Great Things About The Asus ZenBook 14 Flip OLED

Introduction

The last time I reviewed an Asus laptop here was in 2020, and that was the ZenBook 13. It was a great computer at the time, although I had a few gripes with it, including a cramped keyboard and the lack of a headphone jack (back then, wireless earbuds had not become mainstream as is the case, and for a computer, that was kind of a bummer. Nonetheless, the computer was excellent in other areas, including its size, light weighted-ness, and overall performance for such a tiny machine.

This time around, I have been playing with the ZenBook 14 Flip OLED, which, as its name suggests, has a 14” OLED screen (which is awesome), and can be flipped all the way to 360-degrees. This, I understand, is a very attractive feature for some people who want their computers with touch screen capabilities. I like the form factor too, but based on my line of work, I tend to use laptops as intended: on a desk and flipped at a 90-degree angle or thereabouts.

Specifications

So, with that in mind, what does the 14 Flip OLED bring to the table in terms of specifications? Well, here is a summary of its specifications:

The Display

We cannot deny that the OLED screen looks great. They are the best in the industry, and after their popularity in mobile devices such as phones and tablets, they are slowly making their way to laptops. This is a good thing because it means that the deep blacks and vivid colours that you experience on your Samsung Galaxy, or any other phone that panel that uses OLED technology, can be seen on a laptop. You couldn’t have this kind of a great experience a few years ago, and it is, generally speaking, great news that OLED is coming to more devices outside phones.

Other features of this screen include a 16:10 display, which means it is taller than industry standards. It also means that you can see more content on your display vertically, and who doesn’t like that?

The display maxes out at 2880 x 1800 (2.8K), and it runs at 90Hz so it will feel ‘faster’ than the 60 Hz screens we are used to.

Did I mention that it supports HDR? This is particularly terrific for laptops, and to best it all, the brightness can go all the way up to 550 nits. If you want to see the best of this feature, just go to YouTube and watch any good quality 4K HDR clip and be amazed. Netflix also has some titles that support HDR, including TV show Ozark.

What’s not to love?

Touch Screen, 360-degree Turn

The Flip 14 does just that, flip all the way to 360 degrees. This means it can be propped as a tablet or tent mode. You can use it the way you want to because it gives you that kind of versatility. Want to watch a movie in bed in tablet or tent mode? You can do that.

The screen is also touch sensitive. But that is a common feature we have come to love in the Asus Flip laptop series.

The bezels, are, however, too thin for tablet mode. There are cases when you will touch the screen accidentally. However, I am not faulting the skinny bezels because they make the computer look modern. You just need a little bit of learning to know how to hold the device well enough in tablet mode to not trigger accidental touches.

Size and Weight

By all means and definitions, this is an ultrabook that looks modern and sexy thanks to that tall 16:10 display. It weighs a little over 1.4 kg, which is not the lightest around, but still light enough. This is heavier than the last Asus laptop I interacted with here, but that was a 13-incher. It is light enough that you wouldn’t feel it in your bag, which is the point of an ultrabook, right?

Need For Speed

Right off the bat, this PC is powered by Intel Core i7-1165G7 Processor 2.8 GHz (12M Cache, up to 4.7 GHz, 4 cores). This is the premium line of the Flip 14 OLED, and it delivers in terms of performance. Remember, this is not a place to look for benchmark results and performance metrics because we don’t do that here. But listen to me, the laptop is fast enough for basic to medium workloads. At one time, I was shocked how fast it was refreshing content and flipping from one page to another, until I realized it refreshes at 90 Hz. Circling back to the CPU, I wish this was a 12^th Gen one because it trumps the 11^th Gen by substantial strides. This has been proved by benchmark and real-world tests that have been performed by reputable reviewers out there.

Great Port Selection

I have to let you know that the Flip 14 OLED has a microSD card slot on the right-hand side of the machine. That aside, here are the port specs:

1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A
2x Thunderbolt 4 supports display/ power delivery
1x HDMI 2.0

The Flip 14 OLED’s machining is tight, and there is no way you are going to see some machining tolerances because they are that tight and sharp, literally.

Notes, Others, And Conclusion

The 100W charger is not as quick. You will get a substantial amount of charge, but only that.

Battery performance is not as great. If you unplug the computer and run the basics, you will be just as fine. And if you can, try to be on battery saver mode.

It cost a whole KES 160K and can be found at Elevetus Technologies.

PS: Let me be honest: this laptop has okayish battery life, meaning it can only work for half a day.

I am still testing it so, if you have more queries, post them at the comments section below.

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