Asus Zenbook UX21 Review & Price [Malaysia] - It's Ultrabook Time

Courtesy of ASUS Malaysia I was given a unit of ASUS Zenbook UX21 to review after the official launch of Asus Zenbook UX21 @ Luna Bar. I am actually looking for a laptop that suite my working schedule where I need to travel here and there and it's 1.1kg weight definitely make my life easier. No more overweight luggage. The ultrabook I am reviewing is 11 inch. The nicely curve body design and the aluminum construction making UX21 more elegant to use.

The top of the ultrabook with brushed metal look

Lift the lid, reveal the mouse pad with simple design and bouncing keypads with the super-thin 11 inch screen showing Window 7 is on. Yeap, Asus Zenbook is one of the Ultrabook that can wake up from idle mode within 2 seconds. I don't have to shut it down every time I want to travel as when you close the lid it will automatic go to power-safe mode and preserve battery level.

The keyboards bouncy feel does helps me in typing but I wonder if it was just me or the spacebar is a little bit harder to press correctly. Sometimes my sentence lack of spacing although I feel that I already press on it. [Maybe I need to press harder]

Audio quality. Bang & Olufsen ICEpower speakers. The speaker is amazingly nice although it was tiny built between the screen and the keyboard. Consider quite good experience listen to music and watch video too. However, please don't expect this already-thin-ultrabook to give you good bass audio.

Talking about the screen (450 nits HD 1366x768), I tried use Picasa 3 to edit photos and the color showed looks quite accurate when viewed straight on. Of course, at extreme angles you won't able to see the images clearly. The screen is large enough to view most of the website (including my blog) correctly.

Maybe I should consider the UX31 with i7 and larger screen too so I can edit the images more correctly and smoothly.

Asus Zenbook UX21 connectivity is quite basic with total 6 ports. Two USB ports (USB 2.0+3.0 compatible), Micro HDMI and Mini Display Port Video Outputs with combined headphone and microphone audio jack. A USB Adapter for Ethernet port is included in the box if you prefer wired to wireless networking.

USB Adapter for LAN/Ethernet port and Mini VGA to VGA Adapter

I tried the webcam to record video and it's face detection functioning quite well. Now I wonder where did I put my video hahaha.

• Sleek design, thin (With a thickness of 3mm at the front and 9mm at the rear) and light (1.1-1.3kg)
• Super Hybrid Engine II technology
• Standby time up to 2 weeks
• True Instant on, always resume in 2 seconds
• Powerwiz that provide real-time power forecast
• Storage I/O performance comparison

Asus Zenbook UX21 features real time power forecast. I can switch between 'Battery-saving' and 'High-performance' mode to save more battery.

Asus Zenbook UX21 equipped with Intel Core i5-2467M processor running at 1.6GHz, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD are still an incredibly powerful combination in a laptop of this size. I didn't face any trouble to complete my daily task including running multiple applications. As for playing games? I don't think the spec is good enough for it still.

UX21's four-and-a-half-hour battery life will not be enough if you are like me using photo edit software in high performance and I would advice you to always bring your battery charger along. Good thing is that the battery charger no longer that bulky compared to other laptop.

FREE Leather Sleeve will be given when you purchase Asus Zenbook UX21/UX31. It looks elegant and classy but I personally don't think it is protective enough IF I accidentally dropped it on the floor.

Conclusion for Asus Zenbook UX21:
People will surely compare with it's direct competitor 11" MacBook Air. Both of them are in similar built just that the major difference is the OS (of course). Apple fans will always support apple products, but what happen when something different is being offered?

I will not purchase Asus Zenbook UX21 but will get the UX31 version instead because of the i7 processor and additional SD Card Reader (I don't wanna bring card reader along with me everywhere I go). UX21's light weight definitely is a good reason to bring it along for travel & work. Imagine I can just transfer photos to it and blog on the spot during my travel to Japan Osaka =)

I might have forgot to review certain parts of this gadget. If you have any question do ask as I will try my best to answer you =)

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UX21E - 11.6 inch ASUS ZENBOOK - RM3,299 (suggested SRP)
Intel Core i5-2467M 1.6GHz
4GB 1333MHz DDR3
128GB SATA3 SSD
One USB3.0, One USB 2.0
FREE Leather Sleeve, USB to LAN Adapter, Mini VGA to VGA Adapter

UX31E - 13.3 inch ASUS ZENBOOK - RM4,499 (suggested SRP)
Intel Core i7-2677M 1.8GHz
4GB 1333MHz DDR3
256GB SATA3 SSD
One USB3.0, One USB 2.0
FREE Leather Sleeve, USB to LAN Adapter, Mini VGA to VGA Adapter

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