Tech2 Touch

Category: Laptops

  • Asus X409FA Review – Compact Performer

    Asus X409FA is a compact budget laptop. It is not only compact, but it is also powerful. It has all the ingredients to consider as one of the best laptops in the price range of around INR40,000. In this Asus X409FA review, let us explorer some of the pros and cons of this laptop.

    Asus X409FA

    Design and Build

    Asus X409FA comes with good quality plastic body with a dark aluminium finish. The device weighs around 1.6Kg with battery. The build quality feels solid. The hinges feel strong. The thin bezels around the screen, helps it to have a small overall footprint.

    Display

    The device has 14 inch Full HD Anti-glare display panel. The viewing angles are decent and brightness is adequate. It has 45% NTSC. This display is not ideal for heavy video or photo editors. However, regular users who majorly use the laptop for browsing, watching movies or office work, the display is good. Light reflections are less and hence less strain on eyes.

    Connectivity

    The Asus X409FA has Wi-Fi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.1, Multi-format card reader, 3.5mm headphone jack, Type-C USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1), USB 3.0 port(s) Type A, 2xUSB 2.0 ports, HDMI port and Fingerprint reader.

    Keyboard and Touchpad

    X409FA has full-sized Chicklet style keyboard with rounded corner keys. The keys have decent travel. For typing, it is comfortable. The touchpad is sufficiently large. Gestures and inputs are processed without any issue.

    Performance

    The Asus X409FA is powered by 8th Generation Intel Core i5 processor. Our review device had 8GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD and Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620. The laptop runs on Windows 10 Home edition. Coming to performance, it is good. Boot time is less, opening the application or copying files are fast. The browsing with multiple Chrome tabs, playing videos are flawless. Basic video and photo editing also can be done without any struggle.

    Battery

    This Asus notebook comes with 2 cells 32WHrs Lithium battery. On casual usage, it lasts around 5 to 6 hours. However, on heavy multitasking or gaming, battery life drops significantly. The charging time is around 1 and a half hours.

    Asus X409FA Pros and Cons

    Asus X409FA Pros

    • Compact and lightweight design.
    • Decent Display.
    • Above-average Performance.
    • Good Connectivity options.
    • Good keyboard and touchpad.
    • Extra slot for RAM and 2.5mm hard disc.

    Asus Z409FA Cons

    • The keyboard is not backlit.
    • No Ethernet Port.

    Asus X409FA Review Summary:

    Asus X409FA is an all-round performer in the price segment of INR40,000. It is an ideal laptop for those who want a compact, lightweight laptop with good performance and decent battery life. The key target audience of this laptop are who use the laptop for browsing, watching movies and work in MS office etc. If you are a gamer or heavy video editor, then it is better to stay away from this.

  • Asus ROG Zephyrus GA502D Review

    Gone are the days when gaming laptops were bulky, heavy, pricier with low battery life. Asus ROG Zephyrus GA502 is a compact, lightweight and a budget gaming laptop. It has an impressive spec sheet which includes a powerful GTX1660 Ti GPU, 120Hz display panel, dual speakers, and a 76Whr lithium-ion battery. Is this the best gaming laptop in the price segment? Let us find out in this Asus ROG Zephyrus GA 502D review.

    Zephyrus GA502D weighs around 2.1kg and 20mm thin at its thinnest. Below is the specification of our review unit.

    • Third-generation AMD Ryzen 7 3750 processor.
    • Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti dedicated graphics with overclocking up to 1335MHz at 60W in Turbo mode.
    • 16GB of RAM and 512GB NVMe SSD.
    • 76Whr Lithium-ion battery with 180 W power adapter.
    • Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v5.0, one USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port, three USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an HDMI port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a Kensington lock.
    • 15.6 inch IPS anti-glare full HD display panel with 120Hz refresh rate.

    Asus ROG Zephyrus GA 502D Pros and Cons

    Asus ROG Zephyrus GA502

    Asus ROG Zephyrus GA 502D Pros

    Compact and stylish design

    Zephyrus GA 502D has a stylish design and it is well-built. The quality and finish of the materials are impressive.

    Good battery life

    Considering it is a gaming laptop with such a compact size, battery life is good. In my usage, I got around 5 hours battery back up.

    Performance

    Ryzen 7 3750 processor with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti provides good performance. Browsing the web, watching 4K videos or editing the videos, it manages without any stutters. However, compared to Intel power laptops, I felt video editing is a little slow. I have not faced any heating issues in my usage.

    Display panel

    The 15.6-inch FHD IPS anti-glare display has decent brightness and good viewing angles. It has smooth 120Hz refresh rate. The only drawback of the screen is colours are not as vibrant as some of the other laptops in the segment.

    Good Audio Output

    The quality of the stereo bottom-firing speakers is good.

    Asus Zephyrus GA502D Cons

    • There is no webcam.
    • The keyboard does not have RGB backlight.
    • The touchpad does not have dedicated buttons.

    Asus ROG Zephyrus GA 502D Review Summary

    Asus ROG Zephyrus GA 502D is available for 82,990 in India. For the price, it offers a lot. VR capability, Battery life and compact design are the key highlights of this gaming laptop. Except for a few minor cons, it is a worthy gaming laptop to consider if you are looking for a sub 90k gaming laptop.

  • Asus VivoBook 14 X403 Review – Pros and Cons

    Asus VivoBook 14 X403 is a compact and lightweight laptop which promises to offer upto 24 hours of battery backup. It has a capable hardware and sturdy build quality. The price of this ultrabook is Rs.54,900. For this price, it is a great ultrabook to consider? Here is our Asus VivoBook 14 X403 review with pros and cons.

    Asus VivoBook 14 X403 Review

    Design and Build Quality

    The Asus VivoBook 14 X403 measures 16.5 mm in thickness and has 1.35kg weight. The chassis are made of all aluminium and certified to MIL-STD 810G standards. We have not felt any flexes in the keyboard or palm rest area. The silvery top cover is neat and elegant. The plain look provides a professional feel to this ultrabook.

    Asus VivoBook 14 X403 Review
    Asus VivoBook 14 X403

    Display

    This ultrabook comes with 14 inch full HD anti glare display panel. It has narrow bezels around the screen. It is claimed to cover upto 45 percent colors in the NTSC colour space. The display panel offers wide 178 degree viewing angles. The colors and brightness are ideal for lot of reading and browsing. The anti glare finish helps in overall readability especially in the outdoor conditions.

    Connectivity Ports and Audio

    Though it is a ultra compact laptop, there is not much compromises when it comes to ports. It has a full-size HDMI port, a USB-A 3.1 port, and a USB-C 3.1 port, USB-A 2.0 port, an SD Card slot, and a 3.5 mm audio jack for headsets. Fingerprint scanner is available which is works well with Windows Hello.

    Asus VivoBook 14 has two bottom firing speakers. There is also a array microphone for video calls and audio recording. The sound output is decent for regular user. However, output is not great.

    Keyboard and Touchpad

    The keyboard on VivoBook X403 is comfortable for typing. The keys has decent amount of travel and spacing between the keys are also good. It has backlit keyboard. However, due to the colors of the keys, it is of less use.

    The touchpad is a precision unit. Hence all the multi finger gestures work right out of the box without the need for any third party utility. The surface is smooth and easy for taps, clicks and swipes.

    Performance

    Asus VivoBook 14 X403 is powered by 8th gen Intel Core i5-8265U (Whiskey Lake) CPU with 8GB of RAM and integrated graphics. It has 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD. The storage can be upgraded upto 1TB. However, RAM is not up gradable.

    In my usage, I have not faced any lag in my day to day usage. Even with multiple tabs open in the chrome browser and multiple EXCEL files, there was no performance issues. The laptop stays cool most of the time.

    Battery Life

    One of the key advantage of VivoBook 14 X403 is its battery life. It has 4 cell 72Wh Lithium ion polymer non removable battery. Asus claims that, it provides upto 24 hours of continuous local video playback. In my usage, with laptop connected to WiFi and screen brightness around 80%, I was able to get around 16 to 17 hours.

    Asus VivoBook 14 X403 Review Summary

    It is a ideal laptop for those who wants compact and lightweight laptop which provides good performance and battery life. Overall it is a good laptop for a regular user. At Rs.54,999 it is a value for money. Build quality, performance, battery life and display panel everything justifies the price. If you are a heavy gamer or video editor then this is not the one to look for.

    Asus VivoBook 14 X403 Pros

    • Excellent battery life.
    • Good performance.
    • Compact and lightweight.
    • Aluminium Chassis and MIL-STD 810G standards certification.
    • Good keyboard.
    • Connectivity ports.

    Asus VivoBook 14 X403 Cons

    • Average speakers.
    • RAM is not upgradable.
    • Keyboard keys color scheme could have been better.

  • ASUSPRO P5440 Review – Is it a ideal business Laptop?

    ASUS is a well known brand when it comes to gaming or innovative consumer laptops. Asus ROG series and Zenbook series laptops are popular for gaming and other mainstream uses. ASUSPRO P5440 is a new lineup from Asus which is targeted towards business users. Here is our ASUSPRO P5440 review based on our last 7 days of experience.

    ASUSPRO P5440 is one of the worlds lightest and compact 14 inch business laptop with dual storage. It is available in multiple variants. Our review has following specification.

    ASUSPRO P5440 Specification

    • 8th gen Intel core i7 processor with integrated Intel UHD Graphics 620.
    • 8GB of RAM with 256GB SSD and 1TB of hard drive.
    • 14 inch full HD 60Hz Anti glare display.
    • 3 cell 50 Wh polymer battery.
    • Ports: 1 x Microphone-in/Headphone-out jack, 1 x Type-C USB 3.0 (USB 3.1 Gen 1) with display and power delivery support, 1 x Type-A USB 3.1 (Gen 1), 1 x Type-A USB 3.1 (Gen 2), 1 x HDMI, 1 x Fingerprint reader, 1 x AC adapter plug.
    ASUSPRO P5440 Review

    Design and Build Quality

    ASUSPRO P5440 is not a stylish laptop like Zenbook series. But it is pleasant professionally looking laptop. It is reasonably thin and lightweight. Magnesium alloy based chassis with brushed metal finish in the palm rest area gives a premium feel to it. It passed the MIL-STD-810G standards for durability.

    Display

    This business laptop from Asus, sports 14 inch full HD anti glare display panel with 178 degree viewing angles. Unlike other Asus mainstream laptops, it can cover only 72% NTSC color gamut. However, it is not an issue for a business laptop as it is not designed for video/photo editors. It is purely for developers and those who perform day to day tasks. The 180 degree lay flat hinge is an added advantage.

    Keyboard and trackpad

    ASUSPRO P5440 comes with back-lit keyboard. It has 19.05mm key pitch and key travel of 1.5mm. Typing on the keyboard is a pleasant experience. The trackpad on this business laptop is good. There is also fingerprint scanner which allows you to use Windows Hello to login.

    Performance

    Core i7 processor with 256 of SSD provides smooth and lag free experience. Even with multiple application running at the time, it manages to handle with ease. It boots faster, opens the apps quicker. I have not experience any heating issues in my usage. Fan ran occasionally when doing heavy multitasking.

    Battery

    3 cell 50 wh polymer battery is rated provide upto 10 hours. In my usage, I got around 6 to 7 hours.

    ASUSPRO P5440 Review – Pros and Cons

    ASUSPRO P5440 Pros

    • Lightweight, compact and Sturdy build quality.
    • Good Keyboard and track pad.
    • Decent display panel.
    • Out of the box SSD and hard drive dual storage.
    • USB-C port which can be used for Display Port & Power Delivery.
    • Good performance.

    ASUSPRO P5440 Cons

    • Audio loudness could have been better.
    • No dedicated button in trackpad.
    • no LAN port. Need to use adapter.

    ASUSPRO P5440 Review summary

    ASUSPRO P5440 manages to fulfill the requirements of business laptop. If you are looking for a lightweight compact business laptop with good performance then ASUSPRO P5440 is worth considering. However, battery life is the one area it needs bit improvement.

  • Asus Zenbook 14 UX434F Review-Compact innovative powerhouse

    Asus Zenbook 14 UX434 is the successor to UX433. Compact size, stylish design, innovative ScreenPad 2.0, quad core 8th gen Intel processor and 16GB of RAM, NVIDIA GeForce MX250 discrete graphics, high-performance solid-state disk with a PCIe 3.0 x4 interface are some of the notable features of this new Zenbook 14. Here is our Asus Zenbook 14 UX434F review.

    Zenbook 14 UX434F price in India started at ₹79,990 for the base variant.

    Asus Zenbook 14 UX434F Review- Pros and Cons

    Design and Build Quality

    Zenbook 14 2019 is one of the stylish yet very compact laptop available in the market. It has a size of an A4 size paper. It is 16.9 mm thin and weighs 1.26kg. Company claims that, it is world’s most compact 14 inch laptop.

    Asus Zenbook 14 UX434
    Asus Zenbook 14 UX434F

    Ergolift hinge mechanism is available in this new Zenbook. This technology uses, backside of the lid as a lever to lift up the bottom. It has many advantages such as better typing position, enhanced cooling and better audio performance.

    Keyboard and Touchpad

    Asus Zenfone 14 UX434F comes equipped with backlit keyboard. It has key travel of 1.4mm. TouchPad is one of the attraction of this laptop. It has Screenpad 2.0.

    Screenpad 2.0 is works like secondary display apart from working as touchpad. You can also use it with its dedicated apps such as handwriting, spotify etc. While you are using MS office utilities, you can use the shortcuts. It also improved on battery consumption compared last edition.

    Display

    Zenfone 14 comes with 14 inch nanoEdge full HD display panel with 100% sRGB and 178 degree wide view technology. The bezels around the screen are slim and it has approximately 92% screen to body ratio. Viewing angles and color saturations are great. However, brightness is not great for outdoor uses.

    Performance

    Our review unit configuration includes 8th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with 16GB of RAM and NVIDIA MX250 GPU. It has 1TB of PCIe SSD storage. The performance is good and no major heating experienced. I have done 4K video editing, as it is pleasure working on it.

    Connectivity and Battery

    Zenbook 14 UX434 has up to date connectivity features such as dual-band Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 5.0, 1 HDMI port, 2 USB 3.1 Gen2, 1 USB 2.0 and a microSD card reader.

    It is powered by Li-polymer 50Wh battery which is claimed to provide upto 12.3 hours. In our usage, it varied from 7 to 9 hours depending on the intensity of work.

    Other Features

    Asus Zenbook 14 UX434 has harman/kardon certified audio system. It also has advanced infrared(IR) camera which provides fast, reliable hands free face login with Windows Hello.

    You may like to read:

    5 Reasons to buy Asus Zenbook 13/14/15.

    Asus Zenbook 14 UX434F Cons

    We have covered some of the advantages or pros. Now it is time for some of the things we are not happy with the device. Here is the list of Zenbook 14 cons or demerits.

    • No USB type C charging.
    • Display brightness could have been better.

    Asus Zenbook 14 UX434F Review Summary: It is a innovative laptop. If you want to have a ultra compact laptop with latest technology and unique features, then Zenbook 14 UX434F is one of the best option.