ASUS and A BATHING APE are about to rock your world with a supped-up laptop! The two brands are collaborating to bring you signature ASUS quality infused with BAPE®style. The collaboration brings BAPE’s design style to ASUS’s popular Vivobook S 15 OLED. The new Vivobook S 15 OLED comes with an exclusive BAPEx ASUS design meticulously photo-light-etched into the metallic lid of the Vivobook S 15 OLED.
The collaboration isn’t just about aesthetics either. It’s bringing a real punch in terms of internals. The Vivobook S 15 OLED BAPE edition comes with an Intel Core i9-13900H processor with 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD memory and a stunning 2.8K OLED display. The display comes with a 120Hz refresh rate and 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 gamut. Of course, those specifications are not something new when it comes to the Vivobook S 15 OLED. In fact, it’s the top-of-the-line specifications that are available for the lineup.
However, A BATHING APE has put its own spin on it with a unique, ASUS-exclusive design that brings the whimsy and class of the BAPE aesthetic to the Zenbook. Photo-etched to the metallic lid of the Vivobook S 15 is a camouflage which features BAPE’s mascot ape. In addition to this, the special BAPE edition Vivobook will also come bundled with a bevvy of accessories which carry the ASUS-exclusive design. In the bundle are a BAPE Edition Carry bag, a BAPE edition ASUS Marshmallow mouse, a special BAPE Edition BABY MILO figurine, BAPE Edition Keyboard stickers and limited edition BAPE edition stickers. The BABY MILO figurine also has its very own limited edition BAPE Vivobook too!
The Vivobook S 15 OLED BAPE Edition will be available in two colours – a silver laptop which is paired with a Blue coloured version of the BAPE accessories and a Midnight Black colour which comes with a Green coloured version of the BAPE accessories.
Pricing & Availability
The Vivobook S 15 OLED comes in Midnight Black and Silver paired with Green and Blue BAPE Edition accessories respectively. The bundle will be priced at MYR6,499 and will be available starting 18 August 2023.
ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) has recently announced its collaboration with the hit anime series Evangelion, centred around the iconic EVA-02 and pilot Asuka.
This collaboration introduces a range of premium PC gaming components and peripherals with striking red and orange colour schemes, including Evangelion-themed decals and art.
For instance, the ROG Maximus Z790 Hero EVA-02 Edition motherboard features EVA-02’s signature colours and patterns, supporting 13th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and DDR5 memory for top-tier performance.
Source: ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG)
ASUS also boasts exceptional performance with the ROG Strix GeForce RTX 4090 EVA-02 Edition graphics cards. They come with advanced cooling features and an EVA-02 colour theme, accompanied by Asuka art on the backplate.
The ROG Ryujin III 360 ARGB EVA-02 Edition AIO cooler combines efficient cooling capabilities with Asuka-inspired artwork. The LED screen can display various Evangelion-themed animations.
Next up, we have the ROG Hyperion EVA-02 Edition chassis, a premium gaming case with an EVA-02-themed lighting panel. It has been designed to match the aesthetics of EVA-02 and house other ROG x Evangelion components.
Source: ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG)
As for fans and gamers seeking an ergonomic and high-performance keyboard, the ROG Strix Scope RX EVA-02 Edition may just tick the boxes. This keyboard spots an EVA-02-themed keycap, a red-and-orange aluminium case, as well as ROG RX optical mechanical switches for reliable and responsive keystrokes.
The last item in the ASUS ROG Evangelion lineup is the ROG Gladius III Wireless AimPoint EVA-02 Edition mouse. The brand claims that the mouse can provide precision and accuracy with its 36,000 dpi. ROG also offers Evangelion-themed mouse grip tapes for added customization.
At the time of writing this article, ASUS has not announced the official release date for the Evangelion lineup. If you are a big fan of New Evangelion, be sure to stick around to find out more!
Update 8:45pm – The ROG Ally First sales have sold out in record time!
Handheld gaming is going more mainstream than ever with the ASUS’s Republic of Gamers (ROG) throwing their hat in the ring. The recently announced ROG Ally is making its debut in countries across the world. The latest country to get the handheld gaming device? Malaysia of course!
The handheld runs on AMD’s Z1 Extreme processor. It runs on the latest Zen4 architecture and promises enough power to run most games and power efficiency for a respectable gaming session. The Malaysian version of the ROG Ally will come with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal SSD storage.
It comes with a 7-inch, IPS-level display with an FHD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels. It has a 120Hz refresh rate and 500 nits brightness.
The ROG Ally will officially be priced at MYR3,299. At the time of writing, ASUS has only announced a single variant of the ROG Ally for the Malaysian market. It will be available in retail on July 1, 2023, at the ROG Roadshow happening in Plaza Low Yat and at ROG Ally authorized dealers nationwide.
Together with the gaming handheld, ASUS is offering a slew of accessories including the ROG Ally Travel Case priced at MYR199 and the ROG Gaming Charger Dock which comes with HDMI 2.0 support at MYR299.
Of course, being an ROG device, the Ally is also compatible with ROG’s XG Mobile platform which provides even more power for the device when you hook it up. They give access to top-of-the-line GPUs for mobile devices which include the ROG Flow Z13 laptops. There are currently three versions available in Malaysia, the XG MOBILE RTX4090 which retails for MYR 999, the XG MOBILE RTX3080 which retails for MYR7999 and the XG MOBILE RX 6850M XT which retails at MYR6999.
The first sales which are happening now will be bundled with the ROG CETRA True Wireless earbuds, the ROG Ally Travel Case, the ROG Gaming Charger Dock, a screen protector and 9-month access to XBOX PC GamePass. The bundle is worth MYR1,299.
ASUS launched their flagship smartphone, the ROG Phone 7 last month in April 2023. As promised, ASUS has brought the new flagship gaming smartphone into Malaysia. They are also available for purchase now as we speak; if you are interested, you can check out their roadshow happening now to the end of this weekend (14th of May 2023) at Pavilion Bukit Jalil.
To recap, the ROG Phone 7 comes in two variants, the regular vanilla ROG Phone 7, and one ROG Phone 7 Ultimate flavour. The vanilla ROG Phone 7 is still a powerful device packing Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform. You still get up to opt for up to 16GB in LPDDR5X RAM and up to 512GB in storage space if you do not mind spending a little bit more money.
Whichever ROG Phone 7 series device you pick, it comes with a large 6.78-inch AMOLED display that offers Full HD+ resolution at 165Hz refresh rate and up to 720Hz in sampling rate for a smooth and near instant input feel. The AMOLED display also offers the best-in-class viewing experience with up to 1,500 nits in brightness and ΔE<1 colour accuracy. For the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, you get an extra matrix display shooting visuals out of the back of the device (ROG Vision).
The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate also has a trick up its sleeve over the regular ROG Phone 7. You not only get the latest AeroActive Cooler active cooling solution and attachment for your ROG Phone 7 Ultimate, but the cooler also activates a flap they call the AeroActive Portal that will increase an airflow channel to allow for better cooling. The result is up to 20% thermal efficiency from the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate. That, alongside the Boron Nitride thermal compound, bigger vapor chamber,a graphite sheets on the CPU means that the CPU can be pushed to its limits for longer periods of time without compromising gaming performance.
Other updates on the series include better audio tuned by Dirac Virtuo, X Sense software, better AirTrigger, and new gesture controls including Gyroscope aiming. Within the new ROG Phone 7 devices are 10 motion controls with an X-axis liner motor for powerful and immersive haptic feedback like the one you get on your console controller. You can even adjust the haptic feedback for better response, or just all-around better feel for your controls.
Price and Availability
As mentioned, the ROG Phone 7 series is now available in Malaysia. You can get your vanilla variant of the ROG Phone 7 in either white or black colour options. The ROG Phone 7 Ultimate will be available 15th of May 2023 onward in Malaysia. There is no colour option for this one, unfortunately, just white. The white does bring the ROG Vision out a little bit more though. The ROG Phone 7 will start at MYR 3,599 (12GB + 256GB) while the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate starts at MYR 4,999 and comes with the AeroActive Cooler 7 out-of-the-box. More information on the ROG Phone 7 series can be found on their website.
Handheld gaming is a thing, an inevitable thing. Nintendo has always championed the concept and is a huge pioneer in the handheld gaming industry. The Nintendo Gameboy, for example, is one of the first and one of the most popular gaming handheld devices ever produced. It was iconic too, the namesake stayed on for a couple of generations and made way for a couple of new ideas in the handheld gaming space. It gave birth to the Nintendo Switch, partly.
The Nintendo Switch gave way and inspired many other new gaming devices that flooded the market. All that accumulates to Valve’s very own Steam Deck handheld gaming device. While not the first of its kind to play games on the Steam library while on battery, it is sort of the best solution and culmination of that concept. Then there is this new device, the new ROG Ally.
If you have scoped around the internet; YouTube especially, the ROG Ally should not be foreign to you by now. It is an ASUS manufactured handheld gaming device that mimics the concept of the Steam Deck. Unlike the Steam Deck though, it does not run its own version of Linux. It runs Windows, like a lot of the Chinese made gaming handheld that fancies itself the “Switch” of the PC gaming industry. More Specifically it runs Windows 11, making not just Steam library games available to users. You can theoretically play games from Ubisoft, Amazon Games, Epic Games, or even Origin Games.
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
The internal that keeps you happy gaming as long as the battery allows you is an integrated AMD APU. It is an AMD Ryzen Z1 series processor, not the same one you find on the latest gaming consoles for your couch. The Ryzen Z1 processor you find in the ROG Ally comes with AMD’s latest RDNA 3 architecture making it the most efficient and powerful APU of its kind found in a gaming handheld. You do need to keep it rather cool to get the best out of it though. In the restricted space that is the ROG Ally’s body is their new Zero Gravity thermal solution that keeps the internals happy with two fans pulling temperature away from ultrathin heatsink fines and high-friction heat pipes out the top of the device.
The powerful APU and cooling system projects Windows 11 and all your games on a high-resolution 7-inch display. It offers Full HD 1080p resolution, twice as much as the Steam Deck, and it is possible thanks to the powerful APU. It also offers 120Hz in refresh rate with FreeSync Premium, meaning your AAA games play smoothly and tear-free. If you wish to play in the great outdoors; because your mother has been telling you to play outside, it offers 500 nits in maximum brightness. It is also a touch sensitive display for easy Windows 11 and the Special Edition Armoury Crate navigation.
All of this is packed in a hardware that weighs only 608g. Unlike a Switch, the control panels are not detachable. But that means that the lightweight device is a solid build that you can just chuck in your bag without taking up too much space and adding too much weight in your backpack. The device is also shaped ergonomically for maximum comfort for its users with unique textures to improve grip on the device.
The ROG Ally will be launching globally on the 11th of May 2023. You can be part of that launch too on their event website. For now, that is the only information we have on ASUS’ ROG Ally. More information on the ROG Ally can be found on their website.
(2 May 2023) Update – Pre-order details for Malaysia added to the post.
Thin and light laptops have never been more relevant. In the wake of the pandemic, we’re often finding ourselves working remotely. This has changed what we’re looking for in a laptop. ASUS has decided to embrace this reality with its thinnest-ever laptop with the Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304). But that’s not all for the new Zenbook S 13 OLED, it’s also the most sustainable laptop yet from ASUS.
Redefining Thin & Light with a 1cm Profile complemented by a 1kg Weight
The Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304) isn’t ditching the premium build and materials we love from ASUS. It ups the ante with a precision CNC-machined lid and keyboard deck. The magnesium-alloy lid is designed and machined to hold a Full HD, IR camera while reducing the thickness by 30%.
Source: ASUS
ASUS has also optimised the internal components of the new Zenbook. Using circuit boards with fewer layers and higher wiring density and more transistors, they have successfully reduced the bottom half of the laptop by 25%. However, they’ve kept performance in mind and have included an ultrathin fan that increases airflow for better cooling.
Even the keyboard deck has been slimmed down by 25%. This is done with a precision machined alloy and a super thin glass layer for the mousepad.
More Sustainable than Any ASUS Laptop
ASUS’s new Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304) is also upping the ante when it comes to sustainability. The magnesium-aluminium alloy used in the laptop is a sustainably sourced post-industrial recycled (PIR) alloy. Post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastics are also incorporated in the laptop’s build. This is primarily seen in its keycaps and speakers. The latter specifically uses ocean-bound plastics.
ASUS has also created a special manufacturing process that they claim is greener than ever before. Their exclusive plasma ceramic aluminium material is made with pure water and electricity and omits the use of harmful organic compounds, strong acids and heavy metals. Instead, they use a low-impact bath-based method which gives similar results to harmful chemical treatments. These manufacturing choices have been recognised with the EPEAT Gold certification.
The Zenbook S 13 OLED is still sturdy and has increased wear resistance, corrosion protection, thermal management and hardness. It’s even certified with MIL-STD-810H military-grade durability.
Performance on-the-go with Intel Core Processors & a Complete set of I/O
The Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304) isn’t just resting on its laurels. It comes with the latest Intel Core i5 and i7 processors. These 13th Generation Intel Core processors bring impressive performance while being more power efficient with up to 20 watts of boosted performance. These processors are complemented with up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM and an ultrafast PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD. The SSD comes in 512GB and 1TB configurations.
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
ASUS isn’t ditching critical I/O ports for clout with the Zenbook S 13 OLED. The laptop comes with a full complement of I/O ports. These ports include two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 USB Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port and a 3.5mm audio jack. The USB-C ports are also used for charging the slim laptop and support connectivity with 4K external displays. This comes in addition to the Windows Hello-enabled FHD IR camera and WiFi 6E support with ASUS WiFi Master Premium.
Completing the Zenbook S 13 OLED offering is a 16:10 ASUS Lumina OLED display. The 2.8K display comes with a 0.2ms response time and a Delta E value of less than 1 which guarantees colour accuracy. It also covers 100% if the DCI-P3 gamut is Dolby Vision and VESA DIsplayHDR True Black 500 certified. Completing the multimedia package is a Harman Kardon-certified audio system with immersive Dolby Atmos sound and a smart amplifier combined with ASUS Audio Booster which can boost the volume by up to 5.25x.
Pricing & Availability
The ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED will be retailing internationally with prices starting at USD$1,399. It will be available in Basalt Gray or Ponder Blue.
In Malaysia, the laptop will be available in two variants:
Model
Specifications
Price (MYR)
ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304)
Intel Core i5-1335U 16GB LPDDR5 RAM 512GB storage
4,999
ASUS Zenbook S 13 OLED (UX5304)
Intel Core i5-1355U 16GB LPDDR5 RAM 1TB storage
5,999
Pre-orders for the Zenbook S 13 OLED are available open from 2 May 2023. Pre-orders of the laptop will be entitled to a free ASUS ZenScreen worth MYR1,099. The offer is available for the first 20 pre-orders of the Zenbook S 13 OLED.
If you are looking for a flagship smartphone experience like no other, you are spoiled by choice today. You can choose between offerings from Samsung, OnePlus, OPPO, HONOR, Xiaomi, and even Apple, if you please. The thing is these manufacturers make rather similar smartphones. They always come in the same recipe – metallic frame, glass backing that houses a high-resolution camera, and a glass front that protects a rather large high-resolution display. They also always promised some sort of state-of-the-art cooling solution. If you are looking for something different, the flagship from these manufacturers might not cut it.
For a while now, if you have been looking for a different flavour on your flagship smartphone, you can go the route of gaming smarpthones from the likes of Razer, Blackshark, and most recently, Lenovo. But these manufacturers have sort of phased out too. There are no more Blackshark smartphones for 2023, Razer has not updated their Razer Phone line up, and Lenovo has yet to update their latest handheld gaming creation. The only one we can look to right now is ASUS and their ROG Phone. In that case if you want a unique flagship smartphone for 2023, ASUS’ ROG Phone series is the one for you.
Welcome to the ASUS ROG Phone 7 series, the latest creation from the skunkworks of ASUS. It is the latest and currently the most powerful gaming smartphone you have ever seen. As with any previous ASUS ROG Phone devices, it is one of the most striking looking devices you have laid your eyes on, at least amongst all the flagships you can find in the current market.
Formidable Power
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
It packs an immensely powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 platform. Alongside the powerful system on a chip (SoC) is a 16GB LPDDR5X RAM (up to) and up to 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. All these are designed so that the top-of-the-line ASUS ROG Phone works through games as fast as the current technology allows. It is made to be the ultimate expression of a gaming handheld that is also a smartphone.
Wrapped around the powerful uniquely tuned internals is something ASUS calls the GameCool 7 thermal control system. That means you get even an even better gaming performance out of the ROG Phone 7 smartphone than any other flagship you can find in the current market. At the same time, the new cooling system keeps the smartphone running at a lower temperature over regular flagship smartphones while keeping power consumption lower than even regular smartphones. They say the new GameCool 7 system offers a new rapid-cycle vapor chamber design that offers 168% heat dissipation efficiency that the ROG Phone that came before.
Better Audio, Better Cooling, Better Controls
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
The result is a quite a beefy shell with a few tricks up its sleeves. Within the beefy device is a new stereo speaker that is said to be 50% more powerful than before. The new speaker system is also tuned by Dirac, an audio specialist. You can also turn it into a 2.1 channel system when you attach the new AeroActive Cooler 7 accessory to the device. If you prefer a more personal experience in a crowd, the Dirac tuned Dirac Virtuo 3.5mm headphone jack offers an unparalleled theatre-like spatial sound experience. If you prefer a more wireless approach, the Snapdragon Sound technology offers super-low-latency high-fidelity Bluetooth audio experience.
The new AeroActive Cooler 7 attachment is one of the things that makes the ROG Phone 7 series even more unique than ever before. It offers a cooling solution that does not just cool the glass surface of the device’s back, the new fan design allows for more effective basic active cooling, but a unique AeroActive Portal air inlet system allows the fan to cycle even more air throughout the device’s internals for even more efficient cooling.
ASUS also kept certain things that kept the ROG Phone unique since its inception. One of them is the Air Trigger ultrasonic buttons at the side of the device that offers even more control avenues and options of the ROG Phone device. It is also what gives users of the ROG Phone even more advantage in an already overpowered gaming device in games. It is not the basic haptic feedback touch buttons that they used to be in the first ASUS ROG Phone though. The latest AirTrigger offers a slew of gesture controls including Dual Action, Press and Lift, and even Gyroscope gaming, just like the Nintendo Switch and even the Steam Deck for fine tuning your aim. Within the ROG Phone 7 series devices are 10 motion controls and X-axis liner motors that offers powerful haptic feedback like no other smartphone can.
The Best Display Ever
All these things great hardware goes into creating the most immersive gaming experience you can have on a smartphone with a large Samsung AMOLED display that offers up to 165Hz in refresh rate. The panel also offers up to 720Hz in sampling rate for the lowest-in-class input latency, useful in gaming. The Pixelworks tuned AMOLED panel also offers ΔE<1 and a maximum of 1,500 nits in brightness for not only stunning, colour accurate visuals indoors, but also outdoors.
For the ASUS ROG Phone 7 Ultimate there is an additional matrix colour display that sits at the back of the device they call the ROG Vision. The feature, first presented in the ROG Phone 6 Ultimate offers users extra information like charging status, incoming calls, X Mode activation, personalized animations, and even more.
Price and Availability
ASUS Malaysia has confirmed that the ASUS ROG Phone 7 series will make its way to Malaysia by the 10th of May 2023. There is no official pricing just yet for Malaysia. In Europe though, prices start at EUR€ 999, which is about MYR 4,849*. It will be available in Phantom Black and Storm White colour options. For more information on the ROG Phone 7 series, you can always visit ASUS’ website.
*Approximately based on the exchange rate of EUR€ 1 = MYR 4.85 on xe.com as of 18/04/2023
You should be familiar with ASUS’ ROG if you are a gamer. In the recent years, the brand has been paving the way in introducing rather absurd concepts for gamers. They revolutionized gaming laptops with ultra-thin offerings like the Zephyrus line-up. They managed to normalize the use of GPU docks with their thin-and-light ROG Flow series for laptops. Within the ROG Flow product booklet is now also a very curious, and very powerful gaming tablet, the ROG Flow Z13.
The ROG Flow Z13 is really that, a gaming tablet without the restriction of a keyboard. Sure, it comes with a keyboard case that can be connected to the tablet, but it really is just an all in one screen that runs Windows and is capable of slaying in DOTA 2 without much of a fuss if you want it to.
Within the rather restricted and thin body of this tablet, you get Intel’s latest and very powerful Core i9-13900H processor alongside NVIDIA’s modest GeForce RTX 4050 GPU. You have 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM too inside the tablet. To make things trundle along faster and make it more powerful, you can opt to get an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 XG mobile dock to pair along with your GPU at home for the ultimate gaming experience (for mobile PC gaming set-ups anyway).
ASUS ROG is also known to have collaborations with brands from other industries to further innovate their products or to offer matching accessories for their products. They have an IKEA collaboration to produce ROG themed furniture for your all ROG gaming set-up at home. They have collaborated with Alan Walker to produce an Alan Walker special gaming laptop that also doubles as your music mixing station when you go to parties. Of course, the Alan Walker special collaboration also entails some Alan Walker x ROG special apparels.
Their latest collaboration with ACRONYM produces something a little unexpected though. ASUS ROG and ACRONYM have introduced a new gaming tablet based on the ROG Flow Z13. No, it does not only get a fresh coat of paint and design, they have added some high-end power to make this even more ‘ultimate’ than the already extreme gaming table that the regular ROG Flow Z13 is.
ASUS ROG X ACRONYM – ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
Source: ASUS
They call it the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02, and it is not just a mouthful, it is a handful too. ACRONYM, to those who are not familiar, is an apparel design studio that produces their own brand of apparels and accessories. They are based in Munich, Germany and specialize in outrageous looking, functional outfits that are made with the highest and innovative materials. You might have seen some Nike shoes and apparels that bears the ACRONYM name brand. You might also have seen a BE@RBRICK custom design by ACRONYM. More prominently, if you are a Kojima Hideo fan, the game Death Stranding is full of ACRONYM’s designed clothing. This is not ACRONYM’s first time collaborating with ASUS ROG too.
Same-Same, but Different
The ACRONYM designed Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02 does not look like the gaming tablet that it was based on. There is a good reason for that. The entire backplate has been redesigned and fitted with milled aluminium. It is not just striking looks that ACRONYM and ROG wants to show, the milled aluminium backplate is functional too. There are visible shock pads on all four corners of the tablets and also strategically placed all of the backplate for a maximized grip on any kind of surface you might have it on. They are also there to ensure that there is still a good gap to the surface for maximized airflow with the array of air intake ports milled to the backplate. Of course, to ensure you have the best viewing angle on your tablet, there is the built-in kickstand made with the same milled aluminium material for added rigidity and some shock pads to keep it from moving around the table too much.
The design is not just optimized for protection and cooling though. It is designed with mobility and portable application in mind. Included with the ROG X ACRONYM ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02 is a carrying strap that is designed to attach to the attachment points on the tablet’s aluminium shell for and optimized carrying posture for the tablet. The strap mechanism also allows you to work with the tablet while tethered to your body, so that you can work off it at any given time without the delay and hassle of finding a seat, useful in the trains. They quoted a better grip for the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02, though we do not recommend you holding on to it for too long even with the original ROG Flow Z13. The original ROG Flow Z13 weighs as much as a thin-and-light laptop at 1.18kg, the ACRONYM designed one with all-aluminium chassis weighs even more at 1.32kg.
The Beast Inside
Source: ASUS
It is not just an upgrade you get with the exterior. Thanks to the extra ventilation and more efficient cooling, ROG can fit even more powerful hardware into the chassis. While the original ROG Flow Z13 only gets NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4050, the ACRONYM designed beast of a tablet gets NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 4070 treatment. Everything else about the tablet sort of remains the same.
The Windows 11 tablet comes with Intel’s 13th Generation Core i9-13900H 14-core processor that clocks at 2.6GHz and can boost up to 5.4GHz. Alongside the upgraded GPU, you also get more RAM at 32GB over the 16GB of the original ROG Flow Z13. You also get 1TB in SSD storage at that.
Source: ASUS
The powerful internals power an ROG Nebula certified display. It is a 13.4-inch IPS panel offering QHD+ 16:10 aspect ratio in resolution. To get the best in colour reproduction it is a glossy glass panel that protects the IPS panel behind it. The 13.4-inch QHD+ display also offers 165Hz in refresh rate for the best gaming experience you can get on a tablet today. On top of that, you can be sure to enjoy movies with the Dolby Vision HDR support.
For total immersive experience, ASUS fitted a powerful 2 speaker system with Smart Amp technology into the tablet. The speakers are even Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res certified to offer the best-in-class audio experience. In case you need to communicate with your teammates, you have an AI noise-cancelling 3-mic array for a decent make-do team-comms experience with it.
To ensure that your mobile gaming experience is not disrupted, the WiFi 6E dual-band WiFi will ensure the most stable connection with a WiFi 6 capable network. Of course, since it is a tablet, you might be using more wireless accessories with it. Bluetooth 5.2 is sure to reduce latency and offer some stable connection for your accessories.
The battery is the only cause for concern though. There is a 56Wh battery, which is large for a tablet. With the kind of power this beast is packing though, the 56Wh battery might not last you too long. The kind of power you pack also is the reason why you have a 130W USB Type-C charger to g with the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02. It also comes with a keyboard cover, that adds another 400g to the total set-up on-the-go.
Price and Availability
The ASUS ROG X ACRONYM ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02 is now available in Malaysia. It is a limited-edition item though, just 14 units will make it into the country. As of this writing, it seems that ASUS ROG has sold out all 14 units. If you are interested to get your hands on one, you want to prepare MYR 12,999 for one. More on the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM RMT02 can be found on their website.
At the heart of any scalable business in the modern world is a computer. It is not necessarily the most powerful PC you can find in the market. It does not need to be. The PC you look at, when you need to run a business, is a PC small enough to fit into any space and powerful enough to run either your accounting programs, your Point of Sale (POS) program, or even for inventory tracking. In those use cases, you do not need a processing chip with a million cores and clocks at a hundred GHz. You need something that is power efficient, takes up little space, and reliable. You need a mini PC, most of the time.
ASUS announces their latest mini PC that should be right up your alley in commercial applications. The ExpertCentre PN64-E1 mini PC, as they call it, is a tiny little box of a PC that is no larger than your regular TV box today. While it is not the first PC in the world to feature Intel’s 13th generation Core processor, it is one of the smallest you can find in the world at this time. It is also powerful enough to power up to four 4K displays at any given time.
ASUS’ ExpertCentre PN64-E1 mini PC is not going to be something you want to get for gaming. It packs up to Intel’s Core i7-13700H. It is an H-series processor, which should be a good indication to its performance. It is not a full-fledged desktop processor though. The H-series processor is a mobile processor. That also means that you will not be able to upgrade the processor in the future. Still, this PC should be able to work for you in the next 3 years at least. You can also opt for Intel’s Core i5-13500H if budget is a concern. Both processors has a typical power draw of up to 35W, which means that they are highly efficient to work with.
Alongside the processor is up to 32GB of DDR5-4800 RAM. You cannot upgrade this in the future too though, since they are SO-DIMM units soldered to the board. Still, if you opt for the 32GB variant, you can rest easy knowing that it will run all kinds of things without too much of a hiccup in the coming years. You can also opt for up to 1TB in HDD storage and up to 2TB in SSD storage just to ensure that your programs run smoothly and you have ample of storage to store your data.
As mentioned, the ExperCenter PN64-E1 can support up to four 4K displays at the same time, or a single 8K 60fps output. There are two HDMI outputs out the back of the mini PC and two additional Thunderbolt 4 capable USB Type-C ports to work with. If you should ever need multiple displays on your storefront, a single unit should be able to handle most of the workload. All of this is also made possible by Intel’s latest Iris Xe graphics integrated to the Core processors. You can also use one of the Thunderbolt 4 ports as a power input port if you prefer to run multiple machines with a single GaN charger.
There are no mentions on the ASUS ExpertCenter PN64-E1 mini PC’s availability in the region just yet. With that, there are also no mentions on its final pricing either. If you wish to obtain the mini PC for commercial purposes, you can directly reach out to ASUS for inquiries. Otherwise, we have to wait for ASUS to officially announce its local availability and final price. For that and more, watch this space. If you want to know more about ASUS’ latest mini PC, you can find out more on their website.
The ASUS Zenbook line-up must be one of the most innovative, if not the most innovative thin-and-light notebook names in the industry. The namesake is also the first in the industry to pioneer what Intel and ASUS called the Ultrabook segment in modern computing. Before the Zenbook, Windows laptops with Intel processors were clunky, heavy, and lasts no longer than 3 hours away from the sockets. They were not very fast too back then. If you wanted a notebook that could be a working PC away from home without too much fuss, you needed a MacBook.
Fast forward to 2023 and we have their latest Zenbook thin-and-light to boot. Welcome to the latest Zenbook 14X OLED and Zenbook 14 Flip OLED laptops. While they look similar, they are built different and for slightly different things.
ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED
The ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED is the next evolution of the Zenbook line-up for 2023. It is the most powerful 14-inch thin-and-light from ASUS so far, which should not come as a surprise. As with any new laptop announced in 2023, it carries the latest and greatest from Intel and NVIDIA.
To start with, the new thin-and-light “ultrabook” packs Intel’s most extreme processor to date for mobile computing. It comes with Intel’s 13th generation Core i9-13900H (up to) CPU alongside up to 32GB of LPDDR5-4800 RAM, which is sort of a CPU reserved for only the most powerful and extremes of laptops. As with any laptop with this kind of CPU fire power, you want a discreet GPU to run along with it. The Zenbook 14X OLED packs NVIDIA’s GeForce RTX 3050 entry-level GPU. That is not a bad thing; it is still a powerful GPU, but its power requirements means you do not need a chunky heat management solution to work with.
The result is a thin chassis that only measures 16.9-inch at the thickest. It is an all-metal chassis that ensures rigidity and durability like no other, it feels premium too. It does not weigh all that much too at just 1.5kg. At this point, you start to also wonder how it still packs so many features.
The Zenbook 14X OLED comes with a Full HD webcam. Alongside the webcam, there is an IR (infrared) blaster and an ambient light sensor for facial recognition and eye protection purposes. It has two Thunderbolt 4 ports (USB Type-C) with a full-sized USB type-A 3.2 Gen2 port alongside a full-sized HDMI 2.1 port. They have learned from their mistakes a little bit; it has an AUX jack on the side. It even comes with 1TB of SSD storage, if you need it to. Within the svelte chassis also is a 70Wh battery that should last you all day.
As with its namesake, the ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED comes with a large 14.5-inch OLED display. That OLED display is not a plain Full HD display you get out of so many laptops its size. It is a 2.8K high-resolution display you can show off to all your graphic designer and content creator friends. It offers DisplayHDR 600 with TrueBlack certification colours and Delta E<2. That means you get an almost lifelike colour reproduction and representation on your display that could be useful not just for your enjoyment, but for your work as well. The panel even boasts 120Hz, which might be good for gaming (which you totally can do).
Other than just colour grading on the nice display, you would want to watch movies on it. You can Netflix at high-resolution with little issue with the built-in WiFi 6E connectivity. The speakers in this are powerful too with ASUS’ latest Smart Amplifier technology, harman kardon tuning, and Dolby Atmos certification. If you are using it for video conferences, there is also a dual-mic array that comes with AI noise-cancelling technology.
ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip OLED
If you need something more flexible there is the convertible laptop that is the Zenbook 14 Flip OLED. It comes with the same 2.8K resolution as the Zenbook 14X OLED. But it is not an expansive 14.5-inch. Instead, it is a slightly smaller 14-inch. It still offers up to 90Hz in refresh rate and offers DisplayHDR500 with TrueBlack certification. You also get up to 100% in DCI-P3 colour gamut, which is plenty accurate. The best part is that it swivels up to 360-degree to make it a 1.5kg tablet you can carry around and work with in any form you like.
Inside, you will find an Intel Core i5-1340p mid-range processor alongside 16GB of LPDDR5 memory and Intel’s own Iris Xe integrated graphics. It may not sound like much, but this is enough for you to not just enjoy movies with. You can get plenty of browsing and even other work done with it. You can edit photos with it as well, if you want. To ensure that you have enough storage for all your photo work, you have 512GB in SSD storage too.
Alongside all that, you get a nice Full HD webcam with IR blaster for Windows Hello security. You have speakers with Smart Amp technology, tuned by harman kardon, and Dolby Atmos certification. Underneath all that you still get WiFi 6E connectivity and a large 75Wh battery pack that should keep your convertible running all day.
Price and Availability
The ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED is now available in its Intel Core i7-13700H + 16GB LPDDR5 guise at MYR 5,999. It comes in two attractive colours – Inkwell Gray or Sandstone Beige. It will also be available in an Intel Core i5-13500H flavour and an extreme Intel Core i9-13900H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 combo for MYR 4,999 and MYR 6,999 respectively in April 2023. If you prefer the convertible form factor, the ZenBook 14 Flip will be available later in the month in Foggy Silver colour option for MYR 5,499. For more information on ASUS’ latest laptops, you can head over to their website.
