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00:00It's like a Surface Pro 9 on steroids, I mean just look at this thing, it's the new
00:05Asus ROG Flow Z13 as I get chucked off my bike.
00:10This is according to ROG the fastest gaming tablet in the world.
00:14A big thank you to Asus ROG for sending this out for me to have a play with and also partnering
00:18with me on this video and I've got to say this is one of the most interesting and certainly
00:22unique gaming devices that you can buy.
00:25I mean for starters just look at this thing, it's completely nuts and arguably a bit of
00:30a fashion accessory although perhaps not exactly my style and it's also draw-droppingly fast.
00:36With up to a 13th gen i9, an RTX 4070, 32 gigs of RAM on this particular model, a terabyte
00:42storage and this is not even its final form.
00:45Obviously you've got the folio case you can plug in here but you can also buy the optional
00:49XG Mobile Dock which can come with up to a 4090 which can plug directly in here and soup
00:54up your graphics even more.
00:56Now if you're thinking holy moly Tom what is that I hate it and you might do, obviously
01:01design is very subjective and beauty is in the eye of the beholder, well the good news
01:04is they are also launching a regular normal Z13 as well as this.
01:08This is the special edition Z13 acronym.
01:12Firstly let's talk specs and we get a 13.4 inch 165 hertz quad HD plus 500 nit HDR display.
01:19Now it is IPS not OLED or mini LEDs sadly.
01:23We also get an i9 CPU that's an H series chip and a 4070 GPU.
01:27My only issue is if you do want the top spec 4070 and 32 gigs of RAM then you are forced
01:33to go with this acronym version.
01:35We also get an improved vapor chamber cooling system, we get NVIDIA's advanced Optimus
01:39that can control the MUX switch for you which basically means this can switch between the
01:43integrated and a discrete GPUs depending on how you're using it and means you can get
01:47at least some decent battery life when you're not gaming.
01:51This adjustable kickstand gives us up to 170 degrees of flexibility so it can almost
01:56lie flat and actually if you are going to use this more as a creative tool and perhaps
01:59use the pen with it then this angle is actually really quite nice for your doodling in your
02:03drawing.
02:04And if you really want to you can also use this stand in portrait mode like that perhaps
02:07if you're coding or you just want it to look extra cool.
02:12And of course the full size and backlit keyboard is detachable so you can go around using this
02:16as a tablet, quite a hefty tablet but it's an option.
02:21Now the keyboard is very nice to use for a folio and Acronym's design is all over the
02:26place here from the three tone keycaps to their funky font but it can all get a bit
02:30busy they've kind of added their own little alphabet style typography underneath the regular
02:36characters and at first glance it can get a little bit confusing about what key you're
02:39actually pressing so I mean it works fine I just don't necessarily love the design of
02:44this thing but what do you think?
02:47Also bear in mind this is not a Bluetooth keyboard so it does need to be attached to
02:50the tablet to use it.
02:51Now before we get to the gaming performance and everything else we have to talk about
02:55this.
02:56It's one of the most uniquely designed laptop slash 2-in-1 things I've used in a long time.
03:01Now this is the second time ROG have teamed up with the fashion brand Acronym who specialise
03:05in high-tech cyber punky slash utilitarian designs and apparel and as a bit of a fashion
03:11expert myself which I'm sure you'll agree it is certainly... something.
03:16The custom aluminium alloy chassis, the CNC machined lines and the laser etched logos
03:21definitely look the part with the rubber grips and also pretty hefty drop resistant metal
03:26bumpers on the corners adding some function as well as form.
03:29Although I'm not overly convinced the internal components would survive a full on drop despite
03:33these bumpers.
03:34The downside is these chunky bumpers significantly add to the overall size and therefore portability
03:40and arguably it does look a bit like an industrial prototype and of course all that metal adds
03:45to the weight.
03:46We're talking 1.32kg vs 1.18kg on the regular Z13 and then once you add the folio keyboard
03:52this is hefty but wait there's more because these little corner bumpers are also where
03:58you attach these straps which come bundled with this Acronym version.
04:03If you've ever wanted to carry your big metal gaming tablet as a bit of a fashion accessory
04:07then well now's your chance.
04:09This multifunctional strap acts as a carry handle in briefcase mode if you just want
04:13to carry it by your side.
04:15Also as a shoulder strap for shoulder mode so you can carry it like a satchel or if you
04:19really have no shame in what they call producer mode for hands free use.
04:23Although I must admit I'm a bit more of a chuck it in a backpack kind of guy.
04:27They do also bundle this little velcro pouch which also has a strap which is kind of handy
04:32for carrying around the power adapter and maybe the pen with it as well and you can
04:36see just how compact and portable this is it actually fits in the palm of your hand
04:40and also it's a 130 watt power adapter and it does charge via USB-C and finally we also
04:46get this Acronym edition of the Asus Pen 2 because ROG are keen to stress that despite
04:51gamers literally being in their ROG name this is also meant for creators, editors, devs,
04:56designers, anyone who needs a portable and powerful machine with a colour accurate touchscreen
05:01you might get a few looks pulling this out in a meeting but is that a bad thing?
05:05Okay enough waffling on about this design let's talk about performance.
05:09Just how fast is the world's fastest gaming tablet?
05:13Well bare in mind despite the impressive i9 and 4070 specs on paper these are the more
05:18efficient mid-range parts in terms of power.
05:20Both the H series i9 and the 4070 run at around 65 watts with the latter benefiting from ROG's
05:2515 watts of dynamic boost although the wattage of the CPU and the GPU will dynamically adapt
05:30based on the task and also the performance mode that you're in.
05:33Also bare in mind only the storage is upgradable here so if you are going to buy one I would
05:37opt for the higher spec 16 gig version on the regular Z13 although as I say this Acronym
05:42gets 32 gigs.
05:44Okay so let's bring in the results from Geekbench 6, 3DMark Time Spy and also a handful of games
05:49all tested with high settings at native QHD+, and with DLSS enabled of course in games that
05:54support it because I don't know why you'd play without it.
05:56In Forza Horizon 5 we're just shy of triple digits in the benchmark although actually
06:00playing it I found it was more like in the 110s, Cyberpunk in RT ultra mode averaged
06:06just shy of 60fps and Nvidia's frame generation exclusive to the 40 series of cards definitely
06:11helps here because without it it drops to around 48.
06:15Frame gen also makes all the difference in Flight Simulator and in Rainbow Six Siege
06:19again maxed out we are easily taking advantage of that 165hz refresh rate.
06:24Now I'm testing the 4070 version here and compared to the 4050 this is around 20% faster
06:30in terms of GPU performance.
06:31Jumping into the Armoury Crate app which gives you access to all the hardware info, lighting,
06:36audio, their fancy ROG wallpapers which are actually very nice, all the bells and whistles
06:40and there are four standard profiles, silent, performance, turbo and manual with additional
06:45GPU only options to choose from including ultimate which only uses the dedicated GPU
06:49and this is what I've been using for my testing although most of the time I stick with standard
06:53which enables the advanced optimus.
06:55Can you hear that?
06:57So that is what it sounds like under load running a gaming benchmark and it's around
07:01I think about 50dB from my tests.
07:03You can actually have this completely silent if you put it in silent mode and the fans
07:07will only kick in when the temperatures hit over 50 degrees Celsius so everyday use in
07:12terms of browsing chrome, watching YouTube, doing office work, the fans do kick in, you
07:16can just about hear it but it's not particularly significant.
07:19Even under load it's doing a pretty good job with these cooling vents at the top which
07:22really are blasting out quite a lot of warm air and also the vapour chamber cooling inside.
07:27I think it does a pretty good job overall keeping the noise and the heat under control
07:30and actually one benefit of having a folio keyboard is there isn't really much heat transfer
07:34unlike regular laptops where the fans and all the components are underneath and the
07:38heat rises.
07:39With this, the touchpad, the keyboard all stay nice and cool throughout.
07:44As for battery, well we have a decent sized 56Wh cell in here which I don't think is too
07:49bad at all given it's a 13-inch tablet and with the standard profile and regular non-gaming
07:54use I get about 5 hours, maybe just under 5 hours from this.
07:58Not great, not terrible.
08:01The screen is a real highlight though and as I say while OLED or Mini LED would have
08:05been nice and the absence is a bit surprising for an ASUS ROG product and especially one
08:10with their Nebula HDR branding, this is still a top notch IPS giving us 100% sRGB, 85% Adobe
08:17RGB and 98% P3 coverage.
08:20We also get HDR10 and Dolby Vision support which is great for watching a bit of Netflix
08:24in HDR and I measured a peak brightness of 475 nits.
08:28Elsewhere, we have a 5MP webcam up front with Windows Hello support as well as a 13MP rear
08:34camera, stereo mics and stereo speakers which do a decent job but they're nothing really
08:38special as always a good pair of headphones is the way to go.
08:45Okay so let's wrap up and let's start with the good stuff and it certainly is a very
08:48unique design, not least for being an incredibly powerful 2-in-1 gaming laptop slash tablet
08:54thing but of course also this collaboration with the acronym designer.
08:58Lovely display, really impressive performance, 32GB of RAM on this particular model is nice
09:03as well.
09:04It stays pretty cool and quiet and it's also relatively portable, I mean for a gaming laptop
09:08although these chunky bumpers and the added weight of this metal chassis does certainly
09:12make it a bit more of a chunky monkey than the other regular Z13 which brings me to the
09:17bad stuff.
09:18And you may absolutely hate this design and also not really appreciate that it does add
09:21that extra bulk.
09:22The battery life is not great at all, it is very average and it is also quite expensive.
09:27Now this is going to start at around $1,750 or about £2,000 for the 4050 and go up from
09:33there and I believe this acronym model will start around $2,500 or slightly above in the
09:39US.
09:40I'm not sure about UK pricing but I will update pricing and leave links in the description
09:43below if you do fancy checking this out.
09:46And of course you do also have the option of the XG Mobile Dock which is quite expensive
09:49by itself but ASUS have shown over the last few years that they are continuing to support
09:53it and it is a great way of maybe down the line upgrading the GPU of this, albeit externally.
09:59But what do you reckon?
10:00Would you be tempted to buy something like this or do you think perhaps it's a bit of
10:03a gimmicky design?
10:04Let me know what you make of the Flow Z13 in the comments below.
10:07If you enjoyed the video a like and subscribe would be very much appreciated and I'll see
10:10you next time right here on the Tech Chat.