Table of Contents
Display and Multimedia
The ZenBook UX305LA boasts a 13.3-inch QHD+ (3200 x 1800 pixels) IPS display. Resolution is really high for a notebook and to prevent the icons and texts from appearing tiny, the ZenBook set the recommended icon and text size to a more legible 250%.
The screen is vibrant with accurate colors and sports an IPS panel for good viewing angles. If you’re looking for a touch screen, sadly this ultrabook doesn’t have it. On the upside, it has a matte finish which repels fingerprints and smudges really well and comes with an auto-brightness feature.
The speakers, on the other hand, are powered by ICEpower and Bang & Olufsen. Sounds fancy but it does lives up to the branding. Audio is loud with great sound quality. The stereo effect is also perfect for videos on YouTube or listening to Spotify. That said, we rarely found the need to use headphones or an external speaker. If you want to tweak your listening experience, there’s the Smart Audio and Audio Wizard utility pre-installed.
OS and Apps
Microsoft’s Windows 10 Home 64-bit runs the software department of the UX305LA. Like most ASUS laptops, it comes with the usual ASUS apps and utilities like ASUS On-Screen Display, ASUS Splendid Utility, ASUS WebStorage and ASUS GiftBox.
Other programs include ICEpower’s AudioWizard, CyberLink PhotoDirector 5, CyberLink PowerDirector 12, Evernote, Dropbox, McAfee LiveSafe Internet Security, WPS Office and Microsoft Office.
Storage-wise, you’re given a 512GB capacity SSD. Less the system files and pre-installed programs, you’re left with 439GB of usable storage. That said, it’s not designed to host your huge music, movie or game collection but more like for installing core productivity programs
How much is the Zenbook UX305LA model in the PH?
PC Express sells it for around P60k:
https://pcx.com.ph/product/asus-zenbook-ux305la-fb049t/
bought the fanless/touchscreen (not core i7) version of this laptop for around Php26k last christmas and what people should know about the qhd+ display is that if you’re using old software, like Adobe CS2 products, some parts of the UI won’t scale so you’ll be stuck with really tiny icons or text making them unusable. the Windows display setting by default is scaled up at 150% or even 200% so you have to consider that if you need to use old software that doesn’t scale.
Tempting but the Dell XPS13 (the qHD vesrion) seems like a better deal than this machine – backlit keyboard, touchscreen and a smaller footprint. Battery life on this Asus trumps the Dell though and it is cheaper by 10K. Any idea when the Skylake XPS13 will be available locally?