Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent Value(8th Gen), Perfect for Students and Those on a Budget
Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2018
The ASUS Zenbook ux330ua(8th gen) is an excellent value. As a CS graduate student, I needed something that could handle a heavy coding workload while still being portable enough to bring to class and not break the bank. This fit the bill perfectly, and I highly recommend it to students or anyone who wants a premium ultrabook experience at a budget-friendly price.
Display 5/5:
This is one the best displays you will find on a device under $1000. 100% sRGB coverage is a must have for me. As someone who does a moderate amount of graphics coding and web design, I need to know the colors on my screen are accurate. For those who don't use this device for content creation, you will still enjoy the vivid colors, respectable black levels, and sharp 1080p resolution. The matte display also prevents distracting reflections. Note: There was no noticable backlight bleeding on my unit. It's there if you look for it, but you would be hard pressed to notice it in any real use case scenario. This is not a fault of ASUS as this is typical for IPS displays in general. I also did not have any dead pixels.
Keyboard 4/5:
The keyboard is respectable if not remarkable. The keys have good travel but are slightly mushy. My unit will sometimes fail to detect when keys are pressed near their corners. The layout is fine, and the half height arrow keys are surprisingly very usable. This keyboard will not remind you of a ThinkPad, but it will get the job done and has held up well to my coding sessions.
Audio 5/5:
The audio is excellent for a an ultrabook in this price range. It probably won't fill a large conference room, but the built-in speakers are perfect for online lecture videos or the occasional Amazon Prime video.
Build Quality 4/5:
This device can't quite hold up to the industry leaders like the Surface Laptop, MacBook, ThinkPad, or XPS products. However, those devices are in other price category entirely. At the current price, it certainly outshines the competition, namely the Acer Swift. The chassis is lightweight, and the spun aluminum finish is a beautiful touch. There is a small amount of flex around the keyboard and screen areas. However, I wouldn't consider it to be durability concern.
Battery Life 5/5:
The battery life was a major selling pont for me. I am getting 8-10 hours depending on usage. As a student on the go, being able to work all day on one charge is a game changer and should be industry standard by now.
Performance 5/5:
The quad core Intel i5 8250u processor has excellent performance and represents a huge jump from the previous generation's dual core. Pairing this CPU with 8GB of ram and a 256GB SSD, this device will remain a solid performer for years to come. I can easily run a Linux VM to do any work I can't do on Windows. and the performance is superb. The graphics processor is an integrated Intel UHD 620. While this won't be suitable for any heavy gaming, it is perfectly suited for light graphics work, video watching, and displaying to external monitors. You can even play some older or less demanding video games at respectable settings(CounterStrike: GO, Half-Life 2, etc.).
Overall 5/5:
This is an excellent ultrabook for those on a budget. If you are still reading at this point, there is a good chance you should go ahead and buy this product. You won't be disappointed. For those with a bit more wiggle room in their budget, take a look at the Zenbook ux410 and ux430. Those devices manage to fit a 14" screen in the same chassis by using smaller bezels around the display.
Additional Comments:
This device is highly compatable with Linux. I have had no issues with any distro I have tried. I can confirm it works flawlessly with Ubuntu 16.04, Ubuntu 18.04, and with elementaryOS 0.4.
