Asus U46SV review

We were impressed with the U46SV’s 14in display, although it’s a shame it only has a 1,366×768 screen resolution – some laptops, such as the MacBook Pro, squeeze in 1,440×900 pixels. Even so, images were still very sharp and colours were vibrant. A glossy finish makes it difficult to use in direct sunlight or under harsh office lighting, but there’s enough screen tilt to find a decent viewing angle.

The Sonic Focus Synopsis audio enhancement software is preinstalled on every U46, but this is in effect just a graphic equaliser – the downward firing speakers sounded barely any better than other laptops we’ve listened to recently. There wasn’t much bass, but at least the mid-range and high-end were reasonably clear.

Although it can’t display Full HD videos on its built-in screen, the U46SV is still well-suited to multimedia playback – as well as a large 500GB hard disk to store your music and photos, the internal optical drive will let you play DVDs. Intel’s WiDi wireless display technology is supported, so you can connect to an external display wirelessly through a WiDi-compatible receiver. Other connectivity is reasonable – three USB ports, of which only one supports the faster USB3 standard, and a multi-format card reader should provide enough expandability for most people.

If you want an ultra-portable laptop but need more features than an Ultrabook can provide, the U46SV is a good buy – its impressive performance, in both desktop applications and 3D games, superb battery life and fantastic looks make it difficult to beat for the price. If you’re not interested in the best gaming performance the Dell XPS 14z has a better screen and feels classier, but the U46SV is still an impressive all-round laptop for the price.