*** ASUS ZenBook Pro UX550 Owner's Lounge ***

ZenBook Pro UX550 Specifications:

CPU Intel Core i7-7700HQ, 2.8 GHz (6MB Cache, up to 3.8 GHz)
GPU NVIDIA GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GDDR5
Display 15.6" IPS-type, LED-backlit
Resolution FHD 1920 x 1080
UHD 3840 x 2160
Memory 16GB DDR4 2400MHz
Storage 512GB PCIe x 4 SSD
Networking 802.11 ac Wi-Fi with 2x2 antenna
Connectivity Bluetooth 4.1, 2 x USB 3.0 Type A, 2 x USB 3.1 Type-C, with Thunderbolt 3 support, 1 x audio combo jack, 1 x HDMI 1.4, 1 x MircoSD slot, 1x DC jack
Battery 73Wh
Dimensions 14.4" x 9.9" x 0.74"
Weight 3.97 lbs
OS Windows 10 (64-bit)
Windows 10 Professional (64-bit)

Where To Buy?

*** Coming Soon ***

 

What the heck is happening bruh?

 

@hmscott

how does this guy know about every post/thread I make?

 

@Papusan 's got the skillz

And, no, I didn't tell him how...

The Asus UX550 with GTX 1050ti and a full quad core CPU looks pretty awesome. Even better than those Max-Q thingee's, for a lot less money.

 

Look into your machine. I'm there, bruh!! I'm stalking yooo When will yooo see it? And no point in a new clean installation. Not even on firmware level

 

Have they announced a release date for this?

 

Definitely interested in seeing thermals since it's a very thin device, but yeah, this is looking like a nice laptop. The 1050ti is also a very capable card at 1080p gaming for medium-high settings. It's basically equivalent to a desktop 7970HD / 280x / GTX 960.

 

Asus ZenBook Pro (UX550) Hands-on Review: Balancing act

 

Not looking good folks...One of the folks from Norway got their UX550 and the complaints are pretty bad. Coil Whine, pretty bad light bleed, keyboard flex problem still there. I thought this was gonna be the holy grail but I'm starting to have my doubts. Videos and pics have been posted.

Dunno if I can link reddit, but just check out /laptops and its one of the top threads.

 

The light bleed doesn't look that bad, he shouldn't see it in normal use.

Coil whine was on his XPS laptop too, he even said he might be suseptible to it due to his sensitivity running in a totally quiet room.

Otherwise it looks good

" hpthetallguy[ S] 1 point 8 hours ago
Cooling is better than the XPS 9560. First thoughts when I fired up Fallout 4, was that the fans ran a lot quieter than on the XPS. And the machine itself ran much cooler during load, so they have figured out the cooling better than Dell.

It's alright in use. I like the speakers and the keyboard is imo comfy to write on. Haven't tested for throttling, yet."
https://www.reddit.com/user/hpthetallguy

Don't panic over one review, more people will review it moving forward.

 

I'm not totally giving up on the laptop, and I will be keeping an eye on it very closely, as should everyone else who is in the market for a slim yet powerful laptop.

I do hope that the pros outweigh the cons while at the same time justifying its cost, but I'm just managing my expectations. The video with the coil whine was very audible to me (I understand the video isn't a 1:1 representation of what I would hear when I'm actually face to face) , and the fear of getting an XPS with coil whine is one of the big reasons I haven't pulled the trigger on it already. I can't stand high pitched sounds. Totally OK with fan noise however.

The silver lining for me is the point that you quoted. reason #2 for staying away from the XPS was because of the throttling/cooling issues. I would be ecstatic if this unit had efficient cooling.

I'm sure it will be a decent laptop for sure, but for a premium price, I was hoping for a more polished premium product.

 

For those that live in Switzerland, Digitec will ship the UX550VD in 3 configurations in about 2 weeks.

https://www.digitec.ch/de/Search?q=Asus+ux550

 

Thanks for the heads up

Those all list the GPU as 1050, with a very wide range of cost, maybe they left off the "ti" for 1050ti on the top 2 cost models?

 

Like others, I'm eagerly awaiting to see some more reviews on the UX550.

Honestly, out of the issues raised, the coil whine is the only one that gets me. That would be hard to live with for long term

Light bleed may just be based on certain units and/or display configurations. And keyboard flex was never something I cared much about as long as the keyboard itself was fine during actual use - I mean, if I push down hard enough on my old MacBook Pro or XPS15, I'd be able to make it flex a lot too but they have no effect on actual typing

The UX550VD is the 1050 model. The VE is the one with the 1050 Ti

Hoping to see when the US models start coming out

 

The 3 they offer are the UX550VD, aka GTX1050. The variations come from the SSD sice. Bit unusual high price deltas. Will probably be adjusted on release.

 

Hi guys!
I got mine fresh today !
I'll try to explain my story and give you a short review of what I have noticed so far.

First, I have been waiting for this laptop for oven an year! I bought a UX501VW last May and it was a beast(4k, max ram, max hdd) but I returned it after a month because of that pesky coil whine. I just couldnt stand it in a quiet room, so here is the first fact from me: even though there is a very week coil whine here in normal conditions you have to put your year next to the keyboard in order to hear it. So far I don''t think its soooo bad(haven't tried to push it to the max, still downloading games..).
Second, there is a slight bend on top of the keyboard but typing is a breeze and there is no flex at least for me, you have to push to see it bend(understand your concerns here but this is far from a dealbraker for me ).
The build quality so far is better than last year, no flex around besides that top keyboard plate, trackpad is smooth and recognizes all gestures so far. Haven't tested the screenbleed but to be honest I don't realy care about it..
I can open the lid with one hand and the max open angle is enough for me.
The charger brick is a bit big but this a beast after all )

I got mine with a extra bag as an accessory which was a nice surprise, the only compromise that i made was that the only model here(Bulgaria) is with 8gb RAM, I really wanted the 16GB one but I could't wait more.

Please ask if you have questions! I personally was eager to find someone to give more info for the last month(checking youtube daily for reviews and so on), not to mention that after I returend the last year model I have been waiting patiently until this day comes

Greetings, J

 

Does it come with an Ethernet USB adapter.

 

Happy to hear that info. How is the rest of the build quality? And what kind of battery life are you getting? How is the screen too?

 

The build quality is perfect for me, hinge and chassis are solid, fingerprints are noticeable under certain angle but I like to keep my things clean so microfiber is a must.
Im on the second battery charge now and with wifi, torrent and installations + chrome all the time I think I got around 6-7 hours(haven't tasted it properly though).
Screen is crisp and veeery bright, I'm using it on around 15-20%. About color accuracy and other professional levels I can't say much. Don't have the software or need to test it.
Installing Dirt4 soon so I can say a bit more about the performance/temps then

And yes, It comes with ethernet adaprer to usb2...

 

Yup, it looks like that site only has the GTX 1050 model for order, the GTX 1050ti VE model search only turns up the 1050 model today:

https://www.digitec.ch/de/Search?q=Asus+ux550ve

 

Thanks for your report on the new GX550. I'm looking forward to getting one. What screen did you get 1080p or UHD screen? How does it look
Gaming will be faster with 1080p. Also, how about temps during gaming or other high cpu/gpu activity? What temps are you getting?

 

This notebook looks like a candidate for dbrand skins, if they every make any. Sometime i do wonder when the designers decided to put sleeping pills in to the engineers beer to make a near perfectly balanced machine that gets carried around so disgustingly prone to fingerprints. Don't get me wrong, it looks dope. I hope we will see some reviews including the ROG XG Station 2 with a beefy GPU inside and not to many pictures of a fatty surface.

Using geizhals.eu to search a large number of eu based shops for the UX550VE turned up with nothing. Looks like digitec is currently the only shops offering the new UX550 but in the lower spec.

 

I think as of now only FHD is available worldwide, honestly they really took their time supplying the machine, I guess the top model is not coming for at least another month. The screen is fine but I get plenty of scaling problems in windows even with the native OS programs. Last year I thought that it's because if the higher resolution but here is almost the same on the FHD. Quite annoying to be honest, my sister got a yoga 720 with almost identical parameters but a touch screen and I haven't seen one blurry application.

Still struggling with the games because there is a huge issue with utorrent here(it might be just my home network but I get disconnected every 3-5min and it just stays there without any traffic). I read some forums threads and there are fixes but it involves reprogramming the MTU packets and it's the first time I get to that point.

** ethernet port(adapter) is working fine though, but another thing is that here there is only 8GB RAM model and today with 2 chrome wondows and HoMM VII it got up to 79% usage. I'm worried and I really wanted 16GB ram but there is just no option so far..

***in task manager about RAM it is stated: Slots used: 2of4 but Im 99% sure the ram is soldered to the motherboard

 

How is the gaming? How does the unit handle heat and air flow?

 

Asked for a replacement today because the wifi issue, I hope that my home network was the problem but we'll see. My sister got the new yoga 720 and with the same wifi adapter there is no suck problem..
I'll post more when I get the new unit..

 

I am also from Bulgaria and just saw that at one particular shop they offer a 16GB option. You can get it from there? I mean Laptop BG. I am still waiting for reviews because i am worried about the thermals and the coil whine. Can you share more info when you receive yours again?

 

I hope your replacement resolved the issue. Let us know how it goes.
Thanks

 

Can someone check if the thunderbolt 3 on this thing is 2 or 4 PCIe lane?

 

Since it's listed as supported device for the Asus g station 2, I'd guess it's 4 lane. The better question would be: is it directly connected to the cpu?

 

Back again guys,

The replacement is here and... everything is the same
I don't know if it's my imagination but I feel the keyboard one idea sturdier. The coil whine is there if the fans are off and you keep close to the chassis but as I said: It's not as bad as last years model.

 

I tried also to find one but all the distributors assured me that this is the only model available as of now in the country.
There was an option for upgrading in one of the sites but after I contacted them they fixed the mistake( the ram is soldered and there is NO user upgradability on this one).

 

The gl502vm supports the rog station, and it's 2 lane.
So that doesn't mean anything.

Since this is dual thunderbolt port, it will be 4 lane, because Intel doesn't make a low power dual thunderbolt. However, according to wikipedia, it appears that the bandwidth is split between the two TB ports, so at most, you'll only be able to connect two 4k monitors. But the good thing is, with 2 tb ports, you only need passive dp-over-usbc cables, and you won't need stupid expensive thunderbolt docks like this...

 

hdmi 1.4 is such a big fail.

come on....

 

To compliment that, again I feel they are trying to put out a premium product but the flaws are just so trivial. You can not charge 1500eur for the mid range model and have the little details not worked out. In asus defense I see that the other direct contestant(XPS 15) is also not perfect but I just cant understand how are they letting this pesky coil whine noise go to customers even after this happened with the previous model.
Btw, while gaming is audible even with the fans kicking in at full speed.

 

I Can't complain about the gaming though, Dirt 4 is running with vsync and x4 antialiasing in FHD at about 40-60fps. And with headphones the whine is gone.
Yesterday I did gpu and cpu stress tests with Furmark and Burtest and there was no throttling or hiccups. If someone is interested I can post some results.

 

The coil whine.
If I'm not wrong manufacturers base their products on the reference platform provided by the chipset manufacturers. If the reference platform has the coil whine problem then every laptop based on it will have it too.
Looking at the times when it started it covers all 14nm CPUs.
So maybe they take it into consideration releasing reference platform for 10nm CPUs in the next 1-2 years. But do they care?

 

Interesting thoughts but looking at other laptops that have the same CPU and no coil whine I wonder if it has something to do with the motherboards which are manufacturer produced. I couldn't hear anything in the Yoga 720 under load(it has the i7 7700 and gtx 1050).

So please if someone else buys the laptop please share because I wonder if they have and can replace the motherboard with a better one. If that's the case I'm sending mine right away.

 

blame Intel for coil whine?

 

Still nobody who has bought one to compare ?

 

Hi. I'm just curious (maybe a dumb questione) .. Is it possible to charge the computer via the USB-C inputs ?

Best Regards

 

no. it has a regular power jack.

were you hoping to use a universal usb-c charger?

 

Hi

Yes that was my tought ... would be nice to have a backup power option while travelling ..

Thank you for your reply !

 

That's a pity. It was great being able to dock my xps 15 to my eGPU with a single cable

 

Looks like am oversight to me. If you're using it mobile with optimus on, you should easily be able to charge with usbC.

 

hey, hdmi 1.4 in 2017 is a bigger oversight.

This laptop is full of oversights. They could have made this much better than the xps, but no. They came short on build quality and features.
No aluminum unibody nor magnesium alloy internal frame. Just plastic covered in sheet aluminum.
Dated ports.
Anyone with a 4k external monitor or TV needs to buy a frickin dongle.

 

i visit asus website and they says there are 3 heatpipes :



meanwhile ultrabook review has confirm there's only 2 heatpipes



did i miss something ???

 

You sure that's the ux550? Who the fu would only use one heatpipe for a 7700hq? A shared one at that!

 

take a look it here :

http://www.ultrabookreview.com/17143-asus-zenbook-ux550-review/

idk why asus claiming they've three heatpipes inside, and the internals shows just two...LOL asus.

 

There are 2 models, VD model has the 1050 model - that's the one most reviewers have, including the site you've all posted. I'm assuming Asus messed up the ad copy duplicating the "three heat-pipes" in both sites ad copy.

https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ASUS-ZenBook-Pro-UX550VD/

So we need to see if the VE model has 3 heatpipes, it's the 1050ti model:

https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/ASUS-ZenBook-Pro-UX550 VE/
"The ZenBook Pro stays cool at all times with its highly efficient dual-fan cooling system that incorporates three heat pipes."

"ZenBook Pro uses up to the latest NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1050 Ti gaming-gradegraphics with up to 4GB of GDDR5 video memory to deliver performance that’s nearly twice as fast as a GeForce GTX 960M GPU"

Either that, or both have 2, and Asus marketing messed up both sites ad copy

The only VE internal photo I can find is of the other side that doesn't show the heatpipes:

https://gallery.gizbot.com/laptops/asus-zenbook-pro-ux550ve/photos-c3009-e2422-p33388.html