Asus ZenBook Flip S (UX371) Review: A fantastic Windows ultrabook with a vibrant OLED display

Asus recently expanded its premium ZenBook lineup in India, with several new notebooks, including the top-of-the-line ZenBook Flip S. The ZenBook Flip S is a 13-inch laptop, equipped with a 4K display, 11th Gen Intel processing hardware, and all the other pickings of a premium ultrabook. With the ZenBook Flip S, Asus aims to compete with the best of the best like the HP Spectre and Dell XPS. So, let’s find out if Asus ultra-premium ultrabook lives up to the hype.

Design and Build 

The design and build quality of the ZenBook Flip S is top-notch. Despite the premium Red Copper diamond-cut aluminium alloy, the ZenBook Flip S is incredibly light, weighing in a measly 1.2 kilos. The hinge is pretty smooth, although it does get a little wobbly when used at a particular angle.

But that’s primarily down to the ErgoLift design, which slightly elevates the keyboard, making it more comfortable to type on, while also providing for better heat dissipation. The lid is black with Asus’ signature concentric circles, but it does tend to attract fingerprints. Overall, the new Flip S doesn’t break from traditional ZenBook aesthetics, and that’s not such a bad thing.

Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the ZenBook Flip S is relatively small; I’d say too small for some. It took some time for me to get used to it. While the keyboard is comfortable enough to type on, the keys lack that tactile feel, which was slightly disappointing, especially considering Asus' good track record with laptop keyboards. The keyboard is LED backlit with three brightness presets that get the job done when you find yourself typing in the dark.

The trackpad is relatively large and smooth to the touch. The glass surface makes navigating within Windows an absolute delight. The left and right buttons also have solid tactile feedback when you push down on them. You also get an integrated number pad that can be activated by hitting the icon on the top right corner of the trackpad. There’s a brightness adjustment button on the left side of the trackpad. The keyboard on the ZenBook Flip S was pretty underwhelming, although the trackpad was excellent.

Connectivity

For a 13-inch laptop, the ZenBook Flip S has quite a few ports. You get a USB 3.2 port, an HDMI port, and two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt support. It also features Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6 support. The 720p webcam also supports Windows Hello, with quick and reliable face unlock. The webcam is just about average and gets the job done for video calling, while the power button on the ZenBook Flip S is shifted to the side. Additionally, there’s no headphone jack on the ZenBook Flip S.

Audio

For a thin-and-light notebook with bottom-firing speakers, the ZenBook Flip S delivers above-average audio quality. DTS Audio Processing software is pre-installed and features four audio presets. The sound was loud enough to fill a room, with minimal distortion, even on maximum volume. Music sounded quite good on the ZenBook Flip S, although I preferred headphones while listening to podcasts.

Display 

One of the biggest highlights of the ZenBook Flip S is its display. Asus has opted for a vibrant 13.3-inch 4K OLED panel without touch and stylus support. The screen is ideal for consuming entertainment or performing tasks that demand colour accuracy. The ZenBook Flip S also gets fairly bright at 375 nits, which makes it easy to use, even in direct sunlight. The OLED panel used on the ZenBook doesn’t get as bright as that on the XPS 13, although the advantage over a regular IPS displays is quite noticeable.

The panel used here is certainly not the brightest but does surpass the 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut, which is quite impressive. The ZenBook Flip S is a convertible 2-in-1 laptop, which means you can use it in multiple orientations. Additionally, the screen does a pretty good job of keeping pace with on-screen multi-touch gestures. I’d have to say this was one of the best displays I’ve seen on a premium notebook.

Performance 

The ZenBook Flip S is powered by the new 11th Gen Intel Core i7 paired with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics. You also get 16GB of RAM and a super-fast 1TB M.2 3.0 SSD. With the new Iris Xe graphics, Intel claims to have doubled performance over the previous generation. Keep in mind that this is an ultrabook, which isn’t really meant for gaming, so all games tested were on low settings.

First off was Overwatch, which did surprisingly well, managing to average at around 35 fps. Heroes of the Storm on low settings consistently ran at 45 fps. Counter Strike: Global Offensive was the only title to hit 60fps. Far Cry 5 was the only AAA title tested, and it averaged at around 20fps. Because we are working with an ultrabook and there is not much cooling involved here, we didn’t stress test games and only ran the games for less than an hour each.

When it came to multitasking, the ZenBook Flip S did particularly well, easily handling routine tasks. We had 12 tabs in Google Chrome, Microsoft Excel, and MS Word running simultaneously, without any issues. In Cinebench R23, the ZenBook Flip S managed to score 1152 points in the single-core test and 2771 points in the multi-core test. On Geekbench 5.0’s overall test, the Flip S scored 3911 points. The ZenBook Flip S also managed 691 points in Cinebench R15’s multi-core test, below the Dell XPS 13’s 756 points, which uses an Intel Core i7-1065G7 processor.

Before we get into the battery life, let’s talk about the ZenBook Flip’s Intel Evo standard. The Evo platform is more or less like Project Athena for the new Tiger Lake processors. Laptops must meet a list of requirements to qualify for Intel’s Evo badge. Portability and utility are the main traits for a thin-and-light laptop. The Asus ZenBook Flip S meets most of the requirements, all-day battery life, quick wake time, fast charging, Wi-Fi 6, and Thunderbolt 4, to meet the ‘Evo’ standard, but for one area.

Battery

The ZenBook Flip S packs a 67Wh battery with a 65W charging adapter (USB Type-C). Considering the ‘Evo’ standard has high battery demands, I was a little disappointed to find that the ZenBook Flip S doesn’t have the best-in-class or meet the all-day standard. We got little under seven hours (Screen brightness on 50 percent) of battery life while web surfing on Wi-Fi and using MS Word. And that battery performance came as a result of us being pretty conservative.

You’ll definitely get more battery by turning the resolution down to 1080p as opposed to 4K. But considering this is an Evo-certified notebook, the overall battery performance was a letdown. The notebook charges over USB Type-C, with the notebook taking around one hour to hit a 60 percent charge, which is pretty fast. Overall, battery life is definitely not the worst, but not the best either.

Verdict

The Asus ZenBook Flip S meets all the requirements of a premium ultrabook. You have the latest hardware for optimal performance, a vibrant display, and a premium build. The Intel Core i7-1065G7 on the XPS 13 did better in multi-core performance, but there are definitely more benefits to having the Tiger Lake CPU instead, a couple of them include Thunderbolt 4 and Intel Xe graphics.

But beyond having powerful hardware, the ZenBook Flip S just looks and feels like a really good laptop. There’s no doubt the ZenBook Flip S has all the making of a great premium notebook, including the premium price tag. At Rs 1,49,990, the Flip S doesn’t come cheap, but that’s nothing out of the ordinary for a premium laptop. Despite the below-average battery life, the ZenBook Flip S is still one of the best laptops in this segment, making it a great choice if you are looking for a premium notebook.