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Asus recently announced the Zenbook 14 (UX3480), an ultraportable laptop for users who want to work on their side hustle on the go. I’m not entirely sure what makes it a side-hustle laptop and not a main-hustle laptop, but it does come in some funky colours: Komodo Coral and Arctic Blue.
The Asus Ceraluminum covering enables the Zenbook 14 (UX3480) to come in at a weight starting at just 1.1kg, while the chipsets powering the device enable full Copilot+ PC capabilities – although just how useful that is still remains to be determined, years after its introduction.
Sporting a bright 14-inch 3K 120Hz ASUS Lumina OLED display and powered by any of the three main chipsets – Intel, AMD or Snapdragon – the Zenbook 14 is scratch- and wear-resistant, built to withstand the bumps and grinds of everyday portable life.
The Zenbook 14 can be specced with up to 24GB LPDDR5X and a 1TB SSD, with pricing starting at $2,099. The reviewed laptop specs are: Snapdragon X1, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, and a 14-inch WUXGA OLED 60Hz display in a fun Komodo Coral colourway.
The Zenbook 14’s design is one of the best on the market. I love the playful colours it has released the Zenbook 14 in; am I the only one sick of silver laptops?
The build quality feels really solid, without being heavy. Opening the lid is quite easy and the screen can sit comfortably at most angles (up to around 150 degrees).
I do need to mention just how light the Zenbook 14 is. The lightest spec is just 1.1kg, and although not the lightest around, it is still super light and ultraportable. If you need something to carry everywhere, consider this.
The Zenbook 14 has a great variety of ports and connectivity options:
I really love this port combo — there really is something for everyone. Some laptops these days lack a USB-A port, this one does not. Not all have a Thunderbolt 4 port, this does — although I’m not entirely sure why there aren’t two Thunderbolt 4 ports instead of one of the USB-C ports being a 3.2 Gen 2 port? Cost? Someone much smarter than me would surely know why?
While the Zenbook 14 is available in a touchscreen display SKU, the review laptop does not include one. I am a fan of touchscreens on laptops and although I don’t use it a heap, it’s nice to have and occasionally use.
The added price for a touchscreen is not overly excessive – around 0 – and for that I think it’s worth it. The touchscreen also brings a 120Hz refresh rate on a 3K screen, compared to 60Hz on FHD.
The WUXGA display in the reviewed laptop is bright and colourful. Asus uses some great OLED displays in its laptops and this laptop is no exception. After using an OLED display in a laptop, I’m not sure I’d ever buy another laptop without one.
The bezels are minimal, especially on the sides and I love that – but then nearly every laptop these days has small bezels. The top bezel is slightly bigger but that should not be surprising given it houses the FHD webcam with IR function to support Windows Hello.
The touchpad is a decent size, with a nice soft click and good feedback when you use it. It is accurate and easy to use.
The keyboard is another story. It is good but I expected it to be so much better. The sound feels a bit cheap, and the keys wobble slightly. It’s not as solid or smooth as I expected.
Typing on the keyboard was still easy and accurate, but small touches like that smooth feel are what make MacBooks stand out. Asus really need to match that to compete better. The keyboard is backlit, so that is a huge bonus – although I touch type (sort of), I do prefer being able to see the keys every now and again to centre myself.
Benchmarks are a waste of time in a laptop designed for on-the-go productivity use, in my opinion. Can it run all your usual productivity software? Yes. Can it play a basic game to kill time and can it project and display onto a large external display should the need arise? Yes and yes (to a 45-in 5K OLED monitor easily).
One thing to remember though is that the Zenbook 14 runs an ARM-based processor and there have been issues with some software having compatibility issues in the past. It is constantly improving and I didn’t come across any issues myself so it seems that all but the smallest niche case issues have been eliminated.
Snapdragon laptops have been great for battery life and the Zenbook 14 continues that tradition. I got around 15 hours of battery life for basic productivity work from the 50Wh battery. Add in some YouTube and movie consumption and that drops a bit, but not much.
Asus state the battery life is up to 33 hours and although I did not see that, it was not all that far off. You could extend it by adjusting the power, display and lighting settings if needed, though. I prefer to use my laptop how I use my laptop and just plug it in at the end of the day – you would think that 15+ hours of productivity battery life would be enough for most people.
Asus always includes its MyAsus software and although it can be handy to tweak your laptop’s performance and keep an eye on its internal health, most people do not need it and will not use it.
Once again, the worst anti-virus software known to mankind, McAfee, comes pre-installed on the Zenbook 14. Uninstall that resource-hogging nightmare as soon as you buy any laptop. If you need more than the built-in Microsoft Defender, plenty of better options exist.
The Zenbook 14 includes exclusive subscriptions to Adobe Creative Cloud, Google AI Pro, and GoPro Premium+, transforming the laptop into a comprehensive mobile studio out of the box. These are only temporary subscriptions so you will need to resubscribe to those you want to keep but it’s a great starter pack.
AI
The Asus Zenbook 14 supports Copilot+ for whatever that is worth. I’m still not convinced of the usefulness of Copilot+, instead, I would much prefer the AI be used to optimise the system only. Make the laptop run faster for longer, that’s all I need, and what the majority of users need.
So many laptops these days fit into the ultraportable category. This is yet another ultraportable laptop that slots nicely into the category. It is definitely super portable, extremely lightweight, and powerful. Even the Snapdragon laptop I reviewed handled every productivity task I threw at it.
The colours make the laptop stand out from its competitors and although the keyboard is not the best in the category, it is still serviceable and I was able to use it quite a bit without any issues. If you want a fun, colourful, powerful, lightweight laptop, add the Asus Zenbook 14 to your list.
The Asus Zenbook 14 can be specced with up to 24GB LPDDR5X and a 1TB SSD, with pricing starting at
The Zenbook 14 has a great variety of ports and connectivity options:
I really love this port combo — there really is something for everyone. Some laptops these days lack a USB-A port, this one does not. Not all have a Thunderbolt 4 port, this does — although I’m not entirely sure why there aren’t two Thunderbolt 4 ports instead of one of the USB-C ports being a 3.2 Gen 2 port? Cost? Someone much smarter than me would surely know why?
While the Zenbook 14 is available in a touchscreen display SKU, the review laptop does not include one. I am a fan of touchscreens on laptops and although I don’t use it a heap, it’s nice to have and occasionally use.
The added price for a touchscreen is not overly excessive – around $300 – and for that I think it’s worth it. The touchscreen also brings a 120Hz refresh rate on a 3K screen, compared to 60Hz on FHD.
The WUXGA display in the reviewed laptop is bright and colourful. Asus uses some great OLED displays in its laptops and this laptop is no exception. After using an OLED display in a laptop, I’m not sure I’d ever buy another laptop without one.
The bezels are minimal, especially on the sides and I love that – but then nearly every laptop these days has small bezels. The top bezel is slightly bigger but that should not be surprising given it houses the FHD webcam with IR function to support Windows Hello.
The touchpad is a decent size, with a nice soft click and good feedback when you use it. It is accurate and easy to use.
The keyboard is another story. It is good but I expected it to be so much better. The sound feels a bit cheap, and the keys wobble slightly. It’s not as solid or smooth as I expected.
Typing on the keyboard was still easy and accurate, but small touches like that smooth feel are what make MacBooks stand out. Asus really need to match that to compete better. The keyboard is backlit, so that is a huge bonus – although I touch type (sort of), I do prefer being able to see the keys every now and again to centre myself.
Benchmarks are a waste of time in a laptop designed for on-the-go productivity use, in my opinion. Can it run all your usual productivity software? Yes. Can it play a basic game to kill time and can it project and display onto a large external display should the need arise? Yes and yes (to a 45-in 5K OLED monitor easily).
One thing to remember though is that the Zenbook 14 runs an ARM-based processor and there have been issues with some software having compatibility issues in the past. It is constantly improving and I didn’t come across any issues myself so it seems that all but the smallest niche case issues have been eliminated.
Snapdragon laptops have been great for battery life and the Zenbook 14 continues that tradition. I got around 15 hours of battery life for basic productivity work from the 50Wh battery. Add in some YouTube and movie consumption and that drops a bit, but not much.
Asus state the battery life is up to 33 hours and although I did not see that, it was not all that far off. You could extend it by adjusting the power, display and lighting settings if needed, though. I prefer to use my laptop how I use my laptop and just plug it in at the end of the day – you would think that 15+ hours of productivity battery life would be enough for most people.
Asus always includes its MyAsus software and although it can be handy to tweak your laptop’s performance and keep an eye on its internal health, most people do not need it and will not use it.
Once again, the worst anti-virus software known to mankind, McAfee, comes pre-installed on the Zenbook 14. Uninstall that resource-hogging nightmare as soon as you buy any laptop. If you need more than the built-in Microsoft Defender, plenty of better options exist.
The Zenbook 14 includes exclusive subscriptions to Adobe Creative Cloud, Google AI Pro, and GoPro Premium+, transforming the laptop into a comprehensive mobile studio out of the box. These are only temporary subscriptions so you will need to resubscribe to those you want to keep but it’s a great starter pack.
AI
The Asus Zenbook 14 supports Copilot+ for whatever that is worth. I’m still not convinced of the usefulness of Copilot+, instead, I would much prefer the AI be used to optimise the system only. Make the laptop run faster for longer, that’s all I need, and what the majority of users need.
So many laptops these days fit into the ultraportable category. This is yet another ultraportable laptop that slots nicely into the category. It is definitely super portable, extremely lightweight, and powerful. Even the Snapdragon laptop I reviewed handled every productivity task I threw at it.
The colours make the laptop stand out from its competitors and although the keyboard is not the best in the category, it is still serviceable and I was able to use it quite a bit without any issues. If you want a fun, colourful, powerful, lightweight laptop, add the Asus Zenbook 14 to your list.
The Asus Zenbook 14 can be specced with up to 24GB LPDDR5X and a 1TB SSD, with pricing starting at $2,099 for the Snapdragon non-touch screen version.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
Scott is our resident open technology expert. If you can mod it, or want to use it your way, Scott has probably done it. From Laptops to phones, headphones and game consoles, he’s played with it and wants to see the next generation.
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