Asus is introducing its new line of ZenBook Pro laptops with updated hardware, and a new innovating touchpad that also works as a second touch-enabled display.
The touchpad is called “ScreenPad,” and the company announced it at Computex 2018 in Taipei. The new touchpad sounds a little bit like the MacBook Pro Touch Bar, but the Asus ScreenPad is a better approach because it doesn’t remove any physical keys, it’s placed on a location that makes sense, and the touchpad works just like a traditional touchpad.
Furthermore, the ScreenPad is a precision touchpad, which means that you can use all the gestures supported on Windows 10.
The touchpad features a 5.5-inch screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution with a matte finish to reduce glare and improve touch. It can function as an app launcher, numeric pad, calculator, and calendar. If you use Google Chrome, using an extension, you can play videos from YouTube too. It’ll integrate with Office apps, and you can even extend the Windows 10 desktop to this tiny screen.
Asus ZenBook Pro hardware
Alongside the new ScreenPad, Asus is also adding a number of welcome additions and changes to the ZenBook Pro line.
The laptop features Intel’s 8th Generation Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9 processors, up to 16GB of memory, up to 1TB of storage using Solid-State Drive (SSD), and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti graphics.
The ZenBook Pro includes a 15.6-inch display with up to 4K resolution offering 132 percent coverage of the sRGB color space and 100 percent of Adobe RGB.
The built of the laptop is great using aluminum at top, bottom, and in the palm rest. You’re also getting Harman Kardon-certified SonicMaster Premium audio system, which is good enough for most people.
As for ports, you’ll find two USB Type-A, two USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 support, one HDMI 1.4, and MicroSD card reader.
Here are the tech specs:
ZenBook Pro 15 Tech Specs | |
---|---|
Processor | Intel Core i9-8950HK 2.9GHz hexa-core with Turbo Boost (up to 4.5GHz) and 12MB cache Intel Core i7-8750H processor 2.2GHz hexa-core with Turbo Boost (up to 4.1GHz) and 9MB cache Intel Core i5-8300H processor 2.3GHz hexa-core with Turbo Boost (up to 4.0GHz) and 8MB cache |
Graphics | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB GDDR5 VRAM |
Display | 15.6” LED-backlit 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) 16:9 touchscreen, color calibration: Delta E < 2, 100% Adobe RGB color gamut 15.6” LED-backlit Full HD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 (touchscreen optional), color calibration: Delta E < 3, 100% sRGB color gamut 7.3mm-thin bezel with 83% screen-to-body ratio 178° wide-view technology ASUS Eye Care technology for up to 30% blue-light reduction |
Memory | 8GB 2400MHz DDR4 onboard 16GB 2400MHz DDR4 onboard |
Storage | 1TB PCIe SSD 512GB PCIe SSD 512GB SATA3 SSD 256GB SATA3 SSD |
Ports | 2 x Type-C USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Thunderbolt 3) 2 x Type-A USB 3.1 Gen 2 1 x HDMI 1 x Combo audio jack 1 x MicroSD card slot 1 x 3.5mm headphone jack |
Trackpad | ScreenPad 5.5” FHD (1920 x 1080) Super IPS+ display 178˚ wide-view technology Glass-covered for fingerprint and smudge resistance Precision touchpad (PTP) technology supports up to four-finger smart gestures |
Keyboard | Full-size backlit, with 1.5mm key travel Fingerprint sensor supporting Windows Hello |
Audio | ASUS SonicMaster stereo audio system with surround-sound Array microphone with Cortana voice-recognition support Long-travel voice coils for improved low-frequency response Certified by Harman Kardon |
Camera | VGA webcam |
Networking | Wi-Fi Dual-band 802.11ac gigabit-class Wi-Fi Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0 |
Battery and Power | Up to 9.5 hours battery life 71Wh 8-cell lithium-polymer battery 150W power adapter (Output: 19.5V DC, 7.7A, 150W) (Input: 100-240V AC, 50/60Hz universal) |
Weight and Dimensions | Height: 1.89 cm (0.74 inches) Width: 36.5 cm (14.37 inches) Depth: 24.1 cm (9.49 inches) Weight: 1.88 kg (4.14 pounds) |
In the box | ZenBook Pro 15 (UX580) USB to LAN port dongle (optional) |
Alongside the 15.6-inch model, there’s also a 14-inch model with some key differences, including Nvidia GTX 1050 Max-Q graphics, infrared camera instead of a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello, no Thunderbolt 3 support, and up to a Core i7 processor.
Asus also claims up to 9.5 hours of battery life on a single charge for the 15.6-inch model.
Who should buy a ZenBook Pro
The company is aiming the new ZenBook Pro laptop to creators, including photographers, video makers, and designers — basically anyone who can take advantage of the hardware and features.
Pricing and where to buy
The Asus ZenBook Pro 15 is expected to be available sometime in July with an starting pricing of $2299, while the 14-inch is expected to arrive before the end of the year, but Asus isn’t sharing detailing on pricing.