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ASUS A32-N56 Battery Life
ASUS Li-ion battery pack A31-N56, A32-N56, A33-N56 Rating 10.8V 5200mAh
The longest possible battery runtime was investigated with the BatteryEater Reader's Test (all wireless radios deactivated, minimum brightness), with the battery holding out for about 6 hours.
Much closer to everyday use is the WiFi surf test (WiFi radio active, display brightness medium at 150 cd/m², loading various web pages). A32-N56 Battery runtime drops considerably to just over half. At 3.25 hours, the notebook was not designed for long trips without power.
Watching a DVD on the notebook is usually without problems. With the battery fully charged, one can watch for up to 3 hours, which is sufficient for most movies.
Battery runtime under load is determined with the BatteryEater Classic test (maximum display brightness, a 3D scene being rendered to place a load on CPU and GPU). The Asus N56 reaches just under 2 hours of run time in this mode. The processor performance is identical whether the notebook is plugged in or running on battery.
Charge time is 160 minutes.
Case
The Asus N56VZ sports a new design and differs considerably from the previous ASUS N55. While we criticized the glossy surface of the N55's display lid, we're happy to find brushed metal on the new model. The Asus logo is inlaid into the surface and seems to be lit by the display back light. Even though the surface is not as sensitive to smudges and fingerprints anymore, they can still be noticeable on the new metal surface.
A matte, black plastic bezel frames the display, with a shiny silver Asus logo inlay below the screen. The top of the base unit is covered with a relatively thin sheet of aluminum with a separate cut-out for each of the keyboard's chiclet keys, as well as for the touch pad, breaking the otherwise homogeneous surface.
The touchpad suffers from flawed workmanship, as it is not recessed to an even depth. While its sides are recessed, the center of the lower edge is on a level with the wrist rest. The top edge actually rises above the aluminum plate. Sometimes we also hear rattling sounds in the pre-manufacturing sample of the ASUS N56VM we tested.
On the opposite side from the round, polished power button, there is a second button, which allows the user to assign a function. Around these two keys, there are concentric rings of gray dots bored into the aluminum. Beneath these holes, the laptop's speakers are mounted. The bottom of the notebook is made of matte black plastic.
Stability is good for the most part: The display lid hardly gives to pressure, though it can be twisted slightly. The hinges hold the display in place well with no wobbling. The top surface of the base unit does not give in the areas of keyboard and speakers. The area to the right, above the optical drive and the wrist rest do sag under a little bit of pressure though.
The results for the case bottom are similarly mixed: The area toward the rear is very stable, but in the front, the plastic bends very easily. Overall, the base unit is very stiff, thanks to the aluminum sections, with good torsional rigidity.
The sub-woofer had been slightly modified in comparison to the previous model. Its surface is now matte instead of reflective. The cable for it can now be stowed behind a cover.
Connectivity
Front and rear of the notebook are free from connectors; the front only houses a card reader, supporting SD, MS, MS Pro and MMC formats. Connectors for VGA and HDMI are on the left side, with a fold out RJ-45 socket for LAN connection between them.
Unfortunately, the connector does not fit snugly but has a worrying amount of give. Luckily, the connection was not lost. Unplugging the connector is a rather unpleasant exercise, because the hatch has to be held down with a fingernail, while the other hand has to unhook the connector's plastic latch. Frequent users of wired networks are in for a test of patience. (ASUS UX32VD Zenbook batteries)
Asus says good bye to the old USB 2.0 version of ports, on both sides of the notebook, USB 3.0 connectors are the only ones installed. The probable reason is that Ivy Bridge chipsets support USB 3.0 natively, and manufacturers can avoid having to squeeze additional chips into their notebooks.
To the right, one finds two 3.5mm audio ports- one headphones/SPDIF and one microphone jack, optical drive, power connector and Kensington lock.
The positioning of connectors is not particularly well considered. To use the interfaces, you end up turning your entire desk into a snake's nest of wires. Positioning most connectors toward the rear would have been far better.
Keyboard and trackpad
Well, this is probably the best keyboard I’ve seen on an Asus laptop so far. Yes, it does look a lot like the one on the MBP as well, but what’s more important is that it actually feels almost as good. The keys are properly spaced and they feel just right, with their soft plastic finishing on top. They are also firm enough and provide enough travel, although I did find them a bit tall when I first started to use the N56.
The keyboard is also backlit and there are three different brightness levels to choose from. And yes, there’s a bit of bleeding beneath the keys, but I’ve seen a lot worse, that’s for sure. (DELL FA180PM111 adapters)
The trackpad is also something you’ll like on the N56. It’s massive, smooth and accurate, even with multitouch gestures. The entire surface is clickable, but trying to press it on its upper part will make the case flex a bit too much. Thus, you’d better click the designated areas in the right and left lower corners. Of course, dedicated click buttons would have been better, but overall the trackpad on the Asus N56 is one of the best I’ve played with recently.
Display
The 15.6 display sports a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and can play Full HD videos in native resolution. Luckily, Asus decided to go with a non-reflective display panel. It is identical to the display of the previous model, the 156HT01-201 built by Samsung. In the N55, we criticized the poor black value and resulting poor contrast; we will need to see if these issues persist.
The brightness measurements differ from the results of the N55. Average brightness has increased slightly for the N56VZ and just misses the 300 cd/m² mark. Illumination is very even at 90% and maximum brightness remains identical when running on battery.
The black value has been improved considerably, in spite of the same model number of the display. The black value of the N55 was 0.88 cd/m², now the panel manages a really good value of 0.59 cd/m². This improves contrast to 514:1, which is a good value. Details in games and movies are much improved; the high resolution helps as well.
In our N56VM pre-production sample, a much brighter Philips LP1156WF1 panel (also non reflective) was used. This reached 400 cd/m² with similar black values of 0.58 cd/m², achieving a maximum contrast of 690:1 in our measurements.
The professional sRGB and AdobeRGB are not covered by the display, even though that should mostly matter to graphics professionals and photographers.
Thanks to the good brightness and non-reflective surface, one can work very well in bright surroundings. In bright interior spaces, everything is perfectly readable, and outdoors it would only become problematic if the sun shines directly on the display.
Asus does advertise the improved viewing angles of this notebook. Across wide angles, colors are supposed to remain stable. Horizontally, this holds true. Aside from a slight weakening in brightness, the image stays the same when viewed from the side. When looking from above, things are still easy to see, but colors fade and a blue or yellow tint may appear. When viewed from below, however, the display gets very dark and it becomes hard to tell what you're looking at. For a TN panel, the viewing angles are pretty good, but the N56 can't keep up with IPS panels like the one on the Zenbook UX32VD.
Speakers
What sets the asus N series apart from most of the other laptop lines available out there are its speakers. Not only we have two integrated speakers with quite big chambers for a laptop on the ASUS N56, hidden beneath those drilled holes above the keyboard, but we also have a better sound processor and an external subwoofer included, that can be connected to the laptop via a 2.5 mm jack on the side.
So, without the woofer connected, the entire sound is output through the two speakers and the volume and quality are alright. However, with the woofer connected, the low frequency sound is directed towards it, while the speakers only take care of the medium and high frequency sound. As a result, the sound quality provided by the Asus N56 is above anything I’ve heard on a laptop before, comparable only to the N55 tested last year.
Asus also bundles the audio system, which btw is developed together with Bang & Olufsen, with this piece of software called Maxxaudio 3, that allows you to tweak the sound in order to better meet your acoustic requirements.
So, the speakers are really good on the N56. Just don’t expect wonders, , do not forget that we’re still talking about a laptop’s sound system here.
Verdict
The first impression of this notebook is promising. The case has good stability and shows good workmanship for the most part. Surfaces are all matte and hence less susceptible to smudges and fingerprints. The external sub-woofer is also of good quality (ASUS C23-UX32 batteries). Still, we found weaknesses here and there.
With interfaces, the ASUS N56VZ shines with four USB 3.0 connectors. But the fold-out LAN connector is dodgy at best and makes disconnection difficult. All connectors are placed unfavorably toward the front of the notebook. WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth 4.0 are available for wireless connectivity.
The keyboard is well designed. One can type on it comfortably, even for longer periods of time. Thanks to the back light, it’s possible to work or play in darkness as well. The touch pad is alright in regards to recognition of finger movement, but the implementation of the click pad is a failure. As usual, missing dedicated buttons are particularly annoying for drag and drop operations.
The Full-HD display is very bright and non-reflective, permitting comfortable use in bright surroundings and outdoors as well. Thanks to the good black value, contrast is pleasantly high.
The performance of the Asus N56 ranks in the upper levels, thanks to the high quality components. The notebook makes good use of the GPU's potential; it is perfectly suitable to play games on it, if not at the highest detail settings in its native Full-HD resolution.
It remains mostly silent, though it does get warm. Sound is very good thanks to the external sub-woofer and largely obviates the need for a separate sound system. Battery runtime is as it should be for this type of notebook.
More info: laptop-batteries.com.au , laptop-battery.org.uk , battery-store.eu
