Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review

The new Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG brings in several upgrades to the UX425 including the switch from Ice lake to 11th generation Tiger Lake CPU. As with most previous zenbooks, this is a sweet and sleek ultrabook from Asus that’s super portable with an all-metal casing. This year Asus also adds its Screenpad, which is an additional secondary display on the touchpad. 

Starting at INR 99,999, this is a pricey laptop but that’s to be expected for a premium experience. In our Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG review, we will talk about what impressed us and what didn’t. 

Contents:

• Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Price and Specs
• Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Design
• Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Keyboard, IO & Connectivity
• Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Display and Screenpad
• Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Performance
• Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Battery and Audio
• Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Verdict, Pros and Cons

Asus ZenBook 14 UX435EG Price and Specs

Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Design and Build

Right off the bat, the Zenbook 14 is an excellent machine for consumers who value portability. It’s extraordinarily slim (1.69mm) and light (1.29 Kg) and yet doesn’t compromise on basics as proper hand rests for typing. 

The brushed metal finish on the lid of the ’Pine Gray’ variant is very appealing and so is the rest of the premium metal casing with chamfered side edges. And as on previous-gen Zenbooks, the Ergolift hinge that unfolds 130-degrees gently lifts the base by around 3-degrees for more comfortable typing and to increase breathing space around vents at the bottom.

The laptop feels fairly solid and well balanced, and the lid can be pushed open using just one hand. Since enterprise users are significant among the Ultrabook target audience, Asus has made room for a 720p Webcam in spite of the slim bezels (92% screen-to-body ratio). This also allows for Windows Halo Face-unlock convenience.

Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Keykeyboardboard, I/O, and Connectivity 

Asus adds a full-size backlit keyboard with 1.4mm key travel and decent spacing between keys. Even coming from a mechanical keyboard, we got used to typing on this machine in just a couple of days. This is a keyboard more suited for everyday tasks, but even people with hardcore typing needs should be fine. 

Ports that most people would frequently need are all there. Zenbook 14 comes with two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C (up to 40 Gbps) ports. Even with the power supply connected to one, the second is free for video output or for connecting other extensions. 

Other than that, there is USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A (up to 5 Gbps) port, Standard HDMI 2.0 port, a MicroSD card reader (104 MB/s) and an Audio combo jack. We did miss the Ethernet port when transferring large chunks of data to our NAS. For specific extras you will need to connect dongles.

Wireless connectivity includes WiFi 802.11ax and Bluetooth 5.0. 

Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Display and ScreenPad

Asus uses an IPS LCD display with an LED backlight and slim, uniform bezels on all sides. The screen can resist finger smudges rather well and the touch response works great for tasks like operating our phone mirrored using Scrcpy and for basics like scrolling or addressing a pop-up dialogue box. 

Viewing angles are wide and Asus claims 100 percent RGB coverage which should make it appealing to modest content creators. The dynamic range and contrast were good enough while watching videos. We didn’t notice any eye-strain or screen flicker while using the display indoors. The panel gets sufficiently bright but is a tad reflective for outdoor usage. 

Asus continues its fascination with the extra screen and adds a Screenpad which can serve as both a regular glass touchpad or a secondary touch screen. 

If you’d rather put in the gimmicks box, you can just press F6 and switch to an excellent and spacious precision touchpad with proper click buttons. 

We’d recommend that you try it out for a few days before giving up on it. We found it useful for wirelessly mirroring our phone to access our music playlist (using Link to My Asus app) or for playing a YouTube video while troubleshooting on the main screen. You could also occasionally use it as a num pad, for Bluetooth calling, or for handwriting input.  But unless you have a specific use case in mind, leaving it on will only interfere with your workflow. 

Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Performance

Zenbook 14 UX435EG is powered by the latest 11th generation Intel chips. Our unit is driven by Intel Core i7 1165G7 paired with Nvidia MX450 graphics with 2GB GDDR6 VRAM, 16GB 4266Hz LPDDR4x RAM, and 1 TB PCIe NVMe 3.0 x2 M.2 SSD. 

There are three performance modes that you can switch between with fn+F keys – Standard, Performance, and Whisper. 

As expected, this is an excellent configuration for regular office work and internet applications. Under regular loads, the laptop runs cool and extremely silent. We didn’t feel any need to switch to Whisper mode that’s even quieter. 

Even though this isn’t a gaming laptop, you can still dabble with CPU-intensive games. Graphic intensive games like Assasin Creed do not work well. Performance throttles after 15 to 20 minutes due to thermal limitations of the closely packed chassis but most games run fine on medium and low settings.

This is still an excellent machine for productivity and we didn’t face any random stutters or performance glitches. File transfer speed over WLAN was excellent.

Also Read: MSI GS66 Stealth Gaming Laptop Review

Benchmark scores:

FPS scores:

• Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Low settings): 76fps
• Witcher 3 (Medium graphics): 61 fps
• Battlefield V (Medium graphics): 45 fps

Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Battery and Audio

Battery mileage on the Zenbook 14 UX435EG is decent if not outright impressive. It comes with a 63Whr battery and a 65W Type-C power adaptor. On 100 percent charge with standard performance mode and ‘better Performance’ battery profile, the battery could carry us through approx 7 hours of regular office work that involves a lot of browsing, some YouTube, and frequent bouts with image editing software. With gaming and while watching multimedia content battery depletes faster. 

Considering there is only so much space for speakers on Ultrabooks, Asus does a commendable job with the audio. Zenbook 14 has Harman Kardon tuned speakers that output well-balanced audio and get fairly loud for a silent room. 

Asus Zenbook 14 UX435EG Review: Verdict

Asus Zenbook 14 is a premium ultrabook with the latest 11th gen Intel chips and a lot to appreciate. It brandishes a premium design and is extremely portable, has a good quality display, a long-lasting battery, a reasonably good keyboard and touchpad, and a decent assortment of ports.

The secondary Screenpad is not a standout reason for you to buy this ultrabook, but it serves as an added bonus. 

At a starting price of INR 99,999, Zenbook 14 will have to face some stiff competition including the new MacBook Air with Apple M1 chips. But if you have your mind prepared for a Windows Ultrabook, the Zenbook 14 UX435EG is among the best options to consider.

Pros

• Premium and portable design
• A decent assortment of ports
• Capable productivity performance
• Excellent Wi-Fi performance
• Good battery mileage

Cons

• Display is reflective