7.8 Score
Out of the three ASUS ProArt devices we have reviewed, this is the simplest creator 2-in-1 device made for consumers. With that said, in this ASUS ProArt PZ13 Review, we are going to talk about this tablet and whether it’s worth the asking price, especially when it runs the Snapdragon X Plus instead of the Elite.
ASUS ProArt PZ13 Review
Design and Build
Coming at 9mm thick and 850 grams, the ASUS ProArt PZ13 is a well-built and solid tablet from the ground up because it is constructed out of aluminium alloy and yes, it does get the coveted MIL-STD810H certification for ruggedness (that doesn’t mean you should drop it purposely). ASUS’ revamped look for their ProArt this stealthy black finish which has a coating to keep the entire device smudges and fingerprint-free – most definitely makes this device scream sexy and elegant in every way possible. They have done absolute justice in making all these devices look amazing.
Now that’s not all and ASUS has opted for a standalone magnetic cover instead of designing a stand within the tablet – which may seem like an odd choice but personally, I prefer this because it allows me to put the tablet on my stand without the cover snapped on the back. Definitely gives the kind of versatility users would need. But if you use the included cover, there’s no issue either as it does a wonderful job and has good angles to work on as well. The keyboard for this laptop connects to the bottom via a POGO pin connection and I’ll talk about it later.
Display and Experience
The ProArt’s strongest suit happens to be the display – because it’s supposed to look true to life. We saw that with the ASUS ProArt PX13 and the P16 and I couldn’t take my eyes off the display. Expect the same with the ASUS ProArt PZ13.
The 13” 3K 16:10 display is just absolutely sensational to look at and I have to say, if you have a magnetic surface, you can very well put this up like some “Photo Frame”. We use art by amazing artists as our wallpaper and it’s safe to say that the wallpapers I have used looks so real and stunning.
The experience extends into consuming content as well. Watching Netflix or Amazon Prime, you can really see how well the colours pop, the true blacks and the contrast of it – the OLED display really shines bright. It is capped at 60Hz which is more than alright and yes, for those creators out there – it is 100% DCI-P3 with Delta E < 1. ASUS has opted for a Corning Gorilla Glass NBT, which is a great choice as it’s better with pressure, especially the stylus this tablet does come with the ASUS Pen 2.0 which supports upto 4096 pressure inputs and comes included with extra tips, which can be customized to your liking.
The Windows Tablet/2-in-1 experience is Sweet
The last time I had a proper Windows tablet experience was with the Lenovo MiX 510, which was years ago. And that is how little of a choice we have in the Windows tablet space. Windows 8 was the worst on touch-based displays and making matters worse, in tablets, it made zero sense. But that’s not the case here because Windows 11 is more touch friendly and the experience I had is more than amazing.
Every interaction felt natural, and every input made, Windows was smart enough to launch the right tool for it. For instance, touching with the fingers would launch the touch keyboard but if you use the ASUS Pen, you can use the writing keyboard which works fine. The taskbar does get slightly bigger to keep it more touch-friendly – but I adjusted to keep it the normal size.
The swipe gestures all around the tablet are super intuitive. I used the PZ13 as my Carrion Companion while playing on my Ally X to make sure that I collected the hidden power-ups, got some documents sorted with the Edge’s built-in PDF editor and even had the time to have some doodling time with the tablet.
All that experience for over three weeks, made me completely forget my iPad Air – and this only proves one thing right: when you make a good Windows Tablet like this, it can be a good contender in the tablet space giving iPads a serious contender to fight.
Performance: Snapdragon X Plus, the Achilles Heel of this Tablet
The thing is, the ASUS ProArt PZ13 is not all rainbows and sunshine because the processor ASUS opted in for this tablet, is a double-edged sword. Let me address the good bits first, starting with the Battery life and standby time because my goodness, this is so good. ARM invading the Windows space is a good thing and has given other semiconductor brands to do better in this area. The battery management is as I expected, in fact, something I have experienced in another Snapdragon-powered Laptop made by ASUS.
Running a battery test on Procyon, we got close to 13 hours of battery life with the Video Playback benchmark and the Standby numbers were even better hitting, about 16 hours 47 minutes with 15% battery left. This is the first time I have not regretted leaving a Windows-powered portable device on the whole time. In day-to-day real-life tests, it surpassed my expectations and I had to only charge once every 3-4 days with an average use of 4-5 hours per day. Sometimes, I’d find myself dozing off watching shows and waking up to the tablet still playing. ARM truly shines here and it would have not been possible without Windows’ effort to make it happen with the Prism Emulator.
But that’s where the good part ends because now, from a usability perspective – this is where things get dicey. Now, you can run most of your daily applications like Chrome, Spotify, Office Suite, and some applications like Fasttone Resizer – which runs okay because of Prism emulation as it converts the x86 to ARM. If you are a creator, at the time of this review, Adobe Suite has trouble running, Luminar Neo works, and Clip Studio Paint works but the choice of app that works natively is extremely limited. CapCut crashed on us.
This raises a very important question: why did ASUS opt for a Snapdragon X processor when Intel’s Ultra or AMD Ryzen AI is capable of handling things a lot better? Even endurance on those processors has improved but it’s still not close to what Snapdragon X could achieve. Another thing is, that getting the more inferior Snapdragon X Plus over the Elite is a huge bummer. We did the benchmark and you can take a look at the scores and comparison below.
The thing is: the ProArt PZ13 is a nice tablet to use and experience, but when the processor limits you from going further and doesn’t allow you to use tools that are crucial to your creative flow – it’s a bummer that it ends up being an entertainment tablet than a Creative tablet.
The Ports and Charging
For a tablet, expect a limited selection of ports – however, you get a 2x USB C port and a full-size SD Card reader which was a big surprise for me. Sadly, no Headphone jack though.
Throughout my use, even during a client’s shoot – the fact that I didn’t have to reach for my SD Card reader as the tablet already had one, made my life easier by 10-times – get some things done, quickly edit via web and pass the files over to my client immediately on the spot.
As for charging, it isn’t a demanding device, so, with the help of the 65W charging adapter – you are perfectly fine to get the juices flowing. You see it has the potential to be a really good creator tablet but man, sometimes hitting the “metaphorical” wall is frustrating.
The Keyboard and Camera
The keyboard experience is exactly how I expected it would be: great to type and use on a proper surface, and the complete opposite while you use it on your lap and such. The typing experience on the keyboard is pretty good if you ask me and the trackpad is nice – with quick gesture shortcuts to control the brightness and volume which is a nice touch. But since it’s a tablet first, and “laptop” second – I will let this one slide.
On the back, it has a 13MP shooter which I barely used but this camera is ideal for capturing documents and such. Just don’t use it to shoot when you are on vacation with the humongous tablet in your hand.
Conclusion
At RM 6,999, the ASUS ProArt PZ13 is a pretty neat Windows tablet that can be used exactly like an Android-based Tablet or an iPad but with access to wider and more usable applications that run on Windows. However, that’s what we hoped to see with this. The thing is, on the creator end of it – because it runs Snapdragon X Plus (not even the Elite) is a bummer from a performance standpoint. Although you are limited to a few supported applications that can take advantage of the ARM architecture and the Prism Emulator which converts x86 codes to ARM and as for the rest, it’s a tough call.
Also, the Snapdragon X Plus isn’t the most powerful of the bunch either—which is a bit of an odd choice for a creator-centric product. Despite the excellent endurance and standby battery life, that alone isn’t enough to convince consumers to purchase, which explains why the market share for ARM processor laptops is only 0.8%. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad tablet at all – but when you are spending close to RM 7k, you want a fully functional device. At this point, all I can hope is that the ARM support for applications grows as fast as possible to make this tablet relevant.
I can see what ASUS wanted to make, and the idea is there, but it’s up to Snapdragon, Windows and every creative app maker out there to help this tablet fulfil its purpose.
If you want to check out the other ProArt lineup, we have reviewed the PX13 and P16 as well.
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