Asus ZenBook Pro UX501-FJ221H
Specifications
Pricecompare
Reviews for the Asus ZenBook Pro UX501-FJ221H
Source: NDTV Gadgets Archive.org version
The Asus ZenBook Pro UX501 turns out to be one of the better premium laptops in the market. It offers high-end specifications usually found in more expensive laptops, which makes it great value. The 4K display is stunning and is superb for office and multimedia work. The SSD also delivers some of the fastest read-write speeds we've come across. Then, there's the aluminium build, powerful internals and decent battery life on top of all of that. Having a 4K resolution on such a small screen results in a few niggles. Not all applications adhere to Window's scaling guidelines so you might be forced to use apps at 100-percent resolution, where menus and text can get unreadably small. The lower bezel of the display also tends to get very hot, even without gaming. This isn't something you'll notice with regular use but we hope it doesn't have an adverse effect in the long run. Finally, the screen is quite reflective which makes it difficult to use under sunlight or even indoors, with artificial lighting behind you. Even maxing out the brightness level doesn't fix this.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 11/25/2015
Comment
Model: The Asus ZenBook Pro UX501 offers high-end specifications usually found in more expensive laptops. The 15.6 inch QHD display with a resolution of 3840 by 2160 pixels provides pin sharp, fine details in photos and videos to the tiniest text making it superb for office and multimedia work. However, there is no anti-glare treatment so reflections can be a problem even when it is at full brightness. Despite this the amazing resolution makes photo or video editing so much easier and even when web browsing, the smallest text is easily visible. Viewing angles are also very good, which makes watching movies in a group more enjoyable thanks to a wider sweet spot. There's a rubber lining along the edge of display, which seals off the keyboard area when the lid is closed. The hinge is sturdy and hides the exhaust vents, so, the hot air doesn't make it uncomfortable to use on the lap.
An Intel i74720HQ quad core CPU with 16 GB of RAM provides desktop level performance. A 512 GB SSD with a transfer rate of 1400 MB/s ensures maximum responsiveness. Data transfers are not only fast, but also reliable and totally silent. The Zenbook Pro utilizes the next generation dual band 802.11ac WiFi with speeds of up to 867Mbits/s, which is three times as fast as the previous generation 802.11n. This model comes with a SD card reader, an HD web camera, Bluetooth 4.0, 3x USB 3.0 ports, 2 built-in speakers, and an array microphone.
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M: Upper mid-range graphics card of the GeForce GTX 900M series.
Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
Intel Core i7: The Intel Core i7 for laptops is based on the LG1156 Core i5/i7 CPU for desktops. The base clock speed of the CPUs is relatively low, but because of a huge Turbo mode, the cores can dynamically overclock to up to 3.2 GHz (920XM). Therefore, the CPU can be as fast as high clocked dual-core CPUs (using single threaded applications) but still offer the advantage of 4 cores. Because of the large TDP of 45 W / 55 W, the CPU is only intended for large laptops.
4720HQ: Haswell-based quad-core processor clocked at 2.6 GHz with Turbo Boost support up to 3.6 GHz. Offers an integrated HD Graphics 4600 GPU and a dual channel DDR3 memory controller.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
15.60":
15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.
The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.
» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.Asus: ASUSTeK Computer Inc. is a major Taiwanese computer hardware manufacturer based in Taipei, founded in 1989. Under the Asus brand name, the company manufactures a wide range of products, including laptops, desktops, motherboards, graphics cards, monitors, smartphones and networking equipment, complete systems and PC components for end users.
Under the ROG (Republic of Gamers) brand name, ASUS manufactures gaming laptops known by gamers for their powerful specifications, dedicated graphics cards, high refresh rate displays and advanced cooling systems.
Beyond gaming, a wide range of notebooks are offered for different needs and budgets, from ultra-slim and lightweight ultrabooks to versatile 2-in-1 convertibles and budget-friendly options. In 2023, Asus had a 7% global market share of the PC market.
Customer satisfaction with ASUS notebooks concerns performance, the features, and the good price-performance ratio of ASUS notebooks. However, as with any brand, there are occasional reports of problems such as overheating, driver compatibility, or build quality issues.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.