Asus Zenbook 14 UX3402 Review — The Swiss Army Knife of Laptops?
Asus’ Zenbook line is providing a wealth of impressive devices that manage to fulfil both the portability factor of slimmer notebooks, while also carrying the specs and features of more novel entries into the market. The Zenbook UX3402 is something of the perfect combination of both elements, providing something that is sleek, streamlined, and has a host of bells and whistles to make the most out of our workday.
With that said, the Zenbook UX3402 is primarily targeted at those looking for a laptop that is essentially a jack of all trades, giving you everything you’d likely need in one package: a gorgeous screen, impressive performance, a substantial battery life, and a handful of other interesting features that you won’t find on every laptop out there. 
On the specs-front, the UX3402 features a 14-inch 2,880 x 1,880 resolution OLED display, a 12th Gen Intel i7 Core chipset, 16 GBs of RAM, a 1 TB SSD, and a 75 Wh battery to give you some decent juice while you’re out and about. On top of that, you get some nifty, more novel features too, such as the ability to lay (almost) flat thanks to a 180-degree hinge, impressive noise-cancellation for video and audio calls, and Asus’ sophisticated touchpad with a built-in, switchable numpad.
Such vivid displays are often accompanied by big, bulky bodies, but the UX3402 really is designed with mobility in mind. It measures just 16.9 mm in thickness and is only 1.39 kg, so slipping it into a backpack for the day or taking it on a plane really doesn’t come with the ‘should-I-take-my-laptop’ conundrum. It’s a no-brainer. 
The build quality is impressive too, especially for a laptop in its price range. It features a really solid chassis, subtle decals on the lid, and Asus’ super sleek and quiet keyboard. You also get Asus’ smaller and more compact USB-C charging block and cable, which pairs well with the laptop and is a blessing as opposed to other clunkier power bricks. Additionally, a handy canvas sleeve is also provided with the laptop, which is a nice touch from Asus.
It’s hard to find laptops with OLED displays in the UX3402’s price range, and it truly is a vivid and responsive screen. While it won’t deliver a glistening and eye-melting 4K experience, it’s a fantastic display for browsing, writing, and any work functions that outshines other similar options. 
Thanks to the PCIe SSD, the Zenbook manages to fly through the opening and closing process of applications pretty quickly, giving you a responsive and slick user experience to optimise your time wisely. On top of that, there is also the Asus NumberPad 2.0, which allows you to switch the trackpad to a digital numpad on the fly with the touch of a tiny button on the corner. If you’re jumping between scrolling and punching in digits on an Excel sheet, for example, this will be an invaluable feature.
While the Zenbook 14 UX3402 is quite clearly geared for work productivity, this is a laptop that will deliver the goods for media viewing too. The bright screen is more than suitable for watching a movie or some Netflix on, and the built-in speakers were notably impressive, providing solid sound without that tinny, more hollow audio that laptop speakers tend to produce. 
For those who are on the road a lot, often having to hook up to the coffee shop WiFi to get some work done, or whether having that last-minute meeting in an airport lounge, the UX3402 seems to be geared toward those who need efficiency, reliability, and speed without the fuss and cumbersome design of other laptops.
The Asus Zenbook 14 UX3402 will be available in South Africa in mid-September 2022, and is priced at R24,999 for the 1TB model; with a 512GB model available too (R22,999). Both models will be available in the Aqua Celadon colour scheme. 
Review originally published on MenStuff.co.za.
