Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsUX582 / Incredible machine!
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2021
**Update at the end. Man this was a long review, what was I thinking?
Through an incredible stroke of luck, and also by checking every single day (NOT any kind of free sample) I was able to purchase the new UX582 with 3070 direct from Amazon. After I bought mine they seem to have instantly sold out. From what I can tell this may be one of the first reviews for the UX582, though for the moment they have attached the older reviews for the 581 in here as well.
My background: I'm a designer and primarily use this for graphics/drafting. I also enjoy gaming on the side. Fortunately the boss (me) doesn't seem to object. I've had this for 2 days now, but have used it heavily and already have some opinions.
Professional - this machine kills it. Runs heavy Autocad files, Adobe Suite, and 3D modeling software without a hiccup. It's only been two days but I haven't even come close to its hardware limits. The dual screen has already changed my workflow for the better. It's large enough to be very flexible, which is exactly what I need. I wasn't interested in being forced to use a smaller dual screen as a toolbar, whereas this can be used for any number of helpful purposes. It will be an incredible luxury when traveling and I'm certain is going to speed up my work.
Gaming - I'm playing Rocket League, Crusader Kings 3, and a few others at the moment, and all of these ran smooth as butter. Max settings, high framerate, still not even approaching the hardware's capabilities. And that OLED screen... words cannot describe. This is my first one and I am simply blown away. Yes, it definitely makes that much of a difference.
Other miscellaneous thoughts -
I was a little worried about the keyboard position, as it had to move down to accommodate the dual screen. It took a very little getting used to but by now I'm just about as fast typing on that as on a regular keyboard. I still haven't even attached the wrist rest extender thing, which I assume will make it easier still. Keys have a great feel and are just loud enough to notice they are there, not enough to disturb anyone in a quiet office or library. I always prefer fullsize arrow keys, which were sacrificed here to the dual screen gods, but these are totally usable.
The trackpad is also smaller, but again works well. You can quickly scroll from edge to edge on the screen and I always appreciate being able to full click the trackpad, not just touch to click. The number pad is wee but it does work just fine as long as you're not doing major accounting or whatever, and I think it looks great.
Overall aesthetics - you can judge for yourself, but I think it looks good. Not flashy gamer style of course. It's clearly blue, but a nice subtle dark blue. Finish on all elements is great, clearly a lot of attention to detail. The lift on the second screen (not featured on the previous model) is so useful and feels solid.
Battery - not the greatest ever, but acceptable for what I need. Running a bunch of applications on standard battery mode I have seen just over 2 hours of runtime. Being strategic about power usage would of course extend that time, or heavier use would probably drop it under 2.
Sound - excellent quality by laptop standards, although it is a bit quiet. You won't be using this by itself for party music. But for a laptop, I would much rather choose quality over loudness.
Camera - I'm on zoom constantly, and this webcam works great for that purpose. For reasons I don't know, the face recognition on Windows Hello login is extremely quick on this laptop. Really nice.
Performance - mentioned this a couple times already, but the combo of 32GB + RTX 3070 is outstanding. Under load it does pump a decent amount of heat out the sides, which is what I would expect. In my use so far I haven't had the keyboard get hot, and the fans are pretty quiet.
In summary - I am so impressed. I've had three Razer Pros before this and they were solid, but this really takes the whole idea of laptops to another level. I'm looking forward to using it often. Nice work Asus!!
----- Update 8/4/21 -----
I've now used this machine pretty extensively while traveling - two flights, commuter rail many times, a few ferries, etc. Most of what I wrote previously still holds up. I'm still super impressed. Not that this review needs to be longer, but here are a few more thoughts.
- The battery life I mentioned above is unfortunately not the greatest. However, if I'm not using the second screen and turn down the brightness a bit on the main screen, the usage time pretty much doubles to about 4 hours or more. So that's something.
- Others have mentioned the issue of the bottom of the screen digging into your legs. Can confirm this is pretty annoying - for me it's situated exactly so that the corners of this angled piece push directly into my quads. Ow. Asus did include some kind of flexible stand that sticks on the bottom of the laptop and folds flat when you don't need it, which helps somewhat. Thinking about getting a pad of some kind, but I don't want to carry around more stuff. If it's resting on a hard surface, not your lap - the space this mechanism creates below the laptop really helps cooling a lot.
- I've continued to use this for fairly heavy work and gaming and have never even come close to its limits. Hard to describe how smooth and powerful this is, and also quiet.
- Same with the screen. I am still dazzled. It's almost worth it for that alone.
