Updated: December 17, 2020 4:39:09 pm
Asus’ ZenBook Flip S is a high-end convertible with Intel’s latest 11th generation processor. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia / Indian Express)
When you do a Google search for a laptop that’s both powerful and slim, very few options appear. While there is a segment of ultrabooks that meets the needs of many people, not all notebooks in that category have been geared towards “entertainment.” Surprisingly, Asus’ new ZenBook Flip S appears to be among a handful of ultrabooks that showcase the prowess of the Tiger Lake CPU in a slim form factor. Not forgetting that this 2-in-1 has a 4K OLED screen and excellent audio. But you will spend 149,990 rupees on a laptop when the new MacBook Pro with the M1 chip costs the same? We’ll find out all of that and more in our detailed review.
Asus ZenBook Flip S price in India: Rs 149,990
Asus ZenBook Flip S review: design and build
The ZenBook Flip S gives the impression of a high-end laptop. You can feel the primacy of the laptop as designed. The laptop is made of an aluminum alloy and the construction is solid. At 1.2kg, the ZenBook Flip S is extremely light and I had no trouble fitting this laptop into my backpack or laptop sleeve. The lid is black with Asus signature concentric circles, and it’s impossible not to get carried away by the laptop.
Being a 2-in-1 convertible laptop, the ZenBook Flip S allows you to rotate the screen a full 360 degrees. In addition to using the Flip S as a standard laptop, you can tilt the screen back or put it in tent mode. It can also be converted to a tablet with touch and pen support (the Asus stylus is included in the box) but is best used as a laptop, sitting on a desk or lap.
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The laptop is made of an aluminum alloy and the construction is solid. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia / Indian Express)
Asus ZenBook Flip S review: ports and biometric authentication
The ZenBook Flip S has a better port selection than many laptops in the same category. On the left, you will find an HDMI connection, two USB-C ports with support for Thunderbolt 4. On the right side, there is a single USB-A port and a power button. Unfortunately, the laptop lacks a 3.55mm headphone jack, although it does have a USB-C dongle with a 3.5mm port in the box.
The laptop does not have a physical fingerprint scanner; instead, the webcam comes with Windows Hello facial recognition. That means you no longer need to type a long password or PIN to unlock the laptop. I found the Windows Hello facial recognition authentication method mostly reliable. I had no problem giving myself access to the laptop, even without my glasses on. Sadly though, the 720p webcam is average. Now that everyone works from home and video calling is the default means of communicating with clients and colleagues, an expensive laptop like the ZenBook Flip S should have come with a 1080p webcam.
In addition to using the Flip S as a standard laptop, you can tilt the screen back or put it in tent mode. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia / Indian Express)
Asus ZenBook Flip S review: display and audio quality
The display is perhaps the highlight of the ZenBook Flip S. It is not an ordinary LCD screen found in 98% of high-end laptops. Instead, it’s a 13.3-inch 4K OLED panel with touch capability. While the display is of an OLED variety, it doesn’t stretch from edge to edge. Actually, that’s not a bummer. The 4K OLED screen is above the notch, with deep blacks, rich colors, and decent viewing angles. With the adoption of OLED displays growing low-cost smartphones and TVs, you would expect laptop makers to make extensive use of OLED panels for an immersive experience on premium laptops. That makes perfect sense, especially now that many consumers like me spend more time watching TV shows and movies on a laptop than on their televisions.
The brilliant 4K OLED display is complemented by excellent speakers. Although they are not as loud as those seen on the 16-inch MacBook Pro, the speakers sound rounded and full. When I played “Rehab” by Amy Winehouse on the Flip S, I could hear the vocals clearly and there was no distortion at higher volumes.
The keys are decently sized and the backlit keyboard is comfortable for typing. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia / Indian Express)
Asus ZenBook Flip S review: keyboard and trackpad
Despite the ZenBook Flip S taking up little space, its keyboard doesn’t feel cramped. The keys are decently sized and the backlit keyboard is comfortable for typing. I had no problems with the ZenBook Flip S’s responsive trackpad, which incorporates Numberbad 2.0. All you need to do is touch an icon in the upper right corner of the touchpad, a touch-based LED numeric keypad will appear. The number pad works well for a laptop of this size.
The number pad works well for a laptop of this size. (Image credit: Anuj Bhatia / Indian Express)
Asus ZenBook Flip S review: performance and battery
The Flip S’s claim of fame is Intel’s latest Tiger Lake processor. My review unit came with a quad-core Core i7-1165G7 with Xe integrated graphics, along with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. So it’s a pretty powerful machine, but I didn’t see a drastic difference between the 10th gen processors and the 11th gen processors. It could open multiple open Chrome tabs; Edit images; play music on Apple Music; Stream my favorite show on Amazon Prime Video and edit a Google Doc file at the same time. The Flip S is a powerful machine … but this is not a laptop designed to run professional programs and AAA titles like Forza Horizon 4. People like me will never have a problem with the Flip S, because it could do most of our daily tasks. without any problem.
One thing I didn’t particularly like about the Flip S is the battery life. Although the laptop comes with a 67 Wh battery, I got about four and a half hours. That’s when I set the resolution to 3840x2160p, but you can change the resolution to 1080p to increase battery life. However, the Flip S laptop charges fast. It takes 60 minutes to fully charge the battery.
Asus ZenBook Flip S review: Should you buy it?
The Asus ZenBook Flip S is a solid machine with the 11th generation Intel processor, a 4K OLED screen, great speakers, a superior stylus, and a keyboard that is comfortable to use in a slim and slim form factor. But I’m not sure the Flip S can compete with Apple’s 13-inch MacBook Pro that comes with the newly released M1 processor. This could be the option for most people who want a laptop with an all-day battery life and excellent performance. However, you won’t get a 4K OLED screen.
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