7 must be good etc
Platinum
Lost me at 940mx, why not stick a 6870HQ and run with the Iris Pro 580 graphics, simalar performance, better CPU performance (Quad vs Dual core) and hte GPU isnt constrained by only having 4x PCI-E lanes to the CPU.

Power draw on would be about 5 watts more with the 6870HQ but its a tider solution, PCB could be smaller so larger battery.

Its the TDP / heat envelope! Not just the power!
Is 5 watts really a big deal, with the space they save in the machine a bigger battery could be fitted.
preter_s
Its the TDP / heat envelope! Not just the power!

Heat is power consumption, unless they've managed to break conservation of energy