Asus Zenbook UX21 review

As the first 11.6in Ultrabook to hit the shelves, Asus’ Zenbook UX21 is deliciously petite.

It’s just as attractive as its larger sibling, the 13.3in UX31, with its all-metal construction tapering from 11mm at the front to 20mm at the rear, and the same swirl of dark-grey metal spinning across its lid. Asus’ shrinking ray has dropped the weight down to a barely there 1.15kg; in tandem with the smaller chassis, it makes for a more endearingly portable companion.

Build quality hasn’t suffered in the slightest either. Heaving at the base and lid reveals barely any flex at all, and compared to the rest of the current crop of Ultrabooks, nothing else comes close. In fact, only one other laptop matches it for build, and it has an Apple badge on it.

The Bang & Olufsen ICEpower logo hints at another talent: the sounds that emanate from the UX21’s slender frame are surprisingly solid. The tiny speaker drivers have their limitations – they don’t go particularly loud, for one – but there’s enough clarity and body to the presentation to make music and movie soundtracks entirely listenable.

The smaller chassis does bring with it certain compromises. The first is the mid-range Core i5 processor, the same model as found in most of the Ultrabooks we've seen. It’s still no slouch, though, and a result of 0.55 in our Real World Benchmarks keeps it competitive. Battery life suffers, though, with the Zenbook lasting 6hrs 37mins in our light-use test.

In everyday use, performance is a non-issue. The 4GB of memory and 128GB SSD keep the system punching well above its weight, and the speed of that SSD allows the system to boot from cold with unnerving haste.