Editors Note: This article was first published on Rhyn Review's YouTube channel on 20th June 2020, and is re-uploaded for readability.
Hey you! Today we’re going to dive deep into Asus’s AMD equipped laptop, the Zenbook 14 UM433D. Most laptops in the market use Intel, so is this a good buy then? Let’s take a look at who this laptop is aimed at, how well does it perform, and whether you should buy it!
If you wish to watch the review instead, click on the video above!
Contents
Asus UM433DA Specs
In terms of performance, it’s decent for the price tag, but there’s a few reasons why I’m hesitant to recommend this. I’ll get into it in just a bit, but with a 3rd-generation AMD processor inside and an integrated GPU, it’s a good mix of regular day to day performance.
I can play Overwatch on it with low settings on 1080p but don’t expect a good performance. It’s fine, but I would recommend something else if you play games. You can do light photo editing on this, the LCD panel is sRGB 100% and the matte finish is a nice touch but don’t expect to use this for any heavy video editing.
Everyday Use
For reading and replying to your emails your boss or manager sent you at the last minute, for students fueled with coffee and the power of hugging Buddha’s leg (last minute work), the keyboard is sufficient for all of that. While pressing down on each key feels a little tough for me, the gaps between each key are spaced well so that I don’t have to stretch too far out to type.
The function keys are great, and my favourite is the instant screenshot key and the camera off switch key for some added privacy. Neat! The trackpad below it is okay, it’s kind of on the rough side for me and the keys are a little difficult to press on but definitely usable. The added function of a number pad is a good touch (haha), but I’m so used to the number rows that I just use that instead.
And once you’re done with work and need to pop into Netflix and chill mode, this 1.2kg lightweight laptop that’s not fatiguing on your thighs when watching shows. If you’re worried about battery life, one hour of charging gets you 70% battery which lasts for four hours. Enough to sit through one Studio Ghibli film! But Asus placed the speakers below the laptop so it does lose some fidelity but it’s clear enough to listen to pop music or hear your colleagues in Zoom calls.
Speaking about Zoom calls, the 720p webcam doesn’t seem to have very good ability to balance low and high light areas. The in-built microphone is fine. But my favourite is the Windows Hello feature that lets you register facial recognition to log in. It’s really convenient!
The port selection on this laptop is decent; 1 USB C 3.1 Gen 2, 2 USB A, one is USB 3.1 Gen 2 as well but the other is USB 2.0. HDMI, Micro SD Card reader, audio jack combo and a charging port. Pity that the USB C port can’t be used for charging.
Storage-wise, this model comes with a 1TB PCIe SSD and 8GB of RAM. While the SSD is upgradable on your own, the RAM is not. And this, the RAM, is one of the reasons this laptop makes it hard to recommend. While 8GB of RAM is the bare minimum for general use, because AMD needs to reserve 2GB of RAM reserved for the graphics to function, you’re actually left with 6GB of RAM.
Quirks and Issues
Once you open Chrome and Photoshop, most of your RAM would be gobbled up. And that’s the biggest complaint I have with this laptop. The limited and non-upgradable RAM means that this laptop has limitations when you have many background applications open. This is where I felt that Asus should’ve bumped the RAM up to 10 or even 16GB of RAM. To be fair to Asus, AMD’s processor is quite finicky with RAM compatibility, so I can understand that they didn’t let us upgrade the RAM.
On top of that, there are other companies like Acer that’s released AMD equipped laptops that perform way better. But if you like a well-designed laptop that offers decent performance for the everyday writer, an office worker and then an entertainment device, at S$1398, while I think that this is an option, maybe look at what other companies are offering as well first before taking that plunge.
If you have any questions about the laptop, leave a comment down below. Like if you wanna, the other button works fine too if you don’t. I think you’ll find something that’s useful there for you too. See you in the next video, this is Rhyn Reviews. Byeeeeee!
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