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Transcript
00:00🎵
00:07Hey, how's it going guys? This is Dave2D, and this is a video on the Asus UX306.
00:13So last year, Asus came out with the 305.
00:16Great device. It's actually one of my favorite Asus devices from last year,
00:19and it's actually one of my favorite ultrabooks from 2015.
00:22But this is the successor. It's been upgraded across the board. Let's take a look.
00:27The exterior is very similar to the 305.
00:29Essentially the same shape and size.
00:32The top surface has that radial brushed finish again.
00:34The bottom is the more standard texture.
00:36To open it up, you need to remove the T5 screws, and then there's two more screws under the feet.
00:41It's kind of troublesome to get in there, but once you're inside, you'll find a removable M.2 SSD,
00:46and then there's 8 gigs of RAM, which are soldered on.
00:49There is an option for 16 gigs of RAM if you need it.
00:52Now compared with the XPS 13 and the Razer Blade Stealth,
00:55it's the biggest of the bunch, but it's still a relatively small package.
00:58It has the same amount of material flex as the 305 from last year.
01:02I know it looks pretty dramatic on camera, but I'm twisting this thing pretty aggressively.
01:06The chassis isn't as rigid as I'd like it to be, but the overall build quality is good.
01:11The hinge tension on the screen is perfect.
01:13You can open and close it with one hand, but the bottom of the screen hits the table when you open it up.
01:18So the 305 had little feet that kind of helped it keep it off the table.
01:23Those feet aren't on the 306, but I don't think it's an issue.
01:26The edge doesn't seem to scratch my table.
01:28It's a little skimpy on ports.
01:30There's one USB Type-A, an audio jack, and an SD card slot.
01:34And on the other side, there's a USB-C, micro HDMI, and that's it.
01:38There's one USB-A, one USB-C, and the USB-C port doesn't even support Thunderbolt 3.
01:43So not a ton of ports, but it should be enough for most people.
01:47The screen looks to be the same as the UX305.
01:50This one here is the 1080p non-touch screen.
01:52It's a matte finish.
01:54Viewing angles are okay, not amazing, but it gets bright at around 320 nits,
01:58and the color accuracy is pretty good.
02:00There's an HD webcam up top. This is what it looks like.
02:03The speakers are still located on the bottom, but they sound better this year.
02:07They're not super loud, and they still don't have a lot of bass,
02:09but they sound clear, or at least clearer than how I remember the UX305 one sounding.
02:14The keyboard has backlighting now, which is something that I know a lot of people wanted on last year's model.
02:19It's pretty spacious to type on.
02:21The arrow keys are small, but the layout is good, and none of the keys feel uncomfortable to use.
02:26The keystroke isn't as responsive as I'd like it to be.
02:28It's supposedly a 1.5mm travel, but it feels shorter to me,
02:32and I'd say overall, it's a pretty average, but decent typing experience.
02:36The trackpad has been improved.
02:38The earlier UX305 units had a weird clicking issue.
02:41That's been resolved.
02:42It's a big plastic surface, and it uses native Windows drivers, so tracking is really good.
02:47I wish the texture was a little bit smoother,
02:49but there's no skipping, and the buttons and the gestures are also really responsive.
02:53The SSD that they include is a SATA-based M.2, so it's not super fast.
02:57System performance otherwise is good.
02:59More than capable for any kind of work you do on this.
03:02It's running the Intel HD 520 graphics chip, so gaming isn't its strong point,
03:06but lighter games are still pretty playable, as long as you're running on the lowest graphics settings,
03:11and the lowest resolution.
03:12So even something like Overwatch can hit 50 or 60 frames per second,
03:15as long as you don't mind the pixelation.
03:17The performance here is a really nice step up from the Core M chips
03:21that some of the earlier UX305 shipped with last year.
03:24And also, if you want, 1080p video editing is viable.
03:27Just make sure you're using an external drive.
03:29In terms of fan noise, it's very quiet on idle.
03:32Not quite silent, but it's close.
03:34On load, the fan noise picks up, but it never gets super loud.
03:37Thermally, it has a pretty average heat output.
03:39It features something called Asus IceCool, which supposedly keeps the palm rest cooler,
03:43and it does, but I'm not really seeing that much of a difference between this
03:47and any other Ultrabook, to be honest.
03:49The battery life has been bumped up.
03:50It's a 57 watt-hour battery, and it takes around 3 hours to charge,
03:547.5 hour battery life.
03:56Maybe a little bit less, depending on what you're doing.
03:58Okay, so the Asus UX306.
04:00It's an aluminum Ultrabook, well-built, similar to the UX305 in shape and size.
04:06The 1080p screen is good, but it's not a touchscreen.
04:09The keyboard is respectable, and the backlighting is a nice addition this year.
04:12The trackpad is improved and uses native drivers, which is nice.
04:15The dual-core Skylake i7 is more than enough for anything you'd want to do on an Ultrabook,
04:19and it's well-cooled without being too loud.
04:21The 8 gigs of RAM are soldered on and can't be replaced.
04:24The 512 gig SATA M.2 stick can be replaced, but it's not easy to open up.
04:29And finally, we have a battery that'll last you around 7 hours of regular use.
04:33So, I really like the UX306.
04:35They essentially took the 305 and fixed the two biggest problems I had with it last year.
04:40They added a backlighting for the keyboard, and they fixed the trackpad.
04:43Now, it's still not a perfect device.
04:45I wish it had Thunderbolt 3, and I wish there were more USB ports,
04:48but aside from that, I think Asus did a fantastic job on this device.
04:51It's definitely my favorite Asus Ultrabook available right now.
04:55That's the end of this video.
04:56Hope you guys liked it.
04:57Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it.
04:59It's been nice.
05:00I'll see you guys next time.