With new design cues and a tone of intriguing features, the Asus ZenBook 14X Space Edition is based on the ZenBook 14X series. The ZenBook 14X Space Edition has a lot in common with the ZenBook series genetically, yet it doesn’t look anything like a ZenBook from the outside. It does, however, have every component of a high-end laptop, including the cost. The P6300 actually orbited the globe for a full 600 days before safely landing. ZenBook 14X Space Edition, an ASUS laptop with space-themed design components, was recently released by the Taiwanese business to mark the 25th anniversary of the first ASUS laptop sent into space. Young professionals who are tech aware, trend setters, storytellers, space and science aficionados are the target market for the Space Edition laptop. Asus provides three different versions of the ZenBook 14X OLED Space Edition: an i5, i7, and an i9.
Design
With an all-metal construction, a 16:10 touchscreen, full-size inputs, an Ergolift hinge, the IO and hot-air exhausts placed on the left and right edges, and no longer shooting hot air into the display, this ZenBook 14X Space Edition is comparable in size and general characteristics to the standard ZenBook 14X model. However, the Space Edition model, created to mark 25 years since the launch of the Asus P series laptops used on the MIR Space Station, the forerunner to the current ISS, is merely a cosmetic modification of the normal 14Xs. As a result, Asus chose the titanium-gray Zero-G Titanium cooler scheme with a harsher matte finish for the main chassis and lid. It has a nice appearance, is soft to the touch, and effectively conceals fingerprints and possible scratches. To be clear, the laptop is still constructed of aluminum, not titanium alloys, but the metal has a titanium-colored coating applied to it. Other space-themed design features can be seen all over the laptop, including an image of the MIR Space Station on the left armrest, numerous morse code messages on the lid and armrest, a few engravings and markups on the rear, and that ZenVision small display on the lid. You can find the easter eggs and morse-code messages for yourself, but we’ll let you know that having to decipher it brought back some pleasant childhood memories for us. To the stars and beyond!
Keyboard and touchpad
The distance between two alphabet keys on the laptop’s keyboard is 19.05 millimeters, or key pitch. The key travel is also an astounding 1.4mm, which is extraordinarily high and naturally enhances the typing experience. The function and feature keys are identical, and a few particular keys also have icons with spacecraft on them. Located next to the keyboard, the power button features a fingerprint reader as well. you can read our article on ASUS Zenbook 14X Space Edition review. Additionally, the laptop has an electronic camera cover that users may manually activate by pressing a designated key. When triggered, it functions exactly like the physical cam cover and emits a small “tick” sound. The ASUS Zenbook 14X Space Edition’s trackpad is equally as fantastic. There are no distinct left or right buttons, and it is one piece. It features a digital Numpad that users can access by touching a calculator-shaped symbol in the upper left corner of the trackpad. Although we personally don’t see much use for it, since the keyboard doesn’t have a physical Numpad, perhaps this digital one will be useful.
ASUS Zenbook 14X Space Edition review: Display
The Space Edition 14X range is offered with a touchscreen OLED 2.8K panel with 100% DCI-P3 color coverage, 90 Hz refresh, and 550-nits of peak brightness, according to the Asus website. That 10-bit panel also has a TUV certification for low-blue light output, a Pantone color profile certification, and HDR 500 certification. This display has amazing blacks and contrast, which are a hallmark of OLEDs, as well as powerful brightness, vibrant colors, and HDR compatibility. Make sure you turn on HDR in Windows 11’s display settings, as it is checked off by default. However, be careful not to overdo the Brightness HDR option or you risk losing detail in light scenes. Also, bear in mind that choosing HDR will influence color accuracy, so be sure to switch back to SDR for content that is color accurate. Additionally, its 90Hz refresh screen has quick response times of only 1-2 ms, which affects how fluid motion seems in gaming, streaming, and everyday use. Though nothing can stop screen tearing unless you choose VSync (and the associated lag). However, compared to the bulk of the IPS displays that were previously available in the ultrabook market, this OLED screen is a better alternative for gaming and fast-paced action entertainment.
ASUS Zenbook 14X Space Edition review: Audio
When it comes to speakers, ASUS is one of the best Windows laptop makers, with some of their better models nearing audio quality comparable to the MacBook (the gold standard in this area). The sound of the Asus ZenBook 14X Space Edition is certified by Harman Kardon, but it still falls short of the best we’ve heard. Even with the speakers being positioned beneath the laptop, the volume is still really impressive: 50% volume is pretty loud for most usage, and at maximum level, you can throw a party. By laptop standards, bass replication is above average, albeit the lowest sub-bass frequencies are still largely absent. Even at greater volumes, the audio is generally clear and of high quality. Unfortunately, there was a loud, uncomfortable, fuzzy, and rattley vibrating noise at the front of the laptop on specific high and low frequencies, at least on the model we have. About 80% of this noise was eliminated when the front, bottom chassis of the laptop was held together, clearly pointing to some form of loose panelling or internal component as the reason. Although it’s unclear whether this is a problem with our particular machine or a more widespread one, it was somewhat inconvenient, and we would think about getting a replacement if the problem persisted in a machine we purchased.
Graphic and gaming
Iris Xe integrated graphics are available in the configuration we tested, and they can handle even the most graphically demanding tasks I have, like picture and video editing. Although you won’t be playing any serious games on this system, the graphics chip is more than capable of supporting a tonne of leisure gaming. When playing Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm at 1080p, the ZenBook 14X OLED Space Edition maintained a frame rate of 36. The ZenBook exceeded my expectations for integrated graphics on this beast by scoring a seriously astounding 5,336 on the 3DMark Fire Strike test. In actuality, this meant that we could easily play a lot of Two Point Hospital and Forza Horizon 5 on lesser settings. We’re interested to see how the Iris Xe graphics stack up against the 14X OLED’s conventional dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX550 GPU.
Performance
The latest Intel Core i9-12900H, a 14-core super CPU built on the Intel 7 process technology, powers the ASUS Zenbook 14X Space Edition. Intel has separated its processor cores into performance and efficiency cores for the uninitiated. The ASUS Zenbook 14X Space Edition’s Core i9-12900H has six performance cores and eight efficiency cores. The efficiency cores’ maximum clock speed is 3.80GHz, whereas the performance cores’ maximum clock speed is 5GHz. The laptop’s multicore performance receives a significant boost from the increased core count. In actuality, the laptop’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14000 is closer to a number of the top-17-inch gaming laptops we evaluated in 2016. The chip’s single-core score of 1760 is quite impressive. The laptop’s Cinebench R20 score of 5379 is also rather impressive. The Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics chip performs admirably in GPU benchmarks. It is functional and capable of handling simple graphics tasks like photo and video editing as well as some light gaming. We consider it a lost opportunity as this machine lacks a dedicated GPU. We don’t see why ASUS couldn’t use the exact processor in this device as they did in the incredibly light and thin RTX 3050-equipped Acer Swift X from a year ago. The Zenbook 14X Space Edition missed out on the opportunity to play games on an OLED screen, which would have been a truly wonderful experience.
ASUS Zenbook 14X Space Edition review: Battery life
The Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Space Edition now takes us to the section where it almost crushed our hearts. These days, you can count on current Ultrabooks to easily last an entire eight-hour workday, especially with Intel Evo certification, which calls for a minimum battery life of nine hours. Since Intel Alder Lake obviously consumes far more power than its predecessor, it would be quite fascinating to see how it deviates from that expectation. It appears that this completely ruins the battery life on the ZenBook 14X OLED Space Edition. The ZenBook 14X OLED Space Edition lasted, on average, four hours and 41 minutes in our PCMark 10 battery test, but only four hours on average in our FHD movie test. You might put the blame on the OLED screen, but that would be incorrect because the ZenBook 13’s OLED screen, which is just somewhat smaller, lasted more than twice as long. We’ll be able to pinpoint the source of this low battery life until we see more laptops powered by 12th-gen Intel Core this year.
Heat
The 14X OLED Space Edition’s high temperature story is both interesting and illustrative of Asus’s improvement in heat dissipation. After streaming a 15-minute video, this achieved a maximum temperature of 102.9 degrees on the underside, which is slightly higher than our comfort threshold of 95 degrees. However, the trackpad remained much cooler at 79.9 degrees. The 14X should stay reasonably cool as long as the fans mounted on the underside have adequate room to breathe. also you can check our article on ASUS Zenbook 14X Space Edition review.
Configuration options
The Asus ZenBook 14X OLED Space Edition we received has a 1TB SSD, 32GB LPDDR5 RAM, and a 12th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU and is currently on sale at Newegg for $1,999. That is quite expensive, but then then, you should anticipate that from a limited-edition laptop. The regular ZenBook 14X OLED(opens in new tab), which costs $1,399 and comes with an i7 processor, dedicated GeForce MX550 graphics, 16GB RAM, and a 512GB SSD, offers superior value. At $1,549, that is a bit less expensive than the Acer Swift 5 and Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360.
Conclusion
Space-tacular describes the Asus Zenbook 14X Space Edition. Although it’s a really cool laptop, Asus claims it’s not a widely used item, so it may not be for everyone. The Zenbook 14X Space Edition is designed for fans who desire to possess a space-related collectible item. The Zenbook 14X Space Edition offers many advantages despite its futuristic look and opulent packaging. It has a sturdy construction and a fantastic screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. Additionally, the laptop’s lid has a secondary screen that you can customise to show data like the time and battery life.
