Asus showed off a number of laptops at the recent CES 2018. Among their number was the ZenBook 13 (UX331UAL). However, it has now released a similar model with discrete graphics - a GeForce MX150 GPU. The new Asus ZenBook 13 UX331UN has an attractive headlining claim of being the "world's thinnest discrete graphics laptop". To put some numbers to that claim it is 310mm x 215mm (slightly larger than a sheet of A4 paper) and 13.9mm thick. While we are getting physical, it is worth mentioning that the UX331UN weighs in at an impressive (for a 13.3-incher) 1.1Kg.
Inside this laptop there is an Intel Core i5-8250U 1.6GHz (Turbo up to 3.4GHz) quad-core processor and the aforementioned Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU with 2GB of GDDR5. The design is based around a 13.3-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel wide-viewing-angle touchscreen display with 8GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 256GB SSD as standard. That screen features Asus NanoEdge tech which equates to a 6.86mm bezel.
Other hardware specs you might be interested in are the USB 3.1 Type-C port, two USB 3.1 ports, an HDMI port, a headset/audio in combi jack, a webcam, a microSD card reader, a fingerprint reader to the lower right of the back-lit keyboard (which features 1.4mm key travel), plus dual-band 802.11ac and Bluetooth 4.2 wireless communications. Windows 10 64-bit is pre-installed.
Road warriors might appreciate the battery life of this nicely portable laptop. Asus claims that its 50Wh lithium-polymer battery "gives ZenBook 13 up to 14 hours of autonomy, with fast-charge technology that takes just 49 minutes to recharge to 60% capacity".
The Asus ZenBook 13 UX331UN is available in either Slate Grey or Royal Blue and retails at US$999 with the specs exactly as above. I'm not sure if there are any configuration options available before checkout. The laptop comes with a one year international warranty.
