ASUS has joined the 11th Gen Tiger Lake CPU contest with one of the sexiest laptops out there. It is a convertible, and they call it the ZenBook Flip S UX371. It is edgy, slim, and very light. Its color scheme – with the “Jade Black” and the shiny trims around reminds us of the HP Spectre x360 13 we tested not a while ago. However, there is something more about this laptop.
First of all, it supports the all-new Thunderbolt 4 connection, Wi-Fi 6, and the graphics prowess of the Iris Xe Graphics G7 However, the latter relies on good cooling, so we’ll check that in a moment.
Also, as a true ZenBook, this unit comes with a NumberPad 2.0 touchpad, which enables you to make use of a dedicated NumberPad (pretty straightforward) in a notebook, that is extremely small. So small that its keyboard goes almost from one edge to the other – something ASUS is really proud of for some reason.
Nevertheless, let’s skip the pleasantries and see what the ZenBook Flip S UX371 looks like, how good its 4K OLED display actually is, and how it performs under stress.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-zenbook-flip-s-ux371/
Contents
Video Review
Specs Sheet
ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 (BX371) - Specs
All ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 (BX371) configurations
What’s in the box?
This device comes in a well-branded package. Inside, there are two boxes – one containing the 65W USB Type-C power brick, as well as a couple of dongles (USB Type-A to Ethernet, and USB Type-C to 3.5mm Audio jack), and one that holds the laptop and its Pen. Also, ASUS was kind enough to include a sleek leather protective case.
Design and construction
Indeed, the design is astonishing. It’s all-metal, making it cool to the touch, and just gives that premium vibe all around. It has an anodized finish with the signature circular pattern on the back of the lid cover. Also, it features chamfered edges on the base and has an interesting copper trim between the lid cover and the display glass. Oh yes – the display is protected by glass.
In terms of size, this device has a profile of only 13.9mm and weighs 1.20 kilos. However, its bezels above and below the display are a bit large, contributing to the overall footprint of the notebook. Nevertheless, the side ones are very slim, and once you open the lid (you can do that with one hand), you will see the gorgeous 4K OLED panel. Above it, there’s an HD camera with an IR face recognition sensor.
By the way, the laptop is very sturdy, considering its slim profile, and there are almost no bends and squeaks when you try to twist it. As far as the keyboard goes, the feedback is in between clicky and soft. And although ASUS state that the key travel is 1.35 mm, roughly the same as on their other Flip and non-flip ZenBooks, we felt that it was a bit shorter. Nevertheless, you can get used to this keyboard, and as a plus – it has a backlight with three brightness settings.
Interestingly, there is a bit of a deck flex on the base, and when the lid is open at more than 90°. This is because, the laptop used the ErgoLift mechanism, which lifts the base’s backside off the ground. However, once it is flat on the ground, the deck flex disappears almost completely.
Next, let’s move to one of the strongest points of this device – its touchpad. Regardless of the NumberPad portion and its usability, this is one of the best touchpads on a Windows laptop we’ve ever tested. Its gliding is great, thanks to the smooth surface, and the tracking is extremely accurate, with no noticeable latency – great job, ASUS.
Lastly, when you look at the bottom panel, you will find the ventilation grills and the speaker cutouts. The hot air, respectively, is blown away through the back of the machine (technically firing towards the bottom of the lid.
Ports
On the left side, you’ll find an HDMI 1.4 connector, followed by two Thunderbolt 4 ports. Both of them can be used for charging, and to charge another device, as well as a DisplayPort output. On the other side, there is only a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port. We have to note, that ASUS has included a USB Type-C to 3.5mm Audio jack, and a USB Type-A to Ethernet dongles inside the package.
Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance
To get inside this notebook, you need to remove its bottom panel. It is held in place by 9 Torx-head screws. After you undo them, pop the clips with a plastic tool and lift the panel away from the chassis.
Due to its slim chassis, the fan it uses for the cooling is extremely thin and we doubt that it will provide decent airflow. Nevertheless, the heat pipe seems bulky.
Memory-wise you have two options – 8GB and 16GB of LPDDR4x memory. Both the variants are soldered to the motherboard, and we suggest getting the larger option to maximize the internal graphics performance. Other than that, you get one M.2 PCIe x4 slot for storage upgrade.
In terms of battery, the ZenBook Flip S UX371 features a 67Wh unit.
Display quality
ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 features an OLED touchscreen display with a model number Samsung ATNA33TP11-1. Its diagonal is 13.3″ (33.8 cm), and the resolution – 3840 х 2160. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 331 ppi, their pitch – 0.077 x 0.077 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 25 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels and is excellent for a laptop).
Its viewing angles are excellent. We have provided images at 45 degrees to evaluate quality.
The maximum measured brightness is pretty high (and it changes according to the image it is showing, which can be seen in the PWM graph) – 528 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 529 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of only 5%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6490K – matching the 6500K optimum for sRGB.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits), which in this case are excellent.
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). Because of the ability of OLEDs to turn off completely the pixels that are responsible for displaying black color, there is practically 0 luminance there, thus resulting in an infinite contrast ratio.
To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.
Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is an essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.
Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.
The yellow dotted line shows ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, and 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut, which ensures punchy, vibrant colors.
Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.
We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.
Below you can compare the scores of ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).
The next figure shows how well the display can reproduce dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.
The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.
Health impact – PWM / Blue Light
PWM (Screen flickering)
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.
ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371’s panel uses low-frequency PWM up until 90 nits. After that value, we observed some very slight pulsations, but we render the display comfortable. However, if you are frequently using your in situations that require very low brightness levels, we would suggest getting our Health-Guard profile, which eliminates the issue.
Blue light emissions
Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.
Conclusions
ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371’s OLED panel has a 4K resolution, which makes for a very crisp image. Its contrast ratio is basically infinite (because of the 0% blacks), and it has comfortable viewing angles. Moreover, it covers 100% of the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts, which results in an extremely punchy image. On the other hand, the high saturation of the colors means that they are not very accurate. Even our Gaming and Web design profile was not able to adjust them to a standard-matching accuracy. Additionally, we observed aggressive PWM below 90 nits. However, this issue is fixed by our Health-Guard profile.
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Since our profiles are tailored for each display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371.
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Office Work
Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.
Design and Gaming
This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.
Health-Guard
Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.
Sound
ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371’s Harman/Kardon speaker setup produces a crisp sound with good quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.
Drivers
All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.asus.com/Laptops/For-Home/ZenBook/ZenBook-Flip-S-UX371-11th-Gen-Intel/HelpDesk_Manual/?model2Name=ZenBook-Flip-S-UX371-11th-Gen-Intel
Battery
Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This notebook is equipped with a 67Wh battery pack, which lasts for 9 hours and 38 minutes of Web browsing and 1 hour less of video playback.
In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.
For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.
We use F1 2017’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.
CPU options
CPU-wise you can choose between the Core i5-1135G7, and the Core i7-1165G7.
Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
GPU options
This means that there are two graphics options – the Iris Xe Graphics G7 with 80 Execution Units, or that with the 96 EUs.
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Gaming tests
| CS:GO | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) | HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 84 fps | 62 fps | 42 fps |
| DOTA 2 | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) | HD 1080p, High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 105 fps | 66 fps | 43 fps |
Temperatures and comfort
Max CPU load
In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.
Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.
| Intel Core i7-1165G7 (15W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371 | 3.48 GHz (B+24%) @ 90°C @ 43W | 2.79 GHz @ 90°C @ 27W | 1.95 GHz @ 69°C @ 14W |
| Acer Swift 3X (SF314-510G) | 3.74 GHz (B+34%) @ 95°C @ 45W | 3.45 GHz (B+23%) @ 95°C @ 37W | 3.09 GHz (B+10%) @ 85°C @ 28W |
| Acer Swift 3 (SF313-53) | 3.55 GHz (B+27%) @ 95°C @ 44W | 3.17 GHz (B+13%) @ 95°C @ 34W | 2.32 GHz @ 64°C @ 17W |
| Acer Swift 5 Pro (SF514-55GT) | 3.54 GHz (B+26%) @ 94°C @ 39W | 3.27 GHz (B+17%) @ 94°C @ 31W | 2.44 GHz @ 74°C @ 17W |
Obviously, this device’s cooling can’t keep up with the higher TDP limit on the Swift 3X (SF314-510G). Instead, it uses the more conservative 15W one, thus resulting in the frequency dipping below 2.00 GHz at the end of the test.
Comfort during full load
Under extreme workload conditions, the laptop doesn’t sound particularly loud. However, the keyboard and half of the palm rest area get quite warm, which is not ideal but is inevitable, due to the slim profile of the notebook.
Verdict
This laptop is not designed for the faintest of heart. It has a stunning design, which screams, stay away from me, I am a busy guy (or woman). And nevermind any of the internals inside, if a notebook is not appealing on the outside, nobody would buy it. A further compliment from ASUS, to the people purchasing the ZenBook Flip S UX371, is the fact that it comes with a sleek leather protective case, some dongles, and a dedicated Pen.
And guys, let us tell you about this Pen. Not only does it have 4096 points of pressure, but combined with the display, there is almost no lag with the screen registering the input perceivably immediately after you start drawing. This is insane, really. The only downside we can think of right now is that you can hear clicking when you pull the Pen out of the display. However, you can get used to that, but since we’re not artists, we found it a bit annoying.
ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX371’s OLED panel (Samsung ATNA33TP11-1) has a 4K resolution, which makes for a very crisp image. Its contrast ratio is basically infinite (because of the 0% blacks), and it has comfortable viewing angles. Moreover, it covers 100% of the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts, which results in an extremely punchy image. On the other hand, the high saturation of the colors means that they are not very accurate. Even our Gaming and Web design profile was not able to adjust them to a standard-matching accuracy. Additionally, we observed aggressive PWM below 90 nits. However, this issue is fixed by our Health-Guard profile.
Next, there is the battery life. On their Web site (and on a sticker on the device, itself), ASUS is promising 10 hours of autonomy. And we got pretty close to that with 9 hours and 38 minutes of Web browsing and 8 hours and 38 minutes of video playback. This is roughly two hours more than the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14, which also came with a 4K panel. However, we think that the larger battery ASUS has put inside (67Wh vs 60Wh), and the dark mode that Windows defaults on this unit, gives the ZenBook Flip S UX371 a big advantage, especially with its 4K OLED display, which can really reduce energy usage by switching off large areas of the display, that display black content.
Now, the performance is not great here. Both when compared to the Acer Swift 5 Pro (SF514-55GT) and the Acer Swift 3X (SF314-510G). However, keep in mind that this device has a profile of only 13.9mm. And the super slim fan doesn’t really help with that. So even though you won’t be able to use this 2-in-1 machine for heavy workloads, its snappiness, and almost 0 latency all over the place makes it one of the most impressive ultrabooks we’ve seen in a while.
Pros
- Premium stylish looks with good build quality
- Works perfectly with its own Pen, and has almost no detectable latency
- Its 4K OLED panel has high maximum brightness (528 nits) and infinite contrast ratio thanks to the deep blacks (Samsung ATNA33TP11-1)
- One of the best touchpads out there
- Fully covers the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamuts and has very uniform colors across the area of the display (Samsung ATNA33TP11-1)
- Tiger Lake onboard + Thunderbolt 4 support
- Included dongles and IR face recognition camera
Cons
- Lacks an SD card reader
- Memory is soldered to the motherboard
- Uses aggressive PWM for brightness adjustment below 90 nits (Samsung ATNA33TP11-1)
- The colors of our unit are not accurate enough for professional use (Samsung ATNA33TP11-1)
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-zenbook-flip-s-ux371/
It feels disingenuous to list under “Ports and connectivity” that it has a 3.5mm combo jack when there’s actually no 3.5mm port, just an included adapter.
Also, you list in the cons that there’s no SD reader, but the Ports table shows that it has one.
You are absolutely right! I got it fixed 🙂
Buttonless touchpad cannot be “one of the best”. And no 3.5mm jack. What a joke. Is this what’s laptop reviewing come to in 2020-21? Giving such inferior products giving marks?
Well, you can take what you want from this review. I feel we we transparent enough, and I am not going to repeat our thought from the review here – in the comments. I will just remind you that the devices regarded as having the best touchpads are the MacBooks, and do they have physical buttons? Nope. At least this company is providing their dongles free inside the box, though. 🙂
Ok sorry. 🙁 But let me give you my point of view. On every single Precision Touchpad I have tried, two finger tap and two finger swipe-to-scroll conflict (one causes the other), that is, when I sometimes want to scroll, it right clicks and vice versa. Tap to click causes accidents as in, it sometimes registers a click when I only meant to tap and move. Sometimes, tap to click moves the mouse pointer a little from where we intended to click and it ends up clicking elsewhere. Touchpads with physical buttons (now very rare) are the true analog to… Read more »
I own this laptop, and I will warn potential buyers of a very poor PWM implementation in the screen. I get sick when I look at displays with PWM, and this screen (and the new Iphones) are the worst I’ve seen on a device. If this affects you, avoid this device.
Hey, psst… Are you interested in some sweet health-guard profile candy?