We’ve just spotted this Asus ZenBook S (UX391UA-XB81-R) 13.3-inch laptop deal online and it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Coming in at $788, you’ll save on average $150 off its regular price, and $411 off its launch price. That’s a fairly comfortable 16% off at a minimum, and it’s not even Black Friday yet.
Let’s be clear though this is an older model. It first debuted back late in 2018, and it’s certainly not aimed at the power user market. However, the Asus ZenBook S isn’t exactly a slouch either. It comes packing a quad core, eight thread Intel Core i7-8550U, capable of boosting all the way up to 4.0 GHz, a 256 GB M.2 SATA 3 SSD, 8 GB of LPDDR3 RAM, a fairly substantial 9 hour battery life, and a 1080p 300-nit brightness 13.3-inch slim bezel display.
Use Case
It really is ideal for casual use, and light business use. Not exactly a laptop designed for extensive gaming sessions, or opening up 1,000 tabs in Google Chrome, but still more than capable for 95% of daily use. If you consider just how much hardware has been packed into this thing’s super small design though, well it’s hard not to be impressed. Of course you don’t have access to a dedicated GPU unit, instead you’ll be using Intel’s Integrated UHD Graphics 620, however for Youtube, streaming and desktop use that’s more than adequate.
The reality is it’s the ZenBook S’s design that will draw your eye to it. That intense brushed aluminum, burgundy red finish lining the entire thing certainly does make it pop quite dramatically. Draw your eyes to the screen and you’ll notice a serious lack of bezel. This is what Asus is calling its NanoEdge FullHD Display. It claims the ZenBook S has an 85% screen to body ratio further entrenching that premium aesthetic. Although we don’t have an exact name as to what type of panel Asus is using here, judging from the specs (100% sRGB color gamut, and a 178° viewing angle) we believe it to be IPS.
As for input and other frills, you get a standard low-profile chiclet backlit keyboard, with 1.2mm of travel, and a glass covered touchpad which features an integrated fingerprint sensor that supports Windows Hello. There’s also a HD webcam, and audio is provided by a set of stereo Harman Kardon approved speakers.
Specifications
| Processor | Intel Core i7-8550U |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics 620 |
| RAM | 8GB LPDDR3 @ 2,133 MT/s |
| Resolution | 1920x1080 |
| Display Type | 13.3-inch Display |
| Storage | 256GB M.2 SATA 3 SSD |
| Connectivity | 3x USB 3.1 Type C (2x Thunderbolt 3), 1x 3.5mm Headphone Jack, 1x Asus USB Type C Dock |
| Battery | 50Whr Li-Polymer - 9 Hours |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro |
| Dimensions | 12.2 x 8.4 x 0.5 - inches |
| Weight | 2.3 lbs |
Connectivity
As for ports, well we never expected much given the thickness of the design, and the compact form factor. And the result? You get access to a headphone jack, three USB 3.1 Type C ports, two of which are Thunderbolt 3 compatible, all three support fast charging, and display connectivity as well, and of course you also have access to Dual-band 802.11 ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 and that’s about it. As added extras, Asus also includes a mini USB Type C dock, with two ports, one HDMI and one for traditional USB Type A as well with the ZenBook S, so at least you’re not paying extra for that.
Bottom Line
This variant of Asus’s ZenBook S UX391UA is ideal for those who are looking for a light-weight sleek laptop for simple business and daily use. It does have its limitations, most notably when it comes to graphical performance and memory/storage, but given what exactly it is the ZenBook S is trying to achieve, we can’t really criticize it too much for it. It’s not flawless, in an ideal world we’d have loved to have seen 16GB of DDR3 at this price point, but again with good program and Google Chrome management, we’re not exactly expecting that to be a problem.
