Asus Zenbook UX303LA review

Fortunately, the UX303LA’s dual-core Intel Core i7-4500U processor and 6GB of RAM is perfectly suited to general-purpose tasks, and programs and web pages load in a flash. In the image editing segment of our application benchmarks the UX303LA scored a very strong 78. However, the laptop scored 43 in the video rendering segment and 44 in the multitasking segment to make 49 overall. This result is pretty good for an Ultrabook at this price, but it does mean that it’ll be challenged by more complex tasks such as high-end video-editing. If you just want a general-purpose laptop for watching videos, enjoying the web and getting on with general office work, the UX303LA is a top-notch machine. It’s not best suited to playing 3D games, though, as it uses the Core i7-4500U’s built-in Intel HD Graphics 4400 graphics processor (GPU), and the UX303LA produced an average frame rate of just 20.7fps in our Dirt Showdown benchmark at a resolution of 1,280,720 with 4x anti-aliasing and High-quality graphics. If you want a 13in laptop for playing games you should buy Chillblast Defiant 2 Mini instead.

Sadly, there are a couple of areas where the UX303LA could be improved. One area is the screen, but at first glance the Zenbook UX303LA’s panel seems as if it’s a cut above the rest. The screen has a 1,600x,900-pixel resolution which, while not Full HD, is perfectly suited for the 13.3in form factor. It means you can realistically put two windows side by side and work effectively on both. The screen is also nice and bright, and it has a matt coating so working under bright office lights or even outside won’t cause too many problems.

However, our colour calibrator reported that the screen’s sRGB colour gamut coverage was fairly low at 61.2 per cent, leaving vibrant colours looking significantly less punchy than they would when viewed on a better-quality screen. Contrast levels of 893:1 and black levels of 0.3cd/m2 mean an average, but not great viewing experience.

The UX303LA’s downwards-firing speakers are loud and clear, and are certainly good enough for catching up on some TV, but you’ll need to don headphones to do your music justice. Battery life is much shorter than that of the 13in Macbook Air, and the UX303LA managed a little over seven hours in our light-use test. This is slightly disappointing and it means you might not get a full day of use out of the machine if you’re travelling.

Alternative specifications

As is so often the case with huge multinational tech companies, there are a bewildering number of different specifications of the Asus Zenbook UX303 available both in the UK and internationally. The UX303LA-R4381P, for example, has a Full HD screen that reportedly solves our biggest complaint about the model we reviewed, with better colour coverage and a higher resolution. It also has a 256GB SSD, and is £150 more expensive. There’s also a UX303LN-DQ302P available, although typically only through non-UK sellers, that has a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GT 840M graphics chip, a 500GB hard disk and a QHD screen, typically selling for around £900. If you can get your hands on one, this would appear to be the ultimate version of the UX303.

If you want something a bit thinner and lighter, consider the Intel Core M-powered Zenbook UX305, which ditches the Core i7 processor in favour of a 800MHz chip. It also sheds a lot of weight, dropping to just 1.2kg and is just 12mm thick. It also gets a good Full HD screen and costs £50 less than the UX305 we reviewed here.

Conclusion 

There’s very little not to like about the Asus Zenbook UX303LA. It’s well built, incredibly light and it performs common Desktop tasks at lightning speed. If you like the look of the MacBook Air but need to use Microsoft Windows exclusively, you should seriously consider buying the UX303LA. If it had a better screen then the UX303LA would get five stars, but it’s still one of our favourite ultraportable laptops and it deserves a Recommended award.