|
|
ASUS Li-ion battery pack C22-UX31 Rating 7.4V 6840mAh
Intel mainly promised more performance for the new Ivy Bridge platform. But does it improve battery run times as well? Does the new, power hungry IPS display panel have a negative effect on runtime? As usual, we use the BatteryEater tool to test this. Best score in the Reader's Test was a strong 10 hours and 48 minutes, when simulating the reading of a document with minimum display brightness, energy savings profile and all radios deactivated.
With the internet surfing test (150cd/m² display brightness, wireless radios active, standardized web surfing, opening a page every 40 seconds) we arrived at considerably lower 4 hours and 42 minutes. By comparison: last year's UX31 only managed a maximum of 7 hours and 30 minutes, but in the surf test, it held out a bit longer at 5 hours and 9 minutes. The Zenbook UX32VD also tops out at a maximum of 7 hours and 8 minutes, while it fell behind with just 4 hours and 18 minutes in the surf test.
In the BatteryEater Classic test, we managed 148 minutes with the high performance profile, maximum display brightness and activated radios and keyboard back light. With this, the UX31A is just ahead of the ASUS ZenBook UX31, but falls behind the ASUS ZenBook UX32VD.
To replace the integrated battery, Asus tentatively quotes a price of 80-90 Euro. Apple offers the same service for 129 dollars.
Case
When you pull the ASUS Zenbook UX31A out of its included fabric sleeve for the first time, it's understandable to be taken aback by its gorgeous brushed aluminum chassis. Its svelte profile measures 0.11 by 12.8 by 8.8 inches (HWD), and at 3.03 pounds, it's a smidge heavier than the 2.9-pound MacBook Air 13-inch (Mid 2012), putting it at the lighter end of the ultrabook category (by way of comparison, our former Editors' Choice for ultraportables, the Toshiba Portege R858-P88, weighs 3.2 pounds). Opening the UX31A-DB51 reveals a design that takes a good deal of its design cues from the MacBook Air, particularly its unibody construction and black tiled keyboard.
But there are also some distinguishing characteristics. For starters, the UX31A-DB51's palm rest is slightly smaller. Moreover, its Bang & Olufsen ICEpower speaker is horizontally oriented not unlike a home theatre soundbar and is built into the 13.3-inch LED display's hinge. I tested the audio quality with Five Seconds by Twin Shadow and was pleased with the clean and crisp sound, though the maximum volume level isn't nearly high enough to fill a room (unless the room in question happens to be a dorm). Regardless of the size of the room you're in, however, the display will definitely turn heads. Thanks to its built-in IPS (in plane switching) panel, the non-reflective matte coated display features excellent color reproduction and wide viewing angles that complement its class-leading 1080p resolution, a huge step above the 1,366-by-768 resolution typically found in most 13- and 14-inch panels. The closest any competing system comes to entering this rarefied territory is the Dell XPS 14 (Summer 2012), which has a 1,600-by-900 resolution 14-inch LED display.
The only obvious gap would be the edge around the large service hatch at the bottom, but it leaves no room for criticism with its perfect fit. The design of the outer edge around the base unit is comparably hard but its never unpleasant in use, partly because the wrist rest is barely 10 millimeters above the table surface.
The display lid sports a minimal lip at the center, to allow easy opening when its closed. Opening works perfectly with no need for both hands. Asus perfectly dialed in the resistance of of the central display hinge, preventing any bobbing of the display, yet allowing the unit to be opened without the base unit lifting off the table. The maximum opening angle of 140° should be sufficient for most purposes. Should this not be the case, the IPS panel will cover for it with its state of the art viewing angles.
Coming to think of it: In regards to quality, stability, design and workmanship, the Zenbook Prime UX31A is an equal to the Ultrabook with the Apple logo on its lid. The former reference now has an equal competitor.
Connectivity
Since the unibody case is somewhat slimmer than the Zenbook UX32VD, there was less room for connectors. On the left, we find one USB 3.0 port, a combined headphone/mic connector and an SD card reader. To the right, we find a micro HDMI port, a mini VGA port, one more USB 3.0 connector as well as the power connector.
By comparison to the Zenbook UX32, the UX31A omits one USB 3.0 port and shrinks the HDMI port. RJ45 LAN as well as VGA are supplied with included adapters. What's missing? Not much for mobile use, we think. More likely, we can think of a possible criticism for desktop use, which would be called DisplayPort in this case, because VGA tops out at a maximum resolution of 1920x2000 pixels.
Connected by VGA adapter, our Dell 2408WFP test monitor delivered a good and sufficiently sharp image at the maximum resolution of 1920x1200. Only in direct comparison to the HDMI connection could we detect slightly less sharpness over VGA. Working at a normal distance from the display, this should not be noticeable. Connecting 2 external monitors simultaneously with the internal display is also possible, using HDMI and VGA at the same time. The Zenbook managed our office setup with two Dell 24 monitors (1920x1200) and the integrated display without trouble. The UX31A only hits its limit when it comes to high resolution external displays, because a DisplayPort interface would be required for resolutions like 2560x1600 pixels.
Looking at the fruit store competition, we find the same two USB 3.0 ports, the SD card reader and the headphone connectors. In regards to external monitors, Apple uses the newer Thunderbolt interface, which can also be used as a Mini-DisplayPort supporting up to 2560x1600 pixel resolutions. Adapters for the Thunderbolt port must be purchased separately: DVI adapter (29 Euro), Dual Link DVI adapter (99 Euro), VGA adapter(29 Euro), HDMI adapter(29 Euro) Gigabit LAN adapter(29 Euro). This scores a point for Apple, but with an after taste, as you have to suffer Apple's hand in your pocket again, while Asus provides its adapters without extra charge. (ASUS C22-UX31 batteries)
Keyboard
Look and feel gives us the idea that its the same keyboard and touch pad as in the Zenbook UX32VD. The typing feel differs from the previously tested UX32VD none the less, which suffered from a lack of stable support, causing it to sag while typing. Thanks to the unibody case, this is no longer a problem, so there are only trifles left to mention: The keys have a short stroke, which may require getting used to, depending on preferences.
Touchpad
The large size touchpad continues to please us. As far as Windows allows, multitouch gestures work pleasantly well. Even two finger scrolling, like in a browser, works reasonably well now, even though its not quite comparable to current touch solutions from the Apple and Android camps. We are still not happy with the clickpad concept when it comes to drag and drop operations with two fingers. Sometimes several attempts are required before the pad recognizes our intent and actually fulfills it.
In regards to input devices, at least for the touchpad, Apple is ahead. Without question, the keyboard and generous touchpad are top notch among windows systems, but Apple can better tune its software to its own hardware, leading to a better user experience with this.
Display
Naturally, Asus integrates what is probably the best currently available notebook display in its high end range of Ultrabooks. Only the excellent Full-HD IPS panel is offered in the Zenbook Prime UX21A, which we already had the pleasure of examining closely in our test of the UX32VD. A look at the display ID shows it to be the same type as in the UX32VD. Accordingly, the differences in our measurements should be considered either measurement or product tolerances. (DELL H7XW1 batteries)
With exceptionally good brightness of about 375 cd/m², very even illumination, low black value and accordingly high contrast, no room for criticism is left. Additionally, the panel comes with a non-reflective finish, avoiding annoying reflections and mirror images, so Zenbooks can be used outdoors without concern. IPS panels also offer extreme viewing angles without significant alteration of the displayed image. This contributes significantly to the mobility of the UX31A.
With a display size of 13.3, the ASUS UX31A sports the most common size among current Ultrabooks. Rather uncommon and far ahead of most competitors is the resolution offered: Full-HD, 1920 x 1080 pixels. Without making use of Windows scaling, icons and text would be rather small, so Asus has adjusted sizes to display desktop and browser a bit larger. Since this doesn't quite work without fail in every piece of software available, we looked at this problem more closely in the UX32VD review.
The non-reflective surface and excellent brightness, which is also available while running on battery power, makes it possible to surf or work outdoors as you please. Even in direct sunlight, the screen remains perfectly readable and reflections are reduced to an easily acceptable minimum.
The IPS display's stability of viewing angles is also above doubt. Moving from the optimum viewing angle in the process of daily work causes no changes in the displayed image. The panel has no problems with even the most extreme angles. One should just be careful when looking at sensitive data, because someone 3 seats away could effortlessly read along...
With a black background, we could detect some back light bleed in the lower right of the display, as well as a weak bleeding along the lower edges, but this is not noticeable during every day use. (DELL XPS L412z Series batteries)
Finally, we'll take another sidelong glance at Apple's MacBook Air 13. A 13.3 display is offered here too, but with glare surface and a resolution of 1440x900 pixels. Apple does use a good quality TN panel with strong brightness and convincing color rendition and contrast. But the reflective surface is not everybody's thing and in outdoor use simply inferior. The higher resolution is also a feature in favor of the Asus UX31A, even though some Windows applications fail at properly carrying out scaling. Apple would have handled scaling better in their own operating system, as shown by the MacBookPro Retina (2880x1800 Pixel!), even thought that suffered some glitches at first too. Customers of the new Air generation can't enjoy a high resolution display yet. Point scored by Asus.
Speakers
After removal of the service hatch below the notebook, one can see the speaker cabinets. The membrane looks similar to the ones in the UX32VD, but the small cabinets have a different shape, because the battery shape is different. They look more like the ASUS Zenbook UX31, which had different membranes installed though.
Enough observations, how do they sound? In spite of the similar construction of the UX32VD speakers, we like the sound of the UX31A a lot better. We did not notice any muffled sound with our ears positioned above the notebook here. Its possible that was just the pre-production sample of the UX32VD that had this issue. Playing back songs with the UX31A sounds alright. A weakness in bass is unavoidable, but in comparison with many other compact notebooks, the UX31A sounds very good.
Verdict
We already called Asus' first model, the ASUS Zenbook UX31 a well designed overall package. Our main point of criticism at that time was the display, which had a very reflective screen and also lacked contrast.
So, we are particularly happy that the successor Zenbook Prime UX31A sports one of the most attractive currently available displays, a non reflective Full-HD IPS panel with excellent brightness and contrast values.
Everything else about the ASUS Zenbook UX31A remains nearly unchanged and on a high level. A high quality aluminum unibody casing, a small but for mobile use sufficient set of connectors, a usable keyboard, now with back light.
In regards to performance, the Ivy Bridge update offers a decent improvement. Once more, we find an ADATA MX11 SSD aboard, which made us take notice of its very good read speeds, which improve the subjective speed of the system considerably.
There was a slight increase in emissions from its predecessor to be noted, regarding both noise and surface temperatures. Still, the UX31A is generally a whisper quiet companion, with surface temperatures always within limits. Battery run times are, depending on the usage scenario, either a little worse or a little better than last year's model.
In conclusion, we find the Asus Zenbook Prime UX31A to be a successfully executed update. The old model's strengths were kept and the few weaknesses eliminated. In search of a mobile office companion, the Asus UX31A turns out to be a near perfect choice. Possible points of criticism are limited and could be viewed as nagging on a high level (fixed RAM, missing DisplayPort and Gigabit LAN).
Update: Due to component shortages, Asus delivers the UX31A not only with the ADATA MX11 (with Sandforce controller), as present in our test model, but alternatively also with a Sandisk U100 SSD. According to user reports, this affects both 128GB and 256GB versions (see above). There is no way to see which model SSD is installed in any given model offered, without starting the system. The Sandforce Driven sticker on the package does not serve as reliable indication.
More info: laptop-batteries.com.au ,laptop-battery.org.uk , battery-store.eu
