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Asus ProArt PZ13 Review: For the Creative Nomad

DA Gadgets October 2, 2024 pc/ laptops

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While
a
tablet
is
a
good
tool
for
a
creative
professional,
it
doesn’t
offer
the
versatility
of
a
full-blown
laptop.
You
could
opt
for
a
2-in-1
laptop,
but
there
aren’t
a
lot
of
options
out
there
that
won’t
blow
a
hole
in
your
pocket.
Until
now,
that
is.
The
new

Asus
ProArt
PZ13
is
a
competitively
priced
2-in-1
that
features
the
new
Snapdragon
X
Plus
chipset
and
promises
to
deliver
great
performance
with
even
better
battery
life.
It’s
a
good
alternative
to
the
Microsoft
Surface
Pro,
especially
if
you
want
something
cheaper.

The
ProArt
PZ13
also
offers
a
lot
more
at
a
starting
price
of
Rs.
1,04,990.
You
get
a
brilliant
display,
good
form
factor,
lightweight
design,
and
useful
accessories.
Should
this
be
your
new
2-in-1
laptop?
Find
out
below.

Asus
ProArt
PZ13
Design:
Industrial

• Dimensions
  –
  297.5
  x
  202.9
  x
  9
  mm
• Weight
  –
  0.85kg
  (without
  keyboard),
  1.2kg
  (with
  keyboard)
• Colours
  –
  Nano
  Black

Asus
has
gone
with
an
industrial
look
for
the
ProArt
PZ13,
which
feels
tough
and
premium.
It
gets
an
aluminium
unibody
with
chamfered
edges
and
a
thickness
of
9mm.
The
bevel
around
the
screen
has
a
pattern
that’s
supposed
to
echo
‘pro
camera
design’,
and
a
few
other
elements
make
the
otherwise
bland
design
stand
out.
It
would’ve
been
nice
if
Asus
included
a
built-in
kickstand
on
the
rear
panel.
Instead,
you
get
a
separate
case,
which
adds
to
the
thickness
of
the
tablet.

The
tablet
doesn’t
attract
a
lot
of
fingerprints

The
ProArt
PZ13
also
offers
an
IP52
rating
and
claims
to
have
passed
several
MIL-STD-810H
tests.
The
rear
panel
also
houses
a
small
slit
that
acts
as
the
air
intake
and
a
flush-mounted
camera.
Surprisingly,
it
doesn’t
attract
a
lot
of
fingerprints
or
smudges.

In
terms
of
ports,
the
Windows
tablet
features
a
power
button
on
the
top
edge
and
exhaust
vents
for
the
single
fan.
The
right
edge
houses
the
volume
buttons,
whereas
the
left
has
one
exposed
USB
Type-C
port,
a
rubber
flap
that
hides
another
USB
Type-C
port,
and
a
full-size
SD
card
slot.

A
flap
covers
one
of
the
USB
Type-C
ports

A
magnetic
Pogo
connector
is
at
the
bottom
to
connect
the
included
keyboard.
The
tablet
offers
dual
speakers
placed
on
either
side.

Asus
ProArt
PZ13
Display:
Sharp,
bright,
and
vivid

• Size
  and
  type
  –
  13.3-inch
  OLED
  Touch,
  16:10,
  500
  nits
• Resolution
  –
  2,880
  x
  1,800
  pixels
• Refresh
  rate
  –
  60Hz

The
touch
display
on
the
ProArt
PZ13
is
bright
and
colourful.
It’s
also
quite
sharp
as
the
13-inch
OLED
panel
delivers
a
2,880
x
1,800
pixels
resolution,
0.2ms
response
time,
and
a
16:10
aspect
ratio,
which
is
great
for
productivity
users
and
content
creators.
However,
it
only
offers
a
maximum
refresh
rate
of
60Hz.
The
display
offers
good
brightness
indoors,
but
the
glossy
coating
makes
it
hard
to
use
outside
under
direct
sunlight.
To
keep
the
panel
scratch-free,
Asus
has
offered
Gorilla
Glass
NBT
for
protection.

The
OLED
touch
displays
offer
nice
colours
and
have
great
viewing
angles

When
it
comes
to
colours
and
other
enhancements,
the
display
offers
Dolby
Vision,
HDR,
and
Pantone
validation
and
covers
a
100
percent
DCI-P3
colour
gamut.
Watching
content
was
a
nice
experience
on
the
screen,
but
photos
can
be
a
bit
oversaturated
in
the
standard
colour
profile.
It’s
best
to
use
a
DCI-P3
colour
profile
if
you
want
more
accurate
colours
or
the
sRGB
profile
for
photo/video
editing.
It
is
to
be
noted
that
to
gain
access
to
the
available
colour
profiles,
you’ll
first
need
to
use
them
on
the
ProArt
Creator
Hub
app.

Viewing
angles
and
touch
response
were
also
quite
good
on
the
OLED
panel.
Talking
about
touch
response,
the
display
also
supports
pen
input
and
you
can
use
the
Asus
Pen
2.0
to
sketch,
write,
and
more.

Asus
ProArt
PZ13
Keyboard,
Touchpad,
speakers,
and
cameras

• Keyboard
  –
  Detachable
  backlit
  keyboard
• Speakers
  –
  Dual
  side-firing
  with
  Dolby
  Atmos
• Web
  camera
  –
  5-megapixel
  with
  IR
  sensor
• Rear
  camera
  –
  13-megapixel

You
get
a
detachable
keyboard
in
the
box.
It
connects
to
the
chassis
using
pogo
pin
connectors
and
strong
magnets.
I
found
the
keyboard
case
quality
to
be
good.
The
keys
are
backlit
with
adequate
illumination
in
the
dark
and
offer
about
1.35mm
of
travel.
The
typing
experience
is
good,
and
the
whole
thing
feels
very
stable
despite
being
slim.
There’s
also
a
copilot
key
and
a
full
row
of
function
keys.

The
detachable
keyboard
offers
1.35mm
of
key
travel
and
a
clicky
touchpad

Centered
below
the
keyboard
is
a
spacious
touchpad.
It
has
a
smooth
surface,
supports
multi-touch
gestures,
and
the
click
mechanism
functions
effectively.
I
had
no
issues
using
the
touchpad
for
work
and
navigation.

The
ProArt
PZ13
features
two
side-facing
stereo
speakers
that
support
Dolby
Atmos.
While
they
provide
decent
audio
quality
for
a
tablet,
they
may
not
be
ideal
for
a
laptop.
The
speakers
deliver
a
full
and
undistorted
sound
even
at
maximum
volume.
However,
their
loudness
is
somewhat
limited,
and
you
may
inadvertently
cover
them
while
holding
the
tablet.

Both
cameras
on
the
ProArt
PZ13
perform
well
in
daylight
conditions

Asus
has
provided
two
cameras
on
the
ProArt
PZ13,
which
are
pretty
good.
The
5-megapixel
front-facing
camera
does
well
in
daylight
conditions
and
produces
somewhat
noisy
video
in
lowlight
conditions.
It
supports
Windows
Hello
facial
recognition
and
comes
with
IR
sensors
as
well.
You
also
get
a
3-microphone
array
for
clear
voice
recording.
There’s
also
a
13-megapixel
rear
camera,
but
I’m
not
sure
what
it’s
for.
It
does
record
1080p
video
and
takes
decent
photos
in
daylight
conditions.

• OS
  –
  Windows
  11
  Home
• Additional
  apps
  –
  MyAsus,
  StoryCube,
  ProArt
  Creator
  Hub

It’s
software
time,
and
there
are
quite
a
few
extras
on
the
ProArt
PZ13
apart
from
your
standard
Windows
11
tools,
which
include
some
AI
features
such
as
Copilot,
Cocreator
in
Paint,
Live
captions,
Windows
Studio
Effects,
and
Automatic
Super
Resolution.
Eventually,
you’ll
also
get
access
to
the
controversial
Windows
Recall
feature,
but
it’s
not
here
yet.

You
can
use
AI
to
help
with
drawings
in
the
Paint
app

The
extra
tools
on
the
2-in-1
include
the
trusty
MyAsus
app,
a
tool
for
automatically
organising
all
your
exported
digital
photo
files
called
StoryCube,
and
the
ProArt
Creator
Hub
that
lets
you
optimise
the
tablet
the
way
you
want.
You
can
choose
the
display
profile,
control
fan
speed,
and
change
operating
profiles.
The
Asus
ScreenXpert
app
is
also
available
on
the
tablet,
which
lets
you
manage
various
aspects
of
the
touch
display.

Asus
ProArt
PZ13
Performance:
Not
elite

• Processor
  –
  Snapdragon
  X
  Plus
  X1P42100
• RAM
  –
  16GB
  LPDDR5x
  (non-upgradeable) 
• Storage
  –
  1TB
  M.2
  NVMe (non-upgradeable)
• GPU
  –
  Adreno
  X1-45

Alright,
let’s
talk
about
performance.
The
ProArt
PZ13
comes
with
a
lower-tier
Snapdragon
X
Plus
chipset,
which
is
somewhat
noticeable
when
running
heavy
apps
or
performing
resource-intensive
tasks.
The
tablet
also
starts
to
heat
up
when
opening
multiple
tabs
on
Chrome
or
streaming
videos
on
Netflix,
YouTube
and
Prime
Video.
You
will
notice
some
performance
lag
if
you
stress
the
chipset.
Compared
to
the
X
Elite
chipset,
there
is
a
drop
in
power
output
when
it
comes
to
multi-core
usage.
That’s
expected
since
the
X
Plus
has
an
octa-core
CPU,
whereas
the
X
Elite
features
12
cores.
However,
there’s
not
much
difference
when
it
comes
to
AI
computing.

The
Snapdragon
X
Plus
is
an
octa-core
CPU

I
ran
a
couple
of
synthetic
benchmarks
on
the
PZ13
to
see
how
it
performed
compared
to
a
laptop
with
a
Snapdragon
X
Elite
CPU.
As
expected,
the
multi-core
scores
on
Geekbench,
Cinebench
and
3DMark
are
lower,
but
the
AI
performance
is
pretty
similar.
All
the
benchmarks
were
run
in
the
Performance
profile.

You
can
use
the
ProArt
PZ13
for
most
daily
tasks,
such
as
browsing
the
web,
creating
artwork
using
the
stylus,
watching
content,
and
a
lot
more
without
having
to
face
any
major
hiccups.
I
found
most
apps
to
be
compatible
with
ARM;
if
something
doesn’t
run,
you
can
always
run
it
in
emulated
mode.
However,
during
my
testing,
I
did
not
encounter
such
compatibility
issues,
at
least
with
the
apps
I
used.

Gaming
is
a
no-go
on
the
tablet
unless
you’re
playing
some
old-school
titles.
I
tried
to
run
a
couple
of
Xbox
Game
Pass
titles,
and
the
games
didn’t
even
install.
The
tablet
did
not
perform
well
in
the
3DMark
Night
Raid
and
Steel
Nomad
Light
GPU
benchmarks.

In
terms
of
connectivity,
the
tablet
offers
tri-band
WiFi
7
(where
supported)
and
Bluetooth
5.4.
During
the
review
period,
both
worked
well.

Asus
ProArt
PZ13
Battery:
Long-lasting

• Capacity
  –
  70Wh
• Charging
  –
  65W

While
the
Snapdragon
X
Plus
chipset
may
not
offer
top-notch
performance,
it
does
offer
excellent
efficiency.
The
battery
life
on
the
ProArt
PZ13
is
very
good,
and
you
can
go
days
without
having
to
charge
it
up
when
you’re
using
it
for
a
couple
of
hours
in
a
day.
I
could
easily
get
a
full
day’s
work
done
with
the
keyboard
connected.
The
large
70Wh
battery
also
helps
here.

The
tablet
can
go
days
without
a
charge
if
used
only
for
a
couple
of
hours
daily

Fast
charging
is
also
available
thanks
to
the
included
65W
charger.
It
took
about
1
hour
and
40
minutes
to
fully
charge
the
tablet
from
10
percent.

Asus
ProArt
PZ13
Verdict

The
Asus
ProArt
PZ13
is
a
competitively
priced
2-in-1
that
offers
a
good
display,
excellent
battery
life,
decent
performance,
and
portability.
The
detachable
keyboard
and
the
extra
kickstand
cover
make
it
as
thick
as
a
traditional
laptop,
but
you
can
use
it
as
a
tablet
with
the
stylus.
It’s
also
cheaper
than
other
Snapdragon-powered
2-in-1s
on
the
market.

If
you
aren’t
looking
to
spend
major
cash
and
are
on
the
lookout
for
a
good
value-for-money
2-in-1
with
a
great
display
and
long-lasting
battery
life
for
your
travels,
you
should
probably
consider
the
Asus
ProArt
PZ13.