The ideal laptop is light, fast, works quietly and can last all day on the battery. That’s exactly what Asus promises for the newest version of the ZenBook 13, the UX325JA. Is this the laptop that you always want in your bag?
Asus ZenBook 13 UX325JA
price € 1299, –
Processor Intel Core i7-1065G
Memory 16 GB
Screen 13.3 inch IPS (1920x1080p)
Storage 1 TB ssd
Dimensions 30.4 x 20.3 x 1.4 cm
Weight 1.1 kilos
Battery 67 Wh
Connections 2x Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1 (Gen 1), HDMI, Micro SD card reader
Wireless Wifi 6, bluetooth 5
Extras Sleeve, USB-C headphone adapter, USB network adapter
Website www.asus.com
8.5 Score 85 
- Pros
- Quiet
- Excellent matte screen
- Twice Thunderbolt 3
- Impressive battery life
- Negatives
- No 3.5mm audio connection
- Casing creaks
The ZenBook 13 UX325JA is a nice laptop to see. The metal used feels excellent and the gray version that our test model came in looks nice. The top features the circular brushed pattern that is so characteristic of Asus laptops, and unfortunately the same goes for the fingerprints. Fortunately, the rest of the case is not that sensitive to fingerprints.
The laptop feels sturdy, but has a major flaw in that area that older ZenBooks did not have. The housing creaks a lot, you only have to pick up the laptop or move the screen and you can already hear some creaks from points where the various parts of the housing sit together. It is a solid construction, but unfortunately the creaking does somewhat detract from the quality experience. The weight of 1.1 kilograms is excellent, this is a laptop that you can always take with you. You do not have to worry about scratches, because Asus supplies a suitable sleeve.
Connections
Asus has equipped the ZenBook 13 with two USB-C ports, as we would expect from a modern laptop, and these are also Thunderbolt 3 ports. You use them not only for peripherals, but also to charge the laptop. Connecting a screen via USB-C is also possible and the laptop is also equipped with an HDMI connection. On the other side, a USB-A port and a micro-SD card reader have been placed, with which you have a nice and useful package of connections. But you may miss an important one, and that’s right: Asus has not equipped the ZenBook 13 with a 3.5 mm sound output. You do get a USB-C adapter, and because the laptop is equipped with two Thunderbolt 3 ports, you can fortunately charge and use headphones at the same time. Although I mainly use bluetooth headphones myself, I would have preferred the headphone jack. In contrast to a smartphone, the argument about saving space seems even less relevant, especially since an HDMI connection is simply present. You’ll find another USB gigabit network adapter in the box. The WiFi is provided by a WiFi6 card from Intel.
Performance
The tested version UX326JA-AH006T is equipped with the Intel Core i7-1065G, a relatively efficient yet powerful quad-core processor. The chip is combined with 16 GB RAM and a 1 TB NVME SSD. This is an Intel 660P with a read and write speed of 1730.45 and 1679.32 MB / s. The combination of hardware achieves an excellent score of 4267 points in PCMark 10.
It is nice that the cooling works inaudibly during lighter work. That changes a bit if you charge the laptop at the same time. Then the laptop gets a bit warmer and the cooling starts audibly during normal work. If you run heavy applications such as video editing programs, the cooling logically kicks in too. However, it is a quiet laptop for lighter applications such as browsing and word processing.
Impressive battery
ZenBook UX325JA features a battery with an impressive capacity of 67 Wh. Asus promises a battery life of up to 22 hours, but that is when using a special 1Watt screen panel. The tested version is not equipped with such an extra energy-efficient screen. Still, the battery time is impressive. I came to work on the laptop myself until about 11 o’clock, so surviving a working day without recharging is no problem at all. As a check, I ran PCMark 10’s Modern Office battery benchmark that simulates light daily office work and the battery lasts for 15 hours and 1 minute. In short, a very good score.
To work
It is pleasant to work on the ZenBook 13. The 13.3 inch screen has a matte finish and offers good image quality with excellent clarity.
The keyboard ticks remarkably well and has backlighting in three brightness levels. However, the keys are slightly less high (16 x 13 mm) than you normally see on a laptop. It doesn’t make much difference, but you may have to get used to this. If you want normal-sized keys, Asus sells almost the same laptop in 14-inch as the ZenBook 14 UX425JA. This is one and a half cm wider and half a cm deeper. For that you get a slightly larger screen and therefore slightly larger keys, the price is identical.
The glass touchpad works very smoothly and with a size of 13 x 6.5 cm it is also nice and large. Asus has applied a trick we saw before: click on the top right corner and an illuminated numeric field will appear. What’s new is that you can now also open the Windows calculator with a swipe and set the brightness of the backlight in the touchpad. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a setting to associate another program with this swipe.
A fingerprint scanner is missing, but the webcam is equipped with a smoothly functioning facial recognition so that you can log into Windows without entering a password. The image quality of the 720p webcam itself is not spectacular, but it is more than sufficient for video calling.
Conclusion
The ZenBook 13 UX325JA is a nice laptop for everyday use: it is compact, light and performs normal activities quietly. The housing is beautiful, but unfortunately does creak when you take the laptop or open the screen. With twice Thunderbolt 3, USB-a and HDMI, you have enough connection options despite the compact dimensions. Unfortunately, a 3.5 mm connection is missing, for that you need a USB-C adapter that Asus does, fortunately, supply.
The biggest plus is the large battery with which you can effortlessly advance more than a working day. In short, a perfect laptop for on the go.
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