It’s just crazy haw much tech has evolved only in the last 3 years. Never expected Asus to make a gaming tablet, makes you really feel like the portable gaming era from when the time the ltt just started, only this time right. Remember Nvidia Shield?😅
The engineering that went into the z13 is fantastic, to think that you can fit so much power in a thin form factor is kinda insane, portable power house and then docking system for gaming at home
Usually cooling is the reason why small form factors have less power. But being a tablet and meant to be used standing up, this device can have much better airflow than most laptops with their air intakes against the desk.
@@sebastianjost I agree but i think asus has done pretty well regarding thermal management compared to how microsoft is doing with ther surface devices, the vent in the back, vapor chamber and liquid metal is a pretty good way to keep things decently cool
Only wished ASUS used a more sensible chipset solution. Get rid of that RTX-3050 and the Core i9-12900H. Replace them both with the AMD r7-6800U which should perform well, much cooler, last a much longer time, and give more space for a larger battery on top. Cut the price in half to USD $1,000. Sure, the 12CU (RDNA-2) iGPU isn't much, but it's enough for Everything and Apps, except high-end gaming. Might be worth bumping up to a 32GB sRAM. As for graphics performance, for a dGPU use the external solution shown. And instead of relying on a pricey RTX-3080M, perhaps stick to a desktop AMD RX6800 with a full 16GB vRAM for some 4K-level gaming. The 6800u CPU won't be much of a bottleneck there.
Leave a comment* your thoughts on the ASUS ROG Flow Z13, and in about 4 hours, we'll randomly select someone as the winner. Update: The winner has been selected! If they do not claim it within 24 hours, we'll redraw it.
it's a huge compliment to the manufacturer when Alex doesn't want to tear the thing apart. he seemed to like it so much that it hit him in the feels when he started talking about heat guns.
As a digital artist this looks incredible, For future videos on surface/iPad pro competitors i would LOVE to see diagonal pen tests. so many windows tablets have terrible line jitter and it would be very helpful for knowing if its viable at all for art.
I have it and tested that a week ago. The jitter is acceptable, but the screen is not fully laminated. The pressure from the pen tip will press down at the panel and ripple the content it's displaying. Its useable but far from a great experience.
I had Flow X13, the sister model to this Z13. All ASUS devices use same MPP 2.0 protocol which is Microsoft's tech from 2016. Generally for professional art and design work, either one of APP (iPad), EMR (Wacom, Samsung), or MPP 3.0 (Surface 2021+) is encouraged. MPP 2.0 is great for casual drawing as a hobby, but the difference is noticeable. Teoh Yi Chie and Brad Colbow have thoroughly reviewed many of them over the years so I would refer to their videos.
I took a chance and bought the X13 last year so I can travel and edit (and, you know, play games on an airplane. Elden Ring at 30000 feet?) and it's been one of the best purchases I've ever made. I'm psyched to see them continuing with the style and I love the idea that I may be able to purchase an upgraded eGPU in the future.
@@Surya99999 I think it depends on what use u want on the go, as said in the video around the keyboard segment, its not as good as an actual laptop, so in that case if u are a keyboard gamer u might want to bring along another keyboard for gaming on the go if u go with the z13.
@@Surya99999 I have experience on both z13 and x13. They have minor differences while having portability as main strength. The plus for x13 is being able to use it on tent form, better thermals than the z13 imo as my z13 gets hot when gaming. x13 is also sold with 32gb ram compared to z13's only 16gb. The plus for z13 is It's screen is very bright ang clear compared to x13. Z13's speaker is also quite loud and capable compared to x13's which is kinda meh. The bad for z13 is that it only comes with 16gb ram and it gets very hot to touch when gaming with its internal gpu. Both keyboards were "decent" but I like z13's detachable keyboard more. I don't really cared much as I have a dedicated keypad for gaming. IMO either get the z13 if you like using tablet for factor or wait for x13's 2022 updated model if you want a more traditional laptop.
@@Surya99999 I'm beting that the RDNA2 6000 series version will have an even bigger price tag and run games with the igp at 1080p. Can't wait til Zen 4 mobile processor gaming laptops/tablets, if we make it to mid 2023
How did he not know Xbox controllers have Bluetooth? I'm so actually confused... They had it waaaaay before the Series consoles were out xD. My Xbox One and my Xbox One X controllers work over bluetooth with Windows.
honestly a bit concerning, I know they aren't a gaming channel, but they definitely are a gaming hardware channel and this lack of what I consider basic gaming hardware knowledge is hard to understand.
Tbf the xbox 360 controllers used some sort of 2.4GHz connection and the new xbox series controller use a special kind of bluetooth (Bluetooth low energy) which makes it so it doesn’t/poorly connects to older devices. Making it easy to think new xbox controllers don’t use bluetooth if your bluetooth chipset doesn’t support BLE
@@milnan The first Xbox one controllers didn't support any kind of Bluetooth connectivity, actually. You could only connect them to your PC through cables or those 2.4GHz dongles. This changed in the first revision of the controllers, back in 2015 I think. It's just awkward to see people in the "cutting edge gaming circle" discovering this fact 7 years later.
I am actually amazed, noone has done something like this before. Also, i don't find it that expensive. Compared to something like an iPad Pro with the Keyboard, it's pretty comparable.
I agree, the price is fine. Don't forget that this does come with a 3050 TI, an i9 processor and a touch screen. I'm not even sure other 13" laptops with an i9 even exist for comparison. However I think the Flow X13 with similar spec is $100 cheaper.
@@sebastianjost Also the low end might rock the i7 12700H, which is the best Intel mobile chip in performance per dollar (very small performance difference compared to 12900HK)
I used to despise the thought of gaming on anything even close to the size of a tablet or ultrabook, but now, I'm hyped for the possibilities of portable power. While the Flow X13 might not be what I consider because I would still sacrifice the portability for more power, I certainly wouldn't mind if they decided to release something like what the Razer Edge tried to be.
You don’t need the Microsoft dongle anymore, since the One S controller, they can work through Bluetooth too. The latency is a little bit worse than the dongle, but it is so much more convenient
Just a slight correction - Since the Xbox one S (second)revision of the Xbox one controller. Essentially, anything after the original Xbox one controller has Bluetooth.
Soon as you said "the latency" I was out. If I can see and feel the difference between pressing the button and Mario jumping in SMB3, I disregard whatever it is that's causing it. Emulator, PC, controller, monitor, whatever.
@@ragepoweredgamer It probably highly depends on the BT implementation I think. I use my controller for my phone at least for rocket league sideswipe a highly sensitive game and feel no latency
For someone who needs to bring their laptop everywhere, having an egpu has been the best way to get the best of both worlds. I've got a CoreX with a 3070ti and a Zenbook 13 and I'm crushing whatever I want in a ridiculously small formfactor. I do love building computers, but it's impractical for my needs. I would highly recommend that everyone take a look at Egpu's because they are totally worth it.
I like traveling with my gadgets. Desktop is maybe for people who don't move often. I have been having my eye on ASUS z13 and x13 because of this reason - they want to provide a way for their consumers to have portability and near desktop level performance!!
old comment I know lol, but I have the g14 and it performs pretty close to this thing with the 3080 e gpu and is super compact and portable as well while have the gpu onnboard the device. Seems like the more optimal solution to me, but to each their own.
What crushed the eGPU market is a massive performance losses with TB3/4 vs a custom setup like ASUS/Framework had (PCIE 3/4.0 at X8 lanes). Maybe with TB5 we'll see a resurgence, especially because operating on PCIE 4.0 double the bandwidth density for the 4 lanes Tbunderbolt can carry. 3.0 x8 ewuivalent bandwidth should be enough for only minor losses.
I do feel like a lot of people are into PC building almost out of habit at this point. I mean given the fact that a steam deck plugged into a USBC dock and whatever TV you happen to have is a viable way to play a lot of games....
I’m a fan of the “laplet” style that has been growing since the ipad. To me it has been more form over function than price to performance. With this now making a strong argument of compromising your price ceiling to get both form and function. This seems like a top piece of kit to me.
I bought a surface pro 4 16 gb ram used for around 590 usd and it's pretty good except for the standby problems. I probably paid more than I should've but I need touch and a high res display! This makes me hopeful that these form factors will come down in price enough for us mere mortals to buy it new!
Alex said it best when he described it as “the dorm room king”. The price is rather prohibitive, but there is something really nice about having a super powerful machine on your desk when you need it, the portability when you need that (not to mention inking support for note taking for students which I consider a huge plus), and having all of your files and data in one central place rather than across a laptop and a desktop.
i get what both he and you are saying but $2000 is still a steep price for a college notebook imo its enough to get a decent lenovo legion AND a galaxy tab or IPad of ones choice you can store notes in the cloud via OneNote, Keep, or a host of other notes apps if you really did NEED to have something in one single factor Imo the x13 is slightly more reasonable atm with its more ram in the 2022 model i wish they would do an AMD version of this since that would get superb battery life too
This is amazing. Would love to see a Ryzen 6000 version. I'd personally be happy if this form factor became more common, as I use my laptops built in keyboard maybe 2% of the time. Being able to use it as a tablet is much more convenient for just random browsing on your couch while watching something on the tv. Then plug it into the egpu and play some games at a great fps.
@@B1u35ky I think you'd be also be able to do away with having a Discrete GPU. That should make it more affordable and the Vapor chamber would just keep that APU running cooler and quieter.
Asus build quality and engineering is amazing. I don't normally game on my laptop, and I own a Zenbook Duo which still holds up well 3 years of high usage. I'm interested in foldable phones, and would love Asus to have a go at it.
I haven't bought a new laptop in like 6 years but as soon as ASUS announced this one I've wanted to buy it. They packed so much performance into a tablet and its literally everything I've always wanted from a surface that has kept me from buying a surface!
Asus been pushing the portable gaming industry like crazy since 2017. Starting from that insanely thin ROG Zephyrus, after that the monster ROG Mothership, then the last year's convertible Flow X13, now a literal Tablet with Flow Z13. A HUGE kudos really.
Depending on how well this model sells, i’m looking forward to future iterations, maybe some more price friendly! But wow, if I had the cash to drop right now, i’d be picking this up!!
I also hope for less gamer-oriented designs becoming available. For now I think the X13 and Z13 and the surface book are the only 13" 2-in-1 device CES with dedicated GPU. I think there are many people who would love GPUs in their 13" devices, so seeing more options would be great
@@liltorro4466 Sick! Here’s to hoping it has solid Linux support and then I’ll have no reason to get an older Surface. eGPU capable, but still reasonably powerful when a tablet sounds like a good combo.
Now that Asus has done this, I hope they also go a step further with a future generation of tablet-laptop. One thing I've wished a manufacturer would do for awhile now is a Surface Book -like device, but make the keyboard half an option. Basically, have your Surface, standard with typecover, but if you want a better keyboard have the Book-like upgrade, but also have a range of upgrades, a massive battery bank, extra storage, an eGPU keyboard base (Probably more similar to what's done with this eGPU, just inegrated into a Book-like base), etc. I don't really get why nobody else tackled the Surface market in the first place, but I don't get why nobody is introducing a product like this, you could make the keyboard itself a dock, and you could cater to a much wider market through a set of accessories, which keeps main model SKUs to a minimum. Plus a proper Book-like keyboard base would add a proper hinge, and you'd get the wider variety of tent/stand/tablet configurations that tucks the keyboard away if the connector is reversible. It'd just become a more versatile system, not to mention an eGPU keyboard dock would make the base system less expensive (or have a multi-GPU system option), and would add more GPU options to the accessory rather than the main system, which could open the market up to workstation GPUs and not just gaming GPUs; not to mention that this design also opens up the possibility of doing the same things but with a more traditional dock that's more catered to having a permanent home at a desk. Not to mention that an ecosystem like this would be so much more friendlier to upgrades, just upgrade the dock as needed, or just upgrade the main unit as needed; this would be even better if Asus, or whoever does this first, brings their own MXM-like standard, similar to what Dell has done but refuses to offer upgrade cards for the products that use it, and look at the massive variety of mobile GPU cards Dell offers between their gaming and business lineups, all because they have a simpler base SKU that can be upgraded to a variety of systems. This would be even better if the actual data connection itself wasn't proprietary, such as if USB4 fixes the eGPU situation, just have a couple of discrete ports for more external PCIe lanes, though this wouldn't work with a storage dock unless you use slower storage or a ton of bifurcation; the only proprietary bit would be the bulkier connection that secures things in place, which wouldn't need to interfere with the Type C ports, meaning expandability remains in a non-proprietary way. I know it'll never happen, it's a pipe dream after all, but it'd be nice if this was an offering from at least one of the companies. It'd be even better if the display was also of high enough quality to be a competent graphics tablet, which makes the desktop use case scenario even better.
My thoughts on the Flow Z13: It's quite amazing that ASUS managed to put that much power in a form factor this small. The SD card reader is also a nice feature. A ROG-themed stylus would've been a great addition.
At that point, I'm now imagining someone playing OSU on their Z13, as I can't really think of any other fast-paced game that supports a pen tablet as a controller.
i've used my xbox controller over bluetooth exclusively and it works extremely well. i've heard there's more range to be had with a dedicated adapter, but it reaches to the size of a typical living room which is plenty for me.
This is actually cool, I imagine in a few years this level of hardware will be decently affordable, and laptops might finally all go to this form factor.
Microsoft tablets like this are pointless until they make an onscreen keyboard that works exactly like an android one and automatically pops up when you focus any text box. I tried win 11 on a tablet and it is no better than 10, 7, xp, 2000, ME, 98, or 95.
Small form factors are NEVER affordable. Most people go with either laptops or towers for gaming and tablets for content, if you throw something "odd" onto the marketplace you're never going to sell enough to justify the R&D to the point of making it affordable.
@@pixelsafoison You are confused. This is a tablet using windows with an external pci-e connector for an external gpu. This is most definitely a gaming tablet and eGPUs work extremely well. The issue is that a laptop with a real keyboard that can use thunderbolt to connect to an eGPU is faster and better. This asus will work well for gaming with its good cpu and an external gpu, but you can save 800 bucks by buying any decent laptop with thunderbolt to go with an eGPU. I have been using an hp x360 spectre with a i7-1065G7 and an external gpu with a gtx 1080. It worked great. I recently switched to a 3060 for dlss and it works great. Yes, a xx80 will work better with the asus and direct pci-e, but a cheaper laptop and a 3060 in a thunderbollt eGPU case will make anyone happy.
Yeah not gonna lie that is actually cool but for me I won't like it that all laptops would go all in on small form factor yes it is powerful and stuff but I don't bet on it at all
Honestly, The Z13 looks so cool, I wish that I could use it as my daily driver. I've always loved the designs of the Surface Pro lineup, but they've always come at such a high premium and without any of the performance, so it's nice to see where this form factor can go if in the right hands :)
Alex the Laptop King has spoken and he has proclaimed the glory of the Republic Of Gamers. In this new era it is the Flow Z13 and its glory of high specs and portability that reigns supreme!
I, like many others commenting never would have pegged myself as an ultra-portable fan until I inherited a Surface Pro 4 i7/16gb RAM...I was just blown away at how nice the experience was especially being able to comfortably sketch/draw with it. I just liked being able to grab it and go knowing I had the power to get things done while away from my desktop or at a family/friends place. I don't think I could use another form factor in terms of laptop now. Now that this exists from ASUS it's like they took the best stock surface pro and said what can we add? ...and then completely followed through lol! Dayyyyum MS they caught you slacking hard. It really does mimic that butter form factor of a Surface Pro with all the right ports and power options. Well done ASUS! When I go for a new laptop this will be the line of products I look to! Thanks for the awesome review LTT you guys are the best for a reason!
The first egpu I ever made was in 2013 ish, using some adapters from Bplus Tech in Taiwan and an old gtx 280 connected through the samsung laptops pcmcia slot. It actually worked. The laptop went from getting like 15 fps in Unreal Tournament Black edition to 60+. This is the dream setup I had imagined in my mind way back then! lol
Looks like a compact and powerfull tablet for a pretty decent price. Easy hookable to a external monitor and looks like a ez daily drive for most of the people.
My thoughts on the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 are I love how it is able to run the games I would want to play and how cool it looks. I also love how portable it is. This laptop would be awesome for my school work and all my Autocad projects. Speaking about the design I love how it has a great battery life and upgradable storage. It is also nice that this laptop has a camera for all my zoom calls. I think that this laptop would be a big help in my college adventure.
That thing is pretty awesome. I used to have a Surface Pro and loved it, but I absolutely hated the fact any reasonable spec cost a fortune and still throttled from heat. It was very nice as an office machine and to watch videos on due to the form factor. This looks like it fixes all my gripes about the Surface Pro whilst keeping what made it awesome.
Amazing piece of technology, love how multi purpose the device is but those see through plastic RGBs are probably the real highlights lol. Amazing design!
Asus managed to make a freakishly powerful tablet without it doubling as a frying pan. The fact that it doesn't turn into a frying pan is already amazing. The i5 laptop i used to have had like half the horse power of that thing but I swear i can cook my breakfast on the keyboard when I'm using it. And it's a laptop, with dedicated cooling system. Meanwhile this tablet is half the thickness, has more ports, and it actually has a cooling system that lets you use it without it becoming uncomfortably hot.
6:53 Since the Xbox One S controller, Xbox Controllers have supported Bluetooth. On the older controllers (that had a polling rate of only 125 Hz), measurements even indicated that there was no noticeable additional delay compared to using the dongle or even a wired connection, however the input delay did show bigger variation and thus less consistency. This may have gotten better or worse with the Series X/S Controller (which has a polling rate of 250 Hz), though.
Is the polling at 125Hz (on the One S controller) regardless of connection? I use mine over bluetooth (just a regular Asus dongle as I don't have built-in BT) but I have no idea how much better would a cable be? I did use it with a cable occasionally but never noticed a dramatic difference, then again, I have tried going back and forth and trying to get a sense of input lag. I sure do feel some input lag over BT but I also feel it over the cable.
@@Mikri90 The polling rate is the same for all connection types. When it comes to BT vs cable, the lag should be very similar, but a bit less consistent on bluetooth. So, you probably get occasional spikes, the frequency and intensity of which may depend on the quality of your bluetooth connection. So, cable should be more consistent, but if your bluetooth connection is good and you don't do a lot of super fast, precise inputs, it will be hard to notice the difference.
@@justuslm thank you for the quick response. Yeah, this tracks so far with my experience. My BT connection seems to be stable, I never noticed any sort of (perceptible) inconsistency, and even when I played platformers with a lot of inputs (like Ori) it was never an issue.
I wish there were an AMD version of this. Anyway, the other connector also seems to be OCuLink. And, I'm not sure how comparable to a Surface it is if you don't compare the stylus experience. The X13's wasn't great, while Microsoft's has improved a lot (still not Wacom EMR).
they should literally have a version with just 6900hs as that igpu is as good as gtx1650m anyways. Why have a gpu on the tablet form when u rely on the external box
Although the physical port is an OCuLink, I believe the pin layout of the port has been changed to make it proprietary. Also I think you can use any MPP stylus on both X13 and Z13. So although Asus's stylus is bad, you can just get the Surface Pen and use it on this.
Meh, people's opinions are like but holes, everyone has one. Could get some serious work done on that thing probably (the frequency is a slight concern tho)
I would love to see more of these types of Surface-like devices, as gaming laptops have been getting bigger and bigger, making them harder and harder to actually use as laptops. Having this should make great quality gaming truly portable now, and I'm really excited about how this type of laptop technology improves.
With how unwieldy the highest end gaming laptops are getting, I seriously don't understand why someone hasn't brought back the luggable form factor. I mean, the moment that someone made a *water cooled laptop with its own colostomy bag*, I think you've lost the argument that "luggables aren't lap friendly". Hell, I don't think *any* of this is high-end gaming laptops are even intended for lap use, so at least make them less cumbersome to transport.
I'd argue gaming laptops have been getting smaller. You remember a few years ago when the highest end gaming laptops were like 3 inches thick and over 10lbs? Nowadays the highest end gaming laptops are usually only around an inch thick. Those are for people who want a desktop class gaming experience and wouldn't mind sacrificing some portability. These days you have way more options. There are plenty of thin and lights with decent battery life if you want to use them more like normal laptops. It wasnt that long ago when every single gaming laptop was at least an inch thick with horrible battery life so I'd say they've been getting better
The asus rog flow z13 looks wonderful, but it seems really inpractical, at least at its state right now. It is aimed at students that play games, yet it doesn't have good battery life. Also, due to the see through plastic, it cannot lay flat for drawing. At the moment I think the x13 2022 is a better option, due to its practicality. But, nonetheless, the the z13 is incredibly impressive, and I would be more than happy to even touch one, haha!
Series Controllers (and the few batches of controllers prior to launch) added Bluetooth capability. You can also use your controller with your phone and steamlink. Works great and I've been doing it for about 2 years.
2 big important questions I want to see answered before I blow my well earned money on this. 1) battery life. You conveniently didn't mention it, so I'm assuming it's pretty bad? 2) thunderbolt display port support. Being able to use this as a mobile VR station to show off Beat Saber o/S would be incredible. Can I plug my Rift S into this thing (without the xg mobile)? Bonus question) is the i7 model worth it? Where I live this thing is outrageously expensive
unless you really need the portabilyty and really are into the tablet design I don't recomend it 3050ti is not the best mobile gpu(its normally really a budget option on other laptops) out there and I am not sure if its enough for vr it is also going to underperform when its runnning on battery cause thats how laptops are so I say not for vr
Once USB 4.0 comes out we're gonna see plenty of external gpu solutions that are far superior to thunderbolt. Also on a side note Xbox one controllers since the one s have been bluetooth.
"dorm room hero" really makes me think of using my surface while at university, super great fit, loved having it. This kind of form factor is great for that
If the SteamDeck wasn't a thing, I would be so much more excited for this. Hard to justify the Flow at $1899 when similar performance can be had for $399 in the SteamDeck.
Maybe we'll see a similar chip that's in the Deck in a tablet not too far from now. Wouldn't surprise me to see a higher watt/ voltage/chip whatever too. But the price... I doubt anything would be in the range of $400. Cheaper than $1,800 would be nice though.
Aggreed. Still its cool in a way. I would actaully be more excited for the old mothership modle I think something like that would pair well with a steam deck for a portable desktop.
You get more performance with the Flow Z13, even without the eGPU. The SteamDeck can hardly run Horizon Zero Dawn in 720p lowest details, the Flow Z13 wouldn't even sweat in the same situation... and you get a way better screen, faster and bigger SSD and you can run *any* Steam title (including all multiplayer games), not just the ones optimized for SteamOS. It is a different setup for obviously users with much more money. Install Windows 10 on the SteamDeck and the difference in performance will become even greater. But SteamDeck has definitely the better cost-to-performance-ratio and is a much better choice if you want to be really mobile (and play games without utilizing any table).
Interesting to see that someone's reviving the egpu connection akin to Alienware's AGA which they killed last year. I have an M15r1 with an AGA with 1080ti and love having the upgrade ability compared to base laptop. Really hope it stays supported and has good drivers and I'd love to win one! Hint hint wink wink
Man portable pc gaming really has come a long way. Nowadays we have desktop class gaming laptops and super powerful handheld and tablet pc's too. Love to see so much innovation in the computer space!
It's good to know Thunderbolt is only good for running a GTX1070. That saves me the trouble of buying an external enclosure for my RTX2060 to use with my new laptop. I'll just leave it in my old desktop and use it for AI stuff.
Thats not true at 100%. It depends how thunderbolt is implemented and your version. The thunderbolt controller can be placed over the CPU pcie lanes or PCH lanes. If your thunderbolt is behind PCH your 4 PCIe lanes will be shared with your audio chipset, nvme ssds, sata devices, usb ports, ethernet/wifi, lpc, tpm... through the DMI bus (just a stupid commercial name for usually a 4 PCIe lanes bus which interconnects the CPU with PCH) so it will bottleneck and going more than for a 1070ti is money waste (except if you have a x8 DMI or PCIe 4.0 DMI). Now, if you have the thunderbolt controller directly behind to the CPU lanes (good computers with dGPUs running at x8 only like some apple macs) you can use a more powerful card. - Thunderbolt 3 behind PCH with DMI x4 PCIe 3.0: GTX 1070 / RTX 2060 / RTX 3050 (including an hypothetical 3050ti) - Thunderbolt 3 behind CPU or behind PCH with DMI x8 PCIe 3.0 or DMI x4 PCIe 4.0: GTX 1080 or RTX 2070/3060ti without any bottleneck. - Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 behind PCH with DMI x4 PCIe 4.0: RTX 3070 (only PCIe 4.0 cards!!) - Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 behind CPU or behind PCH with DMI x8 PCIe 4.0: RTX 3070ti (only PCIe 4.0 cards!!)
There are three reasons I won't be buying this in spite of my love for the form factor and desire to have a device like this: (1) the limitation of 16GB of RAM, (2) the failure to use the more energy- and therefore heat-efficient Ryzen 6000 series processors, and (3) the limitation of USB 2.0 on the device's sole Type A port. All three of these issues are nothing short of design flaws and are as inexplicable as they are inexcusable.
@@skullduggerry 16GB of RAM is not sufficient for many creative workloads, and even some games are beginning to bottleneck at the highest settings and resolutions (which, given the external GPU option, is very much relevant). 12th generation processors, while "okay", are not at all ideal for this sort of form factor due to their comparatively poor efficiency and therefore heat characteristics (absolutely critical for this form factor) versus Ryzen 6000. Many, many people have a vast number of devices that connect via USB-A and can take advantage of USB 3.0+ speeds. Running these devices through a USB-C dongle to get full speed is asinine and inconvenient when the onboard USB-A port could very easily have supported a higher speed standard.
@@skullduggerry dude i'm using 32gb rog flow x13 and i didn't do video editing. 16gb ram is not enough for heavy gaming + heavy web browsing. before i start playing game the system + web browser already eaten me more than 10gb of ram, what do you think?
I did and I'm running Cyberpunk on high settings (with DLSS of course). The framerate dips in some dense areas of the map but it's totally playable. I intend to buy the egpu in a few months. Just Cause 3, Horizon Zero Dawn and Assassins Creed Unity run great on max graphics without it.
The multi monitor configuration like that is very very nice. I do like that, sure it takes up a lot of desk space and is not aesthetically that pleasing with the cables and all that but I do like how it sits in front of the keyboard for the multi monitor function and the game up on the bigger display. Very very expensive but that is cool.
I have this and compared to the flow x13 (bought one then sold it), I like the z13 more. The only gripe I have is the 16 gb max ram compared to flow x13's 32gb. It would be nice if they squeezed 32gb since the whole concept of the xg mobile dockability is future proofing (and mobility). I also wish they bundled the xg mobile and pen like what they did with the x13 SE. Can't even buy the xg mobile here in canada,
@@nomad7317 Mine is always plugged in and in turbo mode so it doesn't last long. I also set it to 60% max battery charge to extend it's battery life. I initially bought this with the thought I'd be travelling more this year but unfortunately life had different plans so it's being used as an underpowered gaming laptop/overcompensating tablet. One of my biggest gripes is the unavailability to buy the xg mobile solo here in canada so I have not been able to experience it sadly. If you're in the US or EU, it should be fine. I still love the screen. It's gorgeous even without an oled screen (I came from a zenbook pro duo which had a beautiful oled screen). The speaker is loud enough but not one the loudest among the laptops I've had. I can still see me using this as a good travel laptop but as a table it's kinda meh. The thing gets too hot so I can't use it as a gaming tablet (the back plate can get REALLY REALLY HOT). It is also somehow heavier than the x13 I've used last year. The fan can be noticeable in quiet environments and it goes SWOOSH on turbo mode. I don't mind it though as it helps drown out my tinnitus. the 3050ti handles most games well, even older AAA games. I still love it but I'm kinda regretting a few things. The biggest is still me being unable to get the xg mobile solo here in canada (couldn't afford it atm anyway since it's pricey). I've read the flow x13 2022 model improves what I hated about the 2021 model (super dim screen and weakass speakers) so if you're looking for a portable workstation, the x13 might be a better fit especially since it can go upto 32 gb ram. The x13+xg mobile bundle is a complete battlestation you can stow away in your luggage. For me though, the z13 is going to stay but I'll keep praying I can get the xg mobile in the future. No thunderbolt 4 makes me not even consider the x13 2022 model.
I think it is a great innovative idea but for the price it is marketed at, only desirable by a very small group of enthusiasts! Love seeing the boundaries for gaming laptops pushed though! 👍
It's too bad there isn't an AMD version of this. I think any performance loss would be made up easy on heat and cpu efficiency. Asus has been better than most when it comes to using AMD too.
Wait... are you telling me you're reviewing tech as your job and up until now you didn't know you could connect Xbox controllers to windows? Same goes for Dual Shock controllers, you just need the Steam interface to properly use them... this was like the big thing of Windows 10 :D at least edit it out to not embarrass the channel.
I’ve had my Z13 for a while now and absolutely love it. The 3050 Ti is plenty for me and I have had zero issues running any of my games on it, even at higher settings (I’m curious if they were running in turbo mode in the review, because it greatly improves the performance). One thing I wish ASUS offered though is an XG Mobile dock with lower tier GPUs or even one without a GPU, just for the sake of being a docking station. I have a very nice docking station with my XPS 15 and sorely wished I had one for my Z13 because it makes it so much more useable as a desk PC. The ASUS proprietary PD spec is also a bummer because I can’t use just any other docking station, otherwise the charging wattage is limited.
Xbox controllers have built-in bluetooth since the One S controller and it doesn't require their proprietary Xbox dongle. It was just a refresh of the original Xbox One controller but that was added in. You can connect via any third-party dongle (I have a teeny-tiny Asus one) but you can just connect to the on-board bluetooth if you have it. That's also why you can connect them to smartphones over bluetooth.
Xbox one + controllers have had Bluetooth compatibility with windows 10 and 11 for a few years now. If the upper middle portion of the controller is solid plastic it's the updated controller that doesn't require a dongle. The controllers with a discolored strip in the middle that darts through the Xbox button, those are the old ones that require dongles.
Best gaming laptops - ASUS Best gaming phones - ASUS Best gaming tablets - ASUS Best innovative stuffs - ASUS ASUS/ROG - King of Gaming We should appreciate their effort to these designs for us and accelerate innovation.
Now if they made an All in one Version *desktop version*, got rid of the battery and used the extra space for more cooling and upgradeable storage space, external PSU, youd have just about the most powerful and sleek desktop stations, with barely any wiring cleanliness to deal with. eGPU hooked up and 2 monitors, plus its own as a tablet, Gamers and artists, animators alike, this seems like an overall wonderful machine with alot of potential uses. Seeing those frame rate numbers, this could easily replace someones desktop setup. only real kicker is only one nvme for storage. In todays standards for data management 512gb is not enough anymore, heck even 1tb it hardley enough space anymore, but its a good size for C: drives/boot drive, personally believe 2tb is the modern minimum for Triple A gamers.
Alex, if you are going to test the speakers you have to do it with Crab Rave! I was expecting you to bust out your XPS 15 and then shake your head disapprovingly when it gets blown out of the water by the XPS lol.
It's almost perfect. The point I don't like is the propietary eGPU and the price for both the laptop and eGPU. And I think you have missed the stylus and drawing part of this laptop?
Kinda hesitant to spend a lot of money on ROG products atm. I spent the better part of 3k on a Zephyrus Duo and got the common second screen flicker. When searching assistance, I discovered that my warranty wouldn't be honored through Asus because it was purchased from Best Buy. Best Buy basically ignored my requests as well saying I needed to go to Asus. I was also not allowed to extend the warranty in case the issue got worse due to where I bought it. The lack of support and the odd restrictions make another purchase tough, even though I adore their design sensibilities.
I'd love to see you guys cover the hardware revision of it that was recently released. i9 base, 4050 mobile, and the XG Mobile got an update from a 3090 TO A 4090
as long as its not a gen one controller which it dosent look like, it looks like a "next gen" (series x/s) controller it should be compatible with blutooth w/o dongle
I specifically came here to see the 4k version. Granted, i have a very special use case to share. I want to use it for irl streaming, not gaming. There is one tablet cage that will fit it with modifications. Then attach batteries, a mobile modem, a dslr gimbal and vest crane. Streaming 1440p60 from this tablet should be easily doable if you bridged 3 wifi connections with the mobile modem.
It’s just crazy haw much tech has evolved only in the last 3 years. Never expected Asus to make a gaming tablet, makes you really feel like the portable gaming era from when the time the ltt just started, only this time right. Remember Nvidia Shield?😅
What do you mean? I don't think asus makes a gaming tablet. They make a gaming phone, but I don't think they make a gaming tablet?
@@jort93z
He's probably referring to the Flow Z13, the one they're showcasing in this video.
@@jort93z Did you even pay attention to the video you just watched?
@@jort93z that's a joke ?
@@ChristianSandviknes That's not a tablet? lol. Is is clearly a convertible.
The engineering that went into the z13 is fantastic, to think that you can fit so much power in a thin form factor is kinda insane, portable power house and then docking system for gaming at home
Usually cooling is the reason why small form factors have less power. But being a tablet and meant to be used standing up, this device can have much better airflow than most laptops with their air intakes against the desk.
yeah
@@sebastianjost I agree but i think asus has done pretty well regarding thermal management compared to how microsoft is doing with ther surface devices, the vent in the back, vapor chamber and liquid metal is a pretty good way to keep things decently cool
Yeah. Light gaming should be fine on this device.
Only wished ASUS used a more sensible chipset solution.
Get rid of that RTX-3050 and the Core i9-12900H. Replace them both with the AMD r7-6800U which should perform well, much cooler, last a much longer time, and give more space for a larger battery on top. Cut the price in half to USD $1,000. Sure, the 12CU (RDNA-2) iGPU isn't much, but it's enough for Everything and Apps, except high-end gaming. Might be worth bumping up to a 32GB sRAM.
As for graphics performance, for a dGPU use the external solution shown. And instead of relying on a pricey RTX-3080M, perhaps stick to a desktop AMD RX6800 with a full 16GB vRAM for some 4K-level gaming. The 6800u CPU won't be much of a bottleneck there.
Leave a comment* your thoughts on the ASUS ROG Flow Z13, and in about 4 hours, we'll randomly select someone as the winner.
Update: The winner has been selected! If they do not claim it within 24 hours, we'll redraw it.
Ah tricky tricky
Looks awesome
the window should be bigger but def a gaming version of a Microsoft surface.
Well... It's a great device that's waaay out of my reach
It's hella neat with nice design
it's a huge compliment to the manufacturer when Alex doesn't want to tear the thing apart.
he seemed to like it so much that it hit him in the feels when he started talking about heat guns.
As a digital artist this looks incredible, For future videos on surface/iPad pro competitors i would LOVE to see diagonal pen tests. so many windows tablets have terrible line jitter and it would be very helpful for knowing if its viable at all for art.
I have it and tested that a week ago. The jitter is acceptable, but the screen is not fully laminated. The pressure from the pen tip will press down at the panel and ripple the content it's displaying. Its useable but far from a great experience.
I had Flow X13, the sister model to this Z13. All ASUS devices use same MPP 2.0 protocol which is Microsoft's tech from 2016.
Generally for professional art and design work, either one of APP (iPad), EMR (Wacom, Samsung), or MPP 3.0 (Surface 2021+) is encouraged. MPP 2.0 is great for casual drawing as a hobby, but the difference is noticeable.
Teoh Yi Chie and Brad Colbow have thoroughly reviewed many of them over the years so I would refer to their videos.
Genuinely curious here: Can't you work around jitter with a little bit of line smoothing?
@@Yuzuki1337 You can, but it introduces latency in most apps.
@@blue4059 Interesting, didn't know that. Thank for sharing! :)
I took a chance and bought the X13 last year so I can travel and edit (and, you know, play games on an airplane. Elden Ring at 30000 feet?) and it's been one of the best purchases I've ever made. I'm psyched to see them continuing with the style and I love the idea that I may be able to purchase an upgraded eGPU in the future.
Should I buy flow x13 or wait for flow z13, I'm a bit confused .
@@Surya99999 I think it depends on what use u want on the go, as said in the video around the keyboard segment, its not as good as an actual laptop, so in that case if u are a keyboard gamer u might want to bring along another keyboard for gaming on the go if u go with the z13.
@@Surya99999 I have experience on both z13 and x13. They have minor differences while having portability as main strength. The plus for x13 is being able to use it on tent form, better thermals than the z13 imo as my z13 gets hot when gaming. x13 is also sold with 32gb ram compared to z13's only 16gb. The plus for z13 is It's screen is very bright ang clear compared to x13. Z13's speaker is also quite loud and capable compared to x13's which is kinda meh. The bad for z13 is that it only comes with 16gb ram and it gets very hot to touch when gaming with its internal gpu.
Both keyboards were "decent" but I like z13's detachable keyboard more. I don't really cared much as I have a dedicated keypad for gaming.
IMO either get the z13 if you like using tablet for factor or wait for x13's 2022 updated model if you want a more traditional laptop.
@@Surya99999 I'm beting that the RDNA2 6000 series version will have an even bigger price tag and run games with the igp at 1080p. Can't wait til Zen 4 mobile processor gaming laptops/tablets, if we make it to mid 2023
Elden Ring is such a big game for someone who likes tiny nerdy things. Though I suppose the bigger the build the tinier the Tarnished.
How did he not know Xbox controllers have Bluetooth? I'm so actually confused... They had it waaaaay before the Series consoles were out xD. My Xbox One and my Xbox One X controllers work over bluetooth with Windows.
honestly a bit concerning, I know they aren't a gaming channel, but they definitely are a gaming hardware channel and this lack of what I consider basic gaming hardware knowledge is hard to understand.
Jono saying "I guess so" lol
Tbf the xbox 360 controllers used some sort of 2.4GHz connection and the new xbox series controller use a special kind of bluetooth (Bluetooth low energy) which makes it so it doesn’t/poorly connects to older devices. Making it easy to think new xbox controllers don’t use bluetooth if your bluetooth chipset doesn’t support BLE
@@milnan The first Xbox one controllers didn't support any kind of Bluetooth connectivity, actually. You could only connect them to your PC through cables or those 2.4GHz dongles. This changed in the first revision of the controllers, back in 2015 I think. It's just awkward to see people in the "cutting edge gaming circle" discovering this fact 7 years later.
@@gregoriolorenzo8771 yeah you have to look at the colors of the plastics to tell if it has Bluetooth or not.
6:07 "This unit right here is $18.99"
That's all I heard. Now give me my laptop. You can keep the change
I am actually amazed, noone has done something like this before. Also, i don't find it that expensive. Compared to something like an iPad Pro with the Keyboard, it's pretty comparable.
I agree, the price is fine.
Don't forget that this does come with a 3050 TI, an i9 processor and a touch screen.
I'm not even sure other 13" laptops with an i9 even exist for comparison.
However I think the Flow X13 with similar spec is $100 cheaper.
agreed
@@sebastianjost Also the low end might rock the i7 12700H, which is the best Intel mobile chip in performance per dollar (very small performance difference compared to 12900HK)
I totally forgot about the iPad pro....and you're right with all the added accessories it gets expensive hella fast...
Bruh iPad Pro cheaper and is GOATED
I used to despise the thought of gaming on anything even close to the size of a tablet or ultrabook, but now, I'm hyped for the possibilities of portable power. While the Flow X13 might not be what I consider because I would still sacrifice the portability for more power, I certainly wouldn't mind if they decided to release something like what the Razer Edge tried to be.
You don’t need the Microsoft dongle anymore, since the One S controller, they can work through Bluetooth too.
The latency is a little bit worse than the dongle, but it is so much more convenient
Just a slight correction -
Since the Xbox one S (second)revision of the Xbox one controller. Essentially, anything after the original Xbox one controller has Bluetooth.
@@meleter8107 This is wild, mine works with BT so I thought all of them did I was so confused by them mentioning a dongle lol
Soon as you said "the latency" I was out. If I can see and feel the difference between pressing the button and Mario jumping in SMB3, I disregard whatever it is that's causing it. Emulator, PC, controller, monitor, whatever.
@@ragepoweredgamer its not noticeable, they probably did some test and its slower by a few ms
@@ragepoweredgamer It probably highly depends on the BT implementation I think. I use my controller for my phone at least for rocket league sideswipe a highly sensitive game and feel no latency
For someone who needs to bring their laptop everywhere, having an egpu has been the best way to get the best of both worlds. I've got a CoreX with a 3070ti and a Zenbook 13 and I'm crushing whatever I want in a ridiculously small formfactor. I do love building computers, but it's impractical for my needs. I would highly recommend that everyone take a look at Egpu's because they are totally worth it.
I like traveling with my gadgets. Desktop is maybe for people who don't move often. I have been having my eye on ASUS z13 and x13 because of this reason - they want to provide a way for their consumers to have portability and near desktop level performance!!
old comment I know lol, but I have the g14 and it performs pretty close to this thing with the 3080 e gpu and is super compact and portable as well while have the gpu onnboard the device. Seems like the more optimal solution to me, but to each their own.
What crushed the eGPU market is a massive performance losses with TB3/4 vs a custom setup like ASUS/Framework had (PCIE 3/4.0 at X8 lanes). Maybe with TB5 we'll see a resurgence, especially because operating on PCIE 4.0 double the bandwidth density for the 4 lanes Tbunderbolt can carry. 3.0 x8 ewuivalent bandwidth should be enough for only minor losses.
@@davidmalkowski7850hey bro with thunderbolt 5 coming soon do you think it’s worth waiting? Will be see a big performance jump with eGPU?
I do feel like a lot of people are into PC building almost out of habit at this point. I mean given the fact that a steam deck plugged into a USBC dock and whatever TV you happen to have is a viable way to play a lot of games....
I’m a fan of the “laplet” style that has been growing since the ipad. To me it has been more form over function than price to performance. With this now making a strong argument of compromising your price ceiling to get both form and function. This seems like a top piece of kit to me.
I bought a surface pro 4 16 gb ram used for around 590 usd and it's pretty good except for the standby problems.
I probably paid more than I should've but I need touch and a high res display!
This makes me hopeful that these form factors will come down in price enough for us mere mortals to buy it new!
Alex said it best when he described it as “the dorm room king”. The price is rather prohibitive, but there is something really nice about having a super powerful machine on your desk when you need it, the portability when you need that (not to mention inking support for note taking for students which I consider a huge plus), and having all of your files and data in one central place rather than across a laptop and a desktop.
i get what both he and you are saying but $2000 is still a steep price for a college notebook imo
its enough to get a decent lenovo legion AND a galaxy tab or IPad of ones choice
you can store notes in the cloud via OneNote, Keep, or a host of other notes apps
if you really did NEED to have something in one single factor Imo the x13 is slightly more reasonable atm with its more ram in the 2022 model
i wish they would do an AMD version of this since that would get superb battery life too
@@cloudycolacorp I wish my parents were rich enough that i could be driving a 991 GT3 or an F90 M5 on campus (we have people like that in our college)
This is amazing. Would love to see a Ryzen 6000 version. I'd personally be happy if this form factor became more common, as I use my laptops built in keyboard maybe 2% of the time. Being able to use it as a tablet is much more convenient for just random browsing on your couch while watching something on the tv. Then plug it into the egpu and play some games at a great fps.
It should be Ryzen 6000 considering the main improvement over 5000 is efficiency
impressive
@@B1u35ky I think you'd be also be able to do away with having a Discrete GPU. That should make it more affordable and the Vapor chamber would just keep that APU running cooler and quieter.
yes i would prefer a dgpu less ryzen version aswell
Yup. I currently have mine plugged into an aorus egpu with a 3080. This is more flexible and faster than my desktop
Asus build quality and engineering is amazing. I don't normally game on my laptop, and I own a Zenbook Duo which still holds up well 3 years of high usage. I'm interested in foldable phones, and would love Asus to have a go at it.
That mic actually didn't sound abysmal compared to the high-end setup they have at the studio. Props for that.
The mic quality is surprisingly too good
You have to remember they have production level editing for the audio
The engineering of this device is insane. It really would take a whole team a long while to be able to plan out this whole product.
Wooo.....must be magic...😏
bro its basically the Surface Pro but this time its no cash Grab
I haven't bought a new laptop in like 6 years but as soon as ASUS announced this one I've wanted to buy it. They packed so much performance into a tablet and its literally everything I've always wanted from a surface that has kept me from buying a surface!
Go for it!!! No regrets
The eGPU part has always been a deal breaker for many other work laptops I have surveyed. This balance it perfectly!
Straight forward, and I love how there's not non stop background one liners. Unlike other videos with the other guy
Asus been pushing the portable gaming industry like crazy since 2017. Starting from that insanely thin ROG Zephyrus, after that the monster ROG Mothership, then the last year's convertible Flow X13, now a literal Tablet with Flow Z13.
A HUGE kudos really.
and now the ROG Ally.
Depending on how well this model sells, i’m looking forward to future iterations, maybe some more price friendly! But wow, if I had the cash to drop right now, i’d be picking this up!!
I also hope for less gamer-oriented designs becoming available. For now I think the X13 and Z13 and the surface book are the only 13" 2-in-1 device CES with dedicated GPU.
I think there are many people who would love GPUs in their 13" devices, so seeing more options would be great
Luckily Asus announced they would make lower specs of the Z13 without the GPU so it could be right up your alley in terms of price.
well...
@@ripfostels242 lol what happened
@@liltorro4466 Sick! Here’s to hoping it has solid Linux support and then I’ll have no reason to get an older Surface. eGPU capable, but still reasonably powerful when a tablet sounds like a good combo.
can't wait to buy this 7 years from now in a thrift store when its equivalent to a 2005 pc.
Right
Only 5 years more!! Still waiting? 😂
2022: "FULL USB A, this is pretty impressive"
Now that Asus has done this, I hope they also go a step further with a future generation of tablet-laptop. One thing I've wished a manufacturer would do for awhile now is a Surface Book -like device, but make the keyboard half an option. Basically, have your Surface, standard with typecover, but if you want a better keyboard have the Book-like upgrade, but also have a range of upgrades, a massive battery bank, extra storage, an eGPU keyboard base (Probably more similar to what's done with this eGPU, just inegrated into a Book-like base), etc. I don't really get why nobody else tackled the Surface market in the first place, but I don't get why nobody is introducing a product like this, you could make the keyboard itself a dock, and you could cater to a much wider market through a set of accessories, which keeps main model SKUs to a minimum. Plus a proper Book-like keyboard base would add a proper hinge, and you'd get the wider variety of tent/stand/tablet configurations that tucks the keyboard away if the connector is reversible. It'd just become a more versatile system, not to mention an eGPU keyboard dock would make the base system less expensive (or have a multi-GPU system option), and would add more GPU options to the accessory rather than the main system, which could open the market up to workstation GPUs and not just gaming GPUs; not to mention that this design also opens up the possibility of doing the same things but with a more traditional dock that's more catered to having a permanent home at a desk. Not to mention that an ecosystem like this would be so much more friendlier to upgrades, just upgrade the dock as needed, or just upgrade the main unit as needed; this would be even better if Asus, or whoever does this first, brings their own MXM-like standard, similar to what Dell has done but refuses to offer upgrade cards for the products that use it, and look at the massive variety of mobile GPU cards Dell offers between their gaming and business lineups, all because they have a simpler base SKU that can be upgraded to a variety of systems. This would be even better if the actual data connection itself wasn't proprietary, such as if USB4 fixes the eGPU situation, just have a couple of discrete ports for more external PCIe lanes, though this wouldn't work with a storage dock unless you use slower storage or a ton of bifurcation; the only proprietary bit would be the bulkier connection that secures things in place, which wouldn't need to interfere with the Type C ports, meaning expandability remains in a non-proprietary way.
I know it'll never happen, it's a pipe dream after all, but it'd be nice if this was an offering from at least one of the companies. It'd be even better if the display was also of high enough quality to be a competent graphics tablet, which makes the desktop use case scenario even better.
My thoughts on the Flow Z13:
It's quite amazing that ASUS managed to put that much power in a form factor this small. The SD card reader is also a nice feature. A ROG-themed stylus would've been a great addition.
At that point, I'm now imagining someone playing OSU on their Z13, as I can't really think of any other fast-paced game that supports a pen tablet as a controller.
@@woooshbait9696 i guess hes not built different like us
Having a tablet, I can use photoshop on is great if it doubles as a travelling gaming rig, but without the pen, I'm just gonna stick to the ipad.
If only you could actually buy any of their products and they weren't listed as "Learn More" for over a year on end.
there is a pen, it’s not gonna be as good as an iPad Pro but still pretty decent for note taking atleast probably not actually artistry
i've used my xbox controller over bluetooth exclusively and it works extremely well. i've heard there's more range to be had with a dedicated adapter, but it reaches to the size of a typical living room which is plenty for me.
range wouldn't be my main concern, latency would... of course most games I play with a controller are offline so I don't mind it nearly as much.
@@zebedeesummers4413 I haven't noticed any issues with latency, but I also don't tend to play twitchy games
This is actually cool, I imagine in a few years this level of hardware will be decently affordable, and laptops might finally all go to this form factor.
Microsoft tablets like this are pointless until they make an onscreen keyboard that works exactly like an android one and automatically pops up when you focus any text box. I tried win 11 on a tablet and it is no better than 10, 7, xp, 2000, ME, 98, or 95.
Small form factors are NEVER affordable. Most people go with either laptops or towers for gaming and tablets for content, if you throw something "odd" onto the marketplace you're never going to sell enough to justify the R&D to the point of making it affordable.
They have been making this form factor for almost a decade. It hasn't gotten any cheaper.
@@pixelsafoison You are confused. This is a tablet using windows with an external pci-e connector for an external gpu. This is most definitely a gaming tablet and eGPUs work extremely well. The issue is that a laptop with a real keyboard that can use thunderbolt to connect to an eGPU is faster and better. This asus will work well for gaming with its good cpu and an external gpu, but you can save 800 bucks by buying any decent laptop with thunderbolt to go with an eGPU. I have been using an hp x360 spectre with a i7-1065G7 and an external gpu with a gtx 1080. It worked great. I recently switched to a 3060 for dlss and it works great. Yes, a xx80 will work better with the asus and direct pci-e, but a cheaper laptop and a 3060 in a thunderbollt eGPU case will make anyone happy.
Yeah not gonna lie that is actually cool but for me I won't like it that all laptops would go all in on small form factor yes it is powerful and stuff but I don't bet on it at all
I'd be prepared to buy the whole thing just to have the see-through plastics with RGB. More stuff needs to have that, its SO COOL.
@Atom Bruhhh nobody asked for that
It looks awful, childish and ugly. I wish performance laptops didn't have to look so ridiculous.
Let's go!?
Honestly, The Z13 looks so cool, I wish that I could use it as my daily driver. I've always loved the designs of the Surface Pro lineup, but they've always come at such a high premium and without any of the performance, so it's nice to see where this form factor can go if in the right hands :)
i think so too
Alex the Laptop King has spoken and he has proclaimed the glory of the Republic Of Gamers.
In this new era it is the Flow Z13 and its glory of high specs and portability that reigns supreme!
king of what....he didnt even know xbox controllers are bluetooth.....king of the sheeple is more like it.
@@christopher480 Wow, a guy reviewing a laptop not knowing a controller has bluetooth really disproves his entire review!
I, like many others commenting never would have pegged myself as an ultra-portable fan until I inherited a Surface Pro 4 i7/16gb RAM...I was just blown away at how nice the experience was especially being able to comfortably sketch/draw with it. I just liked being able to grab it and go knowing I had the power to get things done while away from my desktop or at a family/friends place. I don't think I could use another form factor in terms of laptop now. Now that this exists from ASUS it's like they took the best stock surface pro and said what can we add? ...and then completely followed through lol! Dayyyyum MS they caught you slacking hard. It really does mimic that butter form factor of a Surface Pro with all the right ports and power options. Well done ASUS! When I go for a new laptop this will be the line of products I look to! Thanks for the awesome review LTT you guys are the best for a reason!
The first egpu I ever made was in 2013 ish, using some adapters from Bplus Tech in Taiwan and an old gtx 280 connected through the samsung laptops pcmcia slot. It actually worked. The laptop went from getting like 15 fps in Unreal Tournament Black edition to 60+. This is the dream setup I had imagined in my mind way back then! lol
Looks like a compact and powerfull tablet for a pretty decent price. Easy hookable to a external monitor and looks like a ez daily drive for most of the people.
＄1899.99, decent price my ass.
@@GlitchyBastard mf, 1800 includes a 3080..
@@ExzyVRC it doesn't
This is the ultimate bed tablet to just spend hours on the middle of the night while laying down.
This would be badass in like a small setup situation like vanlife, dorms, studios and what not.
My thoughts on the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 are I love how it is able to run the games I would want to play and how cool it looks. I also love how portable it is. This laptop would be awesome for my school work and all my Autocad projects. Speaking about the design I love how it has a great battery life and upgradable storage. It is also nice that this laptop has a camera for all my zoom calls. I think that this laptop would be a big help in my college adventure.
That thing is pretty awesome. I used to have a Surface Pro and loved it, but I absolutely hated the fact any reasonable spec cost a fortune and still throttled from heat. It was very nice as an office machine and to watch videos on due to the form factor. This looks like it fixes all my gripes about the Surface Pro whilst keeping what made it awesome.
Amazing piece of technology, love how multi purpose the device is but those see through plastic RGBs are probably the real highlights lol. Amazing design!
Asus managed to make a freakishly powerful tablet without it doubling as a frying pan. The fact that it doesn't turn into a frying pan is already amazing. The i5 laptop i used to have had like half the horse power of that thing but I swear i can cook my breakfast on the keyboard when I'm using it. And it's a laptop, with dedicated cooling system. Meanwhile this tablet is half the thickness, has more ports, and it actually has a cooling system that lets you use it without it becoming uncomfortably hot.
Here's hoping we see more see-through plastic parts in casings again, a nice touch with the RGB I have got to say
It should be glass. Plastic scratches so easily I'd be concerned for longevity.
I hope not
Congrats on the lucky guy who gets the code for the pass!
Plot twist, you win
6:53 Since the Xbox One S controller, Xbox Controllers have supported Bluetooth. On the older controllers (that had a polling rate of only 125 Hz), measurements even indicated that there was no noticeable additional delay compared to using the dongle or even a wired connection, however the input delay did show bigger variation and thus less consistency.
This may have gotten better or worse with the Series X/S Controller (which has a polling rate of 250 Hz), though.
Is the polling at 125Hz (on the One S controller) regardless of connection? I use mine over bluetooth (just a regular Asus dongle as I don't have built-in BT) but I have no idea how much better would a cable be?
I did use it with a cable occasionally but never noticed a dramatic difference, then again, I have tried going back and forth and trying to get a sense of input lag. I sure do feel some input lag over BT but I also feel it over the cable.
@@Mikri90 The polling rate is the same for all connection types.
When it comes to BT vs cable, the lag should be very similar, but a bit less consistent on bluetooth. So, you probably get occasional spikes, the frequency and intensity of which may depend on the quality of your bluetooth connection.
So, cable should be more consistent, but if your bluetooth connection is good and you don't do a lot of super fast, precise inputs, it will be hard to notice the difference.
@@justuslm thank you for the quick response.
Yeah, this tracks so far with my experience. My BT connection seems to be stable, I never noticed any sort of (perceptible) inconsistency, and even when I played platformers with a lot of inputs (like Ori) it was never an issue.
The Galien Knight Tribe must be making some great power supplies out there to be *that* recognizable.
After using a Surface Pro 3 for the last 8 years, this is something I am definitely considering getting as an upgrade soon.
I wish there were an AMD version of this.
Anyway, the other connector also seems to be OCuLink. And, I'm not sure how comparable to a Surface it is if you don't compare the stylus experience. The X13's wasn't great, while Microsoft's has improved a lot (still not Wacom EMR).
True
they should literally have a version with just 6900hs as that igpu is as good as gtx1650m anyways. Why have a gpu on the tablet form when u rely on the external box
@@helloworld9996 Because the 3050 is still better than that, and you’ll still have fantastic gaming performance.
Although the physical port is an OCuLink, I believe the pin layout of the port has been changed to make it proprietary.
Also I think you can use any MPP stylus on both X13 and Z13. So although Asus's stylus is bad, you can just get the Surface Pen and use it on this.
Why? Honestly curious why that's a showstopper?
It'd be hilarious whipping this out in a meeting haha. Kidding aside, is it possible convince ASUS to sell the entire box as a care package?
Meh, people's opinions are like but holes, everyone has one. Could get some serious work done on that thing probably (the frequency is a slight concern tho)
Facts
I’d love to whip this thing out in a meeting! I like the aesthetic on it as well.
Dad, I need it for my online class and assignment as well
I would love to see more of these types of Surface-like devices, as gaming laptops have been getting bigger and bigger, making them harder and harder to actually use as laptops. Having this should make great quality gaming truly portable now, and I'm really excited about how this type of laptop technology improves.
With how unwieldy the highest end gaming laptops are getting, I seriously don't understand why someone hasn't brought back the luggable form factor.
I mean, the moment that someone made a *water cooled laptop with its own colostomy bag*, I think you've lost the argument that "luggables aren't lap friendly". Hell, I don't think *any* of this is high-end gaming laptops are even intended for lap use, so at least make them less cumbersome to transport.
yes
I'd argue gaming laptops have been getting smaller. You remember a few years ago when the highest end gaming laptops were like 3 inches thick and over 10lbs? Nowadays the highest end gaming laptops are usually only around an inch thick. Those are for people who want a desktop class gaming experience and wouldn't mind sacrificing some portability. These days you have way more options. There are plenty of thin and lights with decent battery life if you want to use them more like normal laptops. It wasnt that long ago when every single gaming laptop was at least an inch thick with horrible battery life so I'd say they've been getting better
I guess we’re getting a double-helping of Alex covering laptops today, not that I mind.
It's a special day. Almost like a holiday.
The asus rog flow z13 looks wonderful, but it seems really inpractical, at least at its state right now. It is aimed at students that play games, yet it doesn't have good battery life. Also, due to the see through plastic, it cannot lay flat for drawing. At the moment I think the x13 2022 is a better option, due to its practicality. But, nonetheless, the the z13 is incredibly impressive, and I would be more than happy to even touch one, haha!
impractical ? More unpayable...
2k ?? For a 3050???
I paid 1k for my rtx 3060 laptop 2 month ago
and it isn't much bigger than that tablet
I think it's meant for the same ppl who are interested in the surface
@@sadmanh0 a surface has a much better screen and battery life.
@@RLMemeLord It can't run forza horizon 5 at 70 fps?
Series Controllers (and the few batches of controllers prior to launch) added Bluetooth capability. You can also use your controller with your phone and steamlink. Works great and I've been doing it for about 2 years.
Seeing how small and portable high performance got in last 5 years is insane, this tablet is pog
It amazes me how they managed to cool everything in there in such a small package.
2 big important questions I want to see answered before I blow my well earned money on this.
1) battery life. You conveniently didn't mention it, so I'm assuming it's pretty bad?
2) thunderbolt display port support. Being able to use this as a mobile VR station to show off Beat Saber o/S would be incredible. Can I plug my Rift S into this thing (without the xg mobile)?
Bonus question) is the i7 model worth it? Where I live this thing is outrageously expensive
No problems if it is 12700H I think. Best Intel mobile chip in performance per dollar.
unless you really need the portabilyty and really are into the tablet design I don't recomend it 3050ti is not the best mobile gpu(its normally really a budget option on other laptops) out there and I am not sure if its enough for vr it is also going to underperform when its runnning on battery cause thats how laptops are so I say not for vr
The finger claps at 9:04! 😂Such nostalgia 🤣 Do people still do that?
Game pass where?
Im starting to like the aesthetic of the new ROG lineup. (Also who doesn't love little windows to inside components?)
Once USB 4.0 comes out we're gonna see plenty of external gpu solutions that are far superior to thunderbolt. Also on a side note Xbox one controllers since the one s have been bluetooth.
USB 4 has thunderbolt 3 specs, thunderbolt 4 is already faster.
"dorm room hero" really makes me think of using my surface while at university, super great fit, loved having it. This kind of form factor is great for that
If the SteamDeck wasn't a thing, I would be so much more excited for this. Hard to justify the Flow at $1899 when similar performance can be had for $399 in the SteamDeck.
Maybe we'll see a similar chip that's in the Deck in a tablet not too far from now. Wouldn't surprise me to see a higher watt/ voltage/chip whatever too. But the price... I doubt anything would be in the range of $400. Cheaper than $1,800 would be nice though.
Aggreed. Still its cool in a way. I would actaully be more excited for the old mothership modle I think something like that would pair well with a steam deck for a portable desktop.
To be fair this isn't really made for gaming, it's just made to also allow it quite well
$1899 for just the table too, not even the external "3080" which is weird since its a proprietary plug and doesnt work on very much else.
You get more performance with the Flow Z13, even without the eGPU. The SteamDeck can hardly run Horizon Zero Dawn in 720p lowest details, the Flow Z13 wouldn't even sweat in the same situation... and you get a way better screen, faster and bigger SSD and you can run *any* Steam title (including all multiplayer games), not just the ones optimized for SteamOS. It is a different setup for obviously users with much more money. Install Windows 10 on the SteamDeck and the difference in performance will become even greater. But SteamDeck has definitely the better cost-to-performance-ratio and is a much better choice if you want to be really mobile (and play games without utilizing any table).
Interesting to see that someone's reviving the egpu connection akin to Alienware's AGA which they killed last year. I have an M15r1 with an AGA with 1080ti and love having the upgrade ability compared to base laptop. Really hope it stays supported and has good drivers and I'd love to win one! Hint hint wink wink
yeah
Man portable pc gaming really has come a long way. Nowadays we have desktop class gaming laptops and super powerful handheld and tablet pc's too. Love to see so much innovation in the computer space!
I have a few co-workers who drive OTR and live on their trucks, they would definitely love this
Wish you would show temperatures and noise levels.
Specially when there is an emphasis on the vapor chamber, how good is it really?
It's good to know Thunderbolt is only good for running a GTX1070. That saves me the trouble of buying an external enclosure for my RTX2060 to use with my new laptop. I'll just leave it in my old desktop and use it for AI stuff.
Thats not true at 100%. It depends how thunderbolt is implemented and your version. The thunderbolt controller can be placed over the CPU pcie lanes or PCH lanes. If your thunderbolt is behind PCH your 4 PCIe lanes will be shared with your audio chipset, nvme ssds, sata devices, usb ports, ethernet/wifi, lpc, tpm... through the DMI bus (just a stupid commercial name for usually a 4 PCIe lanes bus which interconnects the CPU with PCH) so it will bottleneck and going more than for a 1070ti is money waste (except if you have a x8 DMI or PCIe 4.0 DMI). Now, if you have the thunderbolt controller directly behind to the CPU lanes (good computers with dGPUs running at x8 only like some apple macs) you can use a more powerful card.
- Thunderbolt 3 behind PCH with DMI x4 PCIe 3.0: GTX 1070 / RTX 2060 / RTX 3050 (including an hypothetical 3050ti)
- Thunderbolt 3 behind CPU or behind PCH with DMI x8 PCIe 3.0 or DMI x4 PCIe 4.0: GTX 1080 or RTX 2070/3060ti without any bottleneck.
- Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 behind PCH with DMI x4 PCIe 4.0: RTX 3070 (only PCIe 4.0 cards!!)
- Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 behind CPU or behind PCH with DMI x8 PCIe 4.0: RTX 3070ti (only PCIe 4.0 cards!!)
I think the surface form factor is very underrated.
i wouldn't say it's underrated, considering other manufacturers have been copying it for years. it's pretty much the perfect tablet form factor
Can someone explain why in Germany the z13 costs $ 2072 for the i7 12700h and rtx 3050, when in the USA it costs only $1800?
What an amazing product. I finally feel like if I pay for the high price I'm actually jumping into the future. So thrilling!
There are three reasons I won't be buying this in spite of my love for the form factor and desire to have a device like this: (1) the limitation of 16GB of RAM, (2) the failure to use the more energy- and therefore heat-efficient Ryzen 6000 series processors, and (3) the limitation of USB 2.0 on the device's sole Type A port. All three of these issues are nothing short of design flaws and are as inexplicable as they are inexcusable.
Not really, 16 GB is enough for most applications nowadays, 12-th gen is still ok, and USB-C is fast
@@skullduggerry 16GB of RAM is not sufficient for many creative workloads, and even some games are beginning to bottleneck at the highest settings and resolutions (which, given the external GPU option, is very much relevant). 12th generation processors, while "okay", are not at all ideal for this sort of form factor due to their comparatively poor efficiency and therefore heat characteristics (absolutely critical for this form factor) versus Ryzen 6000. Many, many people have a vast number of devices that connect via USB-A and can take advantage of USB 3.0+ speeds. Running these devices through a USB-C dongle to get full speed is asinine and inconvenient when the onboard USB-A port could very easily have supported a higher speed standard.
USB 2.0 !?!?!? in 2022? WTF!
@@skullduggerry dude i'm using 32gb rog flow x13 and i didn't do video editing. 16gb ram is not enough for heavy gaming + heavy web browsing. before i start playing game the system + web browser already eaten me more than 10gb of ram, what do you think?
@@caxshen tf are you doing? my system stays at 7 GB, only with heavy video editing did i use all 16GB
Amazing piece of hardware! Definetly feel like i should have invested into this instead of my macbook pro 😀
I did and I'm running Cyberpunk on high settings (with DLSS of course). The framerate dips in some dense areas of the map but it's totally playable. I intend to buy the egpu in a few months. Just Cause 3, Horizon Zero Dawn and Assassins Creed Unity run great on max graphics without it.
The multi monitor configuration like that is very very nice. I do like that, sure it takes up a lot of desk space and is not aesthetically that pleasing with the cables and all that but I do like how it sits in front of the keyboard for the multi monitor function and the game up on the bigger display. Very very expensive but that is cool.
I have this and compared to the flow x13 (bought one then sold it), I like the z13 more. The only gripe I have is the 16 gb max ram compared to flow x13's 32gb. It would be nice if they squeezed 32gb since the whole concept of the xg mobile dockability is future proofing (and mobility).
I also wish they bundled the xg mobile and pen like what they did with the x13 SE. Can't even buy the xg mobile here in canada,
So how's the battery life? How are you finding the z13 now? Did you also buy xgmobile?
I am really interested in x13/z13 with xg mobile!!
@@nomad7317 Mine is always plugged in and in turbo mode so it doesn't last long. I also set it to 60% max battery charge to extend it's battery life. I initially bought this with the thought I'd be travelling more this year but unfortunately life had different plans so it's being used as an underpowered gaming laptop/overcompensating tablet. One of my biggest gripes is the unavailability to buy the xg mobile solo here in canada so I have not been able to experience it sadly. If you're in the US or EU, it should be fine.
I still love the screen. It's gorgeous even without an oled screen (I came from a zenbook pro duo which had a beautiful oled screen). The speaker is loud enough but not one the loudest among the laptops I've had.
I can still see me using this as a good travel laptop but as a table it's kinda meh. The thing gets too hot so I can't use it as a gaming tablet (the back plate can get REALLY REALLY HOT). It is also somehow heavier than the x13 I've used last year. The fan can be noticeable in quiet environments and it goes SWOOSH on turbo mode. I don't mind it though as it helps drown out my tinnitus. the 3050ti handles most games well, even older AAA games.
I still love it but I'm kinda regretting a few things. The biggest is still me being unable to get the xg mobile solo here in canada (couldn't afford it atm anyway since it's pricey).
I've read the flow x13 2022 model improves what I hated about the 2021 model (super dim screen and weakass speakers) so if you're looking for a portable workstation, the x13 might be a better fit especially since it can go upto 32 gb ram. The x13+xg mobile bundle is a complete battlestation you can stow away in your luggage.
For me though, the z13 is going to stay but I'll keep praying I can get the xg mobile in the future. No thunderbolt 4 makes me not even consider the x13 2022 model.
Congrats to whoever got the free Xbox code.
Edit: that was the joke peeps
It hasnt even been posted
Editor got code
pretty sure jono took it
I won!!!!
@@andor001 cap
I think it is a great innovative idea but for the price it is marketed at, only desirable by a very small group of enthusiasts! Love seeing the boundaries for gaming laptops pushed though! 👍
I've never watched a more Canadian tech video - love this
What exactly did this guy think Microsoft "couldn't" do that ASUS could?
That's all I want to know
It's too bad there isn't an AMD version of this. I think any performance loss would be made up easy on heat and cpu efficiency. Asus has been better than most when it comes to using AMD too.
try the X13 version ;)
Amazing
3:56 That's how you know us guys are easily entertained. I literally said "ooooooo" along with Andy and Jono lmao
Sup
@@py_rish sup
sup
soup
Wait... are you telling me you're reviewing tech as your job and up until now you didn't know you could connect Xbox controllers to windows? Same goes for Dual Shock controllers, you just need the Steam interface to properly use them... this was like the big thing of Windows 10 :D at least edit it out to not embarrass the channel.
redditor comment.
I’ve had my Z13 for a while now and absolutely love it. The 3050 Ti is plenty for me and I have had zero issues running any of my games on it, even at higher settings (I’m curious if they were running in turbo mode in the review, because it greatly improves the performance). One thing I wish ASUS offered though is an XG Mobile dock with lower tier GPUs or even one without a GPU, just for the sake of being a docking station. I have a very nice docking station with my XPS 15 and sorely wished I had one for my Z13 because it makes it so much more useable as a desk PC. The ASUS proprietary PD spec is also a bummer because I can’t use just any other docking station, otherwise the charging wattage is limited.
Xbox controllers have built-in bluetooth since the One S controller and it doesn't require their proprietary Xbox dongle. It was just a refresh of the original Xbox One controller but that was added in. You can connect via any third-party dongle (I have a teeny-tiny Asus one) but you can just connect to the on-board bluetooth if you have it.
That's also why you can connect them to smartphones over bluetooth.
Xbox one + controllers have had Bluetooth compatibility with windows 10 and 11 for a few years now. If the upper middle portion of the controller is solid plastic it's the updated controller that doesn't require a dongle. The controllers with a discolored strip in the middle that darts through the Xbox button, those are the old ones that require dongles.
This is Asus basically making a Surface Pro but decided to listen to the community.
Perfection.
have used xbox controller on pc for years either by cable or bluetooth, works flawless
Best gaming laptops - ASUS
Best gaming phones - ASUS
Best gaming tablets - ASUS
Best innovative stuffs - ASUS
ASUS/ROG - King of Gaming
We should appreciate their effort to these designs for us and accelerate innovation.
Now if they made an All in one Version *desktop version*, got rid of the battery and used the extra space for more cooling and upgradeable storage space, external PSU, youd have just about the most powerful and sleek desktop stations, with barely any wiring cleanliness to deal with. eGPU hooked up and 2 monitors, plus its own as a tablet, Gamers and artists, animators alike, this seems like an overall wonderful machine with alot of potential uses.
Seeing those frame rate numbers, this could easily replace someones desktop setup. only real kicker is only one nvme for storage. In todays standards for data management 512gb is not enough anymore, heck even 1tb it hardley enough space anymore, but its a good size for C: drives/boot drive, personally believe 2tb is the modern minimum for Triple A gamers.
That dongle is only worth it if you use 2 controllers or more often(terrible lag when you use 2 controllers over Bluetooth)
0:02 So that's what's in the suitcase in Pulp Fiction.
I don't know, that looks like Yoko Littner on that dakimakura...
Bot
Impression:
"Ohhhhhhhhh RGB in the back"
Nice
Alex, if you are going to test the speakers you have to do it with Crab Rave! I was expecting you to bust out your XPS 15 and then shake your head disapprovingly when it gets blown out of the water by the XPS lol.
It's almost perfect. The point I don't like is the propietary eGPU and the price for both the laptop and eGPU.
And I think you have missed the stylus and drawing part of this laptop?
Kinda hesitant to spend a lot of money on ROG products atm. I spent the better part of 3k on a Zephyrus Duo and got the common second screen flicker. When searching assistance, I discovered that my warranty wouldn't be honored through Asus because it was purchased from Best Buy. Best Buy basically ignored my requests as well saying I needed to go to Asus. I was also not allowed to extend the warranty in case the issue got worse due to where I bought it. The lack of support and the odd restrictions make another purchase tough, even though I adore their design sensibilities.
@6:38 The "dongle" is for the old Xbox one controllers, they didn´t have bluetooth.
I'd love to see you guys cover the hardware revision of it that was recently released. i9 base, 4050 mobile, and the XG Mobile got an update from a 3090 TO A 4090
as long as its not a gen one controller which it dosent look like, it looks like a "next gen" (series x/s) controller it should be compatible with blutooth w/o dongle
I specifically came here to see the 4k version. Granted, i have a very special use case to share. I want to use it for irl streaming, not gaming. There is one tablet cage that will fit it with modifications. Then attach batteries, a mobile modem, a dslr gimbal and vest crane. Streaming 1440p60 from this tablet should be easily doable if you bridged 3 wifi connections with the mobile modem.
That connector thing gives me PTSD from 90s analog connectors.