The Asus Zenbook UX305 is a small, light, and low-power laptop with an affordable price tag. Earlier this year Asus launched a model with a Core M Broadwell processor, and I was pretty impressed with the $699 compact, fanless laptop.
These days you can pick one up for around $100 off the list price… but there are also other options if you’d prefer a more powerful model. You can get a version with a Core i5 Broadwell processor (and an active cooling system) for $750. Or now you can get an even newer model with a Core M3 Skylake processor.
Asus is selling the Skylake model for $699, and it’s also available from MicroCenter for $700.
Like the original Zenbook UX305, this new model has a 13.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel display, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of solid state storage. It has a fanless design, 802.11ac WiFi, and Bluetooth 4.0.
This model has an Intel Core M3-6Y30 dual-core processor, a matte IPS display with wide viewing angles, and Windows 10 64-bit software. The laptop has stereo speakers, a micro HDMI port, three USB 3.0 ports, an SD card reader, and a headset jack.
There’s a 1.2MP camera and the system has a 45 Wh battery that Asus says should provide up to 10 hours of battery life.
The notebook measures 12.8″ x 8.9″ x 0.5″ and weighs about 2.6 pounds.
Overall, the new Zenbook UX305CA seems to be a pretty remarkable value, at least on paper. Just keep in mind that the Core M3 chip is a low-power processor that won’t be as fast as a Core i3 or more powerful chip, and this system lacks a few premium features that you’d find on more expensive Zenbook models such as a backlit keyboard or touchscreen display.
No USB Type-C, still huge bezels…
The only thing missing from this line is a 15 inch cousin. Almost as thin, Core M (fanless). I got my wife the Asus 15 inch i7 and it’s great except for the fans — that never want you to forget they exist.
Any information about release in europe?
+ lack of touch screen
+ nonreflective screen
+ Core M3 won’t suck too much juice
– missing keyboard back-light meh meh bad bad
Bezel yyyyyyyyyyyy y
I actually prefer my laptops without touch screens. This is so on my want list. It would make an awesome Linux laptop.
I still have my Samsung black aluminum “NPsomethingsomething” ultrabook from the days before Samsung killed them.
Somehow, there has not been any need to upgrade and there is still nothing that looks better. 🙂
I actually think the m3 is faster than haswell i3, at least according to initial benchmarks of the SP4 m3 vs SP3 i3. The m3 is definitely a step up from last gen core m. But lack of back-lit keys again is just astonishing.
The SP3 i3 model had a Y-series i3 (barely faster than Baytrail Pentiums) The M3-6y30 is faster than all of the Y-series Haswell i3 models, and it is faster than MOST of the U-series Haswell i3 models. However, it is equal to the i3-4158U, and it is outperformed by all of the M-series and desktop i3 Haswell models.
However this is based on benchmarks, which may not accurately reflect the throttley nature of the Core M CPUs. For example, the 6y30 appears to have an equal Passmark score to the i3-4158U, but the 4158U may have more consistent performance (depending entirely on the thermal design of the device it is installed in)
700$ – No touch display – 2015
Err i pass. 2 in 1’s are the way to go anyway.
Those specs for the price are very solid, nice “touch” combining a matte screen with IPS. Touch screens on a regular laptop are useless, different story with some of those 2-1 designs where it can be used as a tablet but for those that just want a laptop this is viable option at at good price.
It wouldn’t surprise me that at some point in the not so distant future, or even today for some sizes, that it’s less expensive for a manufacturer to install a touch screen than one without. It’s all about what the screen manufacturers are making.
Good point, was just saying from ergonomics point of view trying to use a touch screen laptop is dumb unless it is a 2 in one…
I use my touchscreen more than my touchpad on my 13 inch laptop… but my Acer R13 screen pivots forward making the screen easier to reach (and view.) i’m unsure I’d use the touchscreen as much with a conventional hinged design.
https://images.highspeedbackbone.net/skuimages/large/OCE-102854868_chiclet01_im_mn_9611125.jpg
So what does this say about Apple’s entire laptop line?
that they’re outdated, when it comes to the current fad in laptop fashions?
What is the point of a 2 in 1, please?
Unless it has a Wacom digitizer, I see absolutely zero point of it. There’s nothing I can’t do faster with a keyboard, than you can do it smearing about with your fingers.
Unless its image creation / editing. And even there, unless you use a pen, your fingers just aren’t accurate enough to edit or paint on anything less than a 65″ display.
You can get the version with a QHD touch screen for an extra $100. But the QHD display is problematic in Windows (scaling problems) and it probably has a bit less battery life (touch screen, more pixels to push). Everything else stays the same, including the non-backlit keyboard.