To help us provide you with free impartial advice, we may earn a commission if you buy through links on our site. Learn more

Asus Zenbook UX303LA review

Our Rating :
Price when reviewed : £700
inc VAT

The Asus Zenbook UX303LA Ultrabook is brilliant value with impressive performance but a lacklustre screen

Specifications

Processor: Dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-4500U, RAM: 6GB, Size: 323x223x20mm, Weight: 1.45kg, Screen size: 13.3in, Screen resolution: 1,600×900, Graphics adaptor: Intel HD Graphics 4400, Total storage: 128GB SSD

www.johnlewis.com

The Asus Zenbook laptop brand continues to be one of our favourite Ultrabook lines, with stylish looks and decent specifications. Perhaps most importantly, Zenbooks also tend to be good value. The 13.3in Zenbook UX303LA is much cheaper than many Ultrabooks, but if performance and battery life are up to scratch there’s no reason why it can’t compete with more expensive ultra-portable laptops such as the 13in Macbook Air.

The UX303LA has an aluminium chassis, which helps keep the weight down. Without its power brick the UX303LA weighs just 1.45kg, it isn’t much heavier than the 1.35kg 13in MacBook Air, and the UX303LA is pretty thin too, measuring 20mm at it thickest point. The UX303LA’s aluminium shell is an off-grey colour that Asus calls Smokey Brown which, while unique, probably won’t appeal to everyone. We prefer the colour of Asus’s metallic blue Ultrabooks.

Asus Zenbook UX303LA lidThe keyboard is ever-so-slightly spongey, but the keys have a generous amount of travel, making them comfortable to use. The touchpad is responsive, too. It’s an all-in-one design, which means the physical “mouse” buttons are built into the pad, and you can click them from roughly a third of the way down. Taps and multi-fingered gestures, such as pinch-to-zoom and scrolling, worked without a hitch, making the UX303LA’s touchpad one of the best we’ve had the pleasure of prodding.

Asus Zenbook UX303LA right side portsAsus Zenbook UX303LA left side portsThere’s a great complement of connection ports, including three USB3 ports, a 2-in-1 card reader, a combined 3.5mm headset jack, mini DisplayPort and full-size HDMI output. There are no VGA or Ethernet ports, but Asus supplies adaptors for both, although be aware that the Ethernet adaptor only runs at Fast Ethernet speeds.

The UX303LA uses a high-speed 802.11ac Wi-Fi chip, so you’ll be able to take full advantage of the 802.11ac’s much higher Wi-Fi speeds if you connect to an 802.11ac router. The UX303LA’s storage consists of a 128GB SSD only, with just 75GB available with Windows 8.1 installed. This won’t be enough if you’re planning on storing video or editing photos on the UX303LA, which rather limits its uses to browsing the web, streaming videos and music and working on office productivity documents.

Pages: 1 2

Core specs
ProcessorDual-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-4500U
RAM6GB
Memory slots (free)2 (0)
Max memory16GB
Size323x223x20mm
Weight1.45kg
SoundRealtek HD Audio (3.5mm headset port)
Pointing deviceTouchpad
Display
Screen size13.3in
Screen resolution1,600×900
TouchscreenNo
Graphics adaptorIntel HD Graphics 4400
Graphics outputsMini DisplayPort, HDMI (Mini DP to VGA adapter included)
Graphics memoryShared
Storage
Total storage128GB SSD
Optical drive typeNone
Ports and expansion
USB ports3x USB3
BluetoothYes
Networking802.11ac Wi-Fi (USB to fast Ethernet adapter included)
Memory card readerSD, SDHC
Other portsNone
Miscellaneous
Operating systemWindows 8.1
Operating system restore optionRestore partition
Buying information
Parts and labour warrantyOne-year collect and return
Price inc VAT£700
Detailswww.asus.com
Supplierwww.johnlewis.com
Part numberUX303LA-R5160H

Read more

Reviews