By choice we’re a fairly busy family and there’s not really a lot of downtime. Travel blogging may on the outside look a lot like taking a quick photo and putting it up on Instagram; but behind the scenes there is actually quite a bit of work that goes on.
Daily: We’re researching, checking and replying to emails, writing and editing blog posts and downloading and formatting our photos so that they are ready for sharing. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
These days a lot of what we need to do can be done on phones, but not everything. Powerful software still needs a decent processor. When you’re doing serious work on the road you need tech that is going to do what you need to get done but not weigh you down. And as parents we have enough to carry, right?
For all of the reasons above, I was happy to put my existing laptop aside for a few months and trial the brand spanking new ASUS ZenBook 3 – which I found to be thin, light AND powerful. #jobdone
Features we love:
1. Back-lit keyboard for comfortable typing – As a mum a lot of my work is done at night once the kids go to bed. It’s also done in hotel rooms where you don’t have much choice but to turn the lights off or wake up the kids. The backlit keyboard made it very convenient for me to type in dark environments. I put this into practice in hotels throughout Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane these past few months and even a cruise ship!
2. Everything sounds great – We love music. Our fave Spotify playlists sound awesome through these speakers which have been professionally tuned by audio specialists Harman/Kardon. During our review, the boys also watched their fair share of movies on the laptop – all with great sound. I know this because I had to keep telling them to turn it down 😉
3. I can take it anywhere – This laptop literally fits in my handbag and barely weighs a thing. I’m not joking, my wallet full of coins and tax receipts probably weighs more than this laptop.
To give you and idea how compact it is… its total footprint is no bigger than an A4 piece of paper and it weighs in at only 910-grams with a thickness of 11.9mm.
I want to point out also that screen size has not been impacted. The ZenBook 3 offers a very respectable 12.5 inch display.
4. Performance – Things that mattered to us was that it was quick to start-up, shut-down and my applications and programs loaded promptly. We pushed the ZenBook 3 pretty hard between charges and found that the battery could go for as long as nine hours.
Detailed specs for the tech heads (#hellohusband):
>> Intel 7th Generation (Kaby Lake) Core i7 Processor
>> Special high-speed LPDDR3 2133MHz RAM CPU support
>> Revolutionary Cooling System
>> Multi-cell battery design. 40Whrs Lithium-polymer for 9 hours battery life
>> Next-Gen USB 3.1 Type-C Port
>> High speed USB 3.1
>> USB Type-C connector
>> ASUS Universal Dock
>> ZenBook 3 usage scenario with the ASUS Universal Dock
>> VGA Webcam – great for keeping in touch and skyping family back home!
5. It’s super stylish – Ok so this is my favourite feature. I just love whipping it out. Ha! Who wouldn’t. These summer months I’ve matched my outfits to my laptop and stepped out with both the royal blue and rose gold cases.
The ZenBook 3 also comes with a matching (and very gorgeous) folio. It’s all just so pretty…and so shiny… I did not want to give this baby back! Coffee shop blogging and general #mumlife will not be quite the same without my ASUS!
Details
Despite the ultra-thin and light chassis of the ASUS ZenBook 3, it packs a mighty punch and in our opinion rivals many of the powerful components that are typically found in much larger laptops.
Available in two styling colours, we’ve loved our summer-time travels with our little ZenBook Rose Gold and Royal Blue who helped us out immensely while we were at home and on the road.
For more information visit the ASUS website.
Credit
We reviewed this product on behalf of ASUS Australia. All opinions are our own and correct at time of publication.
