ASUS - Zenbook 14" 2.8K OLED Laptop - Intel Evo Platform - 12th Gen Core i5 Processor - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD - Ponder Blue - Ponder Blue

Very nice all arounder. Screen is amazing out of the box and speakers are loud which was surprising. Really digging the 16:10 aspect ratio. Compared to the Samsung galaxy book 2 this is a bit heavier and build quality isn’t as nice, but at $500 it’s packed with value. Only real con is the soldered memory and heat. This thing gets real hot and the fan on regular doesn’t seem to do much, I really think the 12th gen intel needed more time in the oven because it’s not done. Laptop also seems to stay on when the lid is closed and multiple times I’ve caught it awake when it’s supposed to be sleeping, definitely going to have the start punishing it. Overall it’s a great windows machine if you need something basic. You could get away with some esports but it’s more for productivity here.

I was excited to buy the Q409ZA for my daughter's graduation gift seeing so many rave reviews, but unfortunately, I have to return it to BB. I opened it once to start the setup process, & when I attempted to close it, I heard a cracking noise. I realized the frame was separating from the display at the bottom left, around the hinge. I searched online & found many complaints about hinge issues with Asus laptops. I would love to think that we got the 1 "bad apple", but online complaints say differently. I'm extremely disappointed because this is a beautiful laptop with all the features that we wanted, at a great price.

I’m not supposed to compare a product to another product in my reviews. But to date this is the only laptop that I think can compete with the Apple MacBook Air for bang for your buck. As it does almost everything right. Great trackpad, great screen, great keyboard, lightweight, attractive design, good port selection, thin, and lightweight. Unfortunately, I wish it came with a better processor and the battery life while solid isn’t great. But for the price is a 10/10 and an easy recommendation. SCREEN: The absolute best part of this device is the screen. And I don’t say that casually as I tend to be hyper critical of screens. Usually, laptop screens are bad. Like really bad. Unless if you’re buying a flagship device. This breaks the mold by providing one of THE BEST laptop screens I’ve ever seen. In fact, it is probably the second-best screen in my entire house and even better than the one on my MacBook Air. Literally everything you do on this is a treat as the contrast ratio is insane, the colors are punchy and accurate, text is sharp and clear at all levels of zoom, and it supports HDR (with up to 550 nits). Viewing angles are fantastic. The blacks with white text are delectable. I could go on and on. But simply put the screen is a 10/10. They also give you a TON of features to further tweak the screen which is often completely missing on other laptop displays. The 16:10 aspect ratio and resolution also helps a ton for productivity work. Where I was easily able to see a lot of information and with the OLED screen being extremely sharp and crisp nothing was ever blurry or hard to see. TOUCHPAD: The touchpad is excellent as well. I tend to be very critical of these as well. The MacBook Air still has a better trackpad by a significant margin, but this is one of the best windows trackpads I’ve tried and is quite large. It is smooth (but I don’t think it is glass), clicks feel good, don’t require a lot of pressure, and it is very responsive. If you hold the top right, it gives you access to a numpad which is awesome and a neat feature. Pressing the top left of the touchpad allows you to change the brightness of that numpad. You can still use the touchpad as normal when the numpad is active which blows my mind. Great feature. Zooming in and out of things was also extremely responsive and quick. KEYBOARD: Keys are large with easy-to-read font and the backlighting (white, adjustable in three brightness levels) is even throughout. Shortcut keys are in the right spot. It feels great to type on as they are spaced well with just the right amount of actuation pressure (mild/moderate), with good overall travel (moderate distance), and give a nice tactile bump. They are also very quiet meaning you can easily use it in a quiet room and not distract people. My only real complaint is that there is no dedicated page up/page down button. PROCESSOR: It comes with the Intel 12th gen Core I5-1240P which is a mid-grade processor that for most people will be more than enough (especially at this price point). However, power users will notice that it just can’t keep up. I am one of those individuals and noticed lag when doing normal everyday tasks (which for me includes multiple things open, multiple tabs open in chrome, and wanting to switch between them instantly) which is just couldn’t do without some slowdown. Likely due to the limited RAM. This was highly dependent on CPU/Cooling settings. Main take away is that this CPU is solid and for most people will be more than enough. But was the biggest negative for me as it just couldn’t fully keep up with what I wanted out of it as a power user. Gaming is not recommended. As the Intel Iris Xe graphics can’t keep up with most modern games. But would be fine for mobile and maybe older games. I didn’t try it as that really isn’t what this laptop is made for. The 90 Hz made things a lot smoother, and I liked that a lot. Since people always ask if it can edit videos. I think yes (if you are doing very simple 1080p or lower videos). For example, I have a YouTube channel and my edits tend to be very basic. I edited a video on here and while it was perfectly doable, I’d recommend bumping to a higher tier processor as it would easily be worth the price increase. Personally, I had two 4K streams going (A Roll and B Roll) and had to put the resolution to 1/8 and slow downs happened regularly. Also adding titles and transitions was a lengthy process as it would often have to load and would skip through them. Export time also took a while. When I tried to create a thumbnail in Adobe Photoshop it also crashed multiple times after getting hung up. The processor itself handled most of this just fine however the Iris Xe graphics got destroyed trying to keep up and was the main factor in holding it back. As the DDR5 ram is extremely fast (albeit limited at 8 GB, I’d recommend 16 for photo/video editing minimum), and the 256 GB SSD kept up just fine (but you run out of storage quickly). Fans were also on during all this but kept the laptop adequately cooled. I also don’t think it is reasonable to expect a machine at this price point to handle video/photo editing flawlessly but know people tend to be curious about such things. Especially, since the screen on this guy is so fantastic and makes it perfect for a video/photo editing machine. But you’ll want to buy the upgraded variant for that type of work. RAM: It comes with the newest DDR5 ram and it is very fast. For most people this will be enough. However, if you are a power user having 16 GB will get you a lot further. As I found the ram on this to be almost always full. Even when I was doing a single task (such as browsing chrome with a tab or two open) it would be sitting at 7/8 GB. The worst part is that this IS NOT upgradable. As it is soldered onto the motherboard. So, you get what you get. STORAGE: It comes with a Gen 3 NVME SSD that puts up solid scores. I didn’t have any issues with it. This computer does support a Gen 4 NVME but it only has one slot. BATTERY: I got about 6 hours out of it with multi-tasking on conservative settings (watching videos, writing documents, email, web searching). Pretty much no matter what I tried I ended up at that number (lower screen brightness (30 – 50%, turning off the backlit keyboard, lowering volume, turning down the fan, turning down the CPU performance, etc). They say it comes with a 75 Wh battery that is supposed to last up to 18 hours and get to 60% charge in 49 minutes. I didn’t find this to be the case. As charge time also seemed to take a long time compared to my other laptops (about 2.5 hours). SPEAKER: The speakers on this are quite impressive. They get quite loud and are very clear. I was able to watch videos without many problems. There were still times that dialogue was a bit hard to hear. But I’d say they are better than my MacBook Air which is saying something. As most people consider those to be great. I think most people will really enjoy these and they get plenty loud (usually at about 30 – 50%). PORTS: It comes with great port selection which includes MicroSD card reader, two thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports (fast charging, 4K UHD external display, and up to 40 Gbps data transfer), 3.5 mm audio jack, HDMI 2.0b port, and 1 USB A 3.2 Gen 2. The only complaint I have here is that the USB-C ports are on the right side of the device in the middle which really get in the way when you have anything plugged into them (such as the power cable or a dock). As most people are right-handed and use a mouse on that side. BUILD QUALITY: The build quality is adequate. It appears to be made from mostly plastic which has some give to it, and I notice some creaking to the body. There is also some flex on the screen itself. The hinge is stiff and keeps the screen in place wherever you place it and can go to 180 degrees which is cool. You can open it with one finger. But the screen wobbles easily when pressed. Overall, I don’t have any real reservations of it breaking or cracking but to say those thoughts don’t come to my mind on a semi-regular basis would be a lie. I think the color and aesthetics of this guy are great as well. The deep blue is really attractive and I like the lines on the lid. Overall footprint is small while still having a HUGE screen (for the size of the device). And it is very lightweight and thin at like 3ish lbs. Making it hyper portable. OTHER: The laptop doesn’t turn on when you open the lid. I enjoy that feature so it missing is a bit of a bummer. Boot time is extremely fast. Wake time is good where sometimes it is ready instantly and other times, I have to press the power button (as the keyboard keys don’t register) to wake it up which then takes a very short amount of time to get back in. It would get warm when using but never hot. When I first got the device, the fan was on regularly and was moderately loud. After I tweaked some settings and settled into normal use this happened less often with the fan only turning on occasionally unless I was doing high load tasks. At which time it would be full boar. The pitch of the fan wasn’t all that annoying for me. Overall temperatures of the CPU was good even when I was video editing and pushing it hard so I don’t have any complaints on that end. It comes with a 65 Watt USB-C charging brick. The entire device also picks up smudges rather easily and I had to clean it regularly. CONCLUSION: This is a fantastic laptop. Truly one of my favorites of all time and goes head-to-head with my MacBook Air. The price to performance ratio here blows my mind and makes it an easy recommendation. I especially like that there are multiple price points for this laptop with varying internals but the same external hardware. I wish it was more user upgradable (as I would love to put more ram in it and a second drive). So, make sure that before you buy that you have the correct internals for your needs.

A break from the mundane, the ASUS Zenbook 14” OLED Laptop is a daily champ for an incredible screen images, finishing projects, working with Apps, surfing the web and taking it on the go!  OLED 14” Display – OLED (organic light-emitting diode)! Typically OLED TVs, where you hear most about the TV screen’s brilliance in color and quality. But ASUS has done something incredible! A 14” computer OLED display, with optional HDR. At 2.8K (2880 pixels x 1800 pixels) running at 90 Hz, its not quite 4K, but it is astounding for sure. This ASUS Zenbook HDR specification is rated as “True Black” in its specification standard, meaning better contrast on the computer screen. The ASUS Zenbook laptop screen is made up of 400 nits that provide the color and brightness. Although this laptop is toward the lower half of nits for a laptop screen (could go up to and exceed 700 nits), it still beams and really looks astounding with the proper lighting and color. This particular laptop isn’t a “touch screen”. I think that is great, so you see the best picture possible without finger print or other dust. I did have to manually turn on the HDR. It is not hard to do and it makes the laptop screen even more detailed and bright without any slowdown of the laptop processors. I went to Settings, Display, and moved HDR slider to on. This also provides the best possible viewing for games as well as any YouTube videos. Not every media works with HDR, but that is quickly changing. If you move the HDR slider to on and a component of what you are watching or playing is not compatible, the laptop simply won’t let you select the slider to on.  Games/Movies – With a resolution of 2880 Pixels x1800 Pixels and HDR selected I played some games on ASUS Zenbook. If I didn’t do this, it would be a waste of an amazing OLED screen! I played Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 game, I watched Disney+ for movie clips of the Avengers: Infinity War and Guardians of the Galaxy. This is where the ASUS Zenbook really shines. The picture was so clear, clean, distortion free, bright and balanced colors. The game and movie clips showed just how great the OLED screen really is. Wow! And let’s no forget the sound! Dolby Atmos, read on….  Dolby Atmos - Music, YouTube, Games, all the sounds you get from the ASUS Zenbook are provided from Harman/Kardon. Dolby Atmos is here!! It still needs to make some steps to be more inclusive than just A/V setups. In gaming situations if a character is behind you, you actually hear them behind you! The quality presentation, sounds from games and music sounds really, really good. I love the dynamics and detailed sound of music on the ASUS Zenbook. Dolby Atmos shoot sound in different directions, like bouncing off the ceiling, walls and coming right at you. Right now it is the best thing going in audio reproduction. New music is also coming out now and in the future that will change the way we listen to everything. Dolby Atmos on the ASUS Zenbook? Oh Yeah!  Intel Evo Platform – The ASUS Zenbook has some of the best tech around. The Intel Evo Platform fits into that formula. The weight (so light!) and the thinness is smaller than the height of a nickel standing on its edge. Much of the thanks can go to the Intel Evo Platform. This feature helps the user to gain computing power with Connections, Game play, Word processing, remembering pathways taken to go from programs. The Battery also last longer than standard laptops (those without Intel Evo Platform) even when used quite a bit for a several a days. I liked the battery life even when challenged with complex graphics! It also boots up quickly. No one likes waiting on their laptop to start. Just about everything is in the ASUS Zenbook enhanced by the Intel Evo Platform.  12 Gen Core i5 Processor with 8 GB RAM – The fastest and newest Intel i5 chip blazes computing power that has the strength to work on several projects at once along with multiple tabs open and searching the web. I was researching a gift for my Nephew and had 8 tabs open and I continued to search for his gift. I also had Word document open to copying and pasting the websites for a centralized list of things he wanted. There was not a single issue that took from the ASUS Zenbook’s performance. This same performance also helps plowing through streaming movies, YouTube, Music or game playing. It also handles proficiently operations at the same time with the help of the 8GB RAM. I got a website for music which requires a lot of tedious work (if you play guitar, you will know what I mean. Practice!), and Steam for game play. At first, the games I played were only in a small window with a high amount of pixels. It didn’t make sense to me so I went into options and was able to have full screen access at optimal viewing levels (This requires a lot of RAM – 8GB here). The 12th Generation Core i5 Processor had no trouble handling the movement or business of researching or gaming if I choose to do so. I worked on long list of guitar pedals with the price, website, and product. I again, cut and pasted links on a Word document. Even with all the Tabs open – no problem. In gaming, the only thing that could hinder full screen play, would be if the ASUS Zenbook would not be able to handle all the fast paced action and advanced graphics. Well, this ASUS Zenbook had no trouble playing full screen, almost 2k and no lag in video motion. It is really outstanding. This is by far the best screen I have ever seen on a Laptop!  HDMI – A great connection in this ASUS Zenbook is a HDMI port! Hook up a HDMI cable from the laptop to a HDMI equipped device like a TV. What appears on the laptop screen can now be seen on the the TV screen. (14” on the laptop turns your 55” TV) The HDMI is also useful for Monitors or even connecting more than one screen! I was able to hook up the HDMI port from the ASUS Zenbook to my Dell 27” monitor. It looked really good but more importantly it was easier to see when working on projects that require typing or watching a movie.  256 GB SSD (PCI-e) – This is the fastest hard drive to store and move larger files as well; The real difference between the SSD (PCI-e) is that it provides a direct connection to like your printer, mouse, external hard, external CD Drive reader, games and hubs. It doesn’t have to be thread through the Motherboard first, so that makes the SSD (PCI-e) a better choice. The ASUS came a with 256GB hard drive, but after all installed software and programs, you actually start with 237GB, after only a few programs and games GB dropped to 200GBs quickly. Kind of a small hard drive but it is a SSD (PCI-e) so you know you are getting the best. An external hard drive to provide additional space is in the realm of possibility. That would help the overall appeal of the ASUS.  Windows 11 Home Operating System – I installed overall firmware after setting up the Laptop. Windows 11 Home edition is truly an upgrade from Windows 10. One of the first things I did was setup a 4 digit passcode to get into the ASUS laptop. The operating system makes every effort get the most out of the ASUS laptop. Windows 11 Home edition is definitely faster when moving between Tabs, programs, movies or music than previous versions. And of course the more you use it, the easier gets. I really like the new setup of icons on the bottom of the screen add/remove and open the programs I use and even getting to the Settings menu! Whether you need Bluetooth turned on/off or need to check your security, download pictures from your cellphone, this ASUS laptop with Windows 11 Home edition can handle it.  Weight and Thickness – Rich and beautiful the dark blue and overall finish is a showstopper. It weighs an incredibly lightweight 3.06 lbs and the overall height is an amazing 0.67” with the screen closed. The overall footprint is small and looks great on a desk. The one issue I have (not a deal breaker) is the laptop is really light. When opened up with the screen at the 90 degree angle, the ASUS laptop just feels, for lack of a better word, “not as sturdy as I would have liked.” I know the laptop was built “with US Military grade durability,” but to achieve the weight of just over 3 lb something has to get cut (I realize there is no CD Drive). In this case, I believe the exterior protection of the ASUS laptop is a little too thin. Some people will have no issue with this, but overtime Laptops suffer wear and tear, just like any computer. I think if it were a little sturdier, it would have a longer lifespan. I would take a slightly heavier ASUS Zenbook laptop just for the protection from that use everyday wear and tear.  Built in Webcam & Microphone – More often than not, video chats with doctors, counselors, those who work from home use will like the built in Webcam and microphone. The picture from the camera was very good but not great when video chatting. The lights are on either side of the top bezel with the camera in the middle. This is an important component because COVID has changed the way we do we interact. This ASUS Zenbook will make you ready for these types of interactions.  Keyboard – What strikes you with the keypad when you use it? A cool useful backlight keyboard (which used to be rare). The backlight keyboard turns on when you strike a button with a touch. It shuts off in a second when you are able to release any key. This is not only nice for night work but it is a nice feature to have in daylight too. But the real surprise is the “hidden numeric pad!” By simply touching the upper right hand side of the keypad, the number keyboard appears. To hide it, touch the same spot. It even has a brightness control on the left upper side of the keypad. Just above the keypad is the keyboard. The strokes on the buttons have a great bounce and snappiness to them. They are very responsive, just needing a light touch. The keyboard works wel

This is great smaller laptop for getting work and schoolwork done. The blue color is nice, and the laptop is light. Is has USB-A, USB-C (2), Micro SD, a 3.5mm jack, and HDMI connections for getting connected. The USB-C ports are the right side of the computer. I hooked up the included 65w charger through a small usb dongle to get wired Ethernet and has no issues with power or the extra ports working. Wireless connected with no issues at full AX speed. The laptop is great for office, so you can use it for most work and school applications. With only 8GB RAM, it doesn't leave room for VMs or other large programs to use a lot of RAM. The memory cannot be upgraded, whatever you buy the machine with it what you get. The M.2 SSD is upgradable. It comes with a 256GB M.2 stick. Taking off the bottom of the laptop is not hard. Remove the visible screws and 2 more under the rear pads. Then pry open from the hinges around to the front and it comes right off. The M.2 slot is a full 2280 in length, but I wouldn’t put anything with a heatsink on it as it probably won't fit. The picture shows the insides, the M.2 slot is under the silver cover in the back middle/left of the board. The external screws are hex, and the internal screws to remove the M.2 cover are Philips. After installing Samsung Migration, and using a USB M.2 device, I transferred everything to a 1TB drive with no issues (make sure encryption is off). The stick slid right in. Closing the cover was easy. The drive takes advantage of the slot, and it gets tops transfer speeds. The screen is outstanding. Colors really pop and at 2.8K, you can put a lot on the screen. The video memory is shared, there is not a discrete card, so it can do older or more basic games with no issues. Another nice feature is the touchpad. It doubles as a numpad. Click the upper right of the touchpad and a numpad is displayed on it. This makes entering in numbers and IP address a lot easier. Its responsive and once done, you tap the corner again the numpad goes away. This is nice way to add a numpad without increasing the laptop width. Overall, with the i5 12gen Intel processor it's very responsive, programs come up quick and runs through tasks without the computer getting too hot. The built-in audio and camera are good and perform well for listening and doing video calls. Hooking up a second monitor via HDMI was simple and works fine. The laptop comes with Windows 11 Home standard. No real bloatware, anti-virus etc, just Asus’s care program, so nothing to remove. Windows 11 was responsive and operated well. This is a good mid-level laptop, no touch screen or extras, which helps to cut down on the price. The amount of non-upgradable memory is only a concern only if you are going to do more intensive work above office, browsing, calls etc. Upgrading the SSD is easy and lets you have a lot more space to store items or add programs. The screen really shines and makes everything look great. For the price it has a lot of features and superb screen to do you work or schoolwork on.

This is a beautiful laptop in color, design, form, and specs. Right out of the box I loved the way this machine looked with its dark slate blue colored shell. Open up that lid and be blown away with the impressive OLED screen which seems to be the main attraction for this Asus laptop. Included here is a USB-A port, 2 USB-C ports, HDMI port, audio input jack, and a micro SD card reader. In the box you will find the Asus Zenbook laptop and a laptop charger cable brick. The OLED screen has a 2880 x 1800 resolution and a 90hz refresh rate display which looks incredibly bright and is a joy to work on and also use for entertainment. The 14" OLED has the color and clarity on this portable and lightweight laptop, which are perfect for everyday multitasking duties for work and play. The Intel Evo 12th gen Intel Core i5 processor is fast and responsive under various tasks and I've been impressed at its snappy response time. You'll get the 256 SSD harddrive in this compact laptop, along with Windows 11 for the operating system. 8GB of RAM seems to work ok on this machine for this price point, but I do wish it came with 16GB for prolonging my longevity with this laptop. Portable size and taking it with me on the go is a must for me. This Asus Zenbook is 3.06 pounds in weight and .67" thin. I love the backlit keyboard for working at various hours of the day and night. I really have loved the touchpad and the ability to activate the illuminated number pad as I work on spreadsheets and formulas most of my day. The illuminated number pad can be turned on or off with the touch of a virtual button and took me some getting used to, but I love having this with the compact keyboard design. Another feature that was new to me was the Pantone Validated sticker on this machine. This simply means that this computer is up to par for designers and technicians since it's been verified to have adequate color correction technology to properly simulate the full range of Pantone colors. At a price of $749.99 this is a fantastic mid-tier computer that works well for so much of what I do for work from home tasks and also personal web browsing and shopping. This machine can also be used for light gaming and it still performs well, but it isn't meant for heavy usage on gaming. I have loved using the OLED screen, Dolby Atmos, and Harmon Kardon speakers to enjoy watching streaming movies and shows. The picture and sound are fantastic in my opinion. The laptop also has a nice hinge on the clamshell which allows for a 180-degree lay-flat design and also makes typing and keyboard feel more comfortable. PRO: Color design 14" OLED screen clarity Portable and lightweight Intel Evo i5 Great price and functionality for most users CON: More RAM and larger SSD would have been nice

The Asus Zenbook is a compact and lightweight OLED laptop with a 14” colorful screen. This has many features that I was looking for in a form factor such as this. Long battery life, great bright screen, Intel processor, 256GB SSD, 8GB RAM, backlit keys, and a bonus that I wasn’t aware that I needed, but the 10-key functionality that the trackpad can replicate. I have never seen this last feature on such a device before and I have to say that it is my favorite thing about this laptop. I use it constantly and I hope it is a feature that makes its way on more devices. Specs: the CPU is a 12th Gen Intel i5 processor, the RAM is soldered on, which is a bummer. It does have Wi-Fi 6E, upgradeable M.2 SSD (256GB included). A 14” 2880x1800 2.8K 16:10 OLED screen with an incredibly fast .2ms response time and 400-600 nits brightness. Included ports include a USB type A 3.2 Gen 2, microSD card reader, 2 USB type C ports (data, display out, charging), 3.5mm headphone/microphone jack, HDMI 2.0, and 720p camera. These are great specs all wrapped up in a 3.1 lbs. package. Daily use: I have been very happy with the everyday performance of this laptop. It’s very portable and the multimode backlit keyboard works great and is very comfortable to type on with good travel. One handed opening of the display is a very welcome addition as well. The power button also serves as the fingerprint reader and is very reliable and it will cache the fingerprint as you power it on and logs you directly into windows with windows hello. Unfortunately, the camera doesn’t appear to be windows hello compatible at this time. Microsoft office products run great and have not had any issues with them. Web browsing has been a great experience as well and running videos via NetFlix, Disney+ and Hulu apps have been butter smooth as well. At times during intensive processor use, the single fan will spin up and become more noticeable, but not bad. Overall, this laptop has great specs, build quality at a great price. My only gripe with this laptop is the soldered-on RAM. Everything else is a great laptop for a non-gamer and someone who is looking for a portable, powerful, and long lasting computer.

It's unclear how such a new laptop which is already a great value at $750 was discounted to $500 mere months after release, but it made me purchase it. 8GB soldered RAM is the only thing that i don't like on the spec sheet, but it's still enough for 90% of my tasks, only photo editing in Lightroom requires more in my use cases, but i can do small batch editing to get around that. If there was the same model with 16GB ram for $150 or so more I would blindingly buy that instead. fan noise is not as bad as i expected. Yes, it does get loud under load but as does any laptop. Given there is only 1 fan inside, it needs to spin way faster to get enough airflow compared to a dual fan system. Even then, at its loudest it sounds like my 4-year-old gaming laptop idling with 2 fans (Dell 7577 w/ i-7-7700H). Still if one doesn't like fan noise (like me) just run the system in Whisper mode (see fan profile settings in My ASUS app), and the fans are practically inaudible. It's hard to perceive any performance difference is general tasks. I practically never heard the fans but slightly slower performance in very demanding tasks. I attached Cine bench results for reference. Pros: - As one would expect, OLED is gorgeous and will not disappoint. - Great keyboard for my taste. (Coming from Dell Inspiron keyboards, this was a treat to type on.) - Nifty number pad feature which does come in handy for me as my work sometimes requires me to do number crunching. The trackpad can still be used as a mouse pointer while the numpad is active and it can differentiate between you typing numbers and trying to move the mouse. If one is used to touch clicking, then sometimes you might type a number instead of clicking but just after using it for a few days I'm comfortable with it. Numpad can be toggled on/off pretty easily too and can be fully disabled via My ASUS app if needed. - Quick toggles for killing mic and camera are helpful. -The i5 12th gen is way faster than i7 from last gen, which is great to see. - Whisper mode (My ASUS app fan-profile setting) still maintains decent performance for productivity tasks so please use that if fan noise is a big deal for you. -Upgradable SSD to PCIe Gen-4. (Gen-3 installed but given the cost i can't complain). - 2 X Thunderbolt 4 for future e-GPU expansion as prices for GPUs are currently dropping into the reasonable realm. - Weather you enable or disable the Fn lock, arrow keys always stay arrow keys unless you press and hold the Fn key to use the Home/End/Pg-Up/Pg-Dn functions. I was using 'Samsung Galaxy Book S' which switched to the secondary functions when Fn lock was engaged, and it used to drive me crazy. - I am seeing around 10-12 hours of productivity battery life when i switch the screen to 1920X1200 resolution and 60 Hz. All i care about is the OLED part, because at this size, the higher resolution and refresh rate don't add to my experience and just drain the battery. (The processor uses way too much power at idle in my experience, I just dropped the minimum processor state to 5% in the advanced power settings to see if that helps. Hopefully i can squeeze out couple more hours like that) Cons: - Bluetooth headset. details below. My biggest gripe with the computer is the Bluetooth part. one review mentioned having Bluetooth audio problem but i was hoping it might be an isolated case given the overwhelmingly positive reviews, but to my disappointment Bluetooth headphones behave "weirdly" with my laptop. I cannot find a better word to describe it because it works fine when you initially connect it and everything seems to go smoothly, but after some time the audio gets stutters, and the stutters keep getting more frequent to a point where you hear more stutter than actual audio even though the vide is playing smoothly. One way to temporarily fix it is to switch off the Bluetooth and switch back on, but stutters just start happening after an hour or so & getting worse in about 1.5 to 2 hrs. I narrowed down the problem to "Intel smart sound technology for Bluetooth audio" driver. After updating the driver though i had a new problem - If i stopped playing any audio over my Bluetooth headset for about 30 mins or so, and then try to play something, I do not get any sound over my headset even though video keeps playing. Even system sounds stop coming through. I tried switching the headset off and switching it back on again, but still no audio. Again, the temporary solution is for you to toggle system Bluetooth off and back on again. Right now, i just disabled the driver but that means i cannot use my headset's microphone for calls. They only connect as headphones with no microphone detected. Current driver version is 10.29.0.7082 so whenever a newer version is available, I will try again.