Asus ZenBook 3 Review: An Intel Kaby Lake-Powered Ultrabook

Name: ASUS ZenBook 3
Brand: ASUS

by Marco Chiappetta — Tuesday, October 11, 2016, 12:50 PM EDT

The out-of-box software configuration on the ASUS ZenBook 3 is refreshingly clean and mostly free from bloat.

The systems ship with Windows 10 Professional 64-bit, and include the default complement of apps pre-installed by the OS. Over and above the default Microsoft apps, ASUS also installs a handful of its own proprietary applications and utilities, but there is nothing that’s overly obtrusive or annoying, like a certain anti-virus package that shall remain nameless (rhymes with shmook-mafee) that just loves to annoy users with pop-us every few minutes. Out of the box, there are only five apps listed in the system tray – OneDrive, Windows Defender, Intel Graphics, ASUS USB Charger, and ASUS Touchpad Writing. OneDrive and Defender are part of Windows 10, and the Intel Graphics properties get installed on all systems with integrated Intel graphics. The USB Charger app monitors activity on the charging port and enabled quick charging when the system is on. Finally, Asus Touchpad writing gives users the ability to write on the touchpad with their finger, should they want to handwrite notes or sign documents. Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t get used to Touchpad Writing and found the experience awkward, but your mileage may vary.

Due to the clean software configuration – and the fast hardware inside the ZenBook 3 – it boots and shuts down delightfully fast. The system powers up and reaches the desktop in under 8 seconds and shuts down even faster.

Upon first boot, the only application that may splash some warnings in your face is the ASUS Liveupdate utility. As its name implies, Liveupdate will install any updates available for the system. After a couple of installations and requisite re-boots, Liveupdate faded into the background and didn’t pop up any longer on our system, and won’t again until additional updates are available from ASUS.

Tags: Asus, Notebook, review, Ultrabook, zenbook, (NASDAQ:INTC), kaby lake, zenbook 3

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com