Asus Zenbook NX500 / NX500JK review

60 Comments

  1. Sebastian

    August 28, 2014 at 10:21 am

    Hi everyone!

    I just noticed the NX500 is listed on Amazon.de now too. Seems to be the same model as Amazon UK. The price is € 2,200.

    Its not being sold by amazon however but rather by a marketplace vendor from Italy.

    Here is the link:

    amazon.de/NX500JK-DR013H-15-6-inch-Notebook-i7-4702HQ-Bluetooth/dp/B00KG6F2PG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409221120&sr=8-2&keywords=asus+nx500

    Let me know your opinions!

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 28, 2014 at 1:39 pm

      cheaper than expected. we’ll see if that’s indeed the correct price

      • Sebastian

        August 28, 2014 at 2:06 pm

        Indeed. Although this is probably not the top version (it has only 12 GB of RAM), I wouldn’t expect the price to be significantly higher. Of course this is assuming that this particular vendor is selling it at the right price.

        In any case, I have sent them an email asking for clarification regarding price and availability. Let’s see if I hear anything back…

      • Andrei Girbea

        August 28, 2014 at 5:12 pm

        Please report back if you do. I’ll do the same if I get anything new.

  2. Sebastian

    August 30, 2014 at 7:29 am

    Just spoke with the vendor I mentioned above: They say that delivery of the NX500 will take 1 – 2 months. In other words, they dont have it in stock…

    • Max

      September 1, 2014 at 8:14 am

      Can we confirm , that it will be in stock since 26 September ? :)

      I just checked three websites , which shows ETA on 26 September.

      kikatek.com/P465887/NX500JK-DR013H-Asus-ZENBOOK-NX500JK-15-6-inch?strAction=SO
      lambda-tek.com/componentshop/addtocart.pl?region=GB&ID_NUM=B1878213&origin=&Submit=Check+Stock
      cukusa.com/asus-zenbook-nx500jk-dr013h-15-6-4k-nvidia-gtx-850m-gaming-notebook.html

      • Andrei Girbea

        September 1, 2014 at 8:54 am

        I haven’t heard of any of these websites, so I’d take what they’re saying with a grain of salt. I don’t have any estimations on an ETA for this though, hopefully we’ll find more in the next few days at IFA, Asus have a press conference there

  3. Sven

    September 4, 2014 at 2:23 pm

    Two models will be available in Germany soon: the DR017H and the DR018H.
    MediaMarkt has listed them. The 17H will be available October 15th and the 18H will be available September 20th. Unfortunately, the 18H only has a 256GB SSD. The 17H has a 512GB SSD. Prices are 2399€ and 2199€.

    • Andrei Girbea

      September 5, 2014 at 10:07 am

      Hi Sven, thanks for this, I’ll add the details in the review. Looks like I was about right, this will be pricey.

      • Pavel

        September 7, 2014 at 8:17 pm

        I keep checking the pricing updates as well and still hope that in US it’s about to be selling for less, so I could get it from there. If the price in my country matches the listings on Amazon, it’s not worth it, imho. Even for it’s pros like wide-gamut screen and huge battery, 2400 EUR will be just too much for a laptop based on “design over functionality” idea with an average keyboard and scaling issues. Make it 20% cheaper than rMBP and I’ll buy it, make it equally-priced and I’m now way near of getting this. Or I’m about to wait for an upgraded one with Broadwell chips and black keys to justify the price.

    • Sven

      October 14, 2014 at 10:51 pm

      As you may have noticed, it was a big fat lie. The shops that listed the NX500 with availability in October changed the availability to “unknown” now. Also, all my inquiries to local ASUS partners in Germany have shown, that the NX500 is not even listed in any of the price lists available to them.

      Asus is really slow …

  4. Stacey

    September 7, 2014 at 11:04 pm

    Hi Andrei,
    Any word yet on the full model # for a US edition and a release date for the maxed out edition? Been waiting since the announcement. If not sincr your recent press conference, willyou update as soon asyou have word? Thank you Stacey

    • Andrei Girbea

      September 8, 2014 at 9:06 am

      NO, there was nothing about it at the press Conference. Some shops in Germany have it listed with Shipping dates around Mid October, but I can’t say for sure if they’ll actually have it in stock then or not

      • stacey

        September 28, 2014 at 2:46 am

        The website has really grown for the NX500 should be less than 30 days guessing. asus.com/Notebooks_Ultrabooks/Zenbook_NX500/

  5. marc

    September 18, 2014 at 8:56 am

    seems it becomes available on some markets in Europe
    techenet.com/2014/09/ultrabook-asus-zenbook-nx500-chega-a-portugal/. Price 2499
    don’t know if it is true, it is not yet visible on asus.pt.

  6. ryan

    October 2, 2014 at 1:15 pm

    Looks like it will be $2699 in the US. Is this what was expected?

    pcworld.com/article/2689972/heres-whats-in-asus-2699-zenbook-nx500-laptop.html

    • Andrei Girbea

      October 3, 2014 at 9:50 am

      A bit steep, but yes, the higher end configuration were expected to get to about 3G

  7. mxpr

    October 10, 2014 at 11:55 am

    How thick is the back cover aluminum plate ? I found a few current ASUS laptops have very thin aluminum plates on the backside.

    Also, there seems to be an empty slot of M.2. Is that for additional storage ?

  8. mxpr

    October 10, 2014 at 11:57 am

    I should clarify what I asked about the free M.2 slot. Is it a bootable storage port (visible in the EFI/BIOS) ?

  9. mxpr

    October 10, 2014 at 1:51 pm

    Hmm, not sure why my previous post didn’t work. Andrei, two questions only:

    1) How thick is the bottom aluminum plate ? Is it thicker than the N500J series ?

    2) Is the spare M.2 slot bootable ?

    • Andrei Girbea

      October 10, 2014 at 8:47 pm

      Sry, I’m manually reviewing each comment on the site, so it takes a few hours to get them online. This way I can reply to all the questions.

      Not sure how thick the back cover was, but it wasn’t a thin sheet of metal for sure. It felt fairly strong.

      And yes, there’s an extra M.2 slot in there. Either it’s bootable or not, that I do not know, I did not have a compatible Stick to try it out. But why would you need it bootable anyway?

      • mxpr

        October 11, 2014 at 12:35 pm

        Thanks for the reply Andrei. I sometimes dual-boot my laptops and I prefer putting the OSs’ on separate physical drives if possible.

  10. Marc

    October 15, 2014 at 1:50 pm

    You to let your know, for few days, availability is for november, for a “light” configuration

    prix-portables.fr/PC%20portable%20tactile/15454/Asus,Zenbook-nx500jk-dr012h-4k-tactile.html

    Zenbook NX500JK-DR012H – Tactile 15,6” QFHD – Intel Core i7-4712HQ – SSD 256 Go – RAM 8 Go – GTX 850M – Win 8.1
    => delivery from nov, 10th
    ==> 2099 euros, that seems expensive ;-)

    • Andrei Girbea

      October 16, 2014 at 2:56 pm

      That’s on par with what I have, 2100E for the base version

  11. Alex

    October 17, 2014 at 1:25 pm

    Hi Andrei,

    Do you have experience with Lonovo’s Y50 or Y40 models? If you do, how would you compare them to NX500 in terms of sound reproduction? I’ve had MSI GX660R and now in the market for a new stylish and more portable laptop with great speakers like on my previous MSI. Any recommendations?

    Thanks in advance!

    • Andrei Girbea

      October 17, 2014 at 2:54 pm

      Sry Alex, I haven’t got my hands on either of these Lenovos. I’d expect they’d be worse then the NX500 in terms of sound, but I’m not 100% sure on that. I do know that people have been complaining of the Y50’s screen.

      Derek, who is a coauthor here on the site, bought a Y50 a while ago and then returned it. In the meantime he ended up with the MSI GS60 Ghost Pro. You could drop him a line on this review, maybe he can help you out: https://www.ultrabookreview.com/5337-msi-gs60-ghost-pro-3k-review/ .

      • Alex

        October 17, 2014 at 7:20 pm

        Thanks man, I’ll sure ask him.

  12. Max

    November 1, 2014 at 12:41 pm

    What’s about screen protection ?
    You used it a whole week and how’s it for you ?
    I mean , is it covered by Gorilla Glass or with similar technology ?

    • Andrei Girbea

      November 1, 2014 at 7:26 pm

      Some sort of glass but can’t say for sure whether it’s Gorilla or something else.

  13. Jay

    November 4, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    Hi Andrei,

    I just watched what is called the “official presentation” video which was uploaded today for the Asus Zenbook NX500. The keyboard background looks like it is black, not silver, a change from the version in your review. Any comment? Any new info?
    youtube.com/watch?v=uMCSbUxZZZs

    Thanks,
    Jay

    • Andrei Girbea

      November 4, 2014 at 6:39 pm

      Cool. I don’t have any info on that matter, or anything new whatsoever. I’ll keep my eyes peeled for updates though, hopefully the black background makes in into the retail units.

    • Max

      November 4, 2014 at 9:55 pm

      Failed.

      0:32 – bottom side is not straight.
      0:48 – 2nd gen? We have already 4th
      1:02 – One USB 3.0 ? Are you kidding ?

      • Andrei Girbea

        November 5, 2014 at 12:54 pm

        Hmmm, what are you talking about?

      • Max

        November 5, 2014 at 7:04 pm

        This video is not related to the NX500.
        In any cases this video is so old , it presents probably UX301LA.

        Or I’m not right ?

      • Andrei Girbea

        November 5, 2014 at 7:57 pm

        Oh, you’re so right. Didn’t check it out properly in the beginning, although I noticed that’s not from an official Asus channel.

        I believe that’s actually the UX31A, with the all aluminum body and 2nd gen hardware. Sry I didn’t pay closer attention, I’ll be more careful .

    • Stacey

      November 6, 2014 at 4:31 am

      This appears to be the new UX305, not the NX500

  14. Andrei Girbea

    November 5, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    BTW, did you guys see the recently announced HP Omen 15? Too early to say for sure of course, but looks like a proper competitor to this Asus, and quite a lot cheaper.

  15. Stacey

    November 6, 2014 at 4:27 am

    Hi Andrei,
    It’s available for pre-order now! bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1088057-REG/asus_nx500jk_xh72t_i7_4860hq_2_5g_32gb_512ssd_4k_15_6.html

    Guessing about a 2-3 week wait, probably the US black Friday, day after thanks giving

    • Max

      November 7, 2014 at 10:45 am

      Pre-order ?

      It’s already in stock.
      I bought one of them already , waiting for shipping.

      • Andrei Girbea

        November 7, 2014 at 11:48 am

        Will be great if you could comment in performance and throttling once it comes and get to spend time with it.

      • Stacey

        November 7, 2014 at 1:08 pm

        Hi Max,
        Where in the US did you find it releas ed? Tkanks

      • Max

        November 7, 2014 at 5:14 pm

        Sorry , I was wrong about exact country.
        It was released in Europe (In Germany).

        Here’s the link.
        ebay.co.uk/itm/361102659672?_trksid=p2059210.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

      • Andrei Girbea

        November 7, 2014 at 5:25 pm

        MAX, that link isn’t working for me..

      • Stacey

        November 7, 2014 at 11:18 pm

        Hi Max,
        I searched the whole site and found nothing including ended items for the last 2 weeks, on eBay UK. Your link shows 256gb I am only looking for the 512gb but the link is not valid.

      • Louie

        December 17, 2014 at 11:43 pm

        I cant find it anywhere for sale. can u send a link for purchase

  16. Marc

    November 7, 2014 at 6:38 pm

    this is this url
    ebay.co.uk/itm/ASUS-NX500JK-DR018H-Intel-i7-16-GB-RAM-256-GB-SSD-Nvidia-GTX850-M-2GB-/361102659672?pt=DE_Technik_Computer_Peripherieger%C3%A4te_Notebooks&hash=item5413655058

  17. Max

    November 8, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    To Stacey (Inheritation is not supported more than 4 levels)

    It’s better to bring this computer , because in any cases there will left another one slot for M.2 SSD. You can add to current 256 GB other 256 GB of SSD.

  18. Max

    November 13, 2014 at 10:17 am

    Hello, so I got it from Yesterday.
    And can tell to you quick overview about it.

    About throttling, I didn’t found the problems with decreasing frequency. BUT , I tested only one game, because I don’t have enough time to test it.

    3DMark 11 : P4551 score
    CineBench R15 : GPU – 84.64 fps , CPU – 496 cb

    I forgot to turn off Battery Boost and Vertical Sync for 4K in League of Legends but FPS is impressive.

    4K – 60 fps (Fixed because of BB and VS)
    Full HD > 150 fps

    Played with Highest settings.
    On the weekends I’ll publish detailed information to you about all stuff.

    There’s only one minus – Windows doesn’t scale properly items and windows of programs on 4K resolution. BUT , if to set 150% scale instead of 200%, then it would be ok for you. If you’ve problem with eyes (I mean you’re wearing glasses) , then I’ll suggest you to think deeper – do you need to get it or no.

    Ah , yes , you forgot to mention in review about “Auto Correction of Display Brightness” – there’s a sensor , which choose for you optimal brightness , based on where you’re working with him. You can toggle it , sometimes it works perfect , sometimes and I’m configuring brightness manually.
    Backlight became lighter and now it doesn’t mix with keys. As I saw , your pre-production model has only 1/3 of all light , which support this notebook.

    In short overall – I’m happy with this.
    Mike – I’ll keep with you information on the weekends (probably via Email).

    • Andrei Girbea

      November 13, 2014 at 1:34 pm

      Hi Max. Thanks for your input. The Auto Brightness sensor is standard with most mid-range and premium laptops, that’s why I haven’t mentioned it in the post. And to be frank, I disable it, I like to set my brightness manually.

      It’s nice that there’s no throttling, but if you can play some more demanding games, I’d love to hear your thoughts, here or on email, wherever you prefer. Scaling to 200% should look sharper than scaling to 150% only, from my experience. What exactly isn’t scaling properly? Everything or only some third party apps?

  19. BZ

    November 15, 2014 at 10:37 pm

    I’ve read somewhere that the keys of the keyboard are made of metal.
    Is this true? Do the keys feel cold when just started up?

    • Andrei Girbea

      November 23, 2014 at 4:17 pm

      if I still remember correctly, thye were made from plastic

  20. Kristian

    November 26, 2014 at 1:46 pm

    Any news on availability? I cannot find it in stock anywhere in Europe?

    • Andrei Girbea

      November 26, 2014 at 6:08 pm

      Some readers reported they already got their units in Europe, check out the comments above.

  21. danwat1234

    October 11, 2015 at 10:09 pm

    Heat issues? There aren’t any unless it throttles with full CPU and GPU utilization. Though user comfort is something to think about.

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