Personally, the only laptops I prefer to use are flipbooks. The ability to seamlessly switch from a laptop to a tablet is something I feel every laptop should be capable of doing. Of course, if that was true, we wouldn’t have great gaming laptops such as the MSI GT80 Titan. As a result I shall remain content with flipbooks like this. And boy was I content with the ASUS TP301. Except for its official name. Much like the ASUS TP200, the official name of the TP301 is long. On paper it’s the ASUS VivoBook Flip TP301 but due to inherent laziness and an early onset of RSI, I’ll be referring to it as the TP301.
Design and Hardware
The TP301 weighs 3.7 pounds and its dimensions measure at 323 x 227 x 19.9 mm, making it larger and heavier than the TP200. However, carrying it around is easy and comfortable and its weight means your laptop bag won’t go swinging in the wind and subsequently decapitate someone. The lid of the TP301 is composed of brushed aluminium; my one has what ASUS calls an “icicle-gold” hue to it. It’s a beautiful looking lid, with the ASUS logo etched into the middle of it. The bottom and sides of the laptop are composed of plastic of a similar colour to the brushed lid, while the plastic panel bordering the display is black in colour. Altogether it makes for an aesthetically pleasing laptop.
Opening it up, you can see the keyboard is also surrounded by plastic of a similar colour and hue to the lid. The keyboard itself, like the TP200 is placed high up, giving you an ample amount of deck to support your wrists on as you type away. Furthermore, the keyboard is backlit, letting you use it long into the deep hours of the night; you can even change how bright the backlit keys are. While the keys do have a shallow impression, the fact that the springs on them are bit more tighter, and thus offer more resistance, makes it quite easy for a person switching from a mechanical keyboard to use. As a result I didn’t find my typing speeds impeded in anyway.
Sitting below the spacebar is the, ever so slightly inlaid, touchpad. A short line separates the left and right click buttons, though be warned that same line disappears when leaning ever so slightly to the side. The touchpad is responsive and is actually more sensitive, but thanks to a smart algorithm, it never activated when my palm brushed against it. Furthermore, I made heavy use of the ASUS Smart Gesture technology and used a variety of different finger swipes to complete a number of actions such as switching tabs and programs.
Two small 360-degree hinges let you rotate the lid, transforming your humble laptop into a tablet, or if you’re feeling adventurous you can use it in the Tent or Stand mode. Unfortunately, due to the weight and size, carrying it around is a pain especially if you only use one hand.
The sides of the TP301 play host to a wide variety of I/O ports: On the right hand side we have a DCIN power port, an HDMI port, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB-C port and a 3.5 mm audio port. The left hand side hosts a USB 2.0 port, the volume rocker, the power button, and an SD card reader. A 640×480 sits just above the display and while not great it performs well enough.
Display
The TP301 has a 13.3-inch display that has a resolution of 1366×768, which are specifications you would find in other laptops of this range. There is also a 1920×1080 IPS FHD variant of the TP301. Clarity and brightness are great on the TP301’s display and thanks to ASUS’ TruVivid Technology, which combines the usual three layers of glass into a single layer, colour clarity is vastly improved and there is a definitive lack of reflections. Viewing angles are great and the touchscreen which, apart from tracking up to 10-user inputs, is also incredibly accurate due to a large amount of sensors ASUS installed.
Performance
The downside of the previous generation of ASUS flipbooks, especially the TP200, was the performance. Running multiple applications was nigh impossible and using them for gaming was unwise. However, with the TP301, I was wowed. First off all, there are 3 different variants of the TP301, each with a different processor. The one I’m reviewing has an Intel® Core™ i7 6500U Processor which instantly put any worries about running multiple applications to rest. To complement this processor, which is clocked at 2.50 GHz, is 4GB worth of DDR3 SDRAM. As a result of the Skylake processor and the RAM, most applications and processes are executed flawlessly.
However, there is a lot of bloatware on this laptop. From McAfee to ASUS Giftbox, the TP301 is bogged down with bloatware that hampers and restricts the full performance this machine is capable of. As a result, more often than not, 2 GB of RAM is in constant use, something that can be easily remedied by uninstalling the wide plethora of bloatware. However, storage space isn’t an issue as the TP301 comes with 1 TB of HDD storage or 512 GB of SSD storage, depending on the variant.
Bloatware aside, the TP301 also features a GeForce 920M graphics card which means you’ll be able to play some Battleborn or Dota 2 on the go. Just don’t expect your average FPS to surpass 45 FPS.
Audio
Sound is emitted through two speaker grills on the bottom of the laptop, though they are placed on the edges. As a result audio isn’t incredibly muffled, thanks in part to ASUS’ SonicMaster Technology. However, it’s not great, but it’ll do for the average user. I suggest using a good pair of headphones with this laptop.
Battery
The TP301 has a 55 WHrs 3-Cell lithium polymer battery which ASUS believes can give you upto 10 hours of battery. Ultimately, it fell just shy of that. I had to often hunt for a electric outlet after about 9 hours of using the ASUS TP301, which I found to be quite impressive. It passes in my books when it comes to extended mobile use.
Verdict
A laptop that costs AED 3,299 may sound nuts. However, the fact that it’s a flipbook and excels in nearly every aspect, from performance, to a great display, to a downright gorgeous design makes this an instant favourite to flipbook aficionados out there. The ASUS VivoBook Flip TP301’s only downside is it’s average sound performance. Furthermore, you can bring down the high cost by opting for the i5 version of the TP301 which is valued at AED 2,799.
