ZDNET Key Takeaways
- He Asus ProArt PZ13 It’s an artistically aligned laptop and it’s on sale right now at Best Buy for $1,100.
- It’s ready to support professional-level artists with its vibrant OLED touchscreen, long-lasting battery, and supporting apps.
- The device is held back by a limited range of ports and a poor keyboard.
A couple of months ago, I tried Microsoft Surface Pro 11a laptop that also doubles as a tablet. It has the next generation Qualcomm chipset and many great features that made me enjoy the machine. I highly recommend it to business professionals who travel frequently. It seems like Asus must have looked at the Surface Pro and thought, “We can do better.” The result of this inspiration is the Asus ProArt PZ13.
Also: I tested Lenovo’s Windows laptop that doubles as an Android tablet and has a lot of potential
I mentioned the Surface Pro 11 because the two share many similarities, although the ProArt model is better suited for artists and creative professionals.
When you first take the laptop out of the box, you’ll be greeted with a 13.3-inch 3K (2880 x 1800 pixels) OLED touchscreen display. Its resolution isn’t as high as Microsoft’s laptop, though the ProArt PZ13 more than makes up for it with image-enhancing apps.
It has Dolby Vision, DCI-P3 full color gamut support, and VESA DisplayHDR True Black for ultra-dark shadows. Everything works together to ensure a stunning visual experience, except for the 60Hz refresh rate. It’s a good speed, but I would have liked to have 120Hz. At 60Hz, motion and animations on this laptop can look a little bit blurry.
Also: One of the most versatile laptops I’ve tested also has one of the best displays.
The device has a really cool feature called Creator Hub. It’s a dashboard app that allows you to adjust the PZ13 on the fly. The most impressive of its many tools is Color Control, which allows you to change the range of on-screen colors at any time. For example, the DCI-P3 option modifies colors to be more suitable for movies, while Display P3 is recommended for artists as it displays tones more accurately. You can even adjust the color temperature.
Creator Hub offers creative professionals great flexibility. Although I am not an artist, I certainly appreciate having the ability to refine my experience instantly.
The Asus machine is no slouch either, as inside the ProArt PZ13 is a Snapdragon X Plus chipset. I was able to keep around 60 tabs open without experiencing any major slowdowns. I had videos playing and Twitch streams running, and I could still check my email without any problems.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t get a specific part number on the SoC (system on a chip). None of the major benchmarks have been updated for the Snapdragon X, but hopefully that day will come soon.
Also: This lightweight laptop has one of the best screens I’ve seen and it’s not a MacBook Air
Like other Qualcomm-based laptops, the ProArt PZ13 has ridiculously long battery life, and for once, the marketing materials were correct. This device ran for more than 21 hours straight in Best Energy Efficiency mode. I left it on overnight and was surprised to see that it was still active in the morning. In Best Performance mode, the model manages to outperform most Intel-based laptops, lasting about 14.5 hours on a single charge.
These battery times are perfect if you ever need to take the ProArt PZ13 on a trip. There is no need to worry about the laptop shutting down at the worst time.
The tablet is 0.35 inches thick and weighs just under two pounds. Asus includes a dull green protective cover with purchase. The case adds some bulk to the device, although not much. Fits comfortably inside a bag.
As much as I like the new Asus computer, I didn’t like the ProArt PZ13’s keyboard. Asus claims it has a key travel distance of 1.4mm. On paper, that should ensure a good typing experience, but I felt like the keyboard was flimsy. Pressing a key bends the accessory a little.
Also: I tested Lenovo’s Windows laptop that doubles as an Android tablet and has a lot of potential.
Furthermore, there are very few ports. You get three in total: two USB-C inputs and an SD card reader. Of course, the device is somewhat thin, so perhaps Asus couldn’t find room for more ports. Still, it could have at least included a headphone jack.
My last review is, without a doubt, nitpicking. I would have liked a free stylus in the overall package. Microsoft’s 11th generation Surface Pro had one when I bought it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So unless you already have a stylus, you’ll have to buy one for the PZ13, which isn’t a big deal since the laptop is pretty cheap.
ZDNET Buying Tips
Prices for the Asus ProArt PZ13 start at $1,100 at Best Buywhich is a bargain. There is a more powerful version available on the Asus website. for $1,649You can buy a ProArt PZ13 with Qualcomm’s Hexagon NPU, which provides additional power.
Other than that, they are the same device. Get the Hexagon version only if you expect heavy workloads.
We use a combination of methods to test laptops here at ZDNET. First, we acquire data from benchmarking software to analyze a system’s internal metrics and compare them to advertised numbers. We then spend an extended amount of time with the laptop (usually a week or two) using it the same way a typical consumer would, to analyze its portability, form factor, and how well the battery performs. in fact hold on, among others. For a full breakdown, check out our complete laptop testing methodology.
- Comparative evaluation: We perform a series of tests to put the computer hardware through its paces and see what it is capable of. cinema bench is one of the most widely used hardware test suites, which tests laptop rendering performance on single or multiple CPU cores. PCMark 10 is another powerful program that covers a wide variety of tasks performed in the workplace.
- Processor: The “brain” of the laptop and one of the most important factors that determines performance. This is tested in benchmarking software.
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The graphics processor (GPU): We tested the GPU with a combination of benchmarking, gaming, and media playback software.
- Battery test: We test a unit’s battery in several ways. A handful of benchmarking programs have their own battery testing components, but we’ll also let the laptop run for as long as possible on a medium load.
- The human element: As we mentioned above, system metrics and data are important, but numbers alone don’t provide the complete picture. This is where we weave our personal experience into the device and leverage practical use cases that consumers really care about.
Ultimately, our goal is to break down the capabilities of each and every laptop we test into digestible terms that people will find useful.