Asus Reveals Pricing For ZenBook UX305 And ZenBook Pro UX501

News
By Rexly Peñaflorida
published

Asus kicked off its New York press conference today by talking about two of its laptops, the ZenBook UX305 and the ZenBook Pro UX501. Aside from showing its specs, the company finally revealed pricing for both models.

The ZenBook UX305 measures 0.5 x 12.8 x 8.9 inches (HxWxD), weighs 2.6 pounds, and will start at $699. Depending on your choice, the UX305 is powered by either an Intel Core M 5Y10 processor or an Intel Core M 5Y71 processor and uses 8 GB of LPDDR3 SDRAM (1600 MHz). The laptop uses Intel HD Graphics 5300, and the 13.3-inch IPS screen can display up to QHD+ resolution (3200 x 1800).

Other features include 256 GB of SSD storage, a front HD camera, an SDXC card reader, and Windows 8.1.

The ZenBook Pro UX501 weighs 4.5 pounds, measures 0.8 x 15.1 x 10 inches (HxWxD), and is significantly more expensive at $1,499. It uses an Intel Core i7-4720HQ processor and 8 GB of DDR3L SDRAM (1600 MHz), with support for up to 16 GB.

Unlike the ZenBook UX305, the UX501 uses an Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M GPU (2 GB GDDR5 VRAM), and the 15.6-inch screen offers a 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution. The laptop includes 512 GB of SSD storage, a 1.2 megapixel camera on the front, and a two-in-one card reader (SD/MMC), and it runs Windows 8.1.

Considering the sizes of both laptops, the amount of power underneath the hood is impressive. The UX305 seems to be more suited for work-based customers, and the UX501 is a powerhouse that can handle large tasks such as video production or gaming. Asus could definitely attract customers with the UX305, but it will be interesting to see how many get the UX501 and what they intend to do with it.

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Rexly Peñaflorida
11 Comments Comment from the forums
  • balister
    Oh hey, look, the UX501 is the same as the MacBook Pro 15" for $1000 less. The UX305 was already known to be the half price MacBook with exact same stats. And people still say Apple deserves to charge more when it looks like they probably bought the UX305 and UX501 from Asus and slapped in a single button mouse pad and removed Asus' name and put their own.
    Reply
  • mfilipow
    I wonder why does the UX305 start so late in the US...? We already have it in Europe for several months now! (since January, I think).
    Reply
  • hjj174
    Oh hey, look, the UX501 is the same as the MacBook Pro 15" for $1000 less. The UX305 was already known to be the half price MacBook with exact same stats. And people still say Apple deserves to charge more when it looks like they probably bought the UX305 and UX501 from Asus and slapped in a single button mouse pad and removed Asus' name and put their own.

    Except with less ports.... Apple has no excuse.
    Reply
  • balister
    I wonder why does the UX305 start so late in the US...? We already have it in Europe for several months now! (since January, I think).

    The UX305 has been here since late February/early March. A coworker bought his shortly after the information came out about it when the MacBook and MacBook Pro were announced by Apple. So, we've had it just as long.
    Reply
  • grumman
    I wonder why does the UX305 start so late in the US...? We already have it in Europe for several months now! (since January, I think).

    The UX305 has been here since late February/early March. A coworker bought his shortly after the information came out about it when the MacBook and MacBook Pro were announced by Apple. So, we've had it just as long.

    I concur. I live in the US and got my UX305 in late March or early April. The Arch Wiki states it was released on the 12 of February. So Tom's Hardware is just late to the game in this case, AnandTech already got their review of it published, several weeks ago.
    Reply
  • TEAMSWITCHER
    Oh hey, look, the UX501 is the same as the MacBook Pro 15" for $1000 less. The UX305 was already known to be the half price MacBook with exact same stats. And people still say Apple deserves to charge more when it looks like they probably bought the UX305 and UX501 from Asus and slapped in a single button mouse pad and removed Asus' name and put their own.

    Except that the current design of the 15" MacBook Pro was introduced THREE YEARS AGO. Developers buy MacBook's to create Mac and iOS apps. These ASUS laptops can't do any of that, regardless of their low-price.

    Then there is the issue of ASUS support. I can't run my business using hardware from a company that treats their customers so poorly. I would need to buy extra laptops to keep on hand in the event of a system failure - so much for the cost savings. You can't expect a developer to stop working for two weeks. The last MacBook issue we had was resolved in just one hour at our local Apple Store. ASUS can only fantasize about providing that level of customer service.
    Reply
  • Lord Nirvash
    This is a much better product that Mac Book Pro as it released later. ASUS has proven to be able to create reliable and quality products, i dont know why Apple fans cant accept there is a better product in market at lower price. The only thing i would liked to see is this notebook with USB Type C and USB 3

    I would like to see coments on the RIP of Razer Blade Pro
    Reply
  • TEAMSWITCHER
    Ugh! Go check out some un-boxing videos of the UX501. The power brick is almost THREE TIMES the size of the one you get with the 15" MacBook Pro. Then there's half the RAM, no MagSafe power adapter, no standard Thunderbolt ports, a slower CPU, god knows the battery life, and a WTF Only Windows 8.1 - NOT PRO.

    Don't get me wrong, it's a good value for the price, but ASUS also shorted the specs a bit.
    Reply
  • TEAMSWITCHER
    I was wrong about the RAM, it comes standard with 16GB - same as the MAcBook Pro. That's good.
    Reply
  • Lord Nirvash
    Ugh! Go check out some un-boxing videos of the UX501. The power brick is almost THREE TIMES the size of the one you get with the 15" MacBook Pro. Then there's half the RAM, no MagSafe power adapter, no standard Thunderbolt ports, a slower CPU, god knows the battery life, and a WTF Only Windows 8.1 - NOT PRO.

    Don't get me wrong, it's a good value for the price, but ASUS also shorted the specs a bit.

    Where u get the power brick is three times size?

    The GPU on ASUS is better.
    The CPU i can say they are pretty much the same. i dont want to read a full bench.
    Thunderbolt ports: WTF is that? they have awasome rates, but who uses them? I cant tell the number of ppl that got thunderbolt ports on their mac and still dont know what they are.
    Only Windows 8.1? so Win 10. and i love win 8.

    So 1k diference in the price for magsafe? Not worth it.

    Jesus, this ASUS is almost half of the price of a Mac Pro and is pretty much the same. I Wont say its better, i will only say in a great product for all the community that wants a good notebook and dont got tons of money
    Reply