Asus ROG Flow Z13

amazon Asus ROG Flow Z13 reviews

Design overview

As a gaming product, ROG Flow Z13 exudes a dense gaming quality when arranging a series of aggressive, “dangerous” details such as the large 06 number, the year the ROG brand was born, the speaker slot, stylized heat dissipation holes all over the back and sides.

Even more impressive when the machine has a transparent area on the back with RGB lights so that users can “penetrate” the components inside. Asus says this is a detail inspired by the windows of spaceships. The circuit board and chips that the user can see are completely the real components of the device, not just an image glued on like some previous phone companies have done. The entire back and chassis are all made of very solid metal, sturdy, and true to the quality of a powerful gaming machine.

Inspired by the Asus ROG Mothership product line launched in 2019, by arranging the system of components behind the screen, ROG Flow Z13 can stand on its own on a flat surface thanks to the built-in kickstand. This design also helps air circulate better, get more cool wind, and improve heat dissipation compared to other conventional laptops, which can only get hot wind on the bottom.

The integrated kickstand helps ROG Flow Z13 stand firmly on a flat surface with an angle of up to 170 degrees, allowing flexible screen tuning, suitable for a variety of user scenarios from simple to complex.

The elimination of the traditional laptop hinge mechanism also gives ROG Flow Z13 more space, integrating a larger vapor chamber and fan cooling system, while maintaining a thinness of only 12mm and a weight of only 1.1kg.

Asus claims that the ROG Flow Z13’s vapor chamber cooling system has a much larger surface area than conventional cooling systems, helping to increase heat dissipation efficiency and at the same time for important components such as the CPU, GPUs, and VRMs.

Combined with liquid metal thermal paste, ROG Flow Z13 is claimed by Asus to have a noise level that never exceeds the 40dB mark even under heavy loads. When handling light tasks such as watching movies, surfing the web, or doing office work, ROG Flow Z13 will automatically recognize and completely turn off the cooling fan system to 0dB, providing a completely quiet working experience.

Modes of use

ROG Flow Z13 has a 13.4-inch screen, which is small compared to a laptop, but makes it “super big” when used in tablet mode. The product also supports the Asus Pen stylus, allowing to write, draw and take accurate notes, suitable for architecture and design people. However, the weight of 1.1Kg still quickly causes pain when holding the device in the hand in the form of a tablet, and the heat from the heatsink on the edge also hits the hand, not comfortable at all. Putting the device on the table to swipe and touch will be a more reasonable choice in this situation.

In tablet mode, ROG Flow Z13 is very compatible with mobile games as well as PCs using touch screens. With a high response rate and 13.4-inch screen, ROG Flow Z13 proves to be an interesting entertainment device on long trips. If you need a large workspace, two USB Type-C ports with built-in multi-monitor output will be at your disposal.

No matter what kind of gamer you are, the ROG Flow Z13 can meet your needs. In traditional game mode, the machine has a built-in keyboard cum screen protector, with a key travel of up to 1.7mm, for a typing experience that is not inferior to conventional laptops. In addition, thanks to its unique design with the ability to stand on its own on a flat surface thanks to the integrated tripod, ROG Flow Z13 also offers an enjoyable experience when combined with a controller, especially in fighting games, Sports, or adventure co-op action with friends.

Operational performance

The key to creating “gaming quality” on ROG Flow Z13 or any gaming device must come from the configuration. On the version that I experience, Asus is equipped with an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU with 14 cores and 24 threads, up to 4.7GHz, discrete graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4GB GDDR6 VRAM, MUX Switch feature, comes with 16GB RAM LPDDR5 5200 MHz Dual channel, 512GB NVMe PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD. 13.4 inch Full HD (1920 x 1200) 16:10 120Hz display.

This is not the strongest configuration of ROG Flow Z13, the machine also has a higher option up to Intel Core i9-12900H, GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics card, 1TB PCIe 4.0 x4 SSD, 13.4-inch 4K (3840) screen x 2400) 16:10 60Hz.

Core i7-12700H is Intel’s newly launched high-performance Alder Lake processor for laptops with 14 cores and 20 threads including 6 P Core performance cores and 8 power-saving E Core cores, Intel 7 10nm process, a base clock speed of 2.67GHz and can be boosted to 4.7GHz supported by a large on-chip cache, up to 24MB.

Codename H represents chips with a capacity of 45W. These chips are fine-tuned for laptops but are capable of increasing power up to 115W to boost performance when needed. The performance of the Intel Core i7-12700H is almost “redundant” for most of today’s popular needs, including heavy games, and will come into full play when used with graphics-heavy applications such as editing, and doing 3D effects, rendering…

A quick test with some light games like League of Legends, CS: GO, and ROG Flow Z13 is perfectly balanced at the highest setting, Full HD resolution with a stable frame of over 100 FPS.

With heavier games like FINal Fantasy XV, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Naraka: Bladepoint, the machine reaches about 50 FPS. In most games, the CPU only works gently at a TDP of 15-30W, the clock is kept stable at over 4.0GHz with eSport games and gives power to the discrete graphics card with a TDP of 40W. The temperature only ranges from 60-70 degrees Celsius for CPU and GPU, which is very cool.

The RTX 3050 graphics card is a bit “limbed” when it comes to Intel Core i7-12700H, it is difficult to take full advantage of this CPU’s power. Therefore, similar to the previous ROG Flow Z13, Asus also includes the ROG Flow Z13 accessory kit called ROG XG Mobile. This is a discrete eGPU with a neat design, inside is an RTX 3080 GPU that ensures ROG Flow Z13 does not get bored with any current game. Try it out quickly with the game Horizon Zero Daw at 2K resolution (connected to an external monitor), max settings, ROG Flow Z13 is still well balanced with smooth images, no lag, and average FPS over 100.

Display screen

Complementing the “terrible” configuration, the 13.4-inch screen of ROG Flow Z13 possesses a high refresh rate of 120Hz, Full HD resolution (1920 x 1200), and IPS panel. The interesting point is that the screen of the ROG Flow Z13 has a 16:10 aspect ratio, a bit more square than the usual 16:9 ratio, and is often used by today’s work laptops.

Monitors are also factory calibrated to meet Pantone standards for color accuracy. The screen has 100% sRGB color coverage, is equipped with Corning Gorilla Glass 5, Adaptive-Sync anti-tearing technology, supports Dolby Vision, maximum brightness of 500 nits.

This screen has good display quality, harmonious colors, brightness, high contrast, wide viewing angle, smooth page scrolling effect, and a neat border.

where can you get a Asus ROG Flow Z13 online

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 (2022) Gaming Laptop Tablet, 13.4” 120Hz FHD+ Display, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, Intel Core i7-12700H, 16GB LPDDR5, 512GB PCIe SSD, Detachable RGB Keyboard, Windows 11, GZ301ZC-PS73: Buy it now

Connect ability

Although compact, ROG Flow Z13 still provides quite a lot of ports. The machine has 1 Thunderbolt 4 port that allows DisplayPort standard image output, Power delivery standard battery charging, and 40Gbps data transmission bandwidth. Besides, there is 1 USB 2.0 Type-A port, 1 UHS-II microSD card reader, 3.5mm headphone/mic combo jack, and 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port for image output, battery charging, and support G-SYNC.

In addition, the product also owns a special port to connect to the ROG XG Mobile eGPU, using the PCIe 3.0 x8 protocol with a bandwidth of up to 8GT/s, enough to “carry” the RTX 3080 graphics card. Touch fingerprint integrated directly into the power button on the side, similar to the solution on today’s smartphones, besides WiFi 6E wireless connection, Bluetooth 5.2, 720p HD webcam, and 8MP rear camera, pre-installed with Windows 11 Home.

With a built-in 56WHrs 4-cell Li-ion battery, Asus claims the ROG Flow Z13 has up to 8 hours of battery life. The device comes with a compact 100W charger that helps increase mobility, supporting fast charging of 50% of the battery in just 30 minutes. At the same time, the device also supports charging from a backup battery via the Type C port.

The keyboard and protective cover of the ROG Flow Z13 feature an edge-to-edge keyboard design that combines a desktop-style layout, delivering a full-size size in a compact chassis. The ErgoLift hinge raises the back of the keyboard when the screen is open, providing a better typing angle. RGB backlighting makes working and playing games more convenient in low-light environments.

Ending

With a unique design, and compact body but still packed with powerful performance, ROG Flow Z13 promises to be the right device for those who need high mobility, often on the go, while still ensuring maximum performance. This is a product not only for gamers but also for mobile users who still need high performance such as YouTubers, Vloggers, Tiktokers, designers, graphic artists, or even office enthusiasts game.