Table of Contents
In this post we’re going to compare the Asus Zenbook UX301LA and the Asus Zenbook UX302LG, in their top configurations, the ones that I’ve already reviewed here on the site.
In other words, we’ll have side by side the two most powerful Asus Zenbooks available right now.
The UX301LA, or the so called Zenbook Infinity, is the sleekest of the two, comes with a higher resolution screen and a 28W Intel Core i7-4558U processor, with Intel Iris Graphics. On the other hand, the UX302LG is a bit thicker, heavier and fragile, but offers more ports and a dedicated Nvidia graphics chip.
On a first look, the two are in many ways similar. Gorilla Glass 3 covers the lids in both cases and we do have the Navi Blue versions of these two laptops here (a white UX301 is also available). However, while the UX301 is entirely dressed in blue, as the interior, the underbelly, the keyboard and the trackpad are painted in this color, the UX302 uses Blue only for the lid cover (and it’s a slightly darker blue), while the body gets a dark-gray look and the keys are black.
Video comparison
Specs compared – Zenbook UX301LA vs UX302LG
| Asus Zenbook UX301LA | Asus Zenbook UX302LG | |
| Screen | 13.3 inch, 2560 x 1440 px, IPS IGZO, touchscreen | 13.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 px, IPS, touchscreen |
| Processor | Intel Haswell Core i7-4558U | Intel Haswell Core i7-4500U |
| Video | Intel 5100 HD | Intel 4400 HD + Nvidia 730M 2GB |
| Memory | 8 GB DDR3 | 6 GB DDR3 |
| Storage | 512 GB SSD RAID 0 | 256 GB SSD |
| Connectivity | Wireless AC, Bluetooth, LAN (adapter) | Wireless AC, Bluetooth, LAN (adapter) |
| Ports | 2xUSB 3.0, SD card reader, micro HDMI, miniDP | 3xUSB 3.0, SD card reader, HDMI, miniDP/Thunderbolt (?) |
| Battery | 6 Cell 50 Wh | 3 Cell 50 Wh |
| OS | Windows 8 | Windows 8 |
| Size | 18 mm thick, including the rubber feet | 21 mm thick, including the rubber feet |
| Weight | about 1.43 kg (3.1 pounds) | about 1.5 kg (3.3 pounds) |
| Prices | this version – $2200; starts at $1399 | this version: $1600; starts at $1299 |
In fact, there’s a different choice in materials used for the body. On the UX301, the bottom and the edges are made from some sort of ceramic coated metal, while most of the interior is covered in a matte layer of glass. The UX302 settles for the more common aluminum shell, with a nice feel and texture, similar to what we’ve seen on last year’s Zenbooks.
Regardless, all these design details might not matter that much to you, as at the end of the day, both machines are beautiful. The fact that the Zenbook UX301 is slightly slimmer and lighter than its close relative might matter more though, despite the fact that the differences are small: the UX302 is about 2 mm thicker and weighs around 60 grams more.
Each is beautiful in its own way
On the other hand, the UX301 feels sturdier, tougher, as on the UX302, both the lid and the sheet of metal covering the underbelly tend to flex when grabbing the laptop. On the UX301, the bottom is solid, while the lid covers still bends when pressed.
With the larger body, the UX302 can accommodate more ports on the sides, that’s why you do get 3 USB slots on this one, a Full-size HDMI connector and what looks like a potential Thunderbolt port, based on the logo next to it. That’s not confirmed though (don’t have any Thunderbolt device around and I did not find anything about Thunderbolt in Device Manager) and it could be just a regular mini-DisplayPort (the connectors are identical) .
On the UX301 there’s only room for two USB slots, plus one micro-HDMI and one mini-DisplayPort connector. Besides that, you do get card-readers on these two, but none can fit an entire SD card (more than half remains on the outside). And in order to boost the connectivity options even further, there are USB to LAN and mini-displayport to VGA adapters included in the pack with both of these. As for the PSU, on the UX301 it is placed on the left edge, while on the UX302 is placed on the right, and personally I like this last approach better, as it leaves more spare room towards the right, where I tend to have my mouse.
Anyway, let’s move on and have a look at the interiors. Except for the choice in materials, there’s a similar layout on both of these, with the same keyboard arrangement and the trackpad in the middle. On the UX302 you do get a small status LED in the top right corner, while on the UX301 you don’t.
Speaking about similarities though, the screen frames and hinges are also identical on the two laptops, which are quite well balanced and you can easily lift up the screen with just a single hand, while the body stays nicely in place. The two hinges found one on each side of the laptops are narrow, but sturdy and firm, and the the two Zenbooks both lift on the small feet on the bottom of the lid-covers when leaning the displays towards the back, which allows a better airflow towards the cooling grills on the bottom. The cooling systems are in fact similar as well, with the air being sucked from the bottom and then pushed through the metallic mesh between the two hinges, towards the user and towards the screen.
Screens
Regardless, let’s turn our attention on those two screens. We have 13 inch touchscreens covered by Gorilla Glass 3 on both of these. However, most UX301 versions are equipped with a 2560 x 1440 px IPS IGZO panel, while on the UX302 we have the more common 1920 x 1080 px IPS panel, which is also available on the UX301, but only for the cheapest models.
The latter is clearly not bad, offering good brightness levels and contrast, plus rich and saturated colors. The IGZO panel though is sharper and brighter. The colors are not as saturated as on the IPS panel found on the UX302 (richer yellows and oranges on this one), at least in my opinion. On top of that, there’s none of that light bleeding with this panel, something still present on the UX302’s display and something I’ve encountered on all past Zenbooks I’ve ever tested.
All in all, both laptops offer high-quality displays and you’ll be more than happy with either of them, but the UX301 does have an edge over the UX302 here. On the other hand, the higher density panel can be problematic, given Windows 8’s inability to scale up fonts and content properly, which means that occasionally, you’ll struggle with tiny interface elements.
Keyboard and trackpad
But how about the keyboards? They are identical on the two laptops, with minimal differences in terms of colors and the coating on top of each keys, which is slightly softer on the UX301. That aside, you get the same feedback, backlighting system and layout, with the small arrow keys and the Power Button integrated in the top right corner. Overall though, I was satisfied with these keyboards, despite the rather shallow travel and the fact that the space key is annoyingly squeeky on both of them. Hear for yourselves.
The clickpads are good enough as well, large and with a smooth and accurate glass surface. The two pads are similar, with only minor aesthetic differences between them.
Hardware and performances
Hardware wise, the UX301 packs the 28 W Intel Core i7 processor, with Iris graphics, 8 GB of RAM and two SSDs in Raid 0. It uses NGFF SSDs and the memory is soldered on the motherboard, thus non-upgradeable.
The UX302 is more upgrade friendly. Our version comes with an Intel Core i7-4500U processor, Nivida 730M dedicatded graphics, 6 GB of RAM and a 2.5” 7mm SSD. The storage unit can be removed and replaced, and there’s also one accessible half-sized mSATA connector that leaves more room for upgrades. As for the memory, the laptop can take a total of up to 10 GB of RAM, as you do get 2 GBs soldered on the motherboard and a free slot that can take an up to 8 GB module.
Of course, both units are available in a bunch of different configurations, with Intel Core i5-4200U and Core i7-4500U processors, 4 to 8 GB of RAM, etc. The UX302 can either be configured with a HDD + a small caching SSD combo, on an SSD, and is available with or without dedicated graphics, as you can see from the Prices and Configurations section of the review.
But back to our two units. Performance wise, the UX301 is speedier than the UX302 when it comes to RAW CPU power, both in benchmarks and in everyday use. Details are available in the tables below.
Specs compared – Zenbook UX301LA vs UX302LG
| Asus Zenbook UX301LA | Asus Zenbook UX302LG | |
| PCMark 07 | 5837 | 5251 |
| 3DMark 11 Performance | P1294 | P1789 |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate | 5670 | 5125 |
| 3DMark Fire Strike |
905 | 986 |
| Cinebench R11.5 | OpenGL 22.34 fps, CPU 3.45 pts | OpenGL 38.36 fps, CPU 2.92 pts |
| Cinebench R15 | OpenGL 27.02 fps, CPU 310 cb | OpenGL 47.88 fps, CPU 271 cb |
| AS SSD Benchmark Score | 1328 | 724 |
| Video Encoding * | 111 sec | 132 sec |
| Archiving ** | 10 sec | 12 sec |
* a 2.30 minutes 1080 MOV imported in Movie maker, with the Edge Detection visual effect applied and then exported as “For High resolution displays”
** 220 MB worth of pictures archived using Windows 8 Send to Compressed Folder option
The two SSDs combined in RAID 0 also help it achieve much faster speeds when moving files from one place to another. In my example, I’m moving 2 GB of multimedia content between partitions. But that’s something that can be addressed with further upgrades on the UX302.
All in all, both laptops can easily deal with everyday activities, including browsing, multitaksing between several apps or running movies. However, when it comes to gaming, the dedicated graphics chip on the UX302 shows its strength. I’ve tested titles like BioShock Infinite, Skyrim, DIrt 3, Grid 2 or Starcraft 2 on both of these, and while the UX301 can run them fairly well on 13 x 7 resolution with low details, the UX302 runs them even smoother on 19 x 10 resolution.
You’ll find some fps scores in the table below, so you’ll know what to expect with each of them.
| 1366 x 768 px low details |
Asus Zenbook UX301LA | Asus Zenbook UX302LG |
| Dirt 3 | 48 fps | 78 fps |
| Grid 2 | 48 fps | 81 fps |
| Skyrim | 36 fps | 60 fps |
| NFS Most Wanted | 28 fps | 44 fps |
| Bioshock Infinite | 28 fps | 42 fps |
| Metro Last Light* | 17 fps | 25 fps |
| Crysis 3 | 19 fps | 22 fps |
* MetroLLBenchmark, scene D6
Noise, temperatures and others
So overall, both these laptops are pretty fast for their classes, we’ve established that so far. But how about temperatures and sound. For starters, you should know that there are two fans inside each of these ultrabooks and you’ll hear them when pushing the laptops. However, the UX301 is slightly louder than the UX302 under load, at least based on what my non-professional iPhone app is telling me, as you can see here.
At the same time, HW Monitor and similar pieces of software show higher temperatures recorded for the internals on the UX301, with the CPU going over 90 degrees Celsius, while on the UX302, in similar conditions, it barely passes past 70. Those numbers are reflected on the outside as well, as both laptops tend to get hot on the bottom and on the area on top of the keyboard, but the palm rest and the actual keyboard remain fairly cool.
When used lightly though, the UX301 is mostly passively cooled, with the two fans turning completely OFF. That happens on the UX302 as well, although they do kick off from time to time, more often than those of the UX301 do.
There are a few others thing sworth mentioning. Both laptops offer a fast and reliable Intel 7260 wireless module, Wi-Fi 802.11AC compatible, and Bluetooth 4.0. There’s also Ethernet support with the included cable.
Besides that, you do get a set of stereo speakers on both of them, carved on the sides and pushing loud and good-quality sound, as long as you make sure to tweaks the output with the included AuzioWizard app.
Battery life
OK, with these out of the way, there are two other important aspects to consider. The battery life is one. Both laptops pack 50 Wh batteries, although in slightly different versions. Even so, with everyday use (browsing, texts, some movies, screen at 50%, Power Saver Mode, Wi-Fi On), you can expect between 5 to 7 hours of life with both of these. That of course can get closer to 9, maybe 10 hours, when using them lightly with the screens dimmed down (Idle, screen at 0%, Wi-Fi OFF), or can barely get to 90 minutes on a charge, when playing games. In fact, under load, the UX301 eats through the battery about 10-15% faster than the UX302.
Here are a few results, recorded with Battery Bar after performing each task for 15 minutes. It’s not the best way to test batteries, but that’s what I could do right now, given the limited time I had with these units.
| Asus Zenbook UX301LA | Asus Zenbook UX302LG | |
| idle, min screen brightness, Energy Saving, Wi-fi OFF | ~5 mWh | ~5 mWh |
| idle, 50% screen brightness, Power Saving, Wi-fi OFF | ~6 mWh | ~6.5 mWh |
| daily use, 50% screen brightness, Power Saving, Wi-fi ON | ~8-9 mWh | ~8 mWh |
| Cinebench R11.5, screen 100%, High Performance, CPU test | ~32 mWh | ~27 mWh |
| Cinebench R11.5, screen 100%, High Performance, openGL test | ~42 mWh | ~38 mWh |
Prices and configurations
OK, so we’ve finally reached the end of this comparison. But we’re not drawing the line before mentioning the prices.
The top UX301LA configuration that we have here is going to sell for somewhere around $2200, while the UX302LG, also the top configuration available, is going to sell for around $1600.
At the same time, the base versions of these two laptops, with the same Intel Core i5 processor and Intel HD 4400 graphicss, 4 GB of RAM, 128 GB SSD and similar Full HD screens start at about $1400 for the UX301, and close to $1200 for the UX302. You’ll find more details about prices and all the available configurations for each case in the reviews.
I’ve also put together a page with links to some discounts for these laptops, this one for the UX301LA, and this one for the UX302LG. Check them out if you appreciate the posts on this site.
Wrap-up
Long story short, no matter how you’re looking at this, the Zenbook UX301 is significantly more expensive than the UX302. For that, you’re getting a marginally slimmer and lighter device, the sturdier and more carefully polished body and the higher resolution screen (not on the cheapest option though). The 28 W hardware platform is only available for the top configuration. On the other hand, with the UX302 you get more ports and the dedicated graphics. The extra 2 mms and less than 100 grams don’t really make a difference in my opinion, but the more solid build quality of the UX301 does, to some extent.
Both are sleek and fast, but each has its strong points
In the end, it’s up to you to choose between these two. On a first look, there aren’t as many differences between them, but when getting in depth, you’ll find plenty of details that could steer you towards one or the other. I for one am torn between the two, but I’m leaning more towards the UX302, which runs cooler, offers the superior graphics and is much more affordable. It’s still powerful enough for everyday use and can run games, which can be nice.
On the other hand, the Core i7-4558U on the UX301 comes in handy when editing videos, working with large photos or multitasking between many apps. But at $2200… I don’t know; I’m not saying it’s overpriced, but for sure is EXPENSIVE. However, the UX301 is right now the only 13 inch ultrabook that offers this configuration, so if power is what you’re after, you don’t have a lot of options here. For now…
When it comes to lower end configurations, the UX302 becomes and even more attractive solution. For around $1400 you can get the Core i7 option with 8 GB of RAM and the dedicated graphics, plus a HDD+ SSD combo that can be latter upgraded to an SSD of your own liking. For the same kind of money, you’re only getting the Core i5-4200U with 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD on the UX301.
Still, like I said, the choice is yours. Both Zenbooks are good enough, have some minor quirks, but no deal-breaker. At the same time, you do get the competitors to consider as well, like the Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro, the Sony Vaio Fit or Pro 13, the Acer Aspire S7 and last but not least, the MacBook Airs. But more about those in future posts.
Chris
October 26, 2013 at 4:22 pm
In your video, you mention that the base configuration on the UX302 will go for about $1200. I saw on Best Buy for Business a UX302 going for $1000.
bestbuybusiness.com/bbfb/en/US/adirect/bestbuy?cmd=catProductDetail&showAddButton=true&productID=BB19299823
It seems to be ‘below’ the base model. Is that really the case or am I missing something here?
Thank you, your videos have really helped me understand these laptops much better.
Andrei Girbea
October 28, 2013 at 3:26 pm
This config seems to only offer a standard HDD, with no caching SSD, so the storage drive is definitely a bottleneck that will drive down the overall speed on the laptop. You can upgrade it though.
Except for that, everything else looks good. The prices I listed are based on those available over here, in my country, looks like they are actually smaller in the US than I was expecting
Winston
October 31, 2013 at 2:12 pm
adorama.com/ASUX301XH72T.html
ux301 top config for $1999!
Eddi
March 20, 2014 at 11:40 am
Dear Andrei
we have bought the ux301la with 8 gigs i7 256 ssd (128*2 raid”0″)
We all have the same problem in different time..
SanDisk SSD Failure! one went down the other is useless b\c its in raid “0” so no recovery is possible!
it will start to be an epidemic on line!
I guess Asus will suffer an image problem.
over 2000 $ we paid for these laptops and it happened to me even twice with in 3 months.
its to live in fear knowing its a matter of time till the next ssd failure will happen..
we all wrote a letter to Asus main HQ, few weeks have past – no reply
we are going to sue!
just to let all of you know!
John Watson
April 5, 2014 at 6:12 am
Nice comment, troll. Which rival hardware company hired you?
Take off, eh!
Paco
November 7, 2014 at 4:55 am
He’s not trolling. I just had the 2nd RAID-0 failure in a few months as well. About to send this beautiful laptop back to RMA :(
Chris
December 12, 2014 at 7:42 am
Same here – 3 SSD failures and everytime all data lost in the first 6 months. Always when I was on the road and it left me w/o a computer. Had to buy another laptop to be able to work – 1800 Euros wasted (UX301L). Asus service sucks – it always takes minimum of 4 weeks here in Germany.
And the problem persists…
On my second repair they wanted me to charge about 900 Euros extra for additional repairs to trackpad and screen – DHL messed up the transport to repair facility. When I pressured them they eventually admitted that the repairs are not really necessary. Everything worked when I got it back from repair – except the SSDs they crashed again after a week…
They never! said sorry for all my troubles with their product, I always feel guilty as a costumer as if it was my fault…
Gudmundur Johannesson
October 4, 2015 at 4:37 pm
I had my laptop for 7 months and then Raid volume 0 asus_os gor status failed. I sent it in for repair and got it back after 4 months. Now 2 months later it crashed in the same way. I would really like a good solution to this.
nronald
September 8, 2016 at 9:54 am
Same here – i got it just after the 1-year warranty period expired, of course..
If i had known about this, i would never have bought this computer :(
CLRH2O
October 31, 2013 at 2:45 pm
These Best Buy units also don’t have the nvidia GeForce dedicated graphics in them… which in my opinion completely negates the point of the 302 series existing. The whole reason for the larger form factor of the 302 over the 301 is to accommodate the dedicated graphics and associated cooling system. Instead in this case they’ve gone for price leader status by stripping out everything worth actually buying (SSD and dedicated graphics). I was so excited to see this unit sitting in my local store, until I dug into the device manager :(
CLRH2O
October 31, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Oh, and Best Buy in store unit I saw in person last evening is only designated as the UX302L series.. no ‘LA’ (which the system is), or ‘LG’ (with dedicated graphics) designation. That creates confusion imo.
a
October 28, 2013 at 10:02 am
Hi. Quick one: typo in the Screen resolution spec for the UX302LG (1920x 1980 px)
Andrei Girbea
October 28, 2013 at 3:29 pm
thanks, I’ll get it sorted out
Ignacio
October 28, 2013 at 12:33 pm
Hi. What are your views on the new Dell XPS 15, have you had a chance to play around with it? It’s expensive, but it seems to be the best 15′ laptop out there in terms of everything (OS aside)
Andrei Girbea
October 28, 2013 at 3:33 pm
NO, i haven’t got to review that one. However, I’ve seen people complaining about certain aspects on the Ivy Bridge version, like the poor wi-fi module, heavy body and so on.
Max
October 28, 2013 at 4:03 pm
Hi – do you know when the UX302LG will be availablein the USA? I’ve tried searching and even calling Asus and no-one seems to know. I want to get a system in the next 30 days, but am prepared to wait a bit longer if this comes out soon.
Andrei Girbea
October 28, 2013 at 5:28 pm
it should be available by early November
Max
October 29, 2013 at 4:43 pm
Thanks – appreciate the reply. (Sorry. I missed that you had said this in a previous reply comment).
Alex8008
November 1, 2013 at 6:21 pm
Could you check if the G730M in UX302 comes with 64-bit or 128-bit bus? Because the latter is fairly 20% faster than the former and, furthermore, in UX32VD G620M came with 64-bit bus which already showed itself as a bottleneck in some games like L.A. Noire.
P.S. double-posted my question from YouTube.
Andrei Girbea
November 1, 2013 at 9:59 pm
I don’t have the unit around anymore. Check out the HWInfo pics in here, they should help
Aegrum
October 31, 2013 at 10:10 pm
No mention of the new Macbook Pro Retina 13″? It also has the 28w part, and a WQHD screen, but costs hundreds less than the top spec UX301LA. I think it’s definitely one to consider if you’re comparing the models, although its lack of touchscreen doesn’t “officially” qualify it as an “Ultrabook”.
Anyway, thanks a bunch for the comparison! This was paramount in solidifying my decision to go withe UX302LG over the 301LA/rMBP 13″. The 730m is just so much more capable, and oddly enough, seems like its more power efficient as well.
Only other comment, and it’s really nit-picky: “The top UX301LA configuration that we have here is going to sell for somewhere around $2200, while the UX301LG, also the top configuration available, is going to sell for around $1600.” Should be UX302LG.
Andrei Girbea
November 1, 2013 at 9:57 pm
thanks, I’ll get the typo fixed
Vbud
November 4, 2013 at 4:48 am
Hey, are you going to be reviewing the dell XPS 15 (2013 model) soon? I am looking at getting it, but I’m not sure if its battery life is excellent. It looks like a clear winner over the asus ux302lg (except for weight). I’m not a big fan of dell, so a review would be great!
Andrei Girbea
November 4, 2013 at 10:30 am
I’d love to but Dell laptops are difficult to find in my country
Kevin
November 5, 2013 at 7:16 pm
Nice comparison of two close siblings. I’m disappointed that the UX301 with it’s IGZO screen did not fare better in the battery tests. Granted your test is not comprehensive due to time constraints, but still, I would’ve thought the UX301 would do noticeably better in the ‘daily use’ test, not slightly worse. CPU should not be a factor during light usage. IGZO on the other hand saves power by using roughly half the LEDs of regular LCD, and by not having to constantly refresh a static screen. Maybe pushing all those extra pixels makes a big difference, or maybe IGZO power savings isn’t all what it’s hyped up to be??
Andrei Girbea
November 5, 2013 at 10:20 pm
Not sure what to say. I was expecting the UX301 would fare better as well. I think the 28W CPU is dragging the battery life down.
Eso Rimmer
November 9, 2013 at 4:43 am
Does anyone know an online store which is selling the UX302LG? I couldn’t find any except the UX302LA version. I’m residing in Japan now, so I need a shop which wouldn’t mind to ship to Japan or Czech Republic (Europe).
I’m considering the UX302LG, Vaio FIT 13A or Vaio Pro 11. Fit 13A has nice design and it’s going to be available during this month, but it’s quite expensive, not upgradable I guess and without dedicated graphics. Also there’s not much info from users about it yet.
On the other hand review of this Asus has been here for a while, but I couldn’t find it anywhere to buy.
Stacey
November 10, 2013 at 10:48 am
Great Article! Hoping you might have some info, on a date for a US model ASUS Zenbook UX51VZ I think the latest model is XB71? But not a 100% sure on that, if you know different please update me. Are there any upgrades due out before Christmas, hopefully with a Haswell? Also if you know the latest model of the Samsung Ativ 9 15″ that would be most helpful as well, as far as I know for the in the US it is NP900X4C-K01US? & if they have any upgrades due out before Christmas? Appreciate your time & info! Kindly, Stacey
Andrei Girbea
November 14, 2013 at 9:56 pm
Hey Stacey. I’m not exactly sure which is the latest US version.
What I can say is that there’s no updated version planned (that I know of). And I’m 100% sure it’s not going to be available before xmas.
There’s no word on a Haswell 15 inch Samsung either, their only updated the 13 inch line.
stacey
November 15, 2013 at 11:02 pm
Thanks you for the response I appreciate it! I guess with that info, the only answer for me is the UX302LG!
I need good graphics for Adobe design suit, speed & lots of storage, I wouldn’t mind that High Res screen, as I’m sure Microsoft will eventually fix the scaling issues, and there will be more media that supports it soon, but I don’t think the high res screen comes on any UX302’s, correct?
I like that it is upgradable as far as the ssd, & HDD go, and if I remember correctly you said up to 10 GB ram? All for less than the UX301, and a little bit heavier & thicker(I personally don’t mind this).
I did see the best buy model UX302LA-BHI5T08 (there was an option for the same res as the UX301LA)with the glass blue lid & silver body, I thought the contrast in color was very nice, the silver aluminum, sort of had a lavender tone to it, or maybe it just appeared that may due to the kind of store lighting they use, did your test model appear to be a light purple color aluminum? Best Buy model bestbuy.com/site/asus-zenbook-13-3-34-touch-screen-laptop-4gb-memory-500gb-hard-drive/1737324.p?id=1219062289095&skuId=1737324
It would be nice to see the UX301 in person, maybe best buy will get a lower end model, so one will be able to compare in person at least the physical aspects.
Andrei Girbea
November 18, 2013 at 9:10 pm
the tested model looked just like that one. Wasn’t purple, just regular gray.
Yes, HDD is upgradeable and will take up to 10 GB of RAM
tristan
November 10, 2013 at 4:36 pm
both these have widi built in correct? have you tried gaming through widi 3.5 or 4.1, on these platforms or elsewhere? also, any compatibility issues with the oculus rift helmet that you could foresee? thanks for the reviews, very helpful
Andrei Girbea
November 11, 2013 at 10:49 am
they do but i haven’t tried it, I don’t have any widi adapter around :( Also, I haven’t yet seen the oculus rift so can’t really comment on that. Sry
Mike
November 12, 2013 at 5:28 pm
Any idea when the UX302LG will be available in the US? I see BestBuy is selling it without the dedicated graphics, and Amazon is selling the UX301.
Thanks
Andrei Girbea
November 14, 2013 at 9:47 pm
Like I said above, some rumors claims that the UX302LG will not be available in the US this year. According to a twit from Asus US. Take it with a grain of salt though
Oleg
November 18, 2013 at 7:28 am
Hey, I’ve been pending now for a while should I take UX302LG or Sony Vaio Pro 13.
Sony would have Intel Core i7-4500U. and the price tag would only be 1190€
while Asus is 1499€ the one that has Nvidia 730M 2GB.
Sony is lighter but asus looks more cool and i’d be able to play on it too.
Andrei Girbea
November 18, 2013 at 10:00 pm
are you planning on running games? Some of the latest games? If yes, get the UX302. Otherwise, get the Sony
Oleg
November 19, 2013 at 8:37 am
I am planning to run games on it but they are mostly 4+ years old so I suppose Sony will handle them.
Thanks for reply!
awee
December 4, 2013 at 7:02 am
asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/UX302LG/#specifications
no thunderbolt
Edwin
January 28, 2014 at 4:07 am
will there be a 2560×1440 version of the ux302lg?
Andrei Girbea
February 4, 2014 at 3:40 pm
not from what i know
Zonda888
February 11, 2014 at 10:43 am
A single design flaw which in my opinion makes this ultrabook unusable are the sharp edges. Although I dont really agree wit the Gorilla Glass lid as this attracts too many finger marks and can be delicate – its still looks great. I give this laptop a 100% score on specficiation and looks but only 10% on user experience. I returned this ultrabook after just 3 days as I couldnt bare the pain any longer.
TStaff
February 20, 2014 at 6:43 pm
@Andrei – I’m really interested in the UX301LA, but the only options being sold in the US have either the i5-4200U or the i7-4558U. The i7-4558u is awesome, but it pulls 28w of power. I want the i7-4500u that is better performance than the i5, but has the same power at 15w. Do you know if & when ASUS is going to release that version? If not soon, then I may have to go with the Acer S7 with WQHD screen (I don’t want to do).
Andrei Girbea
February 23, 2014 at 12:59 pm
Sry, I don’t have any contact with Asus North America. You might try to shoot them an email and see what you can find out. Or maybe ask the smaller retailers (like excaliberpc, for example)
Tchrisinger
March 7, 2014 at 9:02 pm
Hi I guess my question is this. From what I have on your site it appears that 302 is expandable as far as the SSD am I wrong? I need the computing power of a 512 ssd, but will not buy it unless I can 1 upgrade the drive or two expand? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
TJC
Per Einar Tellnes
November 11, 2014 at 8:27 am
I have a UX301LA with 2x sandisk 256GB in raid 0
2,5 months old nice little thing, super happy until last week.
Then suddenly the machine booted into BIOS, som investigation into the raid setup told me one of the SSD’s got error.
I am currently in the process of getting asus into speek. Dont like this at all. anything new from anyone else suffering the same problem?
Ian
March 18, 2015 at 9:04 pm
Per,
Yes, this exact problem happened to me. Machine crashed, then booted to BIOS, with no SSDs appearing in the BIOS anymore. Nothing could be done to recover the data.
I RMAed the machine and they fixed it, but it happened again a few months later. This laptop is a lemon.
Ian
Regretful user
May 28, 2015 at 6:14 pm
Echoing what many others have said: Owned it for 36 days, Windows crashed, booted to BIOS, both SSDs missing. Colossal failure.
About to send it back for the first of what I suspect will be many RMAs (I must pay shipping by the way). AVOID THIS MACHINE LIKE THE PLAGUE! $1300 down the drain.
chris
May 31, 2015 at 10:28 am
same here, 3 SSD failures in the first 10 months, long repair times, unfriendly support. bougth a Lenovo and do not use the Asus any longer. 1700 euros wasted…