Asus ZenBook Pro 15 (UX580) review: Boosts productivity by offering quick access to useful functions

Price: Rs 1,79,990 onwards

Specifications: 15.6-inch IPS touchscreen, 3840 x 2160 pixels, 8th generation Intel Core i7/i9 processor, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti (4GB dedicated memory), 5.5-inch ‘ScreenPad’ trackpad, 2 x USB 3.0 ports, 2 x USB Type-C ports, HDMI out, fingerprint scanner, microSD slot, VGA webcam, dual band WiFi ac, Bluetooth 5.0, 8-cell battery, Windows 10, 1.89kg

Pros: Gorgeous 4k touchscreen display, lightweight and stylish design, excellent performance, unique ScreenPad trackpad, great battery life


Cons: VGA webcam is a letdown, still uses proprietary charger port, tends to heat up

The latest innovation from Asus is the ZenBook Pro 15; a powerful laptop with the best of features and a unique trackpad that hides a colour display inside. We received the top of the line ZenBook with the latest 8th generation Core i9 processor, making it one of the most powerful laptops available today.

Naturally, the unique things about the ZenBook Pro 15 is the ScreenPad — a fusion of touchscreen and trackpad, if you will. The trackpad has a 5.5-inch display with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels. There are four modes available: ScreenPad (operates independently with its own apps), Adaptive mode (shows contextual controls according to what you’re doing), Screen Extender (it becomes an extension of the main display) desktop or Trackpad (display turned off). In ScreenPad mode, it comes with preloaded apps like music player, extended number pad and calendar. There are additional apps available on the Windows App Store. This all might sound like a gimmick but after using the ScreenPad for a few days, we have to say that this is something that we hope other brands will try out. Having a second screen with multiple functions can give you a productivity boost once you learn to use it. Asus has made the app development kit for ScreenPad available on their website, so you can expect third party apps and games to start appearing soon.



Apart from the Core i9 processor, our review unit’s specifications include 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD storage and a Nvidia GTX 1050Ti GPU with 4GB dedicated memory. With this configuration, the ZenBook breezed through each and every task we tried. We edited a 4K video in Adobe Premier Pro 2018 and ran various games in 4k including Bioshock Infinite and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare — everything ran butter-smooth. It was only in Witcher 3 (Ultra settings at 4k) that we saw the laptop struggle in delivering above 40fps — this is mainly because Witcher 3 is more GPU dependent than CPU. With real world usage, gamers, creative professionals and heavy users will love this Windows machine for its performance. Battery life is also fantastic for the size and power on offer: we were able to get over 7 hours of battery regularly on daily usage. Plus, there is support for fast charge — a 60% charge in less than an hour of charging. It is hard to believe that despite such powerful hardware, the ZenBook Pro 15 weighs under 1.9kg and is just 1.89cm (0.74-inch) thick. It has a full metal body with the signature Asus concentric circle design on the top lid. You get dual USB Type-C ports, dual USB 3.0 ports, full size HDMI output and microSD slot on the sides. The big issue with the sleek design is that thermal design seems to be compromised.

There are two vents at the back for heat dissipation but they struggle to keep the laptop cool, especially with heavy usage.

As for the primary display, it has a 15.6-inch IPS touchscreen with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels. It supports 100% Adobe RGB colour gamut, is Pantone validated for colour and even comes with a built-in calibration tool. In addition, the screen supports the pressure sensitive Asus Pen (not included) . The screen is truly impressive in terms of vibrant colours, deep blacks and crisp details.

Some of the other things that impressed us include the loud speakers tuned by Harman Kardon, fast fingerprint scanner, ergonomic backlit keyboard and connectivity options including dual band WiFi ac plus Bluetooth 5.0. What we did not like was the weak VGA webcam and that it still uses a proprietary charging port instead of USB Type-C.

The ZenBook Pro 15 is a clear example of how companies can stay ahead with innovation. You won’t find any other laptop with such powerful specifications in such a compact design. The only other Windows laptops with Intel Core i9 currently in India are the MSI GT75 Titan (Rs 2,99,999 onwards) and the Acer Predator Helios 500 (Rs 2,49,999). Both of them are significantly larger and heavier gaming laptops with 17.3-inch displays.