Asus launched a new version of its ZenBook 13 Ultrabook that features a discrete graphics card.
The new Asus ZenBook 13 UX331 comes shortly after the company’s debut of a similar model at CES. However, that version lacked a dedicated GPU. The new model still follows Intel’s strict engineering guidelines to achieve its "Ultrabook" moniker (not just any thin and light laptop can be called such): It measures 12.2 x 8.5 x 0.47-0.55” and weighs only 2.47 lbs, with a 13.3” FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS touchscreen display.
The ZenBook 13 UX331 features an Intel Core i5-8250U processor, 8GB of LPDDR3 onboard memory, and a 256GB SSD. However, the star of the show is the discrete graphics card – an Nvidia GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5 GPU. The increased graphics horsepower should give consumers looking for some extra performance in GPU-intensive workloads and games a moderate boost over the onboard Intel UHD Graphics usually found on similar products, and Asus claimed that it's the world's thinnest laptop with a discrete GPU.
The tiny chassis sports a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, in addition to two USB 3.0 ports and a micro SD card reader. Display output is limited to a single HDMI 2.0 interface, and a headphone-out, audio-in jack will let you connect a headset if you so desire. To get online, the ZenBook 13 UX331 features dual band 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and a 50Wh lithium-polymer battery offers up to 14 hours of runtime and takes just 49 minutes to recharge to 60% capacity.
The new Asus ZenBook 13 UX331 is available for $999 from the company’s website, Newegg, and Amazon.
