Asus Zenbook UX302LG / UX302 review – the GAMING 13 inch ultrabook

99 Comments

  1. Morten

    December 3, 2013 at 9:46 am

    Hi

    Great review and youtube videos.

    If you upgrade the UX302 HDD version with say a samsung 840 pro ssd, wouldn’t that be way better at handeling games than the UX301? Or does the faster read and write speed not have an effect on performance?

    • Andrei Girbea

      December 3, 2013 at 3:05 pm

      Morten, the SSD won’t have a big impact on gaming performances. games will load faster, but that’s the biggest improvement you’ll see.

      Regardless, the UX302LG delivers superior gaming performances to the UX301LA, given the dedicated graphics chip on this unit.

  2. Nabuco

    December 4, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    Hello Andrei! Thank you for another excellent, direct-to-the-point review.

    Even though I love the convenience of an ultrabook, I am always a little apprehensive about the unavoidable deterioration of the battery. Do you know if, for this particular model, a sufficiently skilled person could order a new battery from Asus and replace it when the time comes?

    Thank you!

    • Andrei Girbea

      December 5, 2013 at 2:33 pm

      In theory, yes. But I don’t know if Asus sells these types of batteries or if they will ever sell them. That’s a longer story and I should look into it and have a post about that on the site

  3. Alexander

    December 9, 2013 at 7:56 pm

    Just recieved 302lg.. The touchpad isnt working properly.

  4. Jeffrey

    December 9, 2013 at 10:12 pm

    Good review thanks, could you please tell me if the dedicated graphics is DDR3 or DDR5 ? I guess GDDR5 would be a faster clocked one. Please confirm.

    I see that though (14inch) Aspire v7-482PG-9884 has 4gb of dedicated graphics it is still ddr3 so was curious about this one.

    Thanks,
    Jeff

    • Andrei Girbea

      December 13, 2013 at 7:03 pm

      It’s GDDR3 if I remember correctly. See the HW Info picture in the Hardware and Performances section

  5. Maverick Sim

    December 13, 2013 at 9:11 pm

    Hi Andrei,
    Thank to you review, it was very helpful for me. I just wanna ask how annoying is the sharp forward lip when typing? how bad it is?

    thank you!

  6. Nick

    December 16, 2013 at 8:04 am

    Now I got hands on and installed Ubuntu Linux (14.04 daily alpha)

    As far as I can see, almost everything works out of the box, including

    – touchscreen & pad
    – sound
    – suspend/resume
    – to be tested is still microphone & webcam

    what is NOT working is currently the brightness levels, it runs only with full brightness.

    you should follow the ux301la installation notes on ubuntu forums (disable secure boot in bios in order to be able to boot from a stick), edit the grub menu line and add “nomodeset” where is “quiet splash”, otherwise screen stays black after boot).

    rgs

    Nick

  7. Alex.

    December 16, 2013 at 3:54 pm

    Hi Andrei,

    probably a stupid question:
    can the empty mSATA slot be used with let us say 128GB mSATA as an OS disk?

    BR Alex.

    • Andrei Girbea

      December 17, 2013 at 4:07 pm

      there’s only room for a half-sized mSATA drive in there. In theory, it can be used for a boot drive, but I haven’t tried it myself, so better dig though the forums for more details

  8. Nike

    December 24, 2013 at 3:24 pm

    Hi;

    SSD drive, graphics card and RAM

    Can be upgraded later?

    I can use, the display card alternatives do I have?

    Thanks

  9. Nike

    December 24, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    Hello
    * Later Graphic Card, SSD and RAM installed Does?
    * For the graphics card, different alternatives do I have?
    * These changes disrupt Does Warranty?
    Thanks

    • Alan K. Chan

      January 7, 2014 at 4:44 pm

      Um, it's a laptop. Graphics is integrated so you'll want to look at a different laptop if you want a different video card. If you really want the flexibility of swapping out graphics cards, you'll want to buy a desktop computer with PCIe x16 slots instead. Very few laptops allow you to change out the video card. And yes, traditionally, opening up your laptop and swapping out parts voids their warranty. There's a reason why they use torx screws to discourage the average user from opening up the laptop.

  10. wathando mughandira

    December 26, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    Well, I got this Asus model from Best Buy, San Diego, CA. After a few days it just shut down and could not start again. So I checked on the internet and I was told to unscrew the back with 11 screws using TORx screwdrivers and disconnet battery from main board and connect it to the main. It switched back on. Now the annoying thing is this keeps happening every week!!! Why? I’m about to let it go!

    • Alan K. Chan

      January 7, 2014 at 4:46 pm

      Was this on the UX302LA or the UX302LG model? As far as I know, if you want the UX302LG laptop in the US, it has to be imported from another country like Canada while the UX302LA is available widely including at Best Buy.

  11. e11world

    January 9, 2014 at 6:25 pm

    I would love to get something like this but with a screen that turns into a tablet. If anyone knows of such a device please let me know. I’ve done so much research already.

  12. Andrew

    January 19, 2014 at 9:47 am

    Hi Andrei,
    Thanks for the review. I’d really like to get the 301 but finances don’t allow so I was wondering what my options are to increase the RAM of the 302? can I only increase it from 6 to 8 gb or can I install a ‘larger’ chip? Can you suggest a chip?
    Also, I don’t mind the HDD/SSD setup but if I was to go to a full SSD system can you also suggest a good unit? I’d be interested in something around the 500gb range.
    thanks for your time

    • Andrei Girbea

      January 19, 2014 at 4:18 pm

      Hey Andrew, I haven’t upgraded it myself, so can’t really suggest any good units. Head over to the forums on notebookreview.com, you’ll surely find there a few others who upgraded their units and can help with specific modules.

      As for the RAM, I don’t think you can get 8 GB on the UX302. Either 2, 6 or 10, since it comes with 2 GB soldered and you can then add either a 4 GB or and 8 GB extra stick

      • Andrew

        January 19, 2014 at 10:41 pm

        Ok, thanks for that information, I’ll go checkout notebook review!

  13. Nick Constantino

    January 21, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    Hi Andrei,

    Thanks for the post!

    Do you know where I could buy the ASUS UX302LG in C4014 config with an english(US keyboard is fine) keyboard for delivery to the UK?

    Asus UK are only stocking the LA and I can only one company in Germany willing to send but they only stock German layouts.

    Many thanks

    Nick

  14. Maverick

    January 24, 2014 at 2:35 am

    Hi Andrei
    what do you mean by this “As for temperatures, nor the hardware inside or the laptop’s body get annoyingly hot in any conditions, not even when running games for hours.”

    does it get hot? or it doesn’t get hot? its confusing me. thank you Andrei!

  15. Sourav

    January 26, 2014 at 11:39 am

    Is it avilable in india? where can I get it and at what price?

  16. angry reader

    January 28, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    Just bought the UX302LA.

    Seriously disappointed!!

    I actually purchased based on your review stating battery life of 6-7 hours. However it is more like 3-4 hours with standard use as you describe! I feel cheated and will not be reading your reviews any longer.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 4, 2014 at 3:42 pm

      which version of the UX302LA did you purchase? And how exactly are you using it (which power mode, level of screen brightness). I’m sorry if I misguided you in any way, but I hope you understand that these battery life expectations vary on a lot of factors…

      • angry reader

        February 27, 2014 at 1:28 pm

        Of course battery life will vary depending on usage however even if i leave it on the desk doing nothing but displaying the desktop at 50% brightness i do not get 7 hours. i get 5.2.

        Also your complimentary remarks about the keyboard and trackpad are seriously erroneous. This keyboard is absolutely terrible. The worst i have ever owned. Feels very cheap. The switch mechanism underneath the keys is poor quality. The left shift key on mine has so much x/y movement that occasionally i press it and it gets stuck on the metal. The top arrow key is permanently depressed on one model i received (i went through 4 models before settling on the least defective one i could find). Even worse, the whole keyboard is bulging! Everything from around the F key is lifted up (keys and metal frame around keys). From the F key to the enter key there is about 4-5mm height difference. That is serious keyboard bulge and all 4 i received has this defect!!!

        Other defects include the left front foot floating off the desk and the feet on the monitor not touching the desk evenly when opened.

        A very poor product not living up to the class standard it tries to fit itself into. I really wanted to like this system but its is so full of flaws I am disappointed they were not adequately reported in your review.

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 28, 2014 at 10:13 am

        I’m not usually publishing reviews from someone who DOES NOT GIVE A PROPER NAME AND EMAIL. I will make an exception for now, but please come back and put a name to what you’re saying. I’m not saying you’re wrong and I’m sry for your experience, but I usually don’t trust anonymous reviews.

      • angry reader

        February 28, 2014 at 12:05 pm

        My real name is Edmund Lithgow but that is irrelevant. You have my IP as well. Thats enough id.

        Dont trust that what i am saying? Why should we trust what you are saying? Does Asus compensate you for reviews? I am just trying to warn others that read your glowing review and may be mislead. There is a thread on notebook review that has a lot of real world comments from actual owners. forum.notebookreview.com/asus/734016-asus-ux302-36.html
        If you read through it you will find that:
        -they frequently mention a battery life lower than achieved in your review.
        -they frequently mention a warped keyboard and other keyboard defects.

        So next time maybe you can do a better review. or risk losing readers.

        Thanks for your time.

        Im out!

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 1, 2014 at 9:56 pm

        Well, one thing is for sure: Asus does not pay me anything for this reviews. In fact, no company does. that’s not the point.

        I did not argue about what you said, I just don’t like anonymous comments. And don’t trust them. that’s all.

        As for the keyboard/battery, I do my best to write as thorough reviews as possible, based on the product I got to test. While the battery life figures are really subjective, I didn’t find the keyboard that bad. Again, that’s just my opinion, based on all the other laptops I’ve ever tried. It’s not the best keyboard out there, that’s for sure, but it’s clearly not as bad.

        Bottom point, I really appreciate the fact that you took your time and posted this feedback. And I thank you for that. Hopefully the other readers will find it useful.

      • alit putra

        March 27, 2014 at 3:27 pm

        Why you dont test it before you buy it ?
        Actualy, iam trust this review. Why ?
        Becouse this site almost complate review than other review site

        Sorry when iam wrong say english league :)

      • Toni Sundqvist

        March 3, 2014 at 8:58 am

        Guess I’m a bit late to the party, but reading this I instantly remembered that I had read about the battery life issue before in another review.
        I do not own this laptop myself so I cannot really confirm this, but this review suggested that the turning off the “screen backlight management system” in the power options, they got approximately two more hours of battery life. Hope that might help.
        Review: trustedreviews.com/asus-zenbook-ux302_Laptop_review

        I don’t think Mike should be blamed for making an honest analysis on a model he receives. For a complete picture you cannot rely on only one review alone and make a purchase thinking you’ll know exactly what you get.

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 3, 2014 at 10:33 pm

        Hmm, thanks for pointing that. I DID turn Auto-brightness OFF on the laptop for this review. In fact, that’s something I do with every laptop I ever test. I will add this small update to the review.

      • Walter Penfield

        March 8, 2014 at 8:07 pm

        I have owned this laptop for about a month now, and can say that I can’t agree less with this reader.

        I admit I only tried one out other than the one I own, but both keyboard were very reasonable. Although I dislike chiclet style keyboards in general, this one functions well, has less give than some HP laptops I tried, and I have had no problems with movement.

        I’m not the world’s greatest fan of the trackpad, but it does work well, just not as well as the Macbook trackpads, which I knew before I even started looking into the laptop.

        Additionally, the overall build quality is top notch, with no pixel problems and good fit and finish.

        As a final note, my battery life expectancy has run between 5 and 6.5 hours with lower intensity usage (word processor/pdf/excel, occasional web browsing), with the higher battery life coming with a low screen brightness and wifi mostly off.

        Overall I’ve been impressed. And I must thank Andrei for the sensible review.

    • kimmy

      March 2, 2014 at 3:48 pm

      his review was on the ux302lg not the ux302la
      the ux302la is the cheaper version

  17. Jacob

    February 2, 2014 at 9:09 pm

    Can the ux302 be upgraded to 20gb of ram if you use a 16gb ram card like this one?
    amazon.com/Corsair-Channel-SODIMM-Memory-CMSO16GX3M2A1333C9/dp/B006DI9PG8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_e_1

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 4, 2014 at 3:58 pm

      no. read Hardware section of the review and you’ll see that this laptop can only take an up to 8 GB DIMM in the only available slot, for a total of 10 GBs. You could put a bigger module in there, but best case scenario, only 8 GBs will be usable, and worst case scenario, it won’t work at all

  18. pepelepe

    February 28, 2014 at 12:14 am

    Only below model is available in my country:
    Zenbook UX302LG-C4007H – Intel Core i7-4500U, Nvidia 730M, 750 GB HDD + 16 GB SSD, 8 GB RAM

    What if I replace 16gb cache memory (which is Sandisk U110 mSATA micro) with a greater capacity mSATA micro of the same brand, such as Sandisk U110 128gb? Is it possible then to install Windows onto the SSD and use 750gb HDD as storage only?

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 28, 2014 at 10:19 am

      I haven’t tried doing it myself, so can’t comment on that. Best thing you can do is head to the Owner’s Lounge at forum.notebookreview.com and ask if others have done it. It it’s possible, others sure did it already. Or at least tried

  19. Ryan

    February 28, 2014 at 6:00 am

    I bought a UX302LG after reading your review. My product came with 8GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, and GT730M Dedicated Graphics. It is a beautiful laptop, but my only problem with it is battery life. On your review you said it survived from 6.5 to 7 hours, but on my computer I struggle to get to 5 hours with brightness at 50% and wi-fi on. Is there a possible reason for this, and is there anything I can do to increase battery life on my computer?

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 28, 2014 at 10:22 am

      The entire battery life thing is very subjective. Yes, with my usage scenario, the UX302LG lasted 6-7 hours. Maybe you’re running more videos or other things that put the CPU and graphics to work? As long as you have the latest BIOS and Power4Gear version, I don’t think there’s anything else you can do right now. But I’ll look into it

      • Garion

        March 23, 2014 at 9:01 am

        I’m using the laptop, battery lasted more than 6 hours with default settings however I’m only having documents (Microsoft word)and IE open.

  20. trixo

    March 1, 2014 at 12:25 am

    Here is a good hint about batterie life : trustedreviews.com/asus-zenbook-ux302_Laptop_review

    That confort both battery life experience.

    Enjoy

  21. Kevin

    March 2, 2014 at 11:53 pm

    Hi! just wanted to say I found your review to be very thorough and helpful. I’m a senior about to go to college next year and i’m trying to find the most appropriate ultrabook for college. aside from the usual word editing and web browsing I was hoping to get a laptop that could handle some light gaming ex: counter strike, battlefront 2, minecraft, half-life 2 etc. while I do not need to run games like bioshock infinite and skyrim, i still want to get decent framerates and preformance. so my question is, will i be able to get what i need through the standard UX301la (which i prefer aesthetically) or should I look into getting the UX302lg. thank you! (btw im in the us so im not sure is the 302lg is even available yet?)

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 3, 2014 at 10:43 pm

      Hey Kevin. Well, as long as you’re OK with running those games in 13 x 7 with medium details, you should get playable frame-rates with any Intel HD 4400 equipped ultrabook. I did run a couple of games on the Sony Vaio Duo 13 with that kind of graphics, so you might want to have a look at the review here on the site.

      So, to answer your question, yes, the UX301LA (base version, with the COre i5-4200U CPU) should run those games OK. However, if you want to run them on native FHD resolution or need higher levels of details, you should look at someting with some sort of dedicated graphics, or even the Core i7-4558U version of the UX301LA

      • Kevin

        March 5, 2014 at 2:04 am

        Thank you very much!

  22. Ryan

    March 6, 2014 at 9:10 pm

    Thank you for that information on how to elongate battery life. Mine now lasts for 10 hours! And to what I said before, this is an absolutely beautiful laptop. The body feels sturdy and strong and the aluminium finish is beautiful, the keypad is perfect and has the right amount or travel, the touchpad is so good, with very little grip, I now use it instead of a mouse.The screen is also beautiful. And now I can comment on battery life. 10 hours! Who needs more than that? I highly recommend this laptop. (As long as you can afford it)I even believe the troubles you have with it are superficial. The sharp edge is not really that bad, and for the “delete key” On button, have a look at the Mac Book Pro. Where is their on button? Overall, this laptop really has almost no flaws. I have even done some CAD work on it, and the NVIDIA graphics card is the perfect tool for this level of detail. Thank you so much for the review on this laptop, I wouldn’t have wanted anything else.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 7, 2014 at 10:17 am

      Hey Ryan, what exactly did you do to make it last 10 hours on a charge? Could you elaborate for a bit? thanks

      • Ryan

        March 7, 2014 at 9:06 pm

        Hey Andrei, I got my battery life to last like it did through a few means; firstly I turned off the auto brightness, and then turned off backlit keyboard. I also turned down the brightness on my screen to about 30%, as there is no real difference! Finally, I went through my settings, and found areas I could turn off, (Such as bluetooth). Hope this helps!

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 10, 2014 at 3:35 pm

        Thanks, Ryan!

      • Anthony E.

        June 5, 2014 at 7:24 pm

        I have my settings similar to Ryan, and I can do two full library sessions and still have about 20 percent battery left over. My library sessions involve writing code and sometimes booting up the Android emulator and they last 5 hours (2 x 5h sessions = 10 hours.)

        I have gone days with less than that time though, that’s usually if I put it in high performance mode for whatever reason. And on those days, I get at least 5 hours before needing to plug it in.

        Another thing that may help, that most people overlook, is to FOLLOW THE MANUFACTURER’S INSTRUCTIONS WHEN PERFORMING THE INITIAL CHARGE OF THE BATTERY!

        P.S. You handled yourself really well with “Angry Reader” Andrei. And, thanks for the review. This website was instrumental in helping me decide on a new laptop when I made the UX302LG purchase in February. Keep up the great work!

      • Andrei Girbea

        June 5, 2014 at 8:38 pm

        10 hours really sounds awesome and it’s more than I ever got with this machine. I’d reckon you turn the AC Off, dim down the screen, turn OFF keyboard illumination and keep it on the Power Saving mode for this result?

        As for the PS, I’d reckon there will always be some dissatisfied customers, each manufacturer should do their best to fix their problems. I empathize with them, but I just don’t think posting angry Anonymous comments on the Internet solves anything. And I’m glad my articles helped you ;)

  23. Josh

    March 11, 2014 at 10:36 pm

    Dear Andrei

    I’ve been looking to purchase the UX302LG in the US but for the life of me cannot find a retailer that sells the model with the discrete graphics card…and the “show me discounts” link only take me to the Amazon page with UX301 model. Please help..?

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 12, 2014 at 11:49 am

      Sry Josh, I have no contacts with Asus US and can’t say if they will or not bring the discrete option version over there. Best thing you could do is contact Asus North America or some of the bigger shops and ask about it

  24. Ryan

    March 12, 2014 at 8:48 am

    I have had my UX302LG for about a month now, and it is a brilliant laptop. Annoyingly, my space-bar has started to squeak when pressed on the right hand side. Does anyone know why this would do this, as it is really annoying. Can anyone help with a solution to this problem?

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 12, 2014 at 11:51 am

      I encountered the same annoying issue with my test model. Did not find any solution for it, at the time

  25. Kevin

    March 13, 2014 at 5:07 am

    Hey Andrei,

    I’ve been reading a lot about gaming ultrabooks lately. I am currently torn on whether I should try to find a UX302LG, or another very good contender that I found: Aspire V7-482PG-9642.

    I am a college undergrad and I’m not sure whether it’s worth to pay the 400$ difference for what seem to be very similar computers on paper. Perhaps you have had the chance to test them both out. Thanks.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 13, 2014 at 10:46 am

      I haven’t thoroughly tested the V7, but it is for one bulkier than the UX302LG and probably not as carefully built either. I’ve read a few reviews and many were complaining about the trackpad and keyboard. The cooling system is another concern of mine, but you should look into more reviews and see if that’s a problem.

      On the other hand, the V7 is more powerful than the UX302LG (in terms of graphics) and much cheaper. And the UX302LG has some issues of its own. Somy buyers reported clunky keyboard and poor wi-fi performances.

      So, my advice, try to read some USER reviews, from those who actually bought and used these products for more than a week, like most reviewers get to do. those should help you find the potential hidden issues. Expect to find mostly negative aspects in those reviews, but that’s OK, for the positive ones you can read the spec sheets :P And then device based on those pros and cons for each side

  26. Ivan

    March 13, 2014 at 9:28 am

    Hey, I bought this model a week back and I upgraded it to Samsung 840 Evo 500gb and 10gb of ram. I’ve tried playing games on it, pretty darn good for such a slim laptop! I even overclock the GT730m memory to +200, now even able to play Diablo 3 at 1080p with low settings, at average 30fps.

    But the main issue, and worst is the static electric leakage while it’s plugged in! Did anyone of you guys experience this? The grounding is poorly designed imo, so those who wish to test it must be bare footed and with power adapter plugged in, try feeling across all the corners.

    PS: Found mine with dead/bright pixel, going to get it exchanged!

    Cheers!

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 13, 2014 at 10:46 am

      Yes, static leakage was present on my test unit, but I can’t say it bothered me that much

  27. FaqyaK

    March 13, 2014 at 9:40 am

    Salut, super tare acest ultrabook :D crezi ca se merita sa il recomanzi pentru noi romanii?

  28. trixo

    March 14, 2014 at 10:55 am

    Hey,

    Good to read it can last that long! I’m still reading test, reviews and users comments but I found some opposite spec regarding the max ram, is it 8, 10 or 12gb the real max size? (4+4gb dual chan mode,2+8gb single chan mode or 4+8 single mode )
    I guess the dual chan config must be the most efficient, didn’t you?
    I’m still looking for a ux302lg models list as I’m looking into small hdd with 4gb ram soldered for the lowest price I can found, any links?
    Regarding ssd upgrade does it improves battery life that much?

    Thanks

  29. Ryan

    March 15, 2014 at 10:58 pm

    Hey Ivan, yes I have found that the UX302LG does create static when the charger is touched to the machine, but I don’t really find that a problem. More of a problem for me is the squeaky space-bar and three dead Pixels on my screen. A part from that, I see no problem with it. I even managed to get the battery life up to 13 hours with Wi-Fi off!

  30. Ryan

    March 17, 2014 at 9:51 am

    I also found my laptop with three dead pixels. I do not want it to get replaced, but with a squeaky task bar I might have no choice. As I need my laptop regularly, I am not sure when I will have time to do it.

  31. Ryan

    March 18, 2014 at 6:12 am

    I’m sending my laptop to get replaced tomorrow. I would rather not, as I need it, but I think that if I spend that much on a laptop, I want it to be perfect. Apart from these minor blemishes, it is perfect. A beautiful laptop. :)

  32. Sepehr

    March 20, 2014 at 4:45 am

    Hi
    I have bought ux302LG with 750GB HDD and 16GB SSD. I want to upgrade it with 128GB SSD but my question is after I change the storage drive can i use the 16GB SSD or not?
    thanks

    • Ryan

      March 21, 2014 at 1:01 am

      Hey Sepehr,
      I had my Zenbook UX302LG upgraded from 750GB HDD to 256GB SSD. My 16GB SSD still works, as it is soldered onto the motherboard.
      Does this help?

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 21, 2014 at 8:43 am

        Ryan, can you access that small SSD as a regular drive in Windows? And are you sure it’s soldered? I was under the impression that it’s not and is placed in what was that spare slot next to the cooler, on my test unit (3rd picture in the section where i showcase the internal configuration).

      • Sepehr

        March 21, 2014 at 4:41 pm

        Hey Ryan,
        thanks for your answer, I found that asus made that 16GB SSD an OEM partition, what is OEM partition?
        and can I make a single drive with my SSD and the 16GB soldered SSD(128+16GB)?
        thanks

  33. Ryan

    March 21, 2014 at 10:59 pm

    Hey guys, yes I was under the impression that the 16GB was soldered onto the motherboard in my model, but I am currently unable to check, as it is off at Asus getting the Dead Pixels fixed on the screen. As for the OEM, I think this is just recovery hardware. Another note, the people at Asus said that the squeaky space-bar on my model was normal, and it happened in all laptops. BS! I have never had a laptop with a squeaky space-bar before! What do you guys think?

  34. Ryan

    May 10, 2014 at 12:58 am

    Just to clear up some confusion, here are some test results done on my UX302LG
    Full Machine Test
    * System Information
    SN: DCN0CY15296950F
    WTP Version : 2.5.1 for NB
    Model Name : UX302LG
    OS Ver : Windows 8 Professional
    BIOS Ver : UX302LG.207
    CPU Type : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz
    CPU Speed : 1800 MHz
    CPU TEMP : 41 C
    Fan Speed : 0 RPM
    Memory Manufacturer : Micron
    Memory Size : 4096 MB
    Memory Manufacturer :
    Memory Size : 4096 MB
    Video Memory Size : 4020 MB
    Battery Designed : 4429 mAh
    Battery Full : 4097 mAh
    Battery Cur : 3688 mAh
    Battery CycleCount : 41 times
    Battery Cap : 90 %
    Battery STAT : charging
    HDD Model : Samsung SSD 840 PRO Series
    HDD Size : 238 GB
    HDD Model : SanDisk SSD U110 16GB
    HDD Size : 14 GB
    LAN MAC :
    UUID : bd7713379dfd5a50c7c7bcee7b292b73
    USB 2.0 : Kingmax USB2.0 FlashDisk USB Device
    USB 2.0 : USB 2.0 Flash Disk USB Device
    USB 2.0 : SanDisk Cruzer Switch USB Device
    Your OS is activated.
    Log folder: C:\Users\User\Desktop

  35. Carene

    June 1, 2014 at 3:35 pm

    Which laptop will make a better laptop for university students? A MacBook Air 13 inch or a UX302LG ultra book?

    • Andrei Girbea

      June 1, 2014 at 6:10 pm

      Do you need the dedicated graphics in the UX302LG? Are you planning in running games? If yes, then go with the Zenbook. If not, consider the MBA 13 or other options

    • Ryan

      June 1, 2014 at 9:28 pm

      Hey Carene,
      I am a university student studying Architecture, and for what I am studying, my UX302LG is perfect. It is not too heavy, and the battery life lasts all day. I guess it depends on the graphics, and what you are studying. For Architecture, the NVIDIA GT 730M graphics are perfect for CAD software, but if you don’t need graphics performance, maybe have a look at the Zenbook UX301, the Toshiba Kirabook or Sony’s VAIO pro? They are all good options, and all similar to the UX302LG. Hope I can help!

  36. Eric

    July 1, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    I’ve been trying really hard to find the UX302LG online, but I’m not sure which countries are selling it. Australia and the U.S. don’t carry it. Canada does, but it’s only available in store in the lowest end model(canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=710_577_1044&item_id=065230).

    I’m looking for the top end model with the 256GB SSD from a website that ships internationally.

    Thanks!

    • Andrei Girbea

      July 2, 2014 at 10:44 am

      The UX302LG has been discontinued from what I know. You might want to have a look at the UX303LN though, which is more-or-less its successor.

  37. Petter

    July 30, 2014 at 5:30 pm

    Has the UX301LA been discontinued aswell?

    How much better battery in your opinion does the 301 have over the 303?

    • Andrei Girbea

      July 31, 2014 at 9:49 am

      The UX301LA is still available in shops but I don’t know if it’s still manufactured or not. It probably is though, as Asus has no proper competitor for it.

  38. Petter

    July 31, 2014 at 3:18 pm

    Okay, thats what I figured too.

    Did you notice any battery differences between the 302, the 301 and the 303? In the reviews, you seem to state similar battery lifes, eg. 5 to 6 hours and such. But seeing as the UX301LA has a 6cell battery, it should last longer, right?

  39. satego

    September 3, 2014 at 12:45 pm

    Anyone tested / experienced the Game: World of Tanks on this Ultrsbook with the GT730M ? Somehow possible to play it at least on low settings ?

    • satego

      September 6, 2014 at 6:15 pm

      So I got my UX302LG now – and World of Tanks is running very nicely at 1920×1080 with low Settings and Vsync stable at 60 FPS – This Ultrabook is really a Masterpeice !

  40. Dinesh

    December 30, 2014 at 4:54 pm

    I was actually looking at UX303LN initially but i can’t accept the colours being that bad. Is UX302 free of that issue or it is similar?

  41. Rino Rivera

    March 25, 2015 at 7:34 am

    Good Day Sir Andrei,

    I found your zenbook reviews very great & well detailed. Can I please ask you a favor? Which zenbook can you recommend for me :

    Zenbook UX301
    Zenbook UX302LA/LG
    Zenbook UX303LN

    I will be using it for stuffs like web surfing, downloading/watching movies, ms office works, and some little gaming. :) Hoping for your reply.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 25, 2015 at 11:55 am

      I’d look at the UX303LA with BRoadwell hardware, that should offer the best for the buck. If you need better gaming abilities, aim for the UX302LG or the UX303LN

  42. eric

    March 31, 2015 at 3:36 am

    Hello,

    I was just wondering if anyone has experienced USB power issues with the UX302LG’s two left USB ports? It seems that I can only use the one USB port on the right side with reliable results e.g. if I use the Ethernet adapter in either of the two left USB ports, the adapter constantly blinks on and then off, and Windows makes the connect disconnect chime. When I was in Taiwan last fall, I decided to go to the source and bring it to an ASUS tech center and the technician told me that due to the ultra thin design of the unit, the USB ports to the left are further away from the power source and therefore cannot maintain consistent power. He recommended that I use the one USB port on the right of the machine for anything that requires consistent power. This seems a bit odd and a bit of a letdown considering how expensive this unit was. I was wondering if anyone else had the same problem?

  43. Simone

    June 7, 2015 at 8:48 pm

    Hello all! I would like to post my review of this laptop and let you all kmow my experience and impressions…

    I bought this laptop in January 2014 at a local shop after reading this same review. It was priced 6000SAR which is around 1200EUR at the time.

    After just 48h I started having WiFi issues, the type of issues that don’t allow you to connect to any of the visible SSIDs near you. I started updating the impossible but it seemed to happen randomly.

    After a few weeks later I noticed the video card (nvidia) was not working properly so I simply decided to reformat and start from a fresh OS and driver install. Video card fixed but the WiFi remained. I solved the WiFi by buying a nano WiFi USB card which now blocks one of my Three available USB ports.

    A few months after I started noticing that the PC one morning stopped booting (black screen with apparently power led bootlooping?) And without thinking to much I simply opened the notebook and removed the battery and replaced it. PC restarted normally.. A few days later again the same issue so I start reading around solutions that simply said to disconnect the battery and reconnect! Seriously???? I mean I spend 1.2k on a notebook that I need to open once a week just to make it boot???? Is this normal for Asus to release such a piece of crap to the market?

    Thinking that I though Asus was one of the best notebook manufacturers around.. I started loving it back in 2005 but this last experience really broke all the positive impressions I had of them.. In March 2014 I also bought for the office a 600$ Lenovo (flex 14) which believe it or not seems to be at least three order of magnitude better than this piece of poop I am using at home.. Really disappointed! What a disaster! I still feel mad for this purchase even though more than a year has past.

    • Simone

      June 7, 2015 at 8:52 pm

      Not to mention I updated the Bios from 209 to 210 and guess what the PC started bootlooping directly into the Bios.. In the bios in the boot menu there where no more options for boot even though in the sata configuration panel I could see the HDD and sdd… I again had to open the pc , remove the HDD and sdd and boot the PC without them installed and reinstall them back in and reboot to fix this issue! What a joke!!!!!

    • Wathando Mughandira

      June 8, 2015 at 12:52 pm

      I also bought asus zenbook UX302L from best buy in November 2013 in San Diego, CA. The laptop just doesnt boot at times and one has to open the back with TORx screws and disconnect battery from the main motherboad and reconnect it. This keeps happening every fortnight or so and I am very dissapointed with Asus and I do not think I will buy their laptops ever again coz I spent a fortune on this laptop. The challenge is I live in Africa and could not return it hence just had to find the TORx screw drivers and move with them wherever I go with the Zenbook. I really dont understand why these faulty laptops could be allowed to go on the market. Whilst in the USA the same thing happened when i had just bought it so naturally I went to best buy and exchanged it. The one i got has given me same problems ever since.

  44. Atal Wardak

    July 25, 2016 at 6:47 am

    Hi,
    I have 500GB HDD and 16 GB SSD. so I want to upgrade both of them to larger size SSD.

    Anyone can tell me how larger SSD can be compatible with this PC?
    And why they created two place for storage?

    • Andrei Girbea

      July 26, 2016 at 2:56 pm

      You’ll have to replace the HDD with a compatible 2.5″ SSD. That would make the 16 GB caching SSD obsolete, but it’s the only way to get a large SSD on this laptop

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *