ASUS has unveiled the long-awaited Zen 3 series in Singapore at the “Zenvolution” launch on Thursday, 13 October. The series consist of the ZenFone 3, ZenBook 3, ZenWatch 3 and Transformer 3, to be made available at their respective official launch dates in the weeks to come.
I was delighted to be able to tinkle with these new products, and honoured to learn from the informative, introductory talks by the ASUS product professionals.
ASUS ZenBook 3 – ASUS Zenvolution Launch in Singapore
The rose-gold ASUS ZenBook 3, a 12.5-inch ultralight-weight beauty with a 1920×1080 FHD display, caught my eye and possibly my heart. Packed with the latest 7th generation Intel Core i7-7500U processor (2.7GHz, 4MB cache), up to 16GB of 2,133MHz RAM, and up to a 1TB PCIe SSD, the ZenBook 3 will also be available in two other colours – quartz grey and royal blue (also a sleek-looking beast).
I must admit that the ZenBook 3 looks interestingly similar to MacBook Air (especially in rose-gold!), although the former, weighing only 2lbs, will possibly appeal to the ladies whose desire for ever lighter laptops will never be satisfied. I’ve lived with the mobility-hindering weight of the MacBook pro for the past 4, coming to 5 years. When I’m ready to send my Mac to the graveyard, I guess I’ll be torn between the MacBook Air and the line-up of lightweights available and/or set to launch in 2017.
The ASUS Transformer 3 Pro (on the right in the picture above), is a gorgeously sleek two-in-one tablet that conveniently transforms into a laptop. Weighing just under 800g, and just 8.35mm thin, it is made with an incredibly tough material, adorned with fine diamond-cut highlighting on the lid. The exterior is effectively protected from everyday scuffs and scratches.
What’s even better, the gadget is available in Icicle Gold and Titanium Gray – on top of which you get the option of four trendy colors for the ASUS Transformer Cover Keyboard to mix and match so you’ll never get bored.
This you can take everywhere: the Transformer 3 Pro – laid out in its tablet form. Several exclusive ASUS technologies, designed to enhance your viewing experience, are packed into this powerhouse: the Eye-Care mode reduces the amount of harmful blue light emitted from the screen by up to 30%; the ASUS Tru2Life Video uses intelligent software algorithms to optimize the sharpness and contrast of every pixel in every video frame so that videos look clearer, more detailed and more realistic; and the ASUS TruVivid does away with some light-sapping glass layers to improve clarity and reduce reflections by up to 67%.
Not to be outdone by the ZenBook 3, the Transformer 3 Pro is equipped with the 6th-generation Intel® Core™ i7 processor, 16GB of fast LPDDR3 RAM and up to 1TB PCIe®x4 SSD. Its Thunderbolt™ 3 interface offers unbelievably fast 40Gbps data transfers via the USB-C port – the any-way-up USB-C connector also supports USB 3.1 Gen 2 devices at speeds up to 10Gbps, 20 times faster than USB 2.0.
All of these I managed to get some first-hand experience of!
Of course, there’s also the ZenWatch, Zenfone 3 and ZenPad 3 – details of which can be found at ASUS SG’s main site.
One of the highlights at the ASUS launch exhibition was thewalk-in life-sized prism, representative of the dual-prism periscope arrangement in the ZenFone Zoom, the world’s thinnest optical-zoom smartphone. ZenFone Zoom is built with meticulously configured glass, synthetic and prismatic lenses to maximize incoming light and capture the best possible photo quality.
While the ASUS representatives introduced the various products, I couldn’t help noticing that the screen was specially manufactured by and labelled “ASUS”.
Presenting the latest ASUS products.
Overall, I had an eye-opening, hands-on session, and got to witness some of the newest power ASUS technologies before they’re available in Singapore. Thank you ASUS SG for the invite, and the sleek ASUS media kit for keeps.
Zenvolution has begun.
xoxo,
Viktoria Jean
Viktoria Jean 
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