Tiger Lake arrives
I know this is a review of an ASUS notebook but I have to talk about Intel. Usually, when Intel releases a new processor, there’s whoops of cheer and champagne popping. But this time, there’s a sense of gloom and doom in the air. Intel is in trouble and everything feels somewhat ominous. Mostly this is because despite its best efforts, Intel has confirmed that its 7nm chip won’t be ready until 2022 at the earliest. This won’t help when rivals AMD already has an established line of 7nm processors which are garnering rave reviews.
Tiger Lake is the response to all this. It’s still built on a 10nm process (like its predecessor Ice Lake) but with enhancements that Intel claims will deliver performance and efficiency gains that are comparable to that of a full node transition. It also boasts Intel’s new Xe graphics, which the company is asserting to be better than the competition. All very bold claims.
Happily, we have just received ASUS’ new ZenBook 14 Ultralight. This is ASUS’ new premium 14-inch ultraportable notebook and it has some very noteworthy features. Let's take a closer look at it now.
Design, Specs, and Features
The name probably tells you all you need to know. The ZenBook 14 Ultralight is the ultraportable model of ASUS’ new lineup of Tiger Lake notebooks. Visually, it’s almost impossible to distinguish the new ZenBook 14 Ultralight from earlier ZenBook models. They all look about the same and have roughly the same dimensions.
The construction of the ZenBook 14 Ultralight, however, is entirely different because it’s made out of magnesium-lithium alloy. This has enabled ASUS to bring the weight of its mainstream 14-inch ZenBook down to just 995g, making this one of the lightest 14-inch notebooks in the market.
Since notebooks that are made out of magnesium tend to feel a little plasticky, ASUS puts the ZenBook 14 Ultralight through a micro-arc oxidation process to create a layer of ceramic over the chassis. Primarily, this gives the chassis greater hardness and resistance to oxidation and corrosion but it also helps make it feel less plastic. Overall, this notebook feels sturdy and well put together.
Despite a thickness of just 14.9mm, ASUS has managed to cram a full-size HDMI 2.0 port as well as USB-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 port into the ZenBook 14 Ultralight. It also has two USB-C ports that support Thunderbolt 4 and a microSD card reader. Fortunately, there’s no DC-in jack. You can charge and power the notebook using one of the two USB-C ports. And fear not, there's a 3.5mm audio jack. On the wireless connectivity front, you have support for Wi-Fi 6 as well as Bluetooth 5.0.
The display measures 14 inches diagonally across and it's Full-HD in resolution. It isn't a touchscreen though. Also, it has a matte finish, which is quite uncommon to see. While it does mean that it looks less vibrant, the upside is that it is less prone to glare and reflection. Overall, it's by no means the best display in its class but it's decent enough.
The speakers are quite remarkable. Its gets quite loud and it's clear even at full volume though there's little palpable sense of bass. One feature that ASUS wants to highlight is ClearVoice which uses AI to nullify environmental noise when you are speaking on a conference call. This is enabled using the MyASUS app and can be useful if you are using a cheap microphone or headset.
Here are the key specs of the ZenBook 14 Ultralight:
- Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor
- 16GB RAM
- 1TB SSD
- NVIDIA GeForce MX450 2GB GDDR6 discrete graphics
It’s a formidable combination of the latest mobile CPU and GPU from Intel and NVIDIA respectively for ultraportable notebooks. ASUS has also thoughtfully equipped the notebook with a generous amount of memory and storage.
Keyboard and trackpad
The keyboard and trackpad will feel familiar to anyone who has used a recent ZenBook. One nice design feature of the newer ZenBooks is ErgoLift, which uses the display cover as a prop to gently lift the notebook by a couple of degrees. This creates a tilt making it more pleasant to type and also improves ventilation under the chassis.
The keys are well-sized and have a nice weight to them (though too light for my liking) and a rather surprising amount of travel. ASUS claims 1.4mm of verticality and it feels about right. The layout is mostly sensible but users will need to get used to the extra column on the right for the navigational keys. I kept hitting Home when I wanted to hit Backspace. Like the ZenBook 14 UX425, the ZenBook 14 Ultralight also has some special shortcut keys in the function row.
The trackpad measures 10.5cm across and 6.3cm from top to bottom, which is slightly less wide than the older ZenBooks. Thanks to a glass top layer and Windows Precision drivers, it feels smooth and responsive but if I want to nitpick, I’d say there’s some haziness to it and it doesn’t feel quite as accurate as the best trackpads that I have used.
It features ASUS NumberPad 2.0 technology so it can double up as a number pad. Even when activated, the trackpad is mostly intelligent enough to know when you are trying to use the number pad feature and when you are trying to use it to navigate and click. Depending on how comfortable you are with it, this feature can be handy especially if you need to work extensively with spreadsheets or if you have to do heavy calculations. Nothing beats a physical set of keys, but in lieu of space on a compact notebook, this is a unique option that hasn't been replicated by other brands.
Benchmarking the notebook
The ZenBook 14 Ultralight is powered by Intel's new Tiger Lake Core i7-1165G7 processor and NVIDIA's GeForce MX450 graphics. We will be looking at closely at how it performs against other ZenBooks like the ZenBook 14 UX434 because that has a 10th generation Comet Lake processor with NVIDIA GeForce MX250 discrete graphics. It will also be interesting to see how it performs against the ZenBook 14 UX425 which has an Ice Lake processor and also the ZenBook 14 UM425 which is powered by a Ryzen 4000 processor.
| Model | ASUS ZenBook 14 Ultralight UX435EGL | ASUS ZenBook 14 UX425 | ASUS ZenBook 14 UX434 | ASUS ZenBook 14 UM425 | Huawei MateBook 13 | HP Spectre x360 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 14-inch, Full-HD | 14-inch, Full-HD | 14-inch, Full-HD | 14-inch, Full-HD | 13-inch, 2K | 13-inch, Full-HD |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1165G7 | Intel Core i7-1065G7 | Intel Core i7-10510U | AMD Ryzen 7 4700U | Intel Core i5-10210U | Intel Core i7-1065G7 |
| Memory | 16GB | 8GB | 16GB | 8GB | 16GB | 16GB |
| Storage | 1TB SSD | 1TB SSD | 1TB SSD | 1TB | 512GB | 1TB SSD |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce MX450 | Intel Iris Plus Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce MX250 | Radeon RX Vega 7 | NVIDIA GeForce MX250 | Intel Iris Plus Graphics |
| Price | S$2,398 | S$1,698 | S$2,098 | S$1,598 | S$1,598 | S$2,899 |
Performance analysis
Intel made big performance claims when it unveiled Tiger Lake and the results here were decent. On PCMark 10, the ZenBook 14 Ultralight recorded the highest scores we have seen yet on a 13 to 14-inch ultraportable notebook. WebXPRT 3 scores were the highest we have seen yet too. And on Cinebench R20, the ZenBook 14 Ultralight impressed with its single-core numbers. Multi-core score was still outclassed by the ZenBook 14 UM425 and its Ryzen 7 4700U processor. Insofar as CPU performance is concerned, the results suggest improved single-core performance but the multi-core performance crown still lies with AMD especially for apps that can take full advantage of it.
The presence of discrete graphics usually means decent graphics performance and the GeForce MX450 didn’t disappoint. Numbers on 3DMark was decent but it where it really impressed was on Tomb Raider where it was handily the fastest performer. It achieved nearly 80fps even on the more demanding High setting. That said, thermal throttling was an issue as frame rates could dip as much as 40% after as little as just 30 minutes. What this means is that you’ll need to turn down the settings to get decent gaming mileage out of this notebook.
Overall, the ZenBook 14 Ultralight offers marked improvements in performance over older ZenBooks, particularly the ZenBook 14 UX434 which also has an Intel processor and discrete NVIDIA graphics.
Battery life
Note: Battery tests were conducted using PCMark 10's battery benchmark with display set to 100% brightness.
Battery life was quite good. Even at full brightness, it managed nearly 8 hours running productivity tasks and just over 1.5 hours of gaming. Much of this can be attributed to its fairly large 63Wh battery because if we look at power consumption figures, we can see that it hasn’t changed much when compared to the older ZenBooks. In fact, gaming power consumption is the highest we have seen yet at just over 38W. That is 13% more than the ZenBook 14 UX434 which has a GeForce MX250 GPU. The increase in graphics performance has a price to pay.
One kilo wonder
The ZenBook 14 Ultralight is arguably ASUS’ most complete ultraportable notebook yet. Build quality is commendable and it is extremely portable. Notebooks with magnesium bodies can often feel janky but the ZenBook 14 Ultralight looks and feels like a quality item. The display could be better but performance is good and mostly better than older ZenBook models. However, thermal throttling can be an issue and power consumption hasn’t improved at all.
Connectivity is well considered. This has often been the downfall of many ZenBooks – the ZenBook 14 UX434 didn’t support USB-C charging while the ZenBook 14 UX425 didn’t have a 3.5mm jack. Happily, ASUS has finally got it right with the ZenBook 14 Ultralight. The only change I would ask for is a full-size SD card slot instead of a microSD card slot.
| Model | ZenBook 14 Ultralight | ZenBook 14 UX435EG | ZenBook 14 UX425EA | ZenBook 14 UM425 | ZenBook 14 UX434 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 14-inch, Full-HD | 14-inch, Full-HD | 14-inch, Full-HD | 14-inch, Full-HD | 14-inch, Full-HD, touchscreen |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1165G7 (Tiger Lake) | Intel Core i7-1165G7 (Tiger Lake) | Intel Core i7-1065G7 (Ice Lake) | AMD Ryzen 7 4700U | Intel Core i7-10510U (Comet Lake) |
| Memory | 16GB | 16GB | 8GB | 8GB | 16GB |
| Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce MX450 | NVIDIA GeForce MX450 | Intel Iris Plus | Radeon Vega 7 | NVIDIA GeForce MX250 |
| Storage | 1TB SSD | 1TB SSD | 1TB SSD | 1TB SSD | 1TB SSD |
| Trackpad type | NumberPad 2.0 | ScreenPad 2.0 | NumberPad 2.0 | NumberPad 2.0 | ScreenPad 2.0 |
| Weight | 0.99kg | 1.19kg | 1.17kg | 1.22kg | 1.35kg |
| Price | S$2,398 | S$2,198 | S$1,698 | S$1,598 | S$1,898 |
Sadly, all this refinement comes at a price. The ZenBook 14 Ultralight is S$2,398, which makes it ASUS’ priciest ultraportable notebook by some margin. Certainly, it can be argued that it justifies its price tag and there is a good amount of evidence to support that. But the flip side of the coin is that other ZenBooks offer almost as much but for less. So the question is: how much are you willing to stretch to get what is arguably the ultimate ZenBook 14?
And if you are willing to look outside of ASUS, there’s no shortage of featherlight magnesium-bodied rivals. Acer’s Swift 5 and the Lenovo Slim Carbon 7i both have magnesium alloy chassis, weigh around 1kg, and can be spec’ed almost equivalently (the two lack discrete graphics). But most of all, they are less expensive. ASUS may have finally perfected its ZenBook but unfortunately for them, the competition hasn’t been stagnant. 2021 looks like it will be an interesting year for ultraportable notebooks.
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