ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX363 review – we were surprised by this one

Ultimately, the ZenBook as a series offers incredibly beautiful and well-built notebooks. However, some of them come out as flops – like the ZenBook Flip 13 UX362, but others happen to be really good units – like the ZenBook Flip 14 UX463. Today we have another convertible, which might be of interest to artists and designers – the Flip 13 UX363.

It comes with a Full HD IPS display, which is of course – touch-sensitive, features Intel’s 10th Gen Ice Lake processors, and soon, it should be available with the Tiger Lake CPUs. Some retailers are going to provide an ASUS Pen inside the box, which is a feature you really want to have when you are working with a touchscreen.

Other than that, you get the usual ZenBook treatment, including a NumberPad 2.0, ErgoLift hinge and an optional IR face recognition camera with Windows Hello support. Not only that, but the laptop supports Wi-Fi 6.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-zenbook-flip-13-ux363/

Contents


Specs Sheet

ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX363 (BX363) - Spécifications

  • Innolux N133HCE-EN2 (CMN1388)
  • Précision des couleurs  2.4  0.6
  • HDD/SSD
  • jusqu'à 2000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 16GB
  • OS
  • Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro
  • Batterie
  • 67Wh, 4-cell, 67Wh, 4-cell
  • Matériau du corps
  • Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 305 x 211 x 13.9 mm (12.01" x 8.31" x 0.55")
  • Poids
  • 1.30 kg (2.9 lbs)
  • Ports et connectivité
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 2x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Thunderbolt 3
  • HDMI
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.0
  • Caractéristiques
  • Lecteur d'empreintes digitales
  • optional
  • Caméra Web
  • IR Camera
  • Clavier rétro-éclairé
  • Microphone
  • Array Microphone w/ Cortana Voice Rec.
  • Intervenants
  • 2 Speakers, Harman Karbon
  • Lecteur optique

Tous ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX363 (BX363) configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, we found a 65W USB Type-C power brick, and optionally – ASUS Pen, USB Type-A to 3.5mm Audio dongle, and a Protective sleeve.


Design and construction

Nothing short of the expectations – this notebook sports great visuals and a full-aluminum body. One of the most impressive stats regarding its construction is the profile – it stands at just 13.9mm. It is also pretty light, at 1.3 kg. Now, the laptop, itself seems rigid when it is closed, but we found that the base is a bit bendy, when you open it up.

When it comes to the lid, though, its glass and metal build materials actually seem to provide great structural integrity, so bends are unexpected. And while the lid opens easily with a single hand, there is something to say about the hinges. Obviously, they are 360-degrees, which means they have to support the weight of the lid for a pretty much full rotation. However, they are a bit soft, and this results in shakiness when the laptop is placed in its traditional form. Moreover, they don’t let the display open full, and there is some 10-degree margin until it reaches the end. Ultimately, this makes it difficult to use it as a tablet.

On the bright side, the notebook sports the ErgoLift hinge mechanism, which makes the backside of the base stand a bit higher, providing more headroom for cool air. And above the display, you can find the optional IR face recognition camera.

Let’s hop to the base, where we find the keyboard. It features a backlight, has a 1.4mm key travel, which is pretty decent for a laptop so thin and gives clicky feedback. What more could one have asked for? Well… we would like to see bigger Arrow keys, but this is nothing more than nitpicking.

Then, there is the touchpad – one of the best out there. Not only does it sport the NumberPad function, where it acts like a dedicated NumberPad after you hold the top right corner of the surface for a second, but it also provides a shortcut button, which acts as quick access to the Calculator app, and is able to change the brightness of the backlight beneath the touchpad. Moreover, it has a glass cover, which gives a great gliding experience, while the tracking is nothing less than great. Also, it supports gestures for up to four fingers.

Traditionally, the speakers are placed on the bottom panel, where you can also find the ventilation grills. Hot air, on the other side, escapes the machine through some vents on the backside of the base – firing towards the display.

Ports

Here, we see a quite better I/O than on the predecessor of this notebook – the ZenBook Flip 13 UX362. On the left, we got an HDMI connector, followed by two 40 Gbps Thunderbolt 3 ports, that can be used for charging, data transfer, DisplayPort output, eGPU connection, and pretty much everything. Also, you can use the included dongle, to extend one of them to a 3.5mm audio jack. And on the other side, you get a full-sized USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, as well as the Power On/Off button, which is easily detectable with a finger and has clicky feedback.


Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance

To get inside of this notebook you need to undo 9 Torx-head screws. Thankfully, ASUS has decided against playing the find the screw game. So, after you remove the screws, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, and lift it away.

The cooling comprises a single, thick heat pipe and a fan, which is wide in diameter, but pretty slim in profile.

Sadly, you won’t be able to upgrade the memory, as all of it is soldered to the motherboard. ASUS is offering 8GB and 16GB options to their customers. On the bright side, you can upgrade your storage with a bigger M.2 PCIe x4 drive.

It is also good to see that the battery, which takes most of the space inside of the chassis, has a capacity of 67Wh.


Display quality

ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX363 has a Full HD IPS panel, Innolux N133HCE-EN2 (CMN1388). Its diagonal is 13.3-inch (33.78 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 166 ppi, their pitch – 0.153 х 0.153 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 53 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

Its viewing angles are comfortable. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.

The maximum measured brightness is 302 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 297 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 8%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 7240K – colder than the 6500K temperature 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) – in this particular case at 64% Brightness (White level = 138 cd/m2, Black level = 0.088 cd/m2).
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 ). The contrast ratio is very good – 1570:1.

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 in HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the 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 13 UX363’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 99% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976, which is a prerequisite for a punchy image.

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 13 UX363 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really 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.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 23 ms


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 13 UX363’s backlight uses PWM for brightness adjustment up to 77 nits and with a very high frequency, which makes it comfortable for long periods of use in this aspect.

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.

Conclusion

ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX363’s display has an IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, very good contrast ratio, and comfortable viewing angles. It also covers the sRGB gamut almost fully (99%) and its backlight doesn’t flicker above 77 nits (below that the frequency is very high and the PWM is practically harmless for most people). Thankfully, for art and design professionals, the color accuracy is excellent, when our Gaming and Web design profile is applied.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX363 configurations with 13.3″ Innolux N133HCE-EN2 (CMN1388) (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS panel.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

En plus de recevoir des profils efficaces et favorables à la santé, en achetant les produits de LaptopMedia, vous soutenez également le développement de nos laboratoires, où nous testons les appareils afin de produire les examens les plus objectifs possibles.

Travail de bureau

Le travail de bureau devrait être utilisé principalement par les utilisateurs qui passent le plus de temps à regarder des morceaux de texte, des tableaux ou simplement à surfer. Ce profil vise à offrir une meilleure distinction et une meilleure clarté en conservant une courbe gamma plate (2,20), une température de couleur native et des couleurs perceptuellement précises.

Conception et jeux

Ce profil est destiné aux designers qui travaillent avec les couleurs de manière professionnelle, et pour les jeux et les films également. Design and Gaming pousse les panneaux d'affichage à leurs limites, les rendant aussi précis que possible dans la norme sRGB IEC61966-2-1 pour le Web et la TVHD, au point blanc D65.

Santé-Guard

Santé-Guard élimine le modulation de largeur d'impulsion nocive (PWM) et réduit le lumière bleue négative qui affecte nos yeux et notre corps. Comme il est adapté à chaque panneau, il parvient à maintenir la précision perceptive des couleurs. Santé-Guard simule le papier, ce qui réduit considérablement la pression sur les yeux.

Obtenez les 3 profils avec 33% de réduction


Sound

ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX363’s Harman/Kardon speakers produce a good quality sound with low maximum volume. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be downloaded from here: https://www.asus.com/2-in-1-PCs/ASUS-ZenBook-Flip-13-UX363JA/HelpDesk_Download/

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. The 67Wh battery of this notebook delivers 21 hours and 15 minutes of Web browsing, and 10 hours of video playback.


CPU options

Our unit comes with either the Core i5-1035G1 or the Core i7-1065G7.


GPU options

This means that the integrated graphics you get is either the UHD Graphics or the Iris Plus G7 Graphics.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average fps57 fps39 fps24 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average fps80 fps46 fps24 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 i5-1035G1 (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX3632.64 GHz (B+164%) @ 83°C2.32 GHz (B+132%) @ 86°C1.67 GHz (B+67%) @ 74°C
ASUS ZenBook 13 UX3252.35 GHz (B+135%) @ 97°C1.98 GHz (B+98%) @ 97°C1.37 GHz (B+37%) @ 68°C
Lenovo Ideapad Flex 5 (15)2.59 GHz (B+159%) @ 95°C2.15 GHz (B+115%) @ 95°C1.66 GHz (B+66%) @ 81°C
Lenovo Ideapad 5 (15)2.46 GHz (B+146%) @ 84°C1.95 GHz (B+95%) @ 76°C2.06 GHz (B+106%) @ 74°C
HP Pavilion 14 (14-ce3000)2.91 GHz (B+191%) @ 92°C1.82 GHz (B+82%) @ 73°C1.49 GHz (B+49%) @ 65°C
Dell Vostro 15 35912.09 GHz (B+109%) @ 75°C2.09 GHz (B+109%) @ 84°C1.77 GHz (B+77%) @ 85°C
Acer Aspire 5 (A515-55)1.98 GHz (B+98%) @ 79°C1.68 GHz (B+68%) @ 79°C1.52 GHz (B+52%) @ 79°C
Acer Swift 5 Pro (SF514-54GT)2.88 GHz (B+188%) @ 80°C1.62 GHz (B+62%) @ 64°C1.65 GHz (B+65%) @ 67°C
HP 340S G72.71 GHz (B+171%) @ 92°C2.42 GHz (B+142%) @ 93°C1.77 GHz (B+77%) @ 72°C
Dell Inspiron 55932.53 GHz (B+153%) @ 99°C2.14 GHz (B+114%) @ 94°C1.88 GHz (B+88%) @ 87°C

We are pretty happy with the thermals of the ZenBook Flip 13 UX363. It is significantly better than that of the ZenBook 13 UX325, and the frequencies seem to be high-enough compared to most of the laptops with this CPU we’ve tested.

Comfort during full load

The laptop is neither too loud, nor too hot on its outside.


Verdict

This notebook is definitely a social weapon. Its great visuals and premium materials of built are going to show others that you are a serious professional. However, there are some minor and major setbacks that will make you feel less like a professional than you would probably look when owning this notebook.

One of them is the lack of memory upgradability. Since it is soldered to the motherboard, you lack the opportunity of increasing its size post-purchase. Then, there is the elephant in the room – the hinges. While you will be able to open the lid with a single hand, we found them pretty unstable in an open position.

This leads to wobbles when you touch it, which is unfortunate for a touchscreen device. And with that, we go to the last issue – you will be having a hard time using the laptop as a tablet. Why? Because you can’t open the display to the maximum amount, as it stays about 10-degrees off. This means that every time you tap the display or try drawing with the Pen, the screen tries to touch the bottom panel, which results in wobbles and instability.

ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 UX363’s display has an IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, very good contrast ratio, and comfortable viewing angles. It also covers the sRGB gamut almost fully (99%) and its backlight doesn’t flicker above 77 nits (below that the frequency is very high and the PWM is practically harmless for most people). Thankfully, for art and design professionals, the color accuracy is excellent, when our Gaming and Web design profile is applied.

Interestingly, the battery life is incredible. If you are only browsing the Web, you could get up to 21 hours and 15 minutes. However, watching videos will deplete the battery for 10 hours, which is a significantly lower amount of time, but still – a decent result.

Ultimately, there are a lot of features that can benefit you in different ways – some of them are the Wi-Fi 6, NumberPad 2.0, the optional IR face recognition camera, and not on the last place – the two Thunderbolt 3 ports with up to 40 Gbps bandwidth.

However, this was not enough to convince us that this notebook should be recommended. Instead, it would be better to go for the ZenBook Flip 14 UX463, which is a lot more stable and definitely better to work with.

Pros

  • Its keyboard is backlit and great for typing
  • ErgoLift and ScreenPad 2.0 boost its versatility
  • Doesn’t use harmful PWM
  • Wide color coverage and accurate color representation with our Gaming and Web design profile
  • Supports PCIe x4 SSDs, WiFi 6 standards and has two Thunderbolt 3 ports
  • Great battery life
  • Optional ASUS Pen and other accessories inside the package


Cons

  • Lacks an SD card reader
  • No RAM upgradability post-purchase
  • Wobbly display
  • The screen doesn’t sit securely in tablet mode

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-zenbook-flip-13-ux363/

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Tony
Tony
9 mois il y a un an

I’ve had one of these for some time now and disagree with 2 of the things discussed in the article. First, the wobble of the screen during use in laptop mode is incredibly minimal so as to not be any issue at all.

Second, the screen does flip fully reversed on the device – it even has a magnetic function that secures it in place so it is solid as a tablet.