Asus ZenBook 14 UM425QA review- full-power AMD Ryzen ultrabook

26 Comments

  1. David Miguel

    October 10, 2021 at 3:51 pm

    Only 16gb of RAM, kidding me, if they had 32 I would by it right now, until then waiting for the same specs with 32gb to replace my XPS. It really makes no sense, top of the line processor with the same memory that I use in the last 8 years…

    • Joedoe

      February 5, 2022 at 10:08 am

      Depends on Model. Mine UM425 allow update RAM capacity to 32 G from 8.
      To find out, you could open CMD, then input 'wmic memphysical get MaxCapacity, MemoryDevices'
      If result is 16777216 2, then your zenbook should have capacity to 16G 2 slots.
      If double the above amt 2, then yours should be upgradeable to 32 G. 16+16.

      Still try to figure out if upgrade WIFI 5 to WiFi 6 triband card thou.

  2. Kalumba

    October 11, 2021 at 3:37 pm

    Good thing you mentioned Zenbook 14X. When is your review of it going to go live? Or are you guys waiting for Intel 12th gen/Ryzen 6000 refresh for that?

    • Andrei Girbea

      October 11, 2021 at 3:45 pm

      working on the Intel ZenBook 14x right now and should be up maybe this week. AMD model is a bit delayed.

      • Kalumba

        October 11, 2021 at 4:22 pm

        Can't wait!
        Quick question, do you think the 14X can handle some sort of discrete GPU inside it since Asus managed to cram a 3050ti inside the smaller ROG Flow x13?
        That could really set the Zenbook 14X apart from other ultrabooks.

      • Andrei Girbea

        October 11, 2021 at 4:26 pm

        as far as I know, they'll an intel + MX450 version, but nothing else this generation. A 35W 3050Ti should be possible in this chassis, with 50W CPU+GPU combined , but Asus seem to only offer than in the Vivobook Pro 14x for now

  3. Galvez

    December 30, 2021 at 12:59 pm

    Bonjour,

    Tout d'abord merci pour cet article très intéressant. Je suis en phase de recherche d'un PC ultraportable et votre site est de loin mon préféré.

    J'accroche beaucoup avec la gamme Zenbook.
    Pour un usage bureautique (suite office) et des jeux 3Dpeu récents (warzone, CS Go), j'en comprends qu'il vaut mieux que je me tourne vers l'acer swift X pro qui propose un GPU dédiée (RTX 350).

    Auriez-vous d'autres modèles à me proposer ?

    En vous remerciant

    • Andrei Girbea

      December 30, 2021 at 1:05 pm

      Let's keep it to English, please. You'll find reviews of both here on the site. The Swift X is the more powerful option on the GPU side, while this ZenBook wins in design, inputs, and portability. Other options would be the VivoBook Pro 14X if available, also with 3050/3050Ti, or the IdeaPad 14 Pro, without a dGPU but most likely a good price.

  4. Joedoe

    February 5, 2022 at 10:10 am

    Possible to find out if that possible upgrade WIFI card from 5 to Triband WiFi6 card?

    • Jose Carlos

      February 13, 2022 at 10:15 pm

      sure. Only change in the slot

  5. Jose Carlos

    February 13, 2022 at 12:35 pm

    hello. ssd is only 2230, no 2280. Its imposible upgrade because no exist m.2 more than 512gb´in small 2230. I have this model…

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 14, 2022 at 1:26 pm

      yes, 2280 SSDs are compatible

      • Jose Carlos

        February 14, 2022 at 4:59 pm

        Hello. It is not possible, there is no space on the motherboard. There is only space for a little 2230 disk.

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 14, 2022 at 5:09 pm

        Interesting. Can you share a picture? I never bothered to take the SSD shield off with my sample and I was under the impression that a 2280 SSD will work.

  6. Jose Carlos

    February 14, 2022 at 5:18 pm

    there are two small 2230 slots. one with the wifi card and the other with the ssd. As soon as I can, I'll share a photo. The truth is that I was upset and I'm thinking of returning the laptop for this. Other than that, I really like it though.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 14, 2022 at 5:29 pm

      Thanks. I'll be waiting so I can update the article. Sry for the confusion and misinformation on my part!

      • erik

        April 30, 2022 at 12:04 am

        Hi, so how it is with ssd? is it upgradeable or not? there are no 1tb disks for 2230 slots?

      • Andrei Girbea

        April 30, 2022 at 9:43 am

        Asu went with a 2230 M.2 slot, so upgrades are more difficult than with the standard 2280 format.

  7. Marcin

    March 8, 2022 at 2:10 pm

    Wonderful review! Thank you a lot, as you offer by far the most in depth tests of laptops I've encountered, searching for a new device:)

    My question is about Battery Life: you actually didn't measure it for the device that the whole review is about – "Here’s what we got on the i5 model with the standard 2.5W 300-nits panel", whereas you're reviewing Zenbook with AMD processor with 1W and 400-nits panel. So I expect much different results. Secondly, how is this possible that Battery Life watching Netflix and 1080p Youtube seems to last 2 as much as during a simple text writing? That's what your test shows above.

    Thank you in advance for the answer :)

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 8, 2022 at 2:54 pm

      The results are for the reviewed laptop, but there was an editing error in there, which I've addressed now.

      • Marcin

        March 9, 2022 at 3:49 pm

        Thank you Andrei!

  8. pepipo

    March 16, 2022 at 6:30 am

    Why this laptop has much better battery life than other 5800H 60-65wh laptops ? is the TDP lowered ?

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 16, 2022 at 10:21 am

      smaller screen, better-optimized profiles, bigger battery.

  9. Miguel Oliveira

    May 27, 2022 at 4:00 pm

    Thank you for your review. After reading some others you've made about Asus Zenbooks till the recent Space edition, I'm still in doubt about what I should buy for my needs. The only decision I've made it's that it should be an ASUS (HP 2nd and last choice). I will use it for photo editing in 80% of my needs, using Adobe Lightroom CC nowadays and adding Photoshop CC later. It also will remain at home for 80% of my time (the rest in some small travels inside my country, Portugal). So, my first doubt is if it should be a 14" or a 17" screen (don't think in-between measures are useful for me). Then, AMD Ryzen or Intel? Is i9 much ahead of i7, or R9 above R7? Will I need 32 Gb or my present 16 Gb will be enough (Asus N552VX)? And I so doubtful about the screen! Well, I'd appreciate your suggestions, with 2 concrete alternatives if you please. Thank you so much in advance!

  10. Alex K.

    January 10, 2023 at 10:12 pm

    Thank you for your review of this model. Bought one because of it and I am happy with the decision.

  11. Hal

    June 15, 2023 at 10:54 pm

    BestBuy is offering the same model but with two different CPUs for the same price. Concerned only with the temperature on the keyboard, which would you recommend the i7-13700H or Ryzen 7 5800H?

Leave a Reply

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