Home » ASUS Zenbook Flip 15 UX561UD hands-on, first impressions

ASUS Zenbook Flip 15 UX561UD hands-on, first impressions

Written By Vaughn Chua
Published • April 10th, 2018
Hands-onLaptop
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ASUS’ most powerful Zenbook 2-in-1 convertible laptop by far has been made available in the Philippines last year. It sports an 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor with NVidia 10xx series.

The Flip 15 has a solid, elegant, and premium look thanks to its aluminum chassis with a scratch-resistant finish. Its simplistic design gives the impression that this laptop is meant for professional use. One thing that we like about it is that it attracts little to no smudges, which is always a good thing.

Starting at the front, we can see the 15.6-inch display with Glare Touchscreen a wide-viewing angle. The screen is snappy and responsive when we use our fingers on it. The Flip 15 has good viewing angles, color accuracy, and is usable under direct sunlight thanks to its maximum brightness capacity.

On the right, the charging, HDMI, two USB 3.0 (Type-A), audio ports, and SD card slot are located. Good thing they no longer use USB 2.0 ports since it has a significantly slower file transfer than the 3.0 ones.

The left side has the air vents, USB 3.0 (Type-C) port, LED notification lights, volume rockers, and power button. Anyone who is not used to handling a 2-in-1 laptop may accidentally press the power button when lifting or adjusting the device.

Both loudspeakers of the Flip 15 are located at the bottom part and powered by Harman-Kardon. Audio quality is loud enough to be heard in a closed room. It is also crisp and clear making the laptop a viable music companion.

The Flip 15 has a standard chiclet keyboard with white backlit white-colored keys. One thing that we noticed is that it doesn’t have the usual last column after the Numpad where the “-“, “+”, “enter” are usually located.

The touchpad that also serves as a click-pad is smooth on the hands and we didn’t feel much resistance which is good.

The main feature of the Flip 15 is its capability of being a tablet with the flip of the screen. Its alloy steel hinges make the screen possible to flip at a 360-degree position. We didn’t have any problems flipping the screen since it is sturdy and can be done even with only one hand. Making the screen into a tablet mode will automatically lock the keyboard and touchpad.

An additional accessory for the Flip 15 is the ASUS Pen. It is a stylus pen that is powered by a single AAAA battery. It has 2 buttons (eraser and right-click function. The pen feels slightly heavy but sturdy in the hands. The screen of the laptop is snappy and responsive to the pen’s touch. It can also be used for easier navigation if you choose to switch it to tablet mode.

Overall, the Zenbook Flip 15 feels solid and slim in the hands. It is also slightly heavy but can be carried with only one hand. We didn’t have any problems with opening the lid with only one hand. The screen and keyboard have little flex which is a good sign that they are solidly built.

The Flip 15 is powered by an Intel Core i7 8550 with NVIDIA GTX 1050 (2GB), and 8GB RAM so expect that it will perform fast on daily tasks such as browsing, multi-tasking, file transfers, and the likes.

The ASUS Zenbook Flip 15 is priced at Php79,990 (see listing here). We will be taking this laptop for a full spin in the coming days so stay tuned.

ASUS ZenBook Flip 15 UX561UD key specs:
15.6-inch 16:9 LED backlit FHD/4K UHD (1920×1080) Glare Touchscreen with 72% NTSC with 178-degree wide-viewing angle display
Intel Core i7 8550U 1.8GHz Processor
8GB DDR4 2400MHz SDRAM Onboard Memory, up to 16 GB SDRAM
NVvidia GTX1050 GPU with 2GB GDDR5 VRAM
512GB SSD
Windows 10 Home
WiFi 802.11 AC (2×2)
IR Camera
1 x COMBO audio jack
1 x Type C Thunderbolt
2 x USB 3.0 port(s) Type A
1 x HDMI
1 x Fingerprint
1 x SD card reader
1 x AC adapter plug
1 x Volume up/down
Chiclet keyboard with isolated Num key
Built-in Stereo 16 W Speakers And Array Microphone
Harman Kardon speaker
Alloy steel 360° hinge mechanism
3 Cells 52 Whrs Polymer Battery
BIOS Booting User Password Protection
fTPM (Firmware-based Trusted Platform Module)
364 x 246 x 21 mm (w/ 3cell battery) (WxDxH)
2.1kg with battery