Asus ROG Flow Z13 Review
The Asus ROG Flow Z13 showcases Asus making innovative products for different categories. Hot on the success of their ROG Flow X13.
The Z13 put this in the tablet/hybrid category. Rocking a 14 core Intel Core i9 and GeForce RTX 3050Ti or AMD RX6850M XT GPU when connected to the XG mobile in a small form factor machine. The Flow Z13 is portability meets performance defined.
Design
When the ROG mothership was debuted, the idea of an all-in-one gaming machine was redefined. The Asus Flow Z13 follows the same design principal and this gaming tablet is exactly the result of that same design. Featuring a high-density aluminum alloy, there's a built-in kickstand can be opened to 170 degrees.
On the back glass window is an enclosure showcasing the mainboard that’s RGB backlit. This interesting design choice has some level of practicality too. It also allows the layout of chip components on both sides of the motherboard to achieve higher performance despite the limited space of a 13" device. The inclusion of this window allowed larger than normal components to be used on the motherboard, allowing for higher performance where it normally wouldn’t be possible.
Weighing at just 1 kilogram, the Z13 is quite light. The FLOW Z13 was designed with versatility in mind. The detachable keyboard has a N-key rollover, a 1.7mm travel distance and single- zone RGB with Aura Sync support.
Ports include, a USB Type-A port and a dedicated USB Type-C with Thunderbolt 4 support. When connected to the XG Mobile, additional ports like DisplayPort, HDMI and ethernet are accessible. It can also charge the Z13 as well so you don’t need to use the base charger which is a nice design touch. Finally, a microSD card slot is also subtly hidden under the kickstand of the machine for additional game and app storage
The 13-inch touchscreen display is a 16:10 4K 60hz panel but there’s also a 1080p 120hz panel if you want a faster display speed. The screen is also pretty bright at 500 nits and has Gorilla Glass 5. The 16:10 display size also works in this form factor given that it allows more space for toolbars and tabs. Besides the touch screen there's also a stylus support added to let content creators use the display more intuitively.
Performance
Technically this is the world’s most powerful gaming tablet. It runs Windows 11, is fully capable of running most AAA titles with relative ease and this performance can be accelerated with the XG Mobile adapter connection, pushing this to a more powerful Nvidia GPU or AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT making this a completely different machine.
On its own, the 14-core Intel Core i9-12900H CPU and NVIDIA GeForce RTX™ 3050Ti GPU depending on what you want, powers the heart of the Flow Z13. It also has fast DDR5 memory clocked at 5,200MHz and 1TB of M.2 NVMe storage to tackle all of your needs. To get the most from the machine, Turbo performance mode and plugging it in gives it the most power its capable of.
Despite it having high power consumption hardware, the FLOW Z13's ultra-compact form factor allows it to have more cooling space than traditional gaming laptop designs. The FLOW Z13 also comes with a vapor chamber, which has significantly more surface area for heat dissipation than a standard heat pipe design. Because a tablet form factor does not require a hinge, this machine is able to use much larger fans and a wider vapor chamber. Another benefit of its tablet design form factor and the built-in kick stand is keeping the heat-generating components of the FLOW Z13 stand high above the desk when in operation, giving much better access to fresh air than standard laptops.
When added together with virtually no noise with its Ambient Cooling, this means that the FLOW Z13 is completely silent during light operations and remains incredibly quiet even under full load.
It’s an ideal device for running most popular games on 60 frames per second and the higher titles on medium to high settings.
The FLOW Z13 has over 10 hours of battery life for daily use and 5 hours of battery when gaming. The included 100W adapter weighs just 300g. Despite its small size, it supports Fast Charging Technology which can charge the FLOW Z13 up to 50% battery in only 30 minutes so you should be able to game all day without any trouble at all.
The 720p full HD front web camera does pretty decent under most lighting conditions and it’s packed in with Dual Smart Amp speakers with Hi-Res Audio and Dolby Atmos support provide great stereo sound for your favorite content. For voice communications, a 3-mic array and AI Noise Cancelation keeps comms clear. At the back is an 8 MP camera so you can take some good shots or run a web conference.
The device comes with 2 Smart Amp speakers on both sides of the screen (1 on each side), assuring the audio volume won’t become a minus when enjoy games/entertainment. Dolby Atmos and Hi-res audio technology provides a clearer and more immersive audio experience.
Verdict
At AED 8,599, the ROG Flow Z13 is a very specialized device. This is the future of portability and Asus is ahead of the curve for launching a powerful machine in an extremely small form factor. Imagine if you want to game or do a video edit in an airplane but you’re not able to because of a bulky laptop, this is designed to solve that problem.
This is literally the definition big things come in small packages and the Asus ROG Flow Z13 is proof that Asus is continuing to push that innovation forward.
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