This new design is also accompanied by a new cylindrical hinge that crosses the frame from side to side. The set is neat, but the midnight blue coating tends to mark fingerprints.
Opening the hood reveals the 14-inch OLED panel framed by a thin bezel.
The 3-level backlit keyboard offers pleasant and well-marked typing. The piano is stiff and the pumping effect is absent. The home button at the top right of the keyboard has the same fingerprint reader as that of the VivoBook Pro. Compatible with Windows Hello, it starts the PC or unlocks the session with a simple press of the index finger; the PC saves the fingerprint when opening the session, so there is no need to rest the index finger on the fingerprint reader.
The large touchpad glides smoothly and Windows gestures are well taken into account. Our version is equipped with the NumPad. Pressing the top right corner displays a numeric keypad on the touchpad. The responsiveness is there and it is much more pleasant to use than the first versions released a few years ago.
The numeric keypad and its NumPad. © The digital
The majority of the connectors are on the right side of the keyboard, with an HDMI 2.0 port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a mini-jack connector and a microSD card reader. A USB 3.2 port is located on the left side of the chassis, between the hinge and the cooling system air outlet. An unbalanced distribution that can bother right-handers, especially when all ports are busy.
Wireless connectivity is provided by the Intel AX211 chip which supports WiFi 6E at 2400 Mb/s and Bluetooth 5.2. Finally, there is a poor quality 720p webcam above the OLED panel. It is clearly lacking in detail, whether in low light or in the brightest of environments.
As for cooling, Asus has completely changed its tone and has returned to a side air outlet. With its new hinge, the air is no longer blown in front of the screen, but in a double opening on the left edge. Inside, a fan and heat pipe are activated to remove the calories released by the Alder Lake processor.
After 15 min of coding which required all the cores of the processor, we recorded almost 43 °C at the level of the K, L and M keys. The Z, Q, S and D keys, which are located above the fan, remain perfectly fresh . Noise pollution in the normal ventilation position is 39 dB, which translates into an acceptable hum. However, if you want to cool the processor better, it is possible to press the ventilation via the MyAsus software. In this case, the noise pollution increases to 44.5 dB and you run the risk of disturbing your office neighbors with a much more present sound, and without better performance.
Disassembly is performed by removing 6 Torx screws and 2 Phillips screws hidden under the anti-slip pads. Once the screws are removed, simply detach the case to access the inside of the ZenBook 14 Oled. The battery, SSD and Wi-Fi card are removable, but the RAM is soldered to the motherboard.
The ZenBook 14 Oled (UX3402ZA) features an Intel Core i7-1260P processor accompanied by 16 GB DDR5 RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The Core i7-1260P is a hybrid processor consisting of 4 so-called “performance” hyperthreaded cores and 8 so-called “efficient” cores, all for a thermal envelope of 28 W. In our testing, the P cores ran at 2.42 GHz on average, peaking at 3.9 GHz, while the E-cores ran at 1.92 GHz on average , with a maximum of 2.71 GHz.
Performance index (the bigger the better). © The digital
The ZenBook 14 Oled and its Core i7-1260P hit an index of 108, putting them between the Ryzen 5 5600U of the HP Pavilion Aero 13 (95) and the Ryzen 7 5800U of the Acer Swift X (112). The Core i7-1260P offers a significant gain over the previous generation, with an index that is 24% higher than that of the Framework Laptop’s Core i7-1185G7.
Let’s talk about the SSD, which offers high speeds of 6.8 GB/s for reading and 5.1 GB/s for writing. We didn’t notice any lag that could indicate a possible cache saturation during the transfer of our video rushes meant to put it to the test.
As the name suggests, Asus has equipped the ZenBook 14 Oled with a 14-inch Oled Samsung panel with a display of 2880 x 1800 px at 90 Hz. The screen is therefore in 16/10 format, which is conducive to productivity, although Oled is perfect for multimedia use . The integration of the plate is neat. It is 82.6%, thanks in part to the lowered lower limit.
The ZenBook 14 Oled panel shows its qualities under our analysis probe. The Taiwanese manufacturer seems to have mastered the Samsung panel perfectly. The Delta E therefore does not exceed 1.7, well below the threshold (3) for the perception of colorimetric aberrations by the human eye. The color temperature (6537 K) is, as it were, fixed on the video standard (6500 K) and the contrast is almost infinite thanks to OLED technology. The blacks are therefore very deep and our probe cannot measure them. The only drawback for this plate with a glossy finish, the anti-reflective treatment is absent subscribers. The average measured reflectance (reflected light) is 51.3%. In comparison, the MacBook Air panel, also glossy, has a reflection rate of 26%. The brightness of 396 cd/m² indoors will be sufficient to counteract any reflections, but too reasonable to work comfortably outdoors.
Strengths
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Well calibrated OLED panel.
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Connectors included.
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Core i7 performance.
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Ready for Wi-Fi 6E.
Weak points
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No anti-reflective treatment of the plate.
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Mediocre webcam.
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Connection distribution.
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Soldered memory.
Conclusion
How does the assessment work?
The Asus ZenBook 14 Oled delivers a particularly convincing example. Its processor gives it top-notch performance, and what about this OLED panel that borders on perfection; it just lacked a decent anti-reflective filter. And to be really picky, we could also point the finger at the questionable distribution of the connectors, without compromising the excellent overall balance.
- Build
- Performance
- Screen
- audio
- Mobility / Autonomy
