ASUS ProArt PZ13 Review: A worthy contender in the 2-in-1 PC segment
Another day, another ASUS laptop (sort of) lands on our table. Heck, who are we to complain? We love these things. This time around though, we’re shifting away from the Vivobooks and Zenbooks, and heading straight for their productivity-centred ProArt Series.
The unit we have in tow is the ProArt PZ13, a 2-in-1 PC in a tablet form factor, not to be mistaken for the ProArt PX13, which is the conventional clamshell laptop offering.
The PZ13’s closest rival would be the Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition, not solely because they are 2-in-1 PCs, but because they are among the first tablet PCs to utilize the Snapdragon X Plus engine.
Writing this, we already have a clear winner in mind…but we’ll keep the suspense till the end of the article. For now, though, here’s what the ASUS ProArt PZ13 has to offer.
A neat bundle of joy
Yes, it is a joyous thing indeed that the PZ13 comes bundled not just with a magnetic back cover, but also with a detachable keyboard, a stylus, a microSD adapter, and a ProArt backpack. To be clear, this is the entire set of peripherals needed for the average user to capitalize on the 2-in-1 tablet-PC form factor; otherwise you’d just be getting a tablet. And these are very complete peripherals, by the way, which we’ll get into later.
Considering it’s common for brands to boast exorbitantly priced 2-in-1 PCs with no keyboard and cover out of the box (looking at you, Microsoft), this comes as a breath of fresh air. Still, the PZ13 isn’t going for cheap, and you’ll still need to foot in that RM6,999 price tag. Nevertheless, the bundle does justify the purchase, and by good extent in my books.
Impressive everything
Build Quality
At a weight of 850g and a thickness of only 9mm, the ProArt PZ13 undoubtedly falls into the ultraportable range. It’s very light – if you’re using it as a standalone tablet. If you’re going for a full-on PC experience with the keyboard attached, prepare for the additional weight, more so if you clip on the magnetic kickstand cover.
Don’t be concerned though, as it remains lightweight enough to keep the aches off your shoulders.
In terms of sturdiness, the PZ13 is IP52-rated for dust and water resistance. It’s nice to have the IP rating, but the same principle applies to any PC – keep it away from liquids as best as possible. Other than that, ASUS says that it is also military-grade certified with an MIL-STD-810H standard.
Design-wise, there’s not much going on except for its lovely matte black finish and the shiny ‘ASUS ProArt’ engraving in the bottom corner. The plus here is that the material is fairly fingerprint-resistant; the downside is that it’s littered with poorly-placed stickers which detract from the minimalist aesthetic.
A small matter, though, so onwards we go.
Oh, and if you’re wondering what that little strip at the edge is, it’s the air vent which forms part of the cooling system.
Magnetic Cover
We typically don’t harp too much about back covers, but we feel this deserves a shout for a few good reasons. Firstly, the magnetic cover is reassuringly thick yet compact. It’s really just a single slate that magnetically attaches to the rear panels of the PZ13. And about those magnets, they snap on really easily and cling like an obsessive partner with separation anxiety.
In case you needed proof, here’s the PZ13 lifted while attached to the magnetic cover, with me holding it up only by the pen holster loop on the cover.
Additionally, the cover doubles as a kickstand that’s easily adjustable. Only time will tell if the constant folding in and out will cause a crease, but in our month or so with it, it still looks good as new.
Detachable keyboard
Central to the 2-in-1 PC experience is the detachable keyboard. Again, this comes right out of the box with the PZ13.
The keyboard attaches via magnetic pogo pins at the landscape bottom of the tablet. Like the cover, the magnets are extremely strong and pulls itself to the tablet even before contact.
As for the keyboard itself, this is a complete tenkeyless keyboard equipped with function keys that control brightness, volume, keyboard backlight, and more. It also has a touchpad, and a dedicated Copilot key to boot up Copilot on the PZ13.
Typing felt nice and clicky, with the bonus being that it is silent enough for quiet spaces.
The touchpad, on the other hand, is loaded with smart gestures for convenient control. Much like on the Zenbook S 16 OLED, you can swipe along the left edge to control the volume slider, swipe along the right edge to adjust brightness, and swipe horizontally along the top border to fast forward or rewind videos.
Ace on displays
If you’ve read our previous reviews of ASUS laptops, you’ll know how much we adore their Lumina OLED displays. It’s been a reliable selling point for their OLED offerings, so we’re glad to see them on this 2-in-1 ProArt as well.
What you’re getting on the PZ13 is a 13.3″ touch screen ASUS Lumina OLED display with 3K (2880×1800) resolution and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut. It is PANTONE Validated and VESA Certified DisplayHDR True Black 500.
For creatives particular about colours, you’ll be glad to know that the color gamut is customizable through the pre-installed MyASUS application. The default gamut is set to Native, but you have the choice of sRGB for ‘standard web content colours’, DCI-P3 for ‘standard cinema colours’, and Display P3 for ‘wider true-to-life colours’.
All this indicates that it’s great for artsy, creative work. But on the content viewing side of things, it’s just as glorious with its vivid, vibrant colours.
Performance: a reliable semi-heavy lifter
Work and General Performance
Qualcomm’s foray into computer CPUs is still a relatively recent thing, so thankfully, it’s not that hard to digest. The two series leading the Qualcomm front are the Snapdragon X Plus and Snapdragon X Elite, with each series boasting a line-up of CPUs under their separate umbrellas. The lesser of the two is the X Plus series.
The ProArt PZ13 utilizes the Snapdragon X Plus, specifically the 8-core X1P42100 chipset. Power-wise, you won’t be able to squeeze as much out of the PC as you would with one that has the X Elite CPU. However, the PZ13 comes with 16GB RAM and a whopping 1TB storage.
Based on track record, the X Plus is better suited for light to medium creative work, such as photo editing, short-form video editing, and sketching. Anything more demanding – such as heavy coding and 3D graphic rendering – might prove challenging.
Personally, for someone whose workloads are primarily dependent on truckloads of Chrome tabs, it ran flawlessly.
Another thing to take note of is that, at the time of writing, many creative apps in the Adobe Creative Suite are not optimized for ARM-based processors like the Snapdragon X Plus. This is according to tech reviewer Brad Colbow, who adds that despite it, you can get around with emulation.
Battery Performance
Where the Snapdragon X Plus excels is in battery efficiency. This is a highly efficient processor that doesn’t guzzle power carelessly and maximizes the heck out of its 70Wh lithium polymer battery.
We got a minimum of 8 hours of consistent usage under Standard mode, after which it switches into power saving mode where we could squeeze out another hour or two. That’s a full day’s worth of work away from the plugs, which is great if you have remote working privileges.
We reckon you’ll have good impressions about the PZ13 too if you’re constantly shuffling between locations for meetings.
Port Availability
Moving on to ports, tablet PCs traditionally don’t offer too many, and it’s the same here. You get two USB 4.0 type-C ports, one of which will be occupied for charging. The other is hidden beneath a flap that conceals both the USB4.0 type-C port and an SD card reader.
There is a noticeable absence of an audio jack, so do take note if you’re heavily reliant on wired headphones.
Verdict: ProArt PZ13 goes beyond the surface
At this point in time, among all the 2-in-1 PCs available, the ASUS ProArt PZ13 looks like the one to beat.
The performance-proven Snapdragon X Plus, vibrant OLED display, and ample 16GB RAM +1TB storage configuration are all great to have. Personally, though, the major selling point is its accessory bundle, which includes the magnetic keyboard, kickstand cover, and stylus. This is the entire 2-in-1 PC experience right out of the box, and I didn’t feel any want for more.
We feel the need to compare it with the latest Surface Pro 11 because, well, oftentimes when you think of 2-in-1 PCs, you think of Microsoft.
So, for what it’s worth, the Microsoft Surface Pro 11 with the Snapdragon X Plus retails for RM5,399. A friendlier price no doubt, but it comes with a major compromise of an LCD display and only 16GB RAM and 256GB storage. A model with 512GB storage is available, but it sees a major price hike up to RM6,499. This, without even a keyboard that will cost you anywhere between RM759 and RM1,229.
There’ll be more 2-in-1 PCs coming up for sure. But for now, the ASUS ProArt PZ13 is shaping up to be the better investment, both in terms of specs and the accessory bundle included right out of the box.
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