ASUS on Wednesday handed us a bunch of new laptops. The latest line-up is touted as being super high-performance, but it’s also super for creators. With the top of the range laptop in this ‘creators’ drop starting at $9,999, you’d be forgiven for thinking this beast was solely for gaming.
First, let’s get into what ASUS announced, because it’s pretty impressive.
The new line-up includes the ProArt Studiobook, Zenbook Pro and Vivobook Pro laptops, which ASUS says offers high performance and mobility, as well as the latest in OLED technology.
ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED
This looks heavenly.
ASUS has labelled this thing as “the best creator laptop we’ve ever made”.
It can effortlessly handle all your creative needs like editing, production, programming. Basically, all that can happen when you give artists gaming kit and a 16-inch 4K OLED HDR display (!!!).
ProArt Studiobook Pro specs:
- 16-inch 4K OLED HDR 16:10 display
- 550-nit, 60Hz display
- 60 Hz refresh rate
- Up to Intel Xeon processor
- Nvidia RTX A5000 graphics
- Up to 64 GB of 3200 MHz DDR4 RAM
- Connectivity options include Thunderbolt 4 or USB-C, HDMI and an SD Express 7.0 card reader.
The ProArt Studiobook Pro 16 OLED (W7600) will be available next year for a starting price of RRP $9,999 and the ProArt Studiobook 16 OLED (H5600) will also ship next year, costing upwards of RRP $4,399.
Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED (and the Duo 14)
ASUS is calling the Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED ‘the laptop of tomorrow’.
The graphics look great on the 15-inch 4K OLED HDR touchscreen – but what else can I really say, it’s got freaking two screens. Like. I’m sorry, take my money.
ASUS says this laptop is light, still targeting creators, but those on the go, I guess.
So what have we got?
- 15.6-inch 4K OLED HDR display
- Tilting ASUS ScreenPad Plus (a full-width 14-inch secondary touchscreen)
- Up to an Intel Core i9 eight-core processor
- Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 discrete graphics
- 2x ultrafast Thunderbolt 3 USB-C ports supporting up to 40 Gbps
Starting at RRP $4,499 for the Zenbook Pro Duo 15 OLED (UX582) and RRP $2,999 for the Zenbook Duo 14 (UX482), the Zenbook devices are both available now.
Vivobook Pro 15 and 16X OLED
The Vivobook Pro series sounds like it offers great performance, but for less graphics-heavy creators (think live-streamers, vloggers and influencers), but it’s still super tight for anyone that considers themselves an aspiring creator.
There’s a 16-inch Vivobook Pro 16X OLED (M7600) or the 15.6-inch Vivobook Pro 15 OLED (K3500/M3500) to choose from in this range.
Vivobook Pro 16X OLED
- Up to a 16-inch 4K OLED HDR
- 550-nit 16:10 display
- Powered by AMD Ryzen 5000 H-Series processors
- Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics
- Up to 32 GB of RAM
- Available in Comet Grey, Meteor White, 0° Black and Cool Silver.
The Vivobook Pro 15 OLED
- FHD OLED display
- Powered by the 11th Generation Intel H Series CPU (K3500) or AMD Ryzen 5000 H-Series processors
- Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics
- 16 GB memory
The Vivobook Pro 15 OLED (K3500) will start at RRP $1,499 when it ships December 2021, and also shipping next month is the Vivobook 15 Pro OLED (M3500), which will set you back a starting price of RRP $1,499. The Vivobook Pro 16X OLED (M7600) meanwhile, will start at RRP $2,499 when it becomes available in January 2022.
But not just love for creators
In announcing this new range, ASUS was asked if placing such a focus on artists was going to impact some of its existing customer base. Fear not, friends, just because these laptops are tailored at creators, doesn’t mean you can’t get one for yourself.
But what if you’re a gamer? ASUS strategy planning director Emma Ou said this creators range was born out of one of ASUS’ ‘core values’, which is ‘designed thinking’.
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“We start with people’s needs and people’s wants. So like content creators, their daily usage, their software – and even down to accessory compatibility are very, very different from the gamers,” she said.
“So after years of audience group study and exchange of ideas with our vendors, and of course, we gather feedback.
“But, of course, we are not turning our back on our gaming customers, we’re learning from them.”
ASUS has its gaming customer base to thank, in some part, for its innovations in the laptop space. And Ou said there’s a new series the company will soon introduce for gamers.
“Please stay tuned,” she said.