Product Listing

ASUS ZenBook 3 review: When Windows 10 meets the MacBook

By Koh Wanzi - 17 Dec 2016
Launch SRP: S$2598

Performance Benchmarks, Battery and Portability

Performance Benchmarking

We ran the ASUS ZenBook 3 through our usual suite of benchmarks. For comparisons, we included results from Skylake-equipped ultrabooks from various brands, like the Dell XPS 13 and HP Envy. We included the HP Spectre as well because it is the only notebook available right now that even exceeds the ZenBook 3 in thinness. The ZenBook 3 is also the first Intel Kaby Lake notebook we’re reviewing, so these figures will serve as a gauge of how much more performance you can expect from Intel’s new seventh-generation processors. In addition, in order to better flesh out the comparisons, we’ve included older figures from the ASUS ZenBook UX305, which comes equipped with a fifth-generation Broadwell processor.

Here’s a list of all the benchmarks we used:

  • PCMark 8
  • 3DMark (2013)
  • Tomb Raider
  • Far Cry 2

We’ve included a specifications table with all our compared systems for easier reference:

ASUS ZenBook 3 UX390UA specifications
  ASUS ZenBook 3 UX390UA
  ASUS ZenBook 3 UX390UA
Launch SRP
  • From S$2598
Processor and Chipset
  • Intel Core i7-7500U (2.7GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
Operating System
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
System Memory
  • 16GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
Video & Display
  • 12.5-inch 1,920 x 1,080-pixel IPS panel
  • Intel HD Graphics 620
Storage
  • 512GB PCIe 3.0 x4 M.2 SSD
Optical Drive
  • None
Connectivity
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
Audio
  • ASUS SonicMaster audio system
I/O Ports
  • 1x USB 3.1 Type-C
  • 1x 3.5mm audio jack
Battery Type
  • 40Wh
Dimensions
  • 296 x 191.2 x 11.9 mm
Weight
  • 910g

Test notebooks compared
  HP Spectre (2016) Apple MacBook (2016) Dell XPS 13 (2016) HP Envy 13 Lenovo Yoga 900 ASUS ZenBook UX305 (2015)
  HP Spectre (2016) Apple MacBook (2016) Dell XPS 13 (2016) HP Envy 13 Lenovo Yoga 900 ASUS ZenBook UX305 (2015)
Launch SRP
  • From S$2599
  • From S$2299
  • From S$1699
  • From S$2299
  • From S$1698
Processor and Chipset
  • Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB cache)
  • 1.1GHz Intel Core m3 processor
  • Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
  • Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
  • Intel Core i7-6500U (2.5GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
  • Intel Core i7-5500U (2.4GHz, 4MB L3 cache)
Operating System
  • Windows 10
  • Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
  • Windows 10 (64-bit)
System Memory
  • 8GB LPDDR3-1866MHz
  • 8GB 1866MHz LPDDR3 memory
  • 8GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
  • 8GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
  • 8GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
  • 8GB LPDDR3 SDRAM
Video & Display
  • Intel HD Graphics 520
  • 12-inch Retina display
  • 2304 x 1440 pixels resolution
  • Intel HD Graphics 515
  • 13.3-inch 3,200 x 1,800-pixel IPS touchscreen panel
  • Intel HD Graphics 520
  • 13.3-inch 3,200 x 1,800-pixel IPS panel
  • Intel HD Graphics 520
  • 13.3-inch 3,200 x 1,800-pixel IPS touchscreen panel
  • Intel HD Graphics 520
  • 13.3-inch 3,200 x 1,800-pixel IPS panel
  • Intel HD Graphics 5500
Storage
  • 512GB PCIe SSD with NVMe support
  • 256GB PCIe-based SSD
  • 256GB SSD
  • 256GB SSD
  • 256GB SSD
  • 256GB SSD
Optical Drive
  • None
  • None
  • None
  • None
  • None
Connectivity
  • 802.11ac/b/g/n/a (2x2)
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Intel Wireless Display
  • 802.11 ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
  • Wireless 802.11ac/b/g/n
  • Bluetooth 4.0
Audio
  • Bang & Olufsen speakers
  • Built-in speakers
  • Built-in dual microphones
  • Headphones jack
  • Stereo speakers professionally tuned with Waves MaxxAudio®
  • Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers
  • JBL® Stereo Speakers with Dolby® DS 1.0 Home Theater® Certification
  • ASUS SonicMaster audio system
I/O Ports
  • 1 x USB Type-C (USB 3.1 Gen. 1, 5Gbps)
  • 2 x USB Type C (USB 3.1 Gen. 2, 10Gbps, Thunderbolt 3)
  • 1 x USB Type-C port (support USB 3.1 Gen 1 standards)
  • 2x USB 3.0
  • 1x USB Type-C Thunderbolt 3 port
  • 3-in-1 card reader
  • 1x audio combo jack
  • 3x USB 3.0
  • 1x HDMI port
  • Multi-format SD card reader
  • 1x audio combo jack
  • 2x USB 3.0
  • 1 x USB Type-C 3.0 with video-out
  • 1x DC-in with USB 2.0
  • 4-in-1 card reader
  • 1x audio combo jack
  • 2x USB 3.0
  • 1x Micro HDMI
  • SD/SDXC card reader
  • 1x audio combo jack
Miscellaneous
  • None
  • Built-in fingerprint reader
Battery Type
  • 45Whr
  • 41.4Whr
  • 56Wh
  • 45Wh
  • 66Wh
  • 56Wh
Dimensions
  • 325 x 229 x 10.4mm
  • 28.05 x 19.65 x 0.35-1.31 cm
  • 304 x 200 x 15mm
  • 326.5 x 226 x 12.9mm
  • 324 x 225 x 14.9mm
  • 324 x 226 x 14.9mm
Weight
  • 1.11kg
  • 920g
  • 1.29kg
  • 1.27kg
  • 1.29kg
  • 1.3kg

 

PCMark 8

PCMark 8 tests a system’s performance by putting it through different tasks that reflect the workloads typical of various kinds of users, for instance the casual home user or the working creative professional.

As we mentioned earlier, Kaby Lake represents a refinement of the Skylake architecture and doesn’t serve up any groundbreaking, fundamental changes. As a result, it isn’t expected to deliver a huge performance boost – perhaps around 10 per cent.

Still, performance tended to vary quite a bit (like due to differences in driver optimizations). In PCMark 8 Home, the ZenBook 3 was between 5 and 23 per cent faster than the tested Skylake notebooks. However, the performance jump over the Broadwell processors was far more significant, with the Kaby Lake notebook coming in at roughly 28 per cent quicker than the ASUS ZenBook UX305.

It’s also worth pointing out that the ZenBook 3 absolutely outstrips the 2016 Apple MacBook by a whopping 68 per cent. Granted, that’s because of the lower-powered Intel Core M processor in the MacBook. But ASUS is touting the ZenBook 3 as a better and faster Windows-powered MacBook, and it’s safe to say that it has succeeded.

That said, it did fall behind in the Storage benchmark, although this isn’t something you’re likely to notice in day-to-day use.

 

3DMark (2013)

The Intel Core i7-7500U relies on the integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 for graphics processing. This has a 300MHz base frequency and 1.05GHz maximum dynamic frequency, the same as the HD Graphics 520 on equivalent Skylake chips. That said, the main improvement coming from the previous generation is still better support for 4K content, but Intel says you can still expect an 8 to 10 per cent increase in performance due to the processor running faster than the previous generation.

As it turns out, results varied quite widely across our test systems. In 3DMark Cloud Gate, the ZenBook 3 was anywhere between 4 and 13 per cent faster than the equivalent Skylake notebooks. Unsurprisingly, it was also significantly faster – 157 per cent to be exact – than the Core m3-equipped MacBook.

 

Tomb Raider

The results in Tomb Raider reflected what we observed in 3DMark. The ASUS ZenBook 3 took the lead once again, and it was up to 23 per cent faster on High settings than comparable Skylake notebooks at best. Again, this varied from notebook to notebook, with the HP Envy coming closest to inching out the ZenBook 3.

Compared to a Broadwell-equipped notebook from two generations ago, the ZenBook 3 was also around 45 per cent faster. Clearly, an upgrade is far more worthwhile only if you are coming from a Broadwell notebook or older.

 

Far Cry 2

Performance was a mixed bag on Far Cry 2. The ZenBook 3 actually fell behind some of the other Skylake notebooks, although it once again quite handily outstripped the older ASUS UX305.

Things like driver optimizations and the impact of built-in manufacturer bloatware may have played a role here, but it only serves to highlight the fact that graphics performance isn’t the key upgrade when moving from Skylake to Kaby Lake. Instead, it is users who frequently consume a lot of 4K content that will benefit the most from the increased battery life derived from hardware support for 10-bit HEVC and VP9.

 

Battery Life & Power Consumption

At first glance, the battery life on the ZenBook 3 doesn’t seem all that impressive compared to the older Skylake models, but that’s only because few of them are quite as thin (and so have considerably larger batteries). Things become clearer when you consider the HP Spectre, which is even thinner at 10.4mm. The Spectre has a bigger 46Wh battery compared to the 40Wh pack on the ZenBook 3, yet it still has worse battery life than the latter.

There’s no beating the power-sipping Core m3 processor on the MacBook, but the ZenBook 3 otherwise outstrips all the other notebooks in terms of power efficiency. That’s impressive, and it’s clear that Intel’s optimizations – taller fins and wider gate pitch for instance – on the updated 14nm+ process haven’t been for naught.

 

Portability

Our portability index takes into account battery life, weight, and volume to provide a measure of how easy a notebook is to carry around relative to other compared systems.

Unsurprisingly, the ZenBook 3 did very well here, losing out only to the 2016 MacBook because of its stellar battery life. At 11.9mm thick and weighing just 910g, this is an exceedingly compact and light notebook that you’ll barely notice is in your bag. It is no doubt helped along by the improved efficiency of the Kaby Lake chip, which translates into lower heat output, less need for a heavy duty cooling system, and consequently thinner and lighter laptops.

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8.5
  • Design 9.5
  • Features 7
  • Performance 8.5
  • Value 7
  • Mobility 9
The Good
Extremely sleek and attractive design
Features more powerful U-series processors despite slim build
Very light and portable
Good battery life
The Bad
Only one USB Type-C port
Shallow key travel distance
No high resolution display option
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