Asus ROG Flow Z13 review (GZ301ZE model – Core i9)

60 Comments

  1. Adrien

    February 14, 2022 at 5:02 pm

    Very nice review! Any ideas when the Flow X13 and Zephyrus G14 reviews will be online?
    Thanks

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 14, 2022 at 5:10 pm

      Sry, no estimate. I don't have any reviews units and AMD stuff is still under NDA at this point.

      • LorryM

        February 15, 2022 at 8:31 am

        "for what its worth, this Flow Z13 is a more capable performer than the XPS 15"

        Thank you for the review, seems to meet most expectations held during Asus launch.

        In the future reviews can you please consider measuring precise display Bit-Depth (6-bit/8-bit/8-bit + FTC/10-bit) and test their HDR capabilities (HDR10 and/or Dolby Vision)? OEM marketing is often dishonest about these important details. Thanks.

        I'm guessing the Z13 FHD is a 8-bit SDR panel.

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 15, 2022 at 9:03 am

        Yes, the panel is 8-bit SDR. Thanks for the suggestion, I'll look into it, but at this point, I don't know how exactly I would be able to reliably test this.

      • Nick

        February 15, 2022 at 4:17 pm

        Can you disclose when the NDA ends ?

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 15, 2022 at 4:25 pm

        I can't, but it's soon

      • LorryM

        February 16, 2022 at 4:21 pm

        Is this HDR10, really? Huh, I wonder how they got that considering the display neither WCG(wide color gamut) or FALD(local dimming) capable, which are requirements for HDR400 spec.

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 16, 2022 at 4:28 pm

        I don't think it is. How did you come to this conclusion, I'm not seeing that mentioned anywhere?

        Edit: Ah, got it, that was a mistake in my previous comment, the panel is 8-bit standard range.

      • LorryM

        February 17, 2022 at 3:58 am

        Thanks for clarifying.

        I've been waiting for a proper HDR 2-in-1 because I love watching movies and work requires me to travel often. Last year saw VivoBook Pro 14 base-model was on discount for $650 and couldn't pass up the opportunity after reading your wonderful review.

        Was waiting for ZenBook Flip 14 OLED at the time which turned out to be a vaporware so now thinking about switching to newly announced Lenovo Yoga 9i OLED instead.

    • Roger

      June 28, 2022 at 4:05 am

      Hi, thnx for the great review! One question, i run a lot of Handbrake and the last mobile chip i used was a 5900HX in a Lenovo Legion 7 Gen6, a beast of a machine. Can you maybe compare that chip with the one in the Z13? I ditched the lenovo becuase it simply was too heavy, especially with the hige powerbrick. And seeing the form factor of the Z13 males it interesting if it can match or maybe even beat the 5900HX. And do mind the only model Z13 here comes with an i7 12700H. I hope you will reply with an answer. But thnx again for the in depth review!

      • Andrei Girbea

        June 28, 2022 at 8:56 am

        sustained performance should be a little lower because this is a thinner and lower-power design. See the Cinebench loop and CPU tests in this review and our review of the Legion 7 (use the search function)

  2. Arsen

    February 14, 2022 at 8:57 pm

    Cool. This is the most complete review of this device at the moment. Thank you 😉

  3. Mathias

    February 14, 2022 at 10:49 pm

    Cool review!
    I’m considering buying the one with intel i7 12th gen.
    Is there a huge difference between the i7 and i9?
    Would it also be possible to play on the one with the i7
    I’m not a huge gamer, mostly I’m going to be using it to my study, some 3d drawing program, and video editing.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 15, 2022 at 8:59 am

      The i7 and the i9 should be very close in performance.

    • Cilus

      February 16, 2022 at 2:06 pm

      Unlike desktop where the i9 has more number of cores, in mobile, i9-12900H and i7-12700H have same number of P and E cores with just a clock speed bump for i9 and in these kind of small devices, i9 can hardly take advantage of that extra speed due to thermal and power restrictions.

  4. christopher b shay

    February 15, 2022 at 3:05 am

    I would like to know if this competes at all with Wacoms mobile studio pro. Expensive it may be, but it is more powerful and far cheaper as an alternative to that worthy Windows drawing tablet.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 15, 2022 at 9:01 am

      I don't have a lot of experience with pen input so I can't tell how this compares. You'll have to look into other reviews for it

    • LorryM

      February 16, 2022 at 2:40 pm

      Check out Samsung Galaxy Book Flex2 Alpha 13 as a cheap drawing tablet as it uses Wacom EMR stylus. This Asus tablet is using MPP 2.0 stylus which is not too ideal for drawing and more geared towards digital-writing.

  5. ian

    February 15, 2022 at 7:41 am

    can this be used in tablet form on a lap while holding with one hand or does the back of the tablet get too hot when browsing websites for ten hours straight? is using it like an ipad possible at all?

    awesome review.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 15, 2022 at 9:01 am

      It can. the temps are Ok, see the readings in the Thermals section

      • ian

        February 15, 2022 at 8:49 pm

        my android note 9 has a case and gets no more than 40C and i can feel it in fingers but this won't even gave a case. curious whether the z13 gets hotter than an 12 inch ipad pro just browsing.

        how much extra battery life can the i7 version give approx?

      • Andrei Girbea

        February 15, 2022 at 8:54 pm

        I don't have any thermal readings for the Ipad Pro, but my 11inch Pro only gets mildly warm with browsing and daily use. I'd expect this Z13 to run a little warmer.

        As for the battery life in the i7, I wouldn't expect major changes, since the i9 and i7 are almost similar. Future software tweaks might increase efficiency on both configurations, though.

  6. William

    February 15, 2022 at 9:44 am

    Great test. My question is how only IGPU affects Battery life.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 15, 2022 at 10:26 am

      I wouldn't expect significant differences, as the dGPU is automatically disabled during light use on battery

  7. Humble Bee

    February 15, 2022 at 12:28 pm

    Excellent review! All details covered, thank you. I own a SP8 i5/16/256. I love this tablet with kickstand and full OS. It fits my workflow and entertainment. I was considering this ASUS Z13 until I see the battery life. My SP8 can only last maximum 6 hours of light use on battery mode at 50% brightness as well, similar result to this ASUS Z13. And this is the only disappointment I have with this device. I guess the reason that the battery life is so short is that it is a tablet so they cannot stuff a bigger battery in. But to my expectations, normally tablet battery life lasts at least 10 hours of play 1080p mp4 local easy. So much so I would love to switch to this Asus Z13 because I don’t need the Slim Pen 2 after I tried, and I definitely would love to have dGPU for some occasional gaming, battery life isn’t there yet. I hope they will make Z13 2 or next generation that will have 10 hours of local video playback battery life.

  8. Petar

    February 15, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    That battery life is atrocious. Great review, as always!

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 15, 2022 at 4:38 pm

      That's unfair. The battery life is much as expected from an i9 with a 56 Wh battery in it.

      • Bumble Bee

        February 15, 2022 at 4:42 pm

        I am not saying it’s the battery’s fault but it’s just the overall battery life does not meet my own personal requirement as a tablet yet. So I hope they can have the next generation to have 10 hours video playback time even if there is no dGPU, because I could hook up eGPU.

  9. Sinjin

    February 15, 2022 at 7:20 pm

    can you run a LatencyMon test? takes a minute!

  10. Soren

    February 15, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    I’m interested to see if the CPU has a higher power limit when connected to the XG mobile doc.

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 16, 2022 at 11:04 am

      as far as I understand, it should work at 55W sustained when connected to the XG doc. We'll test it once we get our hands on one

  11. Robert Jasiek

    February 16, 2022 at 11:12 pm

    The main advantage of the Flow Z13 is its cooperation with RTX 3080 Laptop in XG Mobile. However, related suitable configurations are missing. Such should be with only iGPU but with 32 GB RAM and either 12700H, 6 P cores or Ryzen 6000 U or H or HS, 8 cores.

  12. Adam

    February 17, 2022 at 4:16 am

    Would you recommend this for playing steam games on battery? Nothing AAA, more like side scrollers on the train home. How long do you think the battery would last? And would you recommend somethin else instead like the X13 or the new G14?

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 17, 2022 at 10:34 am

      It will last about an hour with games on battery, and maybe you can squeeze longer with Battery Boost and an aggressive fps cap. Haven't tried it. The X13 might last a little longer since it's AMD, but the battery is still small.

  13. FargotanS

    February 22, 2022 at 1:37 pm

    Thanks for the very detailed review!
    When do you expect to make a review of the i5 model, the one without a dGPU?
    Since the thermal requirements cut down the performance of the beefy i9 processor, I was wondering how would the i5 variant perform. If there is not much difference in performance and maybe the battery life is be longer, then that that would be a much more sensible option for many (with the external GPU only for gaming)

    • Andrei Girbea

      February 22, 2022 at 2:01 pm

      I plan to, yes. It's mentioned in the review. Not sure when that will be available, though.

      • Adam

        March 3, 2022 at 1:35 pm

        Would you recommend last years x13 model with the 3080 external included for $2800 or getting the z13 for retail ($1800)?

        X13 has the Ryzen 9 with gtx 1650 and 32gb of ram

        Bestbuy's z13 has Intel processor (more external graphics card options?) With 16gb of ram and 3050

        I'd play mostly at home plugged in but also take it on the train with me/ bring to friends houses. Thank you

        How do battery life's compare?

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 3, 2022 at 1:43 pm

        Battery life is better for the X13, which is AMD. Other than that, it's up to you. Which form-factor do you prefer and how often are you going to use the dGPU in the device (as the 3050Ti is a significant upgrade over the 1650).

        just FYI, I'm getting the 2022 X13 these days and will follow up with a review and details on the XG Mobile external dGPU performance on both the Z13 and the X13. Should be ready in the next 2 weeks.

      • Bjørn

        March 16, 2022 at 2:41 pm

        Any news on that review? :)

      • Andrei Girbea

        March 16, 2022 at 4:18 pm

        I'm finishing up the tests, should be available by early next week, at the latest. Possibly even by late tomorrow.

    • Humble Bee

      February 22, 2022 at 2:24 pm

      Exactly what I hope too.

  14. Tom

    February 28, 2022 at 11:57 pm

    Great review, just what I was looking for!
    I'm really glad you mentioned that you can only use the original charger as I was planning on using this in combination with a 120W thunderbolt dock, guess that will limit the performance so might have to reconsider on that…

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 1, 2022 at 9:54 am

      Any other charger of sufficient power would only allow the Performance mode, not Turbo. Up to you if that is enough. It might also cause some battery drain with demanding loads, based on experience with other products – haven't tested here

  15. DW

    March 1, 2022 at 7:30 am

    Any news on ASUS releasing a 32GB version of this with the i9? Seems crazy to only offer an i9 with 16GB of RAM. I only want to get a gaming PC with 32GB of RAM these days.

    • Andrei Girbea

      March 1, 2022 at 9:56 am

      from what I've been told, there's no 32 GB version for now.

  16. bittricks

    April 4, 2022 at 12:40 am

    I got to play with the i9 model at a show. What a beast. What a great portable workhorse. But the 4K-only display option for the i9 is a dealbreaker.

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 4, 2022 at 8:57 am

      Is the i7 available with the FHD+ screen? The i7 and i9 12th-gen Intel platforms are almost identical, and both available with up to 16 GB of RAM in this design. I expect the i7 configuration to be the better-value buys

  17. Arcameides

    April 6, 2022 at 4:55 pm

    How well does the pen work with this? I saw another review were the surface pro pen was used and the responsiveness was not that good. I know ROG has their own pen for this and would like to know if it works better (Asus pen paired with Asus Z13). Reason I ask is I am strongly considering this for 3d sculpting in ZBrush and Blender.

    • Andrei Girbea

      April 6, 2022 at 5:09 pm

      I haven't looked into it, so can't comment. Perhaps others can add their impressions

  18. himuradrew

    April 18, 2022 at 9:16 am

    Hi!

    Have you guys encountered the XG Mobile GPU suddenly going into Extreme Power Saving Mode and suddenly not being detected?

    I've had it suddenly do that in the middle of playing a game, in which case the performance suddenly tanked because it reverted to the igpu. Or just suddenly "disappearing" a few seconds just after plugging in the XG Mobile.

    Currently using a Flow Z13 (i7-12700H, 16GB, RTX3050) in conjunction with an XG Mobile 3070

  19. Sander

    August 2, 2022 at 7:48 pm

    @himuradrew: Maybe the eGPU is not allowed in "Extreme Power Saving Mode"? The black screen happens while switching to 120Hz when hooking up power.

    @Andrei: Did you also test or have some idea on the battery when using the UHD+ screen instead of the FHD+ one?

    • Andrei Girbea

      August 3, 2022 at 9:39 am

      I haven't tested the UHD screen on either the 2022 Z13 or the X13. I'd expect around a 1-3W impact over the FHD screen

  20. chong

    August 3, 2022 at 11:56 am

    is it a good adviser for normal game player like playing Fifa , using this for excel word and AI ? cause im changing a new tablet ..

  21. himuradrew

    August 3, 2022 at 4:20 pm

    Finally solved the XG Mobile problem. Set Armoury Crate to Windows Profile, set Nvidia Low Latency to Off, GPU mode to Standard. Seems to work properly now. .

  22. Ankit Rai

    January 9, 2023 at 7:40 pm

    Thanks for the detailed review. Do you think it's worthwhile to opt for i7 version of the Flow Z13(2022)? I will not be doing extensive gaming on this. And since the2023 model will be expensive then the outgoing model, it won't fit into my budget.

    • Andrei Girbea

      January 10, 2023 at 11:20 am

      yeah, the i7 and the i9 and nearly identical for most use cases.

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