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ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED UX3402ZA 14.0" 2.8K Touchscreen 90Hz Laptop (Intel i5-1240P, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 11, 400nits 90Hz screen) Intel EVO Certified

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A major cause for concern with OLED panels is image retention and burn-in, especially on monitors that tend to have a lot of static elements such as window chrome and taskbars. Fortunately, the newer generation of OLED panels is much better in this regard. The Thunderbolt 4 ports also double as the charging port for the notebook, so it's unfortunate that both of them are on the same side as you are restricted to charging from one side only. Also, since one of them gets reserved for charging, you are effectively left with just one USB-C port. On Balanced, with demanding loads, the fans run quieter and the internals reach lower temperatures in the high-70s to low-80s, while the chassis temperatures are about the same as on Performance.

The major benefit of this redesign is the fact that hot air no longer blows into the display, as with all the previous ZenBooks. Instead, hot air is pushed out and away, and to me, this is a game-changer for the ZenBook 14 UX3402 generation. Next, here are some benchmark results. We ran the entire suite of tests and benchmarks on the Performance profile on this Core i7-1260P configuration, with the screen set on FHD resolution, for consistency with other laptops tested in the past. At the same time, the weight of this ultrabook has increased a fair bit with all these changes. The previous ZenBook 14 UX425EA weighed around 1.2 kilos with the matte display, while this Zenbook 14 UX3402ZA now weighs 1.37 kilos with the glossy non-touch display. The charger adds .22 kilos extra to your bag. Finally, for biometrics, I’ll remind you of the finger-sensor with Hello support included in the power button, and add that an IR camera is no longer included with the 14 series, although it was in the past ZenBook 14 models. Screen

Thankfully, the pre-installed and activated Dolby Atmos app comes to the rescue and significantly improves the speaker quality, to the point where they actually sound fairly decent, at least for things like watching YouTube videos. I would still recommend using headphones whenever possible.

The stated 2.8 mm width of the side bezel is the distance between the edge of the non-active screen display area and the inside edge of the case. If the case width is included, the side bezel width is 5.3 mm. Measured based on standard (anti-glare) display configuration. The top bezel width is 6.3 mm and the bottom bezel width is 10.91 mm. On the downside, the Core i7-1260P tends to run hot and the Zenbook 14 OLED's cooling can't always keep up. The port layout is a bit awkward and the webcam quality is mediocre. The battery life is also underwhelming.The MyASUS app has options to let you select how much of the battery you want to charge. You can choose from 100%, 80%, or 60%, and the lower the figure the longer the theoretical lifespan of the battery will be. It's a good option, especially for those who don't necessarily use their notebooks outside that much. Conclusion At sub-400-nits SDR brightness, though, and in the glossy implementation, this isn’t ideal for bright-light use.

The Zenbook 14 OLED also has a 720p webcam. The image quality isn't very good and the low resolution hurts the image further. Moreover, the webcam doesn't support Windows Hello, so you can only use the fingerprint sensor. Connectivity Aside from these OLED models, a matte IPS 2560 x 1600 px panel option with 400-nits of brightness and 100% sRGB color coverage is also available for the ZenBook 14 UX3402ZA series, but I’d expect its availability to be more limited, as Asus seem to be aggressively pushing their OLED screens with recent ZenBooks and VivoBooks. Hardware and performanceRegarding your conclusion, "All in all, this series is going to be competitive within its niche, especially with the lower-tier configurations being very aggressively priced. It’s not a clear recommendation for everyone, but it is an option you should consider, based on your needs and pricing/availability of other options in your area."

The Zenbook 14 OLED has a pair of bottom-firing speakers on either side. By themselves, the speakers sound awful and are also not particularly loud. Another issue I had with the design was the way the display opened. The divot made in the base is too small to provide enough of a lip to lift the display, and your fingers keep slipping on the edge of the screen as you struggle to pry it apart. Once lifted, the display can be opened with one finger without lifting the base with it.Graphics are handled by the integrated Iris Xe chip, with 96 EUs and frequencies of up to 1.40 GHz in the i7-1260P, and 80EUs and 1.3 GHz frequencies in the i5-1240P.

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