Pros
- Extremely portable with hybrid design
- Great performance for casual gaming
- Superb screen quality
- Option to boost performance with eGPU
Cons
- Poor battery life undermines portability
- Optional eGPU is very expensive
- Type cover is a poor gaming keyboard replacement
The Asus ROG Flow Z13 is an interesting laptop. It takes the beefy performance of a gaming laptop and puts it into a portable folio-type design of the Microsoft Surface Pro, resulting in a powerful device that you can take with you on the go.
In its top-range configuration, it’s powered by an Intel Core-i9-12900H processor, which is one of the best CPUs we’ve tested in a laptop, offering sublime performance in a range of tasks from general web browsing to a healthy dose of gaming. Our benchmarks show that the RTX 3050 Ti GPU inside doesn’t quite match the CPU’s prowess, but if you want a decent 1080p performance in more casual titles, then the Z13 will serve you well. You also have the option of purchasing and plugging in an Asus XG Mobile eGPU to give you the power of a high-end RTX 3080 GPU, which we found to greatly improve gaming performance. However, this external GPU is a very expensive accessory.
The design of the ROG Flow Z13 is sharp and professional, with a black chassis and type cover. It weighs just 1.18kg, which must make it one of the most powerful yet lightest laptop combos around. And with the magnetic type cover, you may even want to use this as a tablet, even if Windows 11 isn’t the best OS for it. In our eyes, that versatility is particularly what sets the ROG Flow Z13 apart from other gaming laptops at this price.
The display on offer is a 13.4-inch 1920×1200 panel which we found to offer some vibrant colours, as backed up by its immense colour space coverage. The ROG Flow Z13’s battery Iife isn’t the best in the world, with it only lasting for around 5 hours for basic productivity tasks in our office benchmark. Truth be told, this is around average for a gaming laptop, so you’ll definitely want to keep it plugged in.
Asus also offers up the Asus ROG Flow X16 as an alternative, which is a 2-in-1 gaming laptop with a massive 16-inch screen, which can be flipped into tablet mode. It also comes with more powerful specs, albeit with a steeper price too. Whichever model you fancy, both Asus laptops are leading options for those who want a portable gaming hybrid.
Reviewer: Ryan Jones
Full review: Asus ROG Flow Z13 review
