The display is one of the most important parts of the Asus Zenbook Flip 14 OLED, which is an ultraportable laptop that can be used as a tablet. The 14-inch 16:10 OLED display on the laptop has a high brightness level and a refresh rate of 90 Hz. It also has a very rich picture. The laptop is pretty powerful on the inside because of its “iron” shape, but that won’t be enough if you want to work with heavy graphics or play modern games, which it wasn’t made for. The speed of a notebook with an SSD drive is very fast. The keyboard on the Zenbook 14 Flip OLED is very comfortable and has a backlight. The touchpad is also large and works well.
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Description
The battery life is not quite enough for a full workday, but 7 hours is pretty good. The body of the laptop looks good and is made well. From the complaints about the laptop, we can see that its cooling system makes a lot of noise when it’s working hard. In general, the Lenovo Flex 5 and the HP Pavillion x360 are two other laptops that have similar hardware to this one. They are a little cheaper, but the image quality is not as good as the hero of the review. They all have standard 16:9 IPS screens with a resolution of 1920×1080 and a standard refresh rate of 60 Hz.
The ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip OLED (UP5401E) came in a pretty nice gray box with a picture of the laptop and some basic technical information. In the box is a branded case with a place for the stylus, a 100-watt power supply, a power cord, an ASUS-branded pen, a USB Type-A to RJ-45 adapter, and all the necessary paperwork. ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip OLED (UP5401E), like the rest of the Zenbook ultraportable laptop line, has a design that is easy to recognize.
The thin, dark gray body is made of aluminum alloy, and the ASUS logo on the top lid is surrounded by a concentric pattern. The metal is thick enough so that the cover doesn’t bend when pressure is put on it. The notebook is stylish and pretty, but it doesn’t stand out. There are still a few fingerprints on the top cover, but they are easy to clean with a microfiber.
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Pros and Cons
Pros
- Sleek and portable design.
- Ample 16GB RAM for multitasking.
- Versatile 2-in-1 design with a 360-degree hinge.
Cons
- Limited port selection with only one USB Type-A port.
- Battery life could be better for extended usage.
- No dedicated graphics card for enhanced gaming or professional graphics work.
Specification Table
| Specification | Details |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1165G7 |
| Graphics | Intel Iris Xe Graphics |
| Display | 14-inch OLED touchscreen |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD) |
| Memory | 16GB LPDDR4X RAM |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
| Ports | 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C |
| 1 x HDMI, 1 x MicroSD card reader, 1 x Audio combo | |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax), Bluetooth 5.0 |
| Webcam | HD webcam with IR function |
| Audio | Harman Kardon-certified audio system |
| Battery | 4-cell 63Whr lithium-polymer |
| Dimensions (W x D x H) | 12.6 x 8.3 x 0.6 inches |
| Weight | 2.87 pounds (approx. 1.3 kg) |
| Official link | Visit Website |
Design, Build and Ports
The Zenbook 14 Flip is designed in a safe way by Asus, but it still stands out from the crowd. That’s mostly because the back of the device has a unique angular pattern and a matt finish. But this is a double-edged sword: it looks great, especially when the light hits it, but fingerprints and dirt can get on it quickly. You might not have thought much about how to clean the back of your laptop, but you’ll need to think about it here. we like the futuristic look, so we don’t mind that this is a trade-off, but not everyone will feel the same way.
The effect is stronger on the Jade Black version than on the Pine Grey version, but the Pine Grey version doesn’t stand out as much. The 14 Flip is still an ultrabook, even though it’s not as thin or light as we thought it would be. A chassis that weighs 1.5 kg is heavier than many 14-inch laptops, while a thickness of 15.9 mm is nothing special. But there are some good things about these design choices. It feels expensive and strong because of how heavy it is, so it’s not a surprise to see military-grade durability here.
During my testing, we didn’t see any signs that the device was going to break. This should mean that it will last for a long time. This is especially important on a convertible laptop, where the screen is often bent almost all the way around. Even though it has two small hinges, the 14 Flip doesn’t feel at all weak. When you type on the keyboard, it wobbles a little more than a regular clamshell laptop, but it doesn’t bother you.
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Screen
The Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED’s OLED screen might be the best thing about it. The 14-inch size and 2880 x 1800 resolution make it great for everything from office work to editing photos or videos. I’m not sure what the optional 4K upgrade would add to the device. It covers all the colors in the sRGB gamut (100%) as well as 99.9% of the DCI P3 gamut and 97.4% of the Adobe RGB gamut. With a luminance of 336 nits in regular SDR applications and a black level of 0 nits, you get great contrast.
Color accuracy is also great, with an average Delta E of 0.44. The 90Hz refresh rate is also pretty easy on the eyes, especially when you are scrolling through documents or websites. Basically, you could do professional design, image editing, or photo editing on this screen. Its size might be your only problem. It’s also a great screen for watching shows, movies, and playing games that you stream. With an HDR peak brightness of 550 nits, you even get HDR that is worth using. You might want a little more SDR brightness if you use it in the sun or by a bright window, but other than that, it’s hard to find anything wrong with it.
When it comes to sound, this is one of the best slim laptops we have used in a long time. Don’t believe everything Dolby Atmos says, but the sound is surprisingly rich, full-bodied, and wide. It’s great for blockbuster movies or even just background music. It can get a little harsh when turned up loud, but it’s great at a medium level.
Keyboard and Trackpad
The keys on the chiclet keyboard on the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED move 1.4mm. There is backlighting and enough space between the keys. On top of that, the trackpad can also be used as a number pad, which we’ve seen on other Asus laptops as well.
Even though the keys might not feel as tactile as the ones on the Asus ROG Strix G15 (2022) G513, these keys have a lot of travel and good feedback. There is also a big trackpad that works well and is easy to use. Overall, the keyboard and trackpad do what they’re supposed to do and are on par with what other devices offer.
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Software
The Zenbook 14 Flip runs Windows 11 Home, which is very similar to the version on Microsoft’s own Surface devices. But you can say the same thing about almost every Windows laptop, and the software changes are nothing like what you’ll find on an Android Phones.
And Asus is one of the worst when it comes to extra apps that come pre-installed. McAfee antivirus software is by far the most annoying because it gives you a free trial and then keeps bugging you to pay for a subscription. Antivirus pop-ups are especially annoying because most people can get everything they need from the free Microsoft Defender app.
There are also annoying ads that pop up sometimes from the MyAsus companion app. It has tools for managing the screen, sound, battery, and fans, but they aren’t the easiest to use. ScreenXpert is really helpful because it acts as a hub for capturing content and moving around the operating system. But most of the tools it offers are already in Windows 11, and it probably won’t change how you use the device.
The rest of Windows 11 is something that many people are already used to. Since it came out, there have been a lot of updates that have made the touchscreen experience great, and it’s great that you can run desktop apps on such a versatile device. It’s not perfect, but all Windows 11 devices have other problems that are the same.
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED: Battery Life
The laptop has a built-in 3-cell a63 Wh battery. In the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery life test, it lasted for almost 8 hours, which is a good result. This is pretty much what we have seen when used the Zenbook Flip 14 OLED. Depending on how much we used it, my laptop stayed charged for 7-8 hours while we used the browser, e-mail, instant messaging, and documents. The 100 W power supply that comes with it is used to charge the battery. This is done through a USB Type-C port. From 0% to 100%, it takes about 2 hours to charge a laptop.
Final Words
A lot of people are going to love the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED (2023). The only question is whether or not it’s the best at this price. Asus thinks it will sell online for about £1499, where you can also find a lot of really good alternatives.
The obvious choice is the 13.6-inch Apple MacBook Air M2, which costs £1249 with a 256GB SSD or £1549 with a 512GB SSD. However, it only has 8GB of RAM and doesn’t have an OLED screen. The Dell XPS 13 OLED will also get an update with 13th-gen Intel chips, and the Acer Spin 5 is also a good choice, even though it has an older 12th-gen Core i7. But not all of these laptops are as flexible as the Asus, and none can beat its OLED screen right now. The Zenbook 14 Flip OLED is hard to beat when you look at it as a whole.
FAQs
The 4K screen, power, and performance of the Asus Zenbook make it a great laptop for programmers and coders, especially game developers.
We didn’t think the Intel Core i7 CPU and OLED screen would help much with battery life, but the Asus made it through the PC Mark 10 Modern Office battery test in 9 hours and 36 minutes with the brightness set to 150 nits.
