Asus’s Zenbook 14 OLED Space Edition has a tiny OLED show on the lid

Asus’s line of ultraportable Zenbooks may be exhausting to differentiate from each other. There are a ton of them, they usually all supply an analogous look and an analogous bundle. That’s definitely not the case with the brand new Zenbook 14 OLED Space Edition, which is designed to appear to be a spaceship. There’s a tiny 3.5-inch OLED show on the lid, which shows numerous cute space-themed animations, and there are numerous space-related engravings (together with some Morse code) all through the chassis. I’m unsure how sensible of a purchase order it is going to be (particularly since Asus hasn’t introduced the value but), nevertheless it’s at all times good to see firms stepping out of the field with inventive designs.

Starting with this tiny OLED factor. It didn’t in the end impression my consumer expertise an excessive amount of throughout my transient interval with the Space Edition, however it is rather cool to take a look at, and the animations actually are enjoyable — they lend a little bit of a retro vibe to the entire affair. I did discover the secondary display screen helpful when the gadget was closed — it displayed the date and time, which might be helpful for fast reference when it was close by, and likewise had a battery indicator so I knew how a lot juice the gadget had every time I picked it up. But that’s additionally all data you will get simply from Windows (clearly), so it’s largely only a neat factor to take a look at.

The main show is a 14-inch, 16:10 OLED contact panel with a 90Hz refresh price and 2880 x 1800 decision. Colors had been correct, and it was a really good show to take a look at general. The 90Hz refresh price, particularly at such a excessive decision, actually seems like a luxurious and makes the scrolling expertise fairly easy.

Inside, the Space Edition comes with Twelfth-Gen Intel H-Series processors, as much as 32GB of RAM, and as much as 1TB of SSD storage. I’ll be capable to focus on efficiency extra through the full evaluation course of later this 12 months.

But the Space Edition’s essential calling card is its eye-catching design. It’s very cool. It’s coloured in a end referred to as “Zero-G Titanium”, and the spacebar has a cute little planet on it. The engravings are seen, however nowhere close to obnoxious sufficient to be distracting.

The chassis additionally feels a notch sturdier than many Zenbooks I’ve used — it’s a line that I typically discover to be flimsy for its value. The display screen and keyboard deck are strong, and the end doesn’t really feel plasticky in any respect. Asus says the Space Edition complies with the “US Space Systems Command Standard SMC-S-016A testing protocols” and might function in “extreme climates”, so there’s that. The upgraded construct hasn’t made the Zenbook too clunky, although — at 2.87 kilos, it wasn’t an issue to hold round.

There’s a good port choice with two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2, an HDMI 2.0, a headphone jack (which not all Zenbooks have nowadays), and a microSD reader. There’s a 720p HD webcam as properly.

Asus at all times appears to be attempting these funky issues, and I’m typically a fan. But the Space Edition feels a bit extra refined than a few of these fashions. The engravings actually do appear to be a part of a delicate house aesthetic, somewhat than makes an attempt to seize passerbys’ consideration. And whereas the secondary display screen might be caught on all types of gadgets as a gimmick, it feels prefer it suits right here. I’m unsure how a lot it will price but, so can’t make any form of suggestion or worth proposition, however I definitely loved utilizing it.

The Zenbook 14 OLED Space Edition is transport in Q2 of 2022.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge