For starters, the new ZenBook 3 sports a metal unibody construction and an aerospace-grade aluminum alloy design, with the chassis ranging from 11.9mm to 3.5mm in thickness (or thinness).
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The Asus ZenBook 3 ships in three different colours, Royal Blue, Quartz Grey and Rose Gold. It weighs just 910 grams (almost exactly 2 pounds), compared to the 12-inch Macbook’s 2.04 pounds. Furthermore, the laptop’s 12.5-inch display is protected by a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass 4 for extra durability.
Meanwhile, the reports state that the new Ultrabook features full-size backlit keyboard along with a glass-covered touchpad.
The ZenBook 3 will start at $999 for the model with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD but if you want the Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD it will cost double that at $1999. Pricing for the ZenBook 3, which Lenovo didn’t announce today, could therefore be a key differentiator, especially if it comes in somewhere between or below the Macbook’s $1,599 and the HZ550’s $1,699 price tags.
The Zenbook 3 is powered by USB Type-C and promises to reach a 60 per cent charge on the 40W battery in an impressive 49 minutes. A USB-C port for charging is present, however is the only port besides a 3.5mm headphone jack.
The Asus ZenBook 3 sounds like a victor on paper.
To further adorn Zenbook 3, an exclusive 2-phase anodizing process is employed creating an awe-inspiring golden highlights on the diamond-cut edges.
Will you choose Asus ZenBook 3 over Apple’s MacBook?
It’s also available with several hardware configurations, with the top being an Intel i7, 16GB of Ram, 1TB of SSD storage, and Thunderbolt 3.
However, the real life performance of the Zenbook 3, specially its heat management and the battery life performance is what will need to be carefully observed, before we can say anything for sure. On the other hand, the ZenBook 3’s screen is a shade bigger at 12.5 inches, but it merely boasts a Full HD resolution of 1,920 x 1,080 pixels, or 176ppi. The four Harman Kardon speakers deliver crystal-clear sound so that you don’t have to carry a speaker with you. Asus has not announced a USA shipping date, but whenever it arrives, we look forward to putting the ZenBook 3 through its paces.
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As it does every year, Asus began the show with a number of great Windows products, including the new ultra-slim ZenBook 3 laptop, and the super powerful Transformer 3 and Transformer 3 Pro tablets.
