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Review Asus ZENBOOK Prime UX21A

The ASUS UX21A is a small Zenbook Prime ultrabook that is ideal for users looking for an ultra-mobile, stylish laptop to work with.

Appearance and workmanship

The UX21A is just 9 millimeters thick and weighs 1.1 kilograms, which gives the user a very thin, lightweight and compact device that fits in any bag or briefcase (the package includes a stylish case, perfectly matched to the dimensions of the laptop). The body is made of aluminum alloy and, in terms of workmanship, can compete with the best models on the market.

The working area is one-piece, pleasant to the touch and comfortable, despite its small size. The island-style keyboard is placed in a special niche, so that when the top cover is closed, there are no gaps through which dust can enter. The surface of the case, the work area and the bezel around the screen have a matte finish and are decorated in silver tones, which means that they are practically fingerprint-free.

The top cover is fixed with a longitudinal hinge that allows it to be tilted up to 140 degrees. This is not much considering the fact that the device is primarily designed to work on the road. The rigidity of the hinge is selected in such a way that the ultrabook can be opened with one hand without any problems (this does not affect stability). The cover, located on the bottom of the device, can be removed with an appropriate screwdriver, but this does not really matter, because due to the design of the ultrabook, we can, at best, gain access to the battery or fan.

Connectors

Small overall dimensions and thickness forced Taiwanese designers to greatly reduce the number of connectors. On the right side, you can find: one USB 3.0 port, a Micro-HDMI connector and an input for connecting a power adapter.

On the left side there are: another USB 3.0 port, a 3.5 mm combo jack for microphone and headphones, as well as Mini-VGA.

There is no LAN connector, but the package contains a USB-LAN adapter, with which you can connect wired Internet. There are no other connectors or ports on the device's case.

Battery

ASUS UX21A is equipped with a 4,800mAh Li-Polymer battery. After a series of tests (the screen brightness was set to 50%), I got the following results:

**one. Working in video playback mode: ** Wi-Fi network is on, playing a Full HD video file in full screen mode - 26% of the charge was used up within an hour;

** 2. Working in video playback mode: ** Wi-Fi network is off, playing Full HD video file in full screen mode - 25% of charge was used up within an hour;

** 3. Working in browser mode (via Wi-Fi): ** launches a web browser and a test that simulates web browsing - 28% of the charge was used up within an hour;

**four. Working in browser mode (via 3G modem): ** a web browser is launched and a test that simulates web browsing - 32% of the charge was used up within an hour;

**five. Working in chat mode: ** Skype is running, Wi-Fi connection is active - 42% of the charge was used up within an hour.

At maximum load, the ultrabook lasted 1 hour and 33 minutes.

The package includes a charger that allows you to charge the included laptop (from 4% to 97%) in 2 hours and 46 minutes.

Temperature and noise

A powerful latest-generation Intel processor housed in a thin aluminum case requires a well-thought-out cooling system. Taiwanese designers have proposed a very interesting solution - the ventilation ducts are located in a hinge right below the ultrabook screen. Looks nice and fits well with the overall design, but the efficiency leaves a lot to be desired. For a processor that heats up to 86 degrees Celsius under load, and up to 81-82 degrees in normal operation, this is clearly not enough.Such indicators also negatively affect the usability of the device - the case in the lower part (especially on the left) sometimes heats up so much that it is simply impossible to keep the ultrabook on your lap.

The noise generated by the active cooling system during intensive work reaches 42 dB. But under normal conditions it is practically inaudible.

Sound and camera

The device is equipped with Bang & Olufsen speakers. They are located at the bottom of the case, therefore, the sound quality will be affected by the base on which the laptop stands. At medium volume, the highs and mids sound correct, but there is a tendency for an unpleasant buzzing sound at higher volume levels. Low frequencies, like all devices of this class, are practically absent.

The webcam installed in the ultrabook is equipped with a matrix with a resolution of 0.9 megapixels and allows you to record videos in HD (720p) format.

Communication capabilities

Communication capabilities of ASUS UX21A are presented only by Wi-Fi-module of 802.11 b / g / n standards and Bluetooth 4.0 adapter.

Screen

ASUS UX21A is equipped with a small screen with a diagonal of 11.6 inches and a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. The IPS matrix has a matte finish, which well emphasizes the character of the ultrabook. The maximum brightness of the display when connected to the mains is more than 350 cd / m2, when operating on battery power it drops to 200 cd / m2. This, in combination with the anti-reflective coating, allows the device to be used outdoors on sunny days without any problems. But the uniformity of the illumination is not encouraging. The deviations exceed 85 cd / m2 (in the lower right corner of the screen), which is a poor reading.

As befits an IPS matrix, the display offers wide viewing angles both vertically and horizontally. This means that the colors will not be inverted even when there is a strong deviation from the center of the screen.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ultrabook is equipped with an island-style keyboard with extended Shift, Backspace and Enter keys. There is no digital block. The keys are slightly rounded, backlit and characterized by a soft stroke. Typing on the keyboard is quite comfortable.

The touchpad, considering the overall dimensions of the case, can be called large and comfortable. The buttons are integrated into the touch panel, which has good sensitivity.

Performance

Despite its small size, the UX21A is a very powerful mobile computer. The "heart" of the tested sample is an Intel Core i7-2677M processor with a clock speed of 1.90 GHz (Ivy Bridge generation, TDP 17 W, 4 MB cache). Also installed are 4 gigabytes of DDR3 RAM (1600 MHz), a 256 gigabyte SSD hard drive and an integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics card.

Below are the results of ASUS UX21A in practical tests.

1. Multimedia

During testing, I checked multimedia files with the following characteristics:

1.mkv, 480p, xvid, 1 mbps, he aac, with subtitles;

2.mkv, 720p, h264, 600 kbps, aac / mp3 dual audio;

3.mp4, 720p, h264, 3 mbps, aac;

4.mkv, 720p, h264, 3 mbps, vorbis, with subtitles;

5.mp4, 720p, h264, 6 mbps, ac3;

6.mkv, 1080p, h264, 10 mbps, dts;

7.mkv, 1080p, h264, 40 mbps.

Each of the files was played without problems.

2. Application performance

Case Study: Converting 2 minutes 19 seconds video from Full HD to HD takes 107 seconds. According to the Windows 8 operating system, the hardware deserves 5.5 points.

3. Gaming performance

Despite the fact that ASUS UX21A was not designed for gamers and only has an integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 graphics card, it allows you to play many modern games, albeit at low settings. In the games I tested, the device achieved the following results:

**one. Far Cry 3 (2012): ** high settings - 2 frames / second, medium settings - 3 frames / second, low settings - 8 frames / second;

** 2. Deus EX: Human Revolution (2011): ** high settings - 10 frames / second, medium settings - 13 frames / second, low settings - 24 frames / second;

** 3. Brіnk (2011): ** high settings - 5 frames / second, medium settings - 13 frames / second, low settings - 15 frames / second;

**four. Heroes of Mіght and Magіc V (2006): ** high settings - 17 fps, medium settings - 18 fps, low settings - 45 fps.

Results and estimates

ASUS UX21A is a well-designed and brilliantly crafted mobile computer that comes with a quality screen and powerful components. The model will be a great purchase for those users looking for a reliable laptop for work on the go.

Each of the key features was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is very weak and 5 is high. The grade point average is the overall grade.

**one. Appearance and workmanship ** - 5.0 points;

** 2. Equipment ** - 3.5 points;

** 3. Operating time on a single charge ** - 3.0 points;

**four. Mobility ** - 4.5 points;

**five. Temperature and noise ** - 1.5 points;

** 6. Screen ** - 4.5 points;

** 7. Keyboard and touchpad ** - 4.0 points;

**eight. Gaming performance ** - 1.5 points;

**nine. Application performance ** - 4.5 points.

Final test score: 3.5 points.

Benefits:

1. High quality workmanship;

2. Elegant design;

3. High-performance hard drive SSD with a capacity of 256 gigabytes;

4. Matte IPS screen of good quality and high resolution;

5. Keyboard backlight;

6. High performance of components in applications.

Disadvantages:

1. A small number of available ports;

2. Inefficient cooling system;

3. Problems with the uniformity of the backlight;

4. Poor performance of components in games.

The main competitors of ASUS UX21A are the following models: Samsung 900X3D (NP900X3D-A02RU), Apple MacBook Air 13 (MD231RS / A), Acer Aspire S7-391-53314G12aws (NX.M3EEU.001).

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