Taking advantage of Computex, ASUS gave us know the latest venture by the convertible brand: the ASUS ZenBook Flip S. A device that leaves no doubt about what belongs lineage, characterized by thinness and aluminum, and we could test after his presentation, so we bring you our first impressions of ASUS ZenBook Flip S.
The impact of the design is given by presenting a product much lighter than its predecessor, the ASUS ZenBook Flip, and also by leaving no gap in the event for tablets as such. Their claims in addition to thinness: competent hardware and a waste of pixels on that 13.3-inch screen. Does the 4K fit this lightweight device? We tell you in as much detail as possible.
Design and construction: That the marks of the house fit in an inch of thickness
There has been no room for polycarbonate in the renovations of this family of computers. Continuing with that kind of sine qua non condition that the company seems to adopt with the Zen line, the Flip S also has a unibody aluminum cover and those edges that are thinning until leaving a completely angled edge, as we saw in the ASUS ZenBook 3 last year.
Something also inherits from the previous Flip ASUS, although in this case with a much more discreet hinges despite continuing to have that touch of gloss or glossy. The work in compacting the equipment is worthy of mention, beyond if own or general records are met, and we notice it when holding it in hand or when opening hinges to 180 or 360 degrees.
As for heating, ASUS has announced a new ventilation system for the Flip S, which includes a 0.3 millimeter-thick liquid crystal polymer rotor. On paper, technicalities always look good and can call attention, but we must see if this means that the user does not perceive a heat that exceeds the usual, and unfortunately it is something that we cannot ensure with so little test time.
But the truth is that the teams were continually being used and the Flip S was quite “cool”. We will have to see what after a good session of use, especially if it is multimedia playback, but a priori seems to withstand fairly well a continued light use.
Screen: Welcome to the little one 4k in the family
With the fashion that the convertibles seem to be, ASUS may have thought it necessary to put something else in the hook and also enter here in the “K” war. This will be welcomed by those users who are more sensitive and demanding in detail on the screen and have content in this resolution, so it is a good step to meet the demand of this public.
During the time we were using it we did not see anything that would make us suspect that the 4K is great, although the interesting thing here will be to see how is the use of this resolution in the day to day especially talking about battery. It is a parameter that can be regulated, as has always allowed Windows, although its is that you defend well in this option.
Other aspects to highlight here are the figures that do have an impact on the experience, or at least those that we value that an effort is made to take advantage of the frontal. The Flip S does not exceed 80% of ratio screen / frontal like the Deluxe or the Pro, but it stays in 80% and that means that the frames have very little presence, mainly the lateral ones (of 6,11 millimeters In the Flip S), which is especially appreciated in tablet mode.
The tactile response is good, as well as the viewing angles, brightness and colors, all well balanced. But we also tested the ASUS Pen, which is compatible with this and the other teams presented, and with it we did notice some delay between stroke and touch.
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Moving smoothly and staying so cool
The Flip S comes with an Intel Core i7 seventh generation U series, feature of these devices so fine and being on a par with the ZenBook 3 Deluxe. Next to it are the 16 GB of RAM, hardware that turns out to be more than enough to move and execute tasks without any stops or unexpected closures, as well as to deploy multitasking without lag. Failing to see how it goes with many more apps installed and running at the same time day by day, so far we feel good in terms of fluidity and performance.
What about warming? ASUS told us that it had to create a new liquid crystal polymer ventilation system just 0.3 millimeters thick so that the lightweight device did not end up trapped by the temperature rise of the components. And in the absence of the fire tests (never better) the truth is that we found some Flip S very “fresh”, considering that were teams touched continuously by people who, like us, tried to look for the tickles.
With what we have done more “suffer” has been with the creation of videos with the webcam and reproduction of both these and other content, and priori we can say that it is well achieved that cooling because the temperature did not disturb at any time, That yes, the camera is very basic and our video conferences will be practically watercolors.
Homework done in the absence of the assessment exam
The river sounded within ASUS to give the blackout to the tablet format when at the end of last year we talked about a 2016 irrelevance for this product and the progressive triumph of the convertibles on it. The test looks like the presentation of these equipment, four portable or conventional ultrabooks and a convertible.
At least by definition, because for that function is this Flip S that seeks to be the product of choice for those who take advantage of these 360 degrees hinges, and want the lightest for both keyboard and taps. And regarding this, comment that hinges have not been stuck ** (as happens in some convertibles) and qualify that the new refrigeration system seems to work well.
Obviously we cannot talk about autonomy, but we remember that here the manufacturer maintains that promise of 11.5 hours for the Flip S that we did not see in our analysis of the previous Flip, so we will see if this year is closer to that figure. Something that in fact has even more difficult considering the impact of 4K and with a probably smaller battery (by size, but we need to know the data in mAh).
The ASUS ZenBook Flip S has left us very good feelings and certainly seems a good option for those looking for a fairly complete equipment that is not too heavy, and a tablet is too basic software or features.