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

To measure the ASUS ZenPad 3's performance, we used a number of tests and benchmarks and compare it to a range of laptops, including systems with similar hardware, in addition to some ultra-light and premium notebooks. We change very few settings before testing in an effort to ensure that the laptops performs at the same level for us that they will for readers who buy them. That said, many factors affect performance, so benchmark comparisons between notebooks are more of a guide rather than a guarantee.

ATTO Disk Benchmark Peak Sequential Storage Throughput

The ATTO Disk benchmark gives a look at how the ASUS ZenPad 3’s NVMe PCI Express 512GB SSD performs with various transfer sizes. 


The Toshiba SSD in the ZenBook 3 performed relatively well. It topped out at about 1.6GB in the read tests, and 1.45GB/s with writes, on up to the 16MB transfer size. After that, performance drops off into the few hundred megabyte per second range, which is in-line with some of the faster SATA-based solid state drives on the market. 

SunSpider Javascript Benchmark Javascript Processing Performance

Next up, we have some numbers from the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark. According to the SunSpider website:

This benchmark tests the core JavaScript language only, not the DOM or other browser APIs. It is designed to compare different versions of the same browser, and different browsers to each other. Unlike many widely available JavaScript benchmarks, this test is real-world, balanced and statistically sound.  

We should note that this is more of a platform test, in that different browser versions, associated with different operating systems, can and do affect scores. However, among the Windows 10 powered machines here, all things are relatively equal. 


The ASUS ZenPad 3 kicked some butt in the SunSpider benchmark. Here, the machine's fast Kaby Lake-based CPU and the latest optimization made to Windows 10's Edge browser propel the machine to the head of the pack.

Cinebench R11.5 3D Rendering On The CPU And GPU

Cinebench is developed by Maxon, which is better known for its Cinema 4D software. We use both of Cinebench’s tests. The CPU test uses thousands of objects to stress the processor, while the GPU test puts your system’s graphics chip to work with a short, animated 3D scene involving a car chase. The CPU test is measured in points, while the GPU test is measured by the framerate. In both tests, higher numbers are better. 


The ASUS ZenPad 3 finished in the upper echelon in our Cinebench R11.5 tests. It offered up the second best CPU score, trailing only the quad-core Core i7-6700HQ, and its OpenGL graphics score was right up there with some of the better Intel HD x20 series numbers. It couldn't quite catch the discrete GeForce GTX 960M, though.


We don't have a database of Cinebench R15 scores from the latest Ultrabooks and notebooks, but wanted to include these scores nonetheless. Just to give some context, the ASUS ZenPad 3 with its Core i7-7500U and Intel HD 620 series graphics, puts up CPU and graphics scores just a touch better than similar-class, Skylake-based processors.