For those who cannot choose between a laptop or a tablet, Asus offers the ZenBook Flip S. This laptop does not only stand out because it can flip. It is especially the 4K OLED screen that makes the ZenBook Flip S UX371 a striking laptop.
Asus ZenBook Flip S UX371
price € 1699, –
Processor Intel Core i7-1165G7
Memory 16 GB
Screen 13.3 inch OLED (3840×2160)
Storage 1 TB ssd (NVMe 3.0)
Dimensions 30.5 x 21.1 x 1.4 cm
Weight 1.2 kilos
Battery 67 Wh
Connections 2x Thunderbolt 4, usb 3.1 (gen 1), hdmi
Wireless Wifi 6, bluetooth 5
Extras USB-C headphone adapter, USB network adapter, Active stylus
Website www.asus.com
8 Score 80 
- Pros
- Beautiful OLED screen
- High screen brightness
- Solid
- Touch screen with stylus
- Good keyboard and touchpad
- Negatives
- No 3.5mm jack
- In tablet mode the screen chatters a bit
- Relatively pricey by OLED
The Asus Flip S UX371 is a nice laptop to see. The aluminum housing is finished in a black shade that Asus calls Jet Black with copper-colored accents all around. On the screen lid, the aluminum has a circular pattern like Asus uses almost like the ZenBooks. The palm part has a matte finish and therefore looks better than the slightly glossy back of the screen, which is sensitive to fingerprints. The build quality of this ZenBook Flip S is excellent. The laptop is virtually impossible to press. It just all feels very solid. A good thing is that Asus has also managed to keep its weight modest at 1.2 kilograms.
In terms of connections, the ZenBook Flip S is well suited for the size itself. On the left, the laptop is equipped with two USB-C ports with support for Thunderbolt 4. These ports support both charging and connecting a screen, and Asus supplies a USB-C charger for charging. In addition, the laptop on the left is also equipped with an HDMI 1.4 connection. Handy, but 4K at 60 Hz is unfortunately not possible with this, you will have to use one of the Thunderbolt ports for that. On the right, Asus has placed a USB3.0 port. You can use that USB-A port directly as a network connection, because we find a USB network adapter in the package.
You may miss a connection: just like on other recent laptops, Asus has not equipped the ZenBook Flip S with a 3.5 mm connection. Of course you can use bluetooth headphones, but this is inconvenient. Fortunately, you do get a USB-C adapter with 3.5 mm sound output with this laptop. In addition to the aforementioned USB network adapter and a USB-C audio adapter, we also find a stylus in the package. Unlike other more expensive ZenBooks, there is no sleeve in the box.
Flip over
The UX371 is a convertible. Besides as a laptop, you can also use it as a tablet. You do this by flipping the screen. Windows can then automatically switch to tablet mode if desired, which makes Windows just a bit more touch-friendly. In itself, the UX371 is light enough to use the device as a somewhat hefty tablet. It is difficult, however, that when the back of the screen is fully folded, it does not stick magnetically to the bottom of the laptop, for example. As a result, the screen quickly flaps against the bottom of the laptop because the hinge is set quite loose. That loose does apply to the last bit, because if you fold up the screen slightly, the stiffness of the hinge is higher. You can use the UX371 as a touch computer, for example, if you put it on your lap while the screen is tilted. It is nice that the palm part is equipped with rubber caps so that the UX371 also stands upside down and is less likely to scratch.
Active stylus
Asus bundles the UX371 with an active stylus with 4096 pressure levels. The stylus has two buttons, one of which acts as a right mouse button and the other as an eraser. The third button on top that has many styluses to start an app is missing. Asus has opted for a battery in the AAAA format for the power supply. So make sure you have a pack of such batteries at home. Because although this is a standard size, this small battery is a lot less common than the AA or AAA variants that you can buy on every corner of the street.
When you’re not using the pen, you can stick it magnetically to the back of the screen. That is not always convenient, you should be aware of it when you put the laptop back in your bag. In addition, the back of the screen is of course not available when using the UX371 as a tablet, so you will have to put the stylus somewhere else.
Splashing colors
The UX371 is equipped with a 4K OLED screen with a remarkably high brightness. Thanks to the OLED technology, the contrast is really excellent, so black is really black even at the highest brightness. It is a screen where the colors really splash. The color reproduction is not entirely consistent across the screen, on the right side of the screen the colors in a vertical stripe look a bit redder if you look critically. For normal use this is absolutely no problem, it is a small compromise for an otherwise fantastic screen.
Another oled compromise is that such screens use more energy to display brighter colors. It is therefore not surprising that Asus Windows default to a dark theme in which many elements in Windows are black instead of white. Theoretically, an OLED screen could also burn in, especially when displaying clear picture elements. This is probably also a reason why Asus defaults Windows to a dark mode. During testing I did not suffer from image retention or burn-in, but that is almost impossible during the relatively short test period. If burn-in is a problem, it is something that you will only see after a long time.
Above the screen is a webcam with support for facial recognition. This works smoothly, allowing you to log into Windows quickly. In terms of image, this webcam is unfortunately not very special, the camera has a lot of trouble with somewhat more difficult lighting conditions and the image is often just a bit too dark.
Comfortable typing
The keyboard ticks nicely because it has a relatively large amount of travel and is a very good one for a laptop keyboard. It is also nice that you do not press the keyboard itself when you are typing. An additional sign that the build quality of this laptop is fine. As expected, the keys are backlit with three brightness levels.
With a size of 13 x 6.5 cm, the touchpad is nice and large and responds smoothly. Of course, multi-touch gestures are supported. Asus has provided this touchpad with NumberPad, as on many recent ZenBooks. This is a virtual numeric field, useful for example Excel. You can also call up the Windows calculator via the touchpad.
Performance
Asus has equipped the ZenBook Flip S UX371 with an Intel Core i7-1165G7, a recent quad-core chip with eight threads. This is combined with 16 GB of RAM and a fast 1 TB NVME SSD. The review sample is a WD SN730. The wireless part is provided by an Intel Wifi 6 card that also offers bluetooth 5.1. The combination of hardware delivers excellent performance, for example, this laptop scores a very decent 4519 points in PCMark 10. The SSD achieves excellent read and write speeds of 3406 and 3088 MBs.
In normal light office use you hardly hear the cooling. However, if you run heavier tasks such as a benchmark or rendering no image, the fan will make itself heard.
The battery is a specimen with a capacity of 67 WH. It’s the same battery capacity that in ZenBook UX325 and UX425 comes to a battery life of about 14 hours. Such good battery capacity is not expected. In any case, a laptop with a 4K screen always achieves a somewhat lower battery life, and that probably applies even more to an OLED screen. Nevertheless, the battery life with about 8 hours of working time is not disappointing in practice for office work and in the PCMark Modern Office battery test this laptop scores a working time of almost 9 hours.
Conclusion
The ZenBook Flip S UX371 is noticeably one of the top models of the ZenBook series. The housing is remarkably sturdy and also nice and light. It is therefore extra good that this is a convertible laptop that you can also use as a tablet. The only downside in that respect is that the screen chatters a bit when you use the UX371 as a tablet. The reason for choosing this laptop is of course the OLED screen. This offers spectacular colors and a contrast that is simply not possible on other screens.
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