Buzz
Design
When it comes to a laptop with ultra-thin screen bezels and an improved screen-to-body ratio, the primary concern often revolves around the robustness of the frame. An appealing and seductive design would be rendered futile if the device is as fragile as a sheet of paper. For instance, both the LG Gram and Samsung Notebook 9 boast thin screen bezels, yet both are prone to warping when compared to the sturdier MacBook Air or XPS 13. Fortunately, the ZenBook UX392 exhibits a surprisingly robust build from top to bottom, despite its compact design. Both the screen and chassis show no signs of creaking or significant warping, leaving a highly favorable initial impression of its build quality. The hinge and keyboard area remain well-balanced, with minimal sway under pressure.
For those who are particularly discerning or meticulously searching, the Spectre 13, Blade Stealth, and XPS 13 might hold a slight advantage due to their thicker frames, providing a greater sense of assurance during extended use.
Regarding dimensions and weight, the UX392 is marginally heavier and wider than its predecessor, the UX391, with a comparable thickness. However, our new device is approximately 20mm shorter, maintaining a sleeker appearance compared to its predecessor. Many 14-inch devices, or even 13.3-inch ones like the XPS 13, are heavier than the UX392 due to their thicker screen bezels, which are noticeably thicker than the slim bezels surrounding the UX392's display.
Connectivity Ports
The connectivity port system has changed from the UX391 generation. The UX392 now includes a MicroSD card reader, a USB-A port, and no longer supports Thunderbolt 3. There's no HDMI port included, so users will have to rely on the 2 USB-C ports for video output. Overall, the limited connectivity port system is somewhat inevitable for a 14-inch Ultrabook.
Charging can be done through either of the two USB-C ports on the left side. Personally, I prefer having each USB port on a separate side, as seen on the Huawei MateBook X Pro.
Maintenance and Upgradability
The bottom cover is secured by 8 T4 Torx screws. Aside from the uncommon screw heads, the bottom cover is quite easy to remove, with no snags at the corners or edges.
Connectivity options are limited, confined to the M.2 2280 SSD slot, while the RAM and WLAN are soldered onto the motherboard.
Keyboard – Touchpad
The keyboard layout and flexibility remain unchanged from the UX391. Key feedback and travel are still quite satisfactory, with high quietness except for the louder Space key. The arrow keys remain half-sized and cramped. In comparison, the HP Spectre may have firmer key feedback, with longer key travel than both the Asus UX392 and Dell XPS 13.
The keyboard features a 3-level backlight. I highly appreciate the color and contrast of the keys and characters. It's much easier to see and use than on the HP Spectre.
The ClickPad is one of the most disappointing aspects of the Asus ZenBook S13 UX392FN. Its small size, accompanied by weak and mushy key feedback. Shallow key travel makes the pressing experience uncomfortable. Furthermore, the trackpad surface is quite sticky. If there's one aspect Asus needs to improve, it's definitely the touchpad.
Display
Outdoor visibility is good under shade thanks to adequate screen brightness. However, the glossy screen reflects a lot. So, you'll have to mentally prepare to dodge bright light sources, frequently change viewing angles, especially in bright environments.
The IPS panel ensures wide viewing angles, with no significant changes in color or contrast when viewed at extreme angles.
Performance
The device's configuration is limited to the Core i5-8265U and Core i7-8565U processors with the dedicated GeForce MX150 GPU. While the newer Whiskey Lake U-CPU line is more recent than the Kaby Lake-R generation, raw performance is comparable across both CPU lines.
As predicted, the GeForce MX150 on the UX392 is the 10W version, slower than the standard 25W version on the Razer Blade Stealth. VRAM is increased to 4GB instead of 2GB like on the Razer.
CineBench R15 results place the UX392 within the top 3% of devices using the Core i7-8565U, sampled from 23 different devices. In reality, its performance is sufficient and faster than the previous generation Core i7-8550U. The Asus UX430 using the i7-8550U scores slightly lower by 3-6% compared to the UX392, while devices running the Core i5-8265U also yield similar results. Therefore, I recommend opting for the Core i5-8265U configuration if possible, as the performance difference is minimal and the cost is lower.
Long-term performance maintenance isn't as expected. By running the multi-threaded CineBench R15 in a loop, we can see that the performance sustainability on the UX392 decreases more than other devices using the same CPU, such as the Huawei MateBook 13 or XPS 13. The initial score of 728 points drops to 495 points after 2 loops, a significant decrease of up to 32%. In other words, Intel Turbo Boost operates vigorously but only for a little over a minute.
We only have a single SSD connection without room for secondary storage. My device comes with a 512GB WDC PC SN520 NVMe SSD, while the UX391 and UX433 use SSDs from Samsung and Intel, respectively. It's evident that Asus employs various brands for their ZenBook series.
The read/write speed is average for an NVMe SSD. The Samsung PM961 may excel in both read and write speeds. Furthermore, the device can only run SSDs through a single PCIe lane, which is disappointing given the price of the ZenBook.
3DMark performance on the Asus device is slower by 6 to 16% compared to the average value of the MX150 synthesized from 43 different laptops. Part of the reason is the TDP being limited to 10W. For example, the 3DMark performance of the MX150 on the Razer device scores higher by 18 to 40% than that of the Asus device. Nevertheless, users upgrading from the GeForce 940MX or Intel UHD Graphics 620 will still see a significant performance improvement.
The actual gaming performance of the Asus ZenBook S13 UX392FN is about 10% lower than the GTX 950M, while the Razer Blade Stealth with the 25W version performs nearly equivalent to the GTX960M. Nevertheless, the device is capable of playing popular titles such as Fortnite, DOTA 2... It also doesn't experience FPS drops when running Witcher 3 in idle mode.
External Speakers
The Harman Kardon speaker system is quite poor, much worse than that of the HP Spectre 13. The audio system is sufficient for video calls, but if you want to enjoy movies or music, you'll need to use external speakers.
Battery Life
The battery capacity remains unchanged from the UX391, with usage time between the two versions being equivalent. You can expect up to 8.5 hours of usage with typical Wi-Fi tasks.
Charging time from empty to full takes about 2 hours. The machine's charging adapter can also charge other devices using Type-C ports, including smartphones.
