Asus Zenbook Flip 14 – The all-round laptop for all your needs
When it comes to laptops, the Taiwanese company Asus has been doing a great job. Their recent release the Zenbook Flip is a perfect balance between performance and portability. This laptop comes with a convertible design letting you use the laptop as a tablet or even in the tent mode for watching movies on the go. The ErgoLift hinge uses the lid smartly and when the laptop is in use, it lifts the base ever so slightly making the setup ergonomic and typing a charm. The 14-inch display on the Flip comes is an IPS LCD panel with a FHD+ resolution which is sharp and bright enough for everyday usage. Though legibility suffers slightly when used under direct sunlight. The display is touch-enabled and Asus has bundled in a stylus dubbed as Asus Pen which can measure up to 1024 pressure levels and can be helpful for users who intend to use the laptop for creative purposes. Wish this stylus could be somehow stored within the laptop otherwise, it’s just another easy to lose accessory.
Configurations wise, there is an ample 8GB of DDR 4 RAM, Ryzen 5-3500U processor paired with the Vega 8 graphics coupled with 2GB of graphics memory and up to 512GB PCIe SSD for storage. In terms of performance, everyday computing tasks like browsing the internet, multimedia consumption, managing multiple files simultaneously and lite gaming like Asphalt Storm, League of legends works perfectly fine.
The laptop comes with an aluminum chassis and is sturdy. The keyboard has backlit keys that are evenly spread and offer a satisfactory clicky feeling with each keypress. There are ample connectivity ports including a microSD card slot, a headphone jack, one USB 2.0 port, a full-sized HDMI port, a USB 3.1 Type-A port, and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port, and the charging port.
I’ve used this laptop, priced at Rs 65,000, for over a month and while I liked almost everything right from the build quality to portability or the performance, I feel that the audio output from the built-in speakers and battery life could’ve been slightly better. Latter being the bigger gripe since the laptop maxes out at around 4 hours of backup. Overall, the Zenbook Flip checks almost all the boxes apart from battery life and is recommended for someone looking for a well built, powerful yet portable laptop.
TicWatch E2 |
TicWatch E2 – The improved budget WearOS watch
Apart from smartphones, smartwatches are the most used gadgets these days. These small gadgets have been able to replace traditional watches by offering countless features. Mobvoi had introduced the TicWatch E2 in India back at a price of Rs. 13,999 and is basically an upgrade to Mobvoi’s first-generation TicWatch E. The new watch offers better battery backup, better display, more storage, and a powerful processor compared to its predecessor. The watch comes with a 1.39-inches circular AMOLED display, and is slightly bulkier compared to most other smartwatches. Since it carries a plastic build, it is not as heavy as other smartwatches available in the same price bracket. There is a built-in GPS and a heart rate sensor to keep track of your fitness activities. These trackers work efficiently and were able to monitor my physical activities and heart rate accurately. Ticwatch E2 can also track your swimming session as the watch comes with a waterproof rating of up to 50 meters. Since this watch runs on WearOS, you can download third-party apps and watch faces using Google Play Store. The 4GB of inbuilt storage offers enough space to download more than a few apps easily. There is a 425 mAh battery present on the watch and it can last up to 2.5 days, in case you have activated the always-on display. In terms of design, the watch does not stand out of the crowd, but at the price range of under Rs 15,000 it fares better than most other watches and offers the flexibility of third-party apps. It is a good buy in case you can ignore the dated Wear 2100 chipset and the missing ambient sensor.
