ASUS ZenBook S UX393EA review (Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake, 3:2 3K touchscreen)

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Specs Sheet
Design and exterior
Keyboard and trackpad
Screen
Hardware and performance
Noise, heat and speakers
Battery life
Price and availability
Final thoughts
Comments

By Andrei Girbea Asus ZenBook S UX393EA , last updated on December 29, 2020

Asus ZenBook S UX393EA

Summary: While I can't draw final conclusions on the ZenBook S UX393 based on this early sample alone, I can tell you that this is one of the most complete ultrabooks on the market right now: it's very well crafted, offers an excellent wide-gamut touchscreen, doesn't compromise much on the IO and is a competent Tiger Lake implementation, backed up by a big battery. However, I need to further clarify our findings in the typing and efficiency sections before wrapping this up. We'll get in-depth on all these aspects down below.

Our score: 4.25 / 5
Price when reviewed: 2000 EUR - tbu

THE GOOD

compact and excellently crafted
best screen on the market
snappy with everyday use and multitasking
competent with games and demaning loads
quiet fan
67 Wh battery and fair battery life

THE BAD

no 3.5 mm jack or finger-sensor
not my favorite typer - to be further tested on a retail unit
runs hot with demanding loads, and blows the hot air into the screen

The ZenBook S is Asus’s premium lineup of ultrabooks, and has been updated as of late-2020 with a brand-new product, code name ZenBook S UX393EA.

This is a major revamp of the previous ZenBook S UX392 from 2019, now including a 3:2 wide-gamut touchscreen, updated hardware based on an Intel Tiger Lake platform, a larger battery, and redesigned inputs and IO, all tucked inside a premium aluminum chassis. As a result, this is at last a solid competitor for the other premium ultrabooks of this generation.

We’ve spent the last few weeks with this ZenBook S UX393EA and gathered our thoughts on it in this review, with the strong points and the quirks, in order to figure out if this is as solid of a product in actual use as it seems to be on paper.

Disclaimer, our unit is a pre-production sample provided by Asus for the purpose of this test. As far as I can tell, it’s identical to the retail models, but you should still take our findings in the typing experience, performance and efficiency sections with a grain of salt, as these could differ on the final product and be influenced by future software updates, given the early nature of the Tiger Lake platform. We’ll update in the future if we get to retest a retail model as well.

Specs as reviewed – ZenBook S UX393EA

	Asus ZenBook S UX393EA
Screen	13.9 inch, 3300 x 2200 px, 3:2 aspect ratio, IPS, glossy, touch, 500-nits and 100% DCI-P3 AU Optronics B139KAN01.0 panel
Processor	Intel Tiger Lake, up to Core i7-1165G7, 4C/8T
Video	Intel Iris Xe graphics
Memory	8 GB LPDDR4x 4266 MHz (soldered, dual-channel)
Storage	1x M.2 PCIe x4 SSD (Intel 660p SSDPEKNW010T8)
Connectivity	Wireless 6 (Intel AX201), Bluetooth 5.0
Ports	1x USB-A 3.2 gen1, 2x USB-C 3.2 with Thunderbolt 4 (data, video, and power), HDMI 1.4?, microSD card reader, 3.5 mm jack with USB-C adapter
Battery	67 Wh, 65W USB-C charger with quick-charging
Size	306 mm or 12.04” (w) x 224 mm or 8.81” (d) x 15.7 mm or 0.62” (h)
Weight	from 2.97 lbs (1.35 kg)+ .45 lbs (.21 kg) charger, US version
Extras	golden backlit keyboard with full-size layout, glass NumberPad, HD+IR webcam with Hello, stereo bottom speakers

Asus offers the UX393EA in a multitude of configurations, with various amounts of memory and storage, as well as either Intel i5-1035G7 or Intel i7-1065G7 platforms. These aside, though, they all share the rest of the other traits.

If you’re interested in our other reviews of Asus ZenBook lineups, you can find them listed here, while our extended coverage of the best ultraportable laptops of the moment is available here.

Design and construction

As I mentioned already, this ZenBook UX393 is a brand new design for Asus, their first laptop with a 3:2 display. That makes the chassis taller and, and due to the internal redesign and larger battery, heavier than on the previous ZenBook S series, at just under 3 lbs in this reviewed configuration. Up to you if that’s an issue in a market with quite a few sub-2lbs options these days.

This ZenBook also makes up for its weight with the sturdy build quality. Both the lid and the interior barely bulge even when pressed harder and abused, and I haven’t noticed any creaks or funny noises when picking up the laptop, not even when grabbing it from a corner, or during daily use. This is a lot stronger made than the normal mid-2020 ZenBook lineup we’ve tested in recent months.

As for the design language, we’re getting the iconic ZenBook accents: a subtle pattern of concentric circles on the lid-cover, spurring from a golden non-lit Asus logo, a fairly clean interior with little branding elements and some golden accents around the edges, and a mostly dark-gray metallic surface everywhere else. This shows smudges and fingerprints fairly easily, so you’ll constantly have to rub it clean, but it otherwise looks nice and exquisite. I like how this looks overall, even if the golden accents are not really my cup of tea.

As for the practicality, this ZenBook implements the same Ergolift design we’ve seen on past ZenBooks, with the main body lifting up on small rubber feet placed at the bottom of the screen part in order to favor a slightly inclined typing position and improved airflow underneath. The cooling system pulls air from some narrow lateral intake cuts on the bottom panel, and blows it out through the grills under the screen, into the screen, a common culprit of the Ergolift design. We’ll talk about its efficiency and implications in a further section.

That aside, the hinge-mechanism allows to easily pick up the screen and adjust it with a single hand, but the lean-back angle is limited to only about 145 degrees, far from the 180-degree I prefer in this form-factor. Otherwise, the laptop ists snugly on a flat surface and the wide arm-rest allows for comfortable use on both the desk and on the lap, and prevents your wrists from normally coming into contact with the still fairly sharp lips and front corners.

The IO is OK, with two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support and an HDMI port lined-up on the left side, and an extra USB-A and miniSD card-reader on the right. I can’t tell for sure if that’s an HDMI 2.0 or 1.4 port, still looking into it.

The status LEDs are also smartly placed on the left edge out of the way, yet Asus still implemented an always-on light in the power button, still annoying the way when watching a movie at night. Much like on the ZenBook UX325/UX425 models, though, there’s no integrated 3.5 mm jack on this laptop, instead, Asus offers a USB-C to 3.5 mm dongle in the pack. I’m not a fan, and it’s up to you to decide if this is something you can accept or not. I also would have preferred a full-size card reader instead of the limited-use microSD one implemented.

These aside, Asus also includes a set of IR biometric cameras at the top of the screen, WiFi Ax connectivity, and a USB to LAN adapter in the pack, in case you need wired Internet access. There’s no figner-sensor, though, but they also bundle a cloth/leatherette protective sleeve with this ZenBook, a nice add-on that’s going to keep the metallic coating protected in your bag.

Keyboard and trackpad

While the keyboard layout implemented on this UX393 is similar to the other layouts tested on modern ZenBooks, with full-size keys, spacious main-function keys, and the squashed inverted-T arrows, this implementation feels different in actual use.

Now, don’t forget this is an early sample and there’s a chance this is not the final retail keyboard. I don’t think that’s the case, though, instead, Asus implemented a shallower and softer typer here on this thinner chassis, and that takes a toll on the overall feedback and accuracy. With the shorter strokes and very quick actuations, this leaves almost no room for errors. For me, this feedback translated into a high error rate and not a very convincing typing experience.

At the same time, this is a very quick and silent keyboard, well suited for library use and other quiet environments.

Feedback aside, this keyboard is also backlit and it’s one of the better implementations available in an Asus laptop, with uniform illumination and bright-enough levels at the highest settings. On top of that, with the short strokes, there’s also little to no light bleeding noticeable from under the keys, with only some coming out from beneath the top row of Function keys. Furthermore, Asus also made sure to implement a dedicated Caps Lock indicator.

Down beneath the keyboard, centered on the chassis, Asus implemented a spacious glass clickpad with Precision drivers and secondary NumberPad functionality, the same they put on their other 2020 ZenBook and ExpertBook lineups. It’s a smooth, reliable, and sturdy surface, with good gesture support and palm-rejection, and I have nothing to complain about it.

There’s no ScreenPad offered for this series, which remains an exclusive for the ZenBook 14 UX435s in this generation and the older UX434s.

As for biometrics, there’s no finger-sensor on the Zenbook UX393, but you do get a set of IR cameras at the top of the screen.

Screen

This ZenBook S UX393 implements the best screen ever offered in an Asus ultrabook, and by a very far margin. In fact, it’s one of the best screens in the industry right now.

First off, this is a 13.9-inch 3:2 panel, thus offers a taller form-factor and increased working space over the 16:9 and 16:10 panels out there. The only downside is the black bars you’ll have to live with at the top and bottom when watching movies.

Then, this is also a touchscreen, which aside from the obvious benefit, is also a glossy reflective surface.

Finally, this is an excellent quality panel, with 3K resolution (3300 x 2200 px), 500+ nits of brightness, 1600+:1 contrast ratio, and excellent colors, with nearly 100% DCI-P3 coverage. This outmatches the panels currently offered in the MacBook Pro, MateBook X Pro, or the XPS 13.

Here’s what we got in our tests, with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro sensor:

Panel HardwareID: AU Optronics AUO1A94 (B139KAN01.0);
Coverage: 99.7% sRGB, 87.7% AdobeRGB, 97.6% DCI-P3;
Measured gamma: 2.00;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 514.07 cd/m2 on power;
Min brightness in the middle of the screen: 28.04 cd/m2 on power;
Contrast at max brightness: 1674:1;
White point: 7500 K;
Black on max brightness: 0.30 cd/m2;
PWM: No – tbu.

My only complaint here is the poor calibration out of the box and the 12-13% difference in illumination consistency in the lower corners, paired with some slight bleeding along the lower-edge. A calibration run with the X-Rite i1 Pro or a similar sensor will address the color imbalances, making this panel an excellent choice for creative work and any other activity that requires a color-accurate display.

I can’t yet comment on the use of PWM on this panel since we don’t have the right tools to properly test it. I haven’t noticed any flickering with the naked eye, but that’s still something you should further look into.

Hardware and performance

Our test model is a mid-specced configuration of the Asus ZenBook S UX393EA, with an Intel Tiger Lake Core i7-1165G7 processor and Intel Iris Xe graphics, only 8 GB of LPDDR4x 4266 MHz memory, and a middling 1 TB Intel 660p SSD.

Before we proceed, keep in mind that our review unit is a pre-release sample sent over by Asus and tested with the software available as of late-September 2020 (BIOS 201, MyAsus 2.2.38.0 app). Future software updates might change things.

Update: We’ve also ran tests on the later BIOS 205 update and haven’t’ seen major differences from our initial findings.

Spec-wise, this is based on the late-2020 Intel Tiger Lake i7-1165G7 hardware, the same implemented by a multitude of other ultrabooks of this generation. It’s a 4C/8T processor, very snappy in single-core tasks, and averagely competent in multitasking, especially when allowed to run at higher TDP settings. OEMs can implement this hardware in a couple of different versions, with a sustained TDP of up to 28W. As you’ll find from our tests, this ZenBook is one of the better implementations, capable of 26+W of sustained power in demanding loads in its most aggressive power profile.

Graphics are however the major novelty of this Tiger Lake platform, and the i7-1165G7 gets the most capable version of the Iris Xe iGPU, with 96 Execution Units clocked at up to 1350 MHz. That’s a significant upgrade over the Iris Pro G7 in the Ice Lake i7-1065G7 processor, with its 64 EUs and lower frequency, alongside a couple of other generation disadvantages.

Our configuration also gets 8 GB of LPDDR4x 4266 MHz of RAM out of the box, in dual-channel, and an Intel 660p PCIe x4 SSD, a mid-performance option. This might differ for the retail versions, though, especially on the 1 TB configurations, which Asus normally equips with faster Samsung drives. Nonetheless, upgrades are possible if you remove the back panel, hold in place by a couple of visible Torx screws.

The CPU and memory are soldered on the motherboard and non-upgradable, and inside you’ll notice that most of the internal space is occupied by the battery here, leaving for a small motherboard that sent over the SSD close to the CPU plate.

As far as the software goes, this gets the standard MyAsus app which allows control over the power profiles, battery and screen settings, updates, etc, while the Audio is controlled in AudioWizard.

There are three performance/thermal profiles to choose from:

Performance – allows the CPU to run at 25+W in sustained loads, with fans ramping up to 41-42 dB;
Standard – allows the CPU to run at 17+W in sustained loads, with fans ramping up to 37-38 dB;
Whisper – limits the CPU at 10+W to favor lower fan-noise of sub 30 dB.

The Standard profile is well-balanced and keeps the fan idle with light use, and quiet with heavier loads. The laptop also feels snappy with daily multitasking, video streaming, text-editing, and the likes.

However, more demanding loads and gaming benefit from the Performance mode and the increased power allocation. Don’t forget to take these findings with a grain of salt, as our unit is pre-production and not the final retail model.

We start by testing the CPU’s performance in taxing chores by running the Cinebench R15 benchmark for 15+ times in a loop, with 2-3 seconds delay between each run, on the Performance mode.

The Tiger Lake i7 processor runs at about 25-26W of power and ~3000 MHz from the get-go, with a minor boost in the first loops, and high temperatures in the 90+ Celsius. The fan ramps to about 41-42 dB at head-level in this test, and the laptop returns scores of around 780-800 points.

Undervolting is not an option for Tiger Lake with the latest variants of Throttlestop, so we could not tweak the settings in any way.

We did retest the laptop on the Standard and Whisper modes. Standard limits the CPU at 17+ W, with a decrease in fan-noise, and Whisper lowers the limit to 10+ W, with even quieter fans. Here’s what we got in our tests.

To put these results in perspective, here’s how a couple of other AMD and Intel ultraportable notebooks score in this same test.

The 8Core and 6Core Ryzen 4000 platforms are still a clear step-up in performance over the Intel options, but TigerLake seems to be a slight improvement over matching IceLake configurations in this sort of CPU-heavy loads.

Running the longer and more challenging Cinebench R20 test results in similar findings, while on the gruesome Prime 95 test the CPU stabilizes at around 25+ W after a short initial boost, with temperatures of around 90-degrees C.

We also ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook, on the same Performance profile.

3DMark stress runs the same test for 20 times in a loop and looks for performance variation and degradation over time, and this unit did not pass it, which suggests a performance degradation once the heat builds-up. That’s not unexpected given the high CPU temperatures in our previous tests. Luxmark 3.1 fully loads both the CPU and GPU at the same time, but it doesn’t properly support the Tiger Lake at this time, so it’s not relevant here.

Next, here are some benchmark results. We ran the entire suite of tests and benchmarks on the standard Performance profile. Here’s what we got.

3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 4658 (Graphics – 5084, Physics – 11691, Combined – 1842);
3DMark 13 – Night Raid: 15454 (Graphics – 19181, CPU – 7356);
3DMark 13 – Wild Life: 10816;
3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 1719 (Graphics – 1553, CPU – 4381);
AIDA64 Memory test: -;
Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 2899;
Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 1019;
Handbrake 1.3.1 (4K to 1080p encode): 21.14 average fps;
PassMark: Rating: 4938 (CPU mark: 12930, 3D Graphics Mark: 3155, Disk Mark: 12947);
PCMark 10: 4744 (Essentials – 9826 , Productivity – 6431 , Digital Content Creation – 4585);
GeekBench 4.4.2 64-bit: Single-Core: 6642, Multi-core: 21760;
GeekBench 5.0.1 64-bit: Single-Core: 1500, Multi-core: 4981;
CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 799 cb, CPU Single Core 212 cb;
CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 1923 cb, CPU Single Core 539 cb;
x264 HD Benchmark 4.0 32-bit: Pass 1 – 184.22 fps, Pass 2 – 42.46 fps;
x265 HD Benchmark 64-bit: 74.48 s.

We also ran some Workstation related loads, on the Extreme Performance profile:

Blender 2.82 – BMW Car scene- CPU Compute: 9m 5s (Auto);
Blender 2.82 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 23m 9s (Auto);
Luxmark 3.1 – Luxball HDR – OpenCL CPUs + GPUs score: CPU not properly recognized;

These results are within 10% of the Intel i7-1185G7 reference configuration that has been provided by Intel for the initial Tiger Lake performance previews, so I wouldn’t expect major differences with the retail models.

There might be some room for improvement in the combined CPU+GPU loads if Asus somehow manages to run the hardware closer to its 28W theoretical sustained power, but I don’t think that’s possible in this sort of a thin form-factor, given the high temperatures on our sample. This aspect is especially noticeable when running games, where the Tiger Lake i7 stabilizes at between 22-26W in the tested titles, with the GPU running at within 10% of its advertised speeds of 1.30 GHz.

In fact, I’d rather expect potential future software updates to even limit the power to lower-levels, in order to keep the fan noise at bay and allow this to run at cooler temperatures. Time will tell.

We ran a couple of DX11, DX12, and Vulkan titles on the Performance profile and Low/Lowest graphics settings. Here’s what we got:

	UX393 – Intel 1165G7 – FHD	UX393 – Intel 1165G7 – 3K	UX425 – Intel 1065G7	IdeaPad 7 – AMD R7 + Vega 8	UM425 – AMD R7 + Vega 7
Bioshock Infinite (DX 11, Low Preset)	83 fps (44 fps – 1% low)	–	40 fps (22 fps – 1% low)	81 fps (58 fps – 1% low)	66 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
Dota 2 (DX 11, Best Looking Preset)	63 fps (39 fps – 1% low)	–	34 fps (20 fps – 1% low)	53 fps (40 fps – 1% low)	39 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 5 (DX 11, Low Preset, no AA)	29 fps (19 fps – 1% low)	11 fps (3 fps – 1% low)	12 fps (10 fps – 1% low)	28 fps (24 fps – 1% low)	21 fps (17 fps – 1% low)
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor (DX 11, Lowest Preset)	67 fps (53 fps – 1% low)	–	32 fps (22 fps – 1% low)	33 fps (24 fps – 1% low)	45 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
NFS: Most Wanted (DX 11, Lowest Preset)	60 fps (45 fps – 1% low)	35 fps (27 fps – 1% low)	42 fps (25 fps – 1% low)	60 fps (46 fps – 1% low)	56 fps (34 fps – 1% low)
Rise of the Tomb Raider (DX 12, Lowest Preset, no AA)	46 fps (12 fps – 1% low)	–	16 fps (3 fps – 1% low)	41 fps (22 fps – 1% low)	28 fps (22 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider (Vulkan, Lowest Preset, no AA)	34 fps (18 fps – 1% low)	–	17 fps (12 fps – 1% low)	38 fps (22 fps – 1% low)	27 fps (16 fps – 1% low)
Strange Brigade (Vulkan, Low Preset)	54 fps (45 fps – 1% low)	–	21 fps (7 fps – 1% low)	41 fps (36 fps – 1% low)	37 fps (32 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (DX 11, Low Preset, Hairworks Off)	–	–	–	28 fps (22 fps – 1% low)	21 fps (14 fps – 1% low)

The Witcher 3, Dota 2, NFS – recorded with MSI Afterburner in game mode;
Bioshock, Far Cry 5, Middle Earth, Strange Brigade, Tomb Raider games – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities;

I’ve added a couple of other configurations for comparison, all of them ultraportables, albeit not within the same price range. We haven’t reviewed a high-power Ice Lake configuration for a proper comparison to this Tiger Lake implementation, instead, I’ve added the UX425 which runs at about 15W in this sort of loads, so there’s no wonder it’s crushed by the 1165G7 in this ZenBook UX393. I’ve also added the AMD 4800U + Vega 8 configuration for comparison and will further follow-up on that in a separate article. Don’t forget that IdeaPad 7 is a retail model with a thicker chassis that allows the APU to constantly run at 26+W with games.

Back to our review unit, based on those findings above, older or casual titles run at 60+ fps alright at FHD resolution and low graphics settings on this configuration, and even more recent AAA games are playable at 30+ fps. For some reason, though, Witcher 3 did not start on this laptop, and in fact on any of the other Tiger Lake models that we have for review.

As mentioned already, the Intel i7-1165G7 implementation in this chassis stabilizes at between 22-26W in the tested titles, with the CPU averaging speeds of around 2.0+ GHz and temperatures of 78-85 degrees C, and the GPU running at 1.1 to 1.25 GHz. That’s not bad for a thin implementation, yet at the same time, not the absolute best the Intel Tiger Lake platform would be capable of in a thicker design and with improved cooling.

Switching over to the Standard profile limits the CPU at around 16-17W, with a noticeable drop in performance and a drop in CPU/GPU temperatures.

Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others

Asus went with a fairly basic thermal module here, with a single heatpipe and single fan, similar to what we’ve seen implemented on most of their recent ZenBook and ExpertBook lineups.

I was expecting something else, given the thermal module in the older UX392 series, and I’m actually surprised this performs the way it does with this kind of cooling, especially since Asus also went for a close back and limited air-intake on the bottom panel, restricted to those narrow grills on the sides. Air is also sucked in through the keyboard and from behind the hinge, though.

As for the exhaust, it blows the hot air into the screen, and while some of it is absorbed by the display’s hinge, the panel itself reaches temperatures of 50+ degrees C in the area around the exhaust, something I’m not comfortable with long-term. If you’re planning on running demanding loads and games on this laptop, I’d carefully consider this aspect in my purchase decision.

This aside, the ZenBook UX393 runs cooly and quietly with daily multitasking, but heats-up a fair bit with games on the Performance profile, reaching temperatures in the 50s in the hottest parts, both on the inside and on the outside. That’s not unexpected given the CPU also reaches internal temperatures in the 80-90 degrees Celsius in these cases.

*Daily Use – streaming Netflix in EDGE for 30 minutes, Whisper Mode, fans at 0-33 dB
*Gaming – Performance mode – playing Far Cry 5 for 30 minutes, fans at 41-42 dB
*Gaming – Standard mode – playing Far Cry 5 for 30 minutes, fans at 37-38 dB

For connectivity, there’s latest-gen WiFi 6 with an Intel AX201 module on this laptop. It performed well with our setup and the signal and performance remained strong at 30-feet, with obstacles in between.

Audio is handled by a set of stereo speakers that fire through grills placed on the underside, towards the front. The angled shape of the D-Panel allows the sound to bounce off the table without distortions, and I also haven’t noticed vibrations in the arm-rest at higher volumes. Due to their placement, though, the grills can be fairly easily muffled when using the laptop on the lap.

We measured fairly low maximum volumes of 72-74 dB at head-level in our tests, and the audio quality is about the average you should expect from this class, fine for movies and music, but with little at the lower end. All these on the Music profile in Audio Wizzard.

The HD camera placed at the top of the screen isn’t much, either. It’s fine for occasional calls, but the quality is still muddy and washed out.

Battery life

There’s a 67 Wh battery inside the ZenBook UX393, larger than what you’d normally get in a 13/14-inch notebook.

Here’s what we got in terms of battery life, with the screen’s brightness set at around 120 nits (~40 brightness).

10 W (~6+ h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Dynamic + Better Battery Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;
7.5 W (~8+ h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Dynamic + Better Battery Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;
6.5 W (~10+ h of use) – Netflix fullscreen in Edge, Dynamic + Better Battery Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON;
16 W (~4-5 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Dynamic + Better Performance Mode, screen at 60%, Wi-Fi ON.

The 3K panel takes a toll on the overall runtimes here, but the laptop still lasts for a fair while on each charge. Not as long as the Intel Tiger Lake and AMD Ryzen ZenBook 14 models that we’ve tested with the same 67 Wh battery, though, but don’t forget that our sample is pre-production, so further drivers should improve on these results.

Asus pairs the laptop comes with a compact 65W charger that plugs-in via USB-C. It’s a single-piece design with a compact brick and a long and thick cable, and a full charge takes about 2 hours, but quick-charging allows to fill-up to 60% of the battery in less than an hour.

Price and availability

The ZenBook S UX393 is scarcely listed in stores at the time of this article, with the top-tier i7 / 16 GB RAM / 1 TB SSD mentioned at a little over 2000 EUR in some German stores. That’s expensive, but I wasn’t expecting this to be cheap in the first place.

We’ll update when we know more, and in the meantime, follow this link for updated prices and configurations in your region.

Final thoughts

I just can’t draw final conclusions on the Asus ZenBook S UX393 based on this review sample alone, as this is a pre-production unit and I’m not convinced that my keyboard and battery life findings are in line with the retail models. On top of that, plus we don’t know much about pricing and availability, so we can’t properly compare it to its piers.

What I can say is that this ZenBook S13 is one of the nicest made ultrabooks on the market and offers pretty much the best display money can buy in this form-factor: bright, punchy and vivid, plus also a touchscreen. Paired with the decent IO and fairly snappy Intel Tiger Lake implementation, this could be a good premium all-rounder and mobile creator, as long as your work benefits from the Intel Iris Xe graphics and doesn’t rely solely on CPU-power, as the Tiger Lake platform is still quad-core and not a match for the AMD Ryzen options out there.

These aside, Asus also pairs the ZenBook S UX393 with a large battery, USB-C charging, decent speakers, and an excellent clickpad. However, this is not one of my favorite typers, which is rather surprising given my positive experience with recent ZenBooks and ExpertBooks, so I’m rooting for a more consistent typing experience on the retail models.

That’s about it for now. I’ll reach out to Asus for an updated sample once available, and will update the article if I get it. Until then, this ZenBook UX393 scores a 4.25/5 in our review, but I can’t wrap this up or recommend it without filling up all those gaps first.

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Andrei Girbea, Editor-in-Chief of Ultrabookreview.com. I've been covering mobile computers since the 2000s and you'll mostly find reviews and thorough guides written by me here on the site.

26 Comments

william blake

October 1, 2020 at 1:36 am

maybe its time for me to start recommend small ultrabooks to the people. i never was a big fan of a small machines with 16:9. its not a phone, you need height for all these menus and elements in windows.
this screen is too good.
cooling is the achilles heel still. 2k money/25w, what is so difficult to make it quiet, the solution is pretty obvious.

Reply
David

October 1, 2020 at 3:42 pm

I understand this is a fine machine, but, honestly, I don't see myself buying something like this for around 2K when you can find excellent 16GB Ryzen machines at a little over 1K.

You mean 2K for the 8GB version right? In your review? That's insane in my opinion, honestly.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  October 1, 2020 at 3:56 pm
  
  It's 2K for the top-tier 16 GB model with 1 TB SSD, based on the little we know so far. That might change once this is listed in more shops.
  
  Reply
Jim

November 17, 2020 at 6:54 pm

Seems like Asus is really getting these new Tiger Lake models out fast!
I wish Lenovo would do the same, a 28w Tiger Lake Thinkpad would be great.

Reply
Efraim

November 23, 2020 at 4:36 pm

2000 EUR? what for? I couldn't even find it on Amazon.

Reply
Kurt

November 25, 2020 at 5:45 am

Could you recommend me a 2-in-1 laptop with Ryzen 7, good keyboard, 12-14" 500 nit display (non-4K), and battery that will score 8hrs+ in your "browsing in Edge" test? My budget is $2.5k USD.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  November 25, 2020 at 12:25 pm
  
  See this list. https://www.ultrabookreview.com/36030-amd-ryzen-7-4800u-laptops/ HP and Lenovo might offer what you want, although 500-nits might not be an option at this point.
  
  Also, aim for the largest battery possible, but 8+ hours in my browsing test is hard right now. I'm seeing an average of 8-10W per hour of used power for this test, so you'd need something with a 64-80 Wh battery for that kind of battery life. My test is a bit aggressive so you might end up with 8+ h with regular use, but that depends on what and how you're using your laptop.
  
  Reply
Kurt

November 26, 2020 at 10:34 am

Thank you so much for your help Andrei. I just tried out the Envy 13 x360 (R5 4500U) in an HP store and the keyboard felt too shallow and mushy compared to other laptops, although that may have been a bad unit. Yoga Slim 7 looked good until I realized it wasn't actually a convertible "Yoga"… So despite its short battery life, HP ProBook x360 435 (R7 4700U, FHD 400 nit) is my best bet – aaand they're out of stock in my country and in the USA.

Still out of curiosity I did manage to find 5, relatively expensive 2-in-1 ultrabooks under 1.6kg with big batteries and good keyboard:
1. HP EliteBook x360 1040 G7 – 78Wh, FHD 400, 1000 nits, UHD 550 nits (would be my pick), 1.4kg
2. Dell Latitude 9410 – 78Wh, FHD 300 nits, 1.5kg
3. Samsung Galaxy Book Flex 13 – 70Wh, FHD 600 nits, 1.2kg (not so good keyboard, but 16gb available in my country)
4. Samsung Galaxy Book Flex 15 – 70Wh, FHD 600 nits, 1.55kg
5. LG Gram 14 2-in-1 – 72Wh, FHD 350 nits, 1.2kg, 1.15kg

Nice but they're Intel, and furthermore 9th Gen Comet-Lake apart from the Galaxy Books.
I really want to buy Ryzen mobile not just for performance jump but simply out of principle and the spirit of supporting AMD as well.

Therefore my best hope is that seeing as Lenovo just released Yoga 7i and 9i as "Intel" SKUs, there will be Ryzen 5800U Yoga 7,9a variants coming out in early 2021, fingers crossed. In the meantime, I'll order the Envy x360 13 and hope for a better keyboard than the display unit.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  November 26, 2020 at 11:18 am
  
  Hi, that's quite some research!
  
  If you've decided for a Ryzen laptop, I'd also advise waiting a bit for Cezanne Ryzen U models to be announced earlier into 2021. No guarantee of top-tier designs, but fingers-crossed. Might take a while to see these in stores, though, probably around Spring, so up to you if you can wait that long.
  
  In the meantime, the current HP ProBook 635 Aero G7 or the Lenovo Yoga 6 could also be worth a look, even if they only get mid-sized batteries. That 635 is expensive, though, and the Yoga 6 is only 300-nits and might not be available everywhere.
  
  Finally, Intel 11th gen is not bad either imo. Ryzen still wins in multi-threaded CPU loads, but Intel Tiger Lake feels excellent with daily use and offers competitive integrated graphics, fast storage, Thunderbolt 4, etc. Careful though that Tiger Lake is highly dependent on the power-envelope, as manufacturers can implement the hardware at between 12 to 28W, with serious performance gains as they go up in power.
  
  Reply
Kurt

November 26, 2020 at 12:35 pm

Thank you again for all the tips, I really appreciate it!

Reply
Zibi

December 17, 2020 at 12:26 am

I love everything about this laptop except the screen. Do you recommend to go for this one or stick with matte screens?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  December 17, 2020 at 11:02 am
  
  depends on what you prefer. I'm a sucker for matte screens myself, but I can't recall any matte 3:2 options out there. Glare is what mostly bothers me with glossy screens, but should be fine as long as you don't nor ally use your laptop outdoors or in very bright environments. if you do, I'd go with a matte screen instead
  
  Reply
James Bennett

December 26, 2020 at 2:44 pm

Would you recommend the I5-1135G7 version of this? 8GB Ram and 512GB SSD.

Currently available in the UK for £849

Need a new thin laptop to replace the shambolic S730 Lenovo!

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  December 27, 2020 at 6:15 pm
  
  The i5 is a good processor for this class, but the question is, are 8 GB of RAM enough for your needs? Should suffice for daily multitasking and casual use, but heavier loads and even heavier Chrome sessions with 10+ tabs open at the same time might requite more memory
  
  Reply
Daniel

January 18, 2021 at 11:31 pm

Hey Andrei.

The price has gone down quite nicely even with the 16gb/1tb model. The only thing i worry about is the battery life. Do you know if the retail piece is performing better in that sense or do i get 6 hours with 20 tabs open in chrome with this? and do you thinh lowering resolution could bring some more usage

Thank you

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  January 19, 2021 at 11:56 am
  
  6 hours of lighter browsing should be possible here, although Chrome is a bit of a power hog and I haven't included it in my tests for a while.
  
  Lowering the resolution doesn't help, the number of screen pixels is fixed, just displayed differently when changing resolution. Lowering the brightness helps, though.
  
  Reply
Daniel

January 19, 2021 at 7:59 pm

Thank you for your response. Would you prefer hp spectre 360 with 13.5'' screen, otherwise having the same hardware and 16/1tb. And what would be the go to 3:2, 16:10 ratio laptop with 16gb of ram? For me an 8hr+ battery is more important than the resolution.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  January 20, 2021 at 10:38 am
  
  The Spectre is a solid laptop overall, just a smaller battery and a different screen. hard to say what's the better pick, that's something you'd have to decide. Nonetheless, I don't think that can realistically get you 8 hours of daily-use battery life either.
  
  Reply
Jerry Smiley

February 15, 2021 at 4:21 pm

Andrei,

Screen brightness (500 nits+) is critical to me. The UX393EA sounds awesome. Now that they have hit retail, do you plan a follow up review? Also, what else would you recommend?

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  February 16, 2021 at 3:18 pm
  
  I don't think there will be a follow-up review. The Huawei MateBook X Pro could be an alternative, but you're not getting the same kind of performance. Is a 3:2 panel a must for you?
  
  Reply
Jerry Smiley

February 16, 2021 at 3:31 pm

No. I prefer 3:2 and 16:10 over 16:9. Do you have other suggestions?

Some other professional reviews did not get the 500 nits that you did, but consumers were wowed with the screen. Given the variations in screens, do you think I could comfortably get 500 nits?

Thanks so much for the review and replying.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  February 16, 2021 at 3:52 pm
  
  There's no guarantee, you should just buy this from a place that allows returns, just to be safe. If possible where you are. Also, are you sure you can tell the difference between let's say 450 and 500 nits?
  
  There are a couple of other options, such as that Huawei MateBoo X Pro, the ThinkPad X1 Nano, or that newer HP Envy 14, all with 3:2 screens. Check out some good reviews and try to decide on the one that best fits your needs and budget among these .
  
  Reply
Jerry Smiley

February 16, 2021 at 5:00 pm

Thanks. I have the HP Spectre x360 15 with 400 nits (actually 380) and know that I need something much brighter.

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  February 16, 2021 at 5:18 pm
  
  Got it. Check those out then, and perhaps even a MacBook Pro 13 would be worth a look, if you don't have to go with a Windows PC
  
  Reply
Dan

February 18, 2021 at 10:04 am

Hi Andrei,

Great reviews, helped a lot. After long research I finally decided on the Expertbook B9450CEA model with the new 11th generation Intel processors. During checkout I was a bit bummed with the 1080p screen for the price and stumbled across the UX393. I'm mainly going to use it as a portable solution, meeting clients, programming outside, office, travel, movies on the go, etc since my main machine is a desktop. Which one of these two would you recommend or any other suggestions?

Thanks so much for the reviews

Reply
- Andrei Girbea
  
  February 18, 2021 at 10:55 am
  
  I like the ExpertBook's compact and lightweight design, also a fan of the materials used for the case. This ZenBook S gets a nicer 3:2 screen, though, and that alone could be a reason to go with it. For what is worth, the FHD screen on the ExpertBook is OK in terms of sharpness imo, but it's dimmer and slightly more washed out than what you're getting on the ZenBook S.
  
  So it's mostly a choice between a more portable form-factor vs a larger and higher-quality display.
  
  There are a couple of other options you might consider, such as the XPS 13, Surface laptop, ThinkPads and others. Pricing and availability differ between regions, so it's hard to straight point you towards something else.
  
  Reply

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ASUS ZenBook S UX393EA review (Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake, 3:2 3K touchscreen)

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