text: zenbook zenbook are a family of – low - bulk laptop computers – produced by asus . the first zenbooks were released in october 2011 , and the original range of products was amended and expanded during 2012 . models range from 12 - inch laptops , featuring power efficient components but lacking connectivity and having only integrated graphics processors , to 15 - inch laptops with discrete graphics processing units and optical disc drives . most ( though not all ) zenbooks use intel core ultra - low - voltage processors and nvidia gpus when integrated graphics are not used . asus introduced new models with touch screens to take advantage of windows 8 after its release in late 2012 . most models drew comparisons to the macbook air . the most recent release in the zenbook line is the upmarket zenbook infinity series . asus designed the zenbooks with brushed aluminium chassis and high rigidity , rather than plastic , the usual laptop construction material . a pattern of concentric circles on the lids is said to represent ripples in water and represent the " zen philosophy " that designers wanted to portray when creating the laptops . zenbooks have been generally well received due to their chassis design and appearance as well as the high quality screens used in later models . however , the touchpad software was found to be erratic , particularly on the early models and some of the models received criticism for their high prices . some models ( such as the ux32 ) suffer from lockdown when the lithium polymer battery cell gets drained or discharged below its recommended threshold , for example if the device is left on and unattended . the result is that the charger will fail to recharge the battery even when plugged in , leaving the machine in a near - complete unresponsive off - state . the machine can often be revived by pressing the power - on key for 10 seconds , whereupon it will start recharging . design in 2009 asus released the , a 15 inch laptop that was focused on energy efficiency and had a thin profile . the laptop was rated poorly by reviewers as it under - performed and had mediocre battery life , despite the installed energy efficient hardware . although not branded as one , it bore the same " ux " product code as many of the later zenbooks and was an early foray into the market . the zenbook name was proposed by asus chairman shih to reflect the " zen philosophy " applied to the design . the chief designer , loewy chen , had wanted to incorporate design elements from luxury watches into his products for a long time . zenbooks were the first opportunity to put this into practice , the crossover being achieved , he said , by " the unfolding of the laptop from the side recalling the elegance of minute and hour hand movements " . the reference to watches is also reflected in the marketing of zenbooks ; asus published design sketches overlaying an open zenbook on a watch face , and video advertisements feature similar imagery . the concentric circles on the lid of zenbooks were intended to look like ripples in water and to reflect " philosophical ideas such as the infinite nature of zen thinking and self - improvement " . the bodies of the zenbooks are made of aluminium , chosen for its light weight , strength , vibration dampening , appearance and acoustic properties . both the bodies and lids are cnc milled and brushed for appearance . reviewers have noted the resulting superior rigidity and complimented the appearance of the zenbook range . the lid is available in three colours : dark silver / purple ( pictured ) , rose gold and hot pink . to preserve space , zenbooks use two pcbs connected by a communications ribbon so it can have ports on both sides of the device , with a heatsink and fan centred between them . product range first generation the first generation of zenbooks was announced on october 11 , 2011 , one day before release , although they were first demonstrated at computex 2011 in may that year . two models were released in 2011 to positive reviews : the 11 inch and the 13 inch , also frequently known as the and respectively . the design of the drew comparisons to the macbook air and it was regarded as an " excellent rival " by cnet reviewer andrew hoyle . other aspects of the laptops that reviewers liked were the bang and olufsen speakers , fast boot times due to asus ' bios design and the speed of general tasks within the operating system resulting from the ssd and sandy bridge processors . however , the screens drew criticism for their poor contrast ratio , colour accuracy and less than perfect viewing angle , although they were praised for their brightness and the sharpness of the 's screen . reviewers also noted the shallow key - press of the metal keyboard and lack of backlighting , a feature that asus did not have time to implement before shipping . zenbook prime in april 2012 asus revealed a revision of the two original zenbooks , this time based on the ivy bridge microarchitecture . the model numbers were ux21a and ux31a for the 11 and 13 inch models respectively but are more frequently referred to as zenbook primes . changes made to the original included the aforementioned update to ivy bridge processors and the introduction of the corresponding chipset bringing native usb 3 . 0 , 1920 × 1080 ips displays for both models , an intel wi - fi controller , an improved trackpad and new plastic keyboard with backlighting . the new screens were highly praised by reviewers when considering brightness , contrast ratio , viewing angle and colour accuracy , the improvements over previous models being put down to the switch from tn to ips displays . the ux21a has contrast ratio of 939 and the ux31a achieved 1085 , giving it the highest resolution and contrast ratio of any ultrabook at the time of release . the improved keyboard also garnered praise for the increased backlighting and improved key travel while the intel wi - fi controller was found to perform better than the qualcomm used in the first generation of zenbooks . the zenbook primes still received some criticism : the latest version of the trackpad was acknowledged as an improvement over the original zenbooks , but still irritating , and the sound quality was found to be worse than that with the first generation . despite these issues , the overall reaction was positive : the ux31a was called " today 's best ultrabook " and " the best ultrabook out there " at the time of release . ux32 series as early as march 2012 , information was leaked hinting at a new series of zenbooks and in early may asus revealed the ux32 series , followed by their release on may 21 . two models were announced : the ux32a and the ux32vd , both including a thicker chassis to accommodate a 500 gb / 24 gb flash hybrid drive and in the ux32vd an nvidia geforce gt . the ux32a was designed to be a cheaper zenbook with a previous generation sandy bridge processor option , lower resolution screen and hybrid drive . the ux32vd was well received for similar reasons to the zenbook prime . the screen , chassis and keyboard again garnered praise although the inclusion of a discrete gpu was noted as a major selling point . the hybrid drive attracted criticism for its slow performance and the same trackpad issues that the zenbook prime had were still present . the ux32 models have a 4 % smaller battery than the zenbook prime and the discrete gpu of the ux32vd consumes more power than the integrated gpus of other zenbooks ; and the shorter battery life was also a detraction . slr lounge criticised the slow hybrid drive and 4 gb of ram , but suggested replacing them as the option is available , noting that it was an option not often offered on . as a cheaper option the ux32a was praised by chris martin of pc advisor for being " a more affordable luxury " , retaining the " premium feel " of the zenbook range but at a lower price point . the aluminium chassis , which is identical to the ux32vd to keep costs down , was widely acclaimed for its strength and build quality . by contrast , the sandy bridge chip , a previous - generation part at the time of sale , was outlined as a detraction as was the lower battery life compared to the . although the screen used was a tn panel and of a lower resolution than the ux32vd or ux31a , it was considered an acceptable compromise for the price . the screen has a matte finish and relatively high brightness which notebook check 's reviewer , christian , found " quite suitable for outdoor use " , noting that it had a good contrast ratio but a narrow range of colours . 14 and 15 inch zenbooks on october 23 , 2012 , asus hosted a launch event for windows 8 , where it revealed ux42vs and ux52vs models to be released in november . the ux42vs is a 14 inch ultrabook and the ux52vs is a 15 inch laptop , which may qualify as an ultrabook depending on the options chosen . the ux42vs is available with an intel core i3 , i5 or i7 processor with up to 6 gb of ram . in total , it weighs approximately 1 . 9 kg ( 4 . 2 lb ) . the ux52vs has the option of intel 's ultra - low voltage i5 or i7 mobile processors , up to 10 gb of ram and an optical disc drive . the latter is a first for the zenbook product series . it drew criticism for its high price and lack of touch screen , but the screen quality , keyboard and system speed were praised . the battery life was considered acceptable taking into account the form - factor and the discrete gpu , despite it being significantly shorter than the ux31a . zenbook touch first displayed in june 2012 at computex , the zenbook touch series has touch screens to take advantage of the windows 8 operating system . the zenbook touch series includes the ux31a which is the same as the zenbook prime , but with a touch enabled screen , and the u500vz , a 15 inch model . a ux21a with a touch enabled screen was also demonstrated at computex in june and officially announced in late august , though at the launch event on october 23 , 2012 , only the ux31a and the u500vz were displayed . the u500vz is thicker than previous zenbooks at 20 mm ( 0 . 79 " ) and uses a standard ivy bridge mobile processor rather than the ultra - low voltage cpus used in other zenbooks , thus technically pushing it out of the ultrabook category , although it still meets other ultrabook specifications . anandtech reviewer jason found the touch screen to be so superior to the trackpad that he stopped using the trackpad altogether in his trial of a zenbook touch at the asus launch event . chris griffith of the australian found that the screen of the ux31a responded well and that the windows 8 gestures worked predictably , his only criticism being the high price . zenbook infinity first displayed at computex in 2013 , the zenbook infinity has a gorilla glass body ; a mobile haswell cpu ( i5 or i7 ) ; at least of ram ; and a 13 . 3 - inch touchscreen with a maximum resolution of . in place of the single ssd used in previous zenbook are two ssds in a raid 0 configuration . zenbook zenbook specifications