PCs & Laptops

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 review: Powerful gaming notebook and tablet

The ROG Flow Z13 is a real revolution because the gaming tablet is a notebook and tablet in one. The device also features powerful hardware, especially an Intel Core i9 CPU. Our ASUS ROG Flow Z13 review of the GZ301ZE-LD002W model clarifies what the 2-in-1 gaming laptop is capable of and where its weaknesses lie.

Technical data

Processor Intel Core i9 12900H (14 cores, 20 threads, 2.5 – 5.0 GHz)
Graphics performance Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (4GB GDDR6 VRAM); 34 (+5) W TDP
Display 13.4 inch; Full HD+; 120 Hz
Storage 1,000 GB SSD (M.2-2230 NVMe PCIe 4.0) installed
Memory 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM (soldered)
Keyboard Compact; with RGB lighting; detachable
Operating system Windows 11 Home
Connectivity Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX201; Bluetooth 5.2
Dimensions (W x H x D) 302 mm x 211 mm x 17.8 mm
Weight 1.1 kg (without power supply)
Price € 1,499.00 *

Liking the design and build quality of the ASUS ROG Flow Z13

  • High-quality, futuristic design
  • Rugged aluminum chassis
  • Removable keyboard with fabric underside

However, it becomes all the more pleasing again when we take a closer look at the design of the ASUS ROG Flow Z13. It really has a lot going for it. Sure, it is basically an ordinary convertible notebook with a detachable keyboard and a fold-out, freely adjustable kickstand.

However, with a weight of 1,183 grams, the ASUS device stands out from similar solutions like Microsoft’s Surface Pro range and immediately looks much more premium. At the same time, you pick up the aggressive, futuristic design that is inherent to the ROG range.

Large air vents are found on the back and underside to keep the device cool. ROG or Republic of Gamers lettering can be found on almost every side and in various sizes.

The most striking design feature on the back is the small window that allows a view into the detachable notebook’s inner workings. When turned on, this is even illuminated in fire red or optionally in bright colors. Also in red is a small strip that protrudes a bit over the edge of the case on the bottom right.

ASUS ROG Flow Z13

A clever trick, as it turns out. Because the kickstand can be folded out quickly and easily. Thus, the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 makes it unmistakably clear right from the start: you definitely won’t stop with understatement.

Basically, the build quality is on an excellent level and does not give any reason for criticism. Particularly noteworthy is the back of the detachable keyboard, which is covered with a fabric. This protects the back in tablet mode, but the fabric magically attracts dust and dirt.

ASUS ROG Flow Z13
The red “ROG” bar makes it easier to fold out the kickstand

Features and ports

  • Compact design; light weight
  • Ordinary selection of ports
  • Thunderbolt 4 without charging capability

The ASUS ROG Flow Z13 turns out to be surprisingly compact. The dimensions of the detachable notebook are 302 mm in width, 211 mm in height and 17.8 mm in depth (with keyboard, without it it is even only 12.1 mm).

It is not surprising that there is not much room for ports. However, ASUS makes good use of the available space. On the left side you will find a USB-C port including Thunderbolt 4 support, as well as – under a small rubber cover – another USB-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 2 with PowerDelivery and DisplayPort) and proprietary port, via which the external GPU “ASUS XG Mobile” can optionally be connected.

On the right side, you then have a 3.5 mm jack for connecting to a headset or other audio devices, as well as a USB-A port – the latter is unfortunately only available in USB 2.0 standard. The side is completed by a volume rocker and the power button with fingerprint sensor.

The bottom reveals pogo pins that magnetically hold the detachable keyboard to the case. There is not much more to see on the connectivity side. The manufacturer also hides a microSD card slot on the back.

ASUS ROG Flow Z13
There’s a hidden microSD card slot underneath the kickstand

Thunderbolt 4 in limited form

However, ASUS has to endure harsh criticism for the Thunderbolt 4 port. Because it is not possible to charge the device via it, at least in the German model. The connected power adapter simply does not work.

Thus, the rubber cap always has to be removed for charging. A Thunderbolt 4 port without a charging function is (to put it nicely) very strange.

The equipment can be seen

  • High-end CPU
  • Fast RAM
  • Expandable M.2 SSD

However, the built-in technology of the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 is more pleasing. An Intel Core i9-12900H processor with six performance and eight efficiency cores provides plenty of steam under the hood.

This is joined by an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti laptop GPU with 40 watts of power and 4 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, which thus only has half as much power as the model in the Tulpar A7 V14.3.1 G gaming notebook (our review).

The duo is supported by 16 GB of soldered and non-expandable LPDDR5 RAM, as well as a 1 terabyte NVMe M.2 SSD. This is joined by two good-sounding stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos support, three built-in microphones, and two cameras (an 8 MP camera on the outside and a 720p webcam on the inside). Fast and modern Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 skillfully round off the equipment.

However, the case of the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 cannot be opened to replace any components. At least the M.2-2230 SSD can be removed via a maintenance hatch at the back and can be replaced if necessary.

ASUS ROG Flow Z13

Keyboard and trackpad

  • Keyboard with good typing feel
  • Quite small trackpad
  • Can be set up at different angles

The keyboard and trackpad of the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 please me quite a bit, and that’s despite the fact that detachable keyboards of corresponding devices often fail here. But not the ASUS device. As with the Surface Pro, the keyboard can be used either completely flat or slightly angled.

However, there is a slight problem with the materials here, because the keyboard doesn’t lie completely flat on the surface in flat mode, which results in a wobbly typing feel. Thus, the angled position is especially (or actually exclusively) recommended, but it is also pleasant to type in. 1.7 mm key drop is available, N-Key rollover is also offered.

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 Keyboard
The GIF shows how the keyboard of the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 lifts (click on the image)

The trackpad, on the other hand, is quite small. 9.6 cm x 5.6 cm (width x height) are really not huge dimensions, but it implements inputs very well in practice and has good gliding properties. It is quite usable for on the go, especially since most users are likely to use an external mouse anyway.

How good is the display of the ROG Flow Z13?

  • Colorful and pleasantly bright display
  • 120 Hz

ASUS installs a 13.4-inch IPS panel that resolves in Full HD+ with 1,920 x 1,200 pixels in 16:10 format. The refresh rate is positive, which is 120 hertz for the touch-enabled display. This does not quite match the speed of real gaming notebooks, but it is one of the leaders in the tablet segment.

The glossy display is susceptible to fingerprints, but scores with a convincing color reproduction (the sRGB color space is completely covered), good contrasts and a convincing brightness of 500 cd/m².

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 Display
The display is touch-enabled and scores with rich colors. 120 hertz is also available.

Adaptive Sync is also supported. There is also support for Dolby Vision HDR and Pantone validation. Furthermore, there are no halos even at full brightness. All in all, we like the panel that the manufacturer has installed here.

Practical test of the ASUS ROG Flow Z13

  • Use as a notebook or tablet equally possible
  • Theoretically connect external GPU for more performance
  • Nice low noise, even under load

Now we get down to the nitty gritty. It goes without saying that the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 can be used quite differently than a normal gaming notebook in practice due to its nature as a gaming detachable.

Of course you can use the device like a notebook. Or you can hold it in your hand like a tablet without a keyboard or place it on the table. The kickstand can also be adjusted by a full 170°, which allows the device to lie almost flat. This makes it absolutely fun to use in practice – you don’t see a tablet with such a powerful CPU and GPU every day. Or actually… not in any other place.

Image editing in Photoshop, video editing, and current games (more on that later) are all handled by the Z13 without a hitch. But let’s be honest: If you don’t want to use the external GPU, the model with Core i7-12700H would also be absolutely sufficient, I would say. Pushing the i9 to its limits is almost impossible because the installed GPU becomes the limiting factor.

But anyway… The SSD comes from Micron and is connected via PCIe 4.0. Accordingly, the M.2-2230 SSD realizes good speeds, but more would have been possible here as well – more about that later.

On the other hand, the Wi-Fi module is a bit weak. Compared to my notebook, the ROG Flow Z13 does not reach the full signal strength at the same position. However, this is not reflected in the transfer rates. They are on a convincing level and even surpass the identical Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210 modules of other gaming notebooks.

However, it should be noted positively that the 2-in-1 notebook does not get particularly hot even under load, nor does it emit unpleasantly loud fan noise. Even in demanding scenarios, the noise remains comparatively low with a measured peak of 47 dB and the device can still be held well in the hand.

Benchmark: Productivity, System, SSD and Gaming

As always, the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 has to prove itself in various benchmark tests. I measure productivity and system performance with PCMark 10 and Cinebench R23. PCMark 10 simulates different workflows when running the benchmark, which include word processing, web browsing and spreadsheets. Cinebench, on the other hand, measures the speed of the CPU cores individually as well as in multi-core mode.

For the gaming tests, various games like F1 22 including ray tracing, Final Fantasy XV and many more are used besides the synthetic benchmark 3DMark. It will be particularly exciting to see how the graphics card, which is somewhat weakly supplied with power at only 40 watts, performs.

SSD benchmark

  • Good, but comparatively low speeds despite PCIe 4.0

The installed SSD has to prove itself in the AS SSD benchmark. In the end, the results are satisfactory, but by no means outstanding. Although the installed Micron SSD easily outperforms corresponding PCIe 3.0 counterparts, like in the mentioned Tulpar notebook, it lags far behind the comparable SSD in the Gigabyte Aorus 17 XE4 (our review). However, it achieves over 5,500 MB/s in read mode.

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 AS SSD
The SSD speeds are okay, but somewhat disappointing for PCIe 4.0.

While the Gigabyte model realized sequential read rates of over 5,500 MB/s, the Z13 just barely scrapes the 3,000 MB/s mark. However, access times and 4K random read fit. In any case, the performance is not noticed negatively in everyday use and gaming.

PCMark 10 and Cinebench R23

  • Strong single-core performance
  • Slightly disappointing multi-core score

In PCMark 10 and Cinebench R23, it will be especially exciting to see if the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 can leverage the power of the Core i9 and stand out against the Core i7 12700H of the Gigabyte model. In fact, the results in both benchmark tests are very good.

In the Cinebench R23 test, which is purely focused on CPU performance, the Z13 leaves most gaming notebooks of the 2022 vintage behind with 1,921 points in the single-core test. However, the results in the multi-core test are surprising.

For some unknown reason, I only just passed the 11,000 point mark here – the Core i9 should actually be capable of over 15,000 points. Despite multiple restarts and repeating the test several times, the result always remained more or less the same, which is why I can rule out a mistake.

The result looks a bit different in PCMark 10, where the graphics performance then also takes on a more important role. The comparably equipped Tulpar notebook is left behind, but the Gigabyte notebook sets itself apart thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti with 8 GB VRAM and 130 Watt TDP.

Nevertheless, the ASUS detachable notebook ends up in the range of what you can expect from the installed Intel Core i9 CPU. Noticeable are some occasional, briefly occurring jerks and hangs in the Windows interface. These occur especially when benchmarks or games switch between different tests or scenes. However, the whole thing is not really disturbing.

Benchmark Result
Cinebench R23 Multi Core 11,292 points
Cinebench R23 Single Core 1,921 points
PCMark 10 Total 6,819 points
PCMark 10 Essentials 9,768 points
PCMark 10 Productivity 9,889 points
PCMark 10 Digital Content Creation 8,907 points

Graphics Performance: 3DMark and Gaming Tests

  • Weakest version of RTX 3050Ti installed
  • Ray tracing only possible to a limited extent due to lack of performance
  • Otherwise quite good graphics performance

Thanks to NVIDIA Optimus, the built-in RTX 3050 Ti takes the helm in games, while the built-in Intel Iris Xe graphics unit does its job in desktop mode and under light load. Unfortunately, the fact that the NVIDIA graphics card is the weakest model quickly becomes apparent in the gaming tests.

Unfortunately, the ROG Flow Z13 cannot keep up with the Tulpar A7 V14.3.1 with the identical graphics card, which runs with a TDP of 95 watts (instead of the maximum of 40 watts).

This is then confirmed in the different benchmark and gaming tests. You can even play smoothly (more than 50 fps) on maximum details in titles like Shadow of the Tomb Raider or Esports games, but you should turn down the detail level considerably in demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077, The Witcher 3 or F1 22.

Nevertheless, the gaming performance shows remarkable results. F1 22 with ultra preset and maximum ray tracing settings delivers a frame rate of 23 fps on average. This does not allow for smooth gaming, but the result is still impressive. Nevertheless, the Z13 is only conditionally suitable for current games – unless you noticeably reduce the detail level.

Benchmark Result
Fire Strike Total 10,731 points
Time Spy Total 4,732 points
F1 22 (Max Setting; RT Max.) 23 fps
Final Fantasy XV (High Quality) 4,811 points
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (Ultra) 57 fps

Battery Life

  • Up to six hours of battery life
  • Fast charging time (100 percent in 100 minutes)

The tightly dimensioned battery of 56 watt hours and the power-hungry CPU already indicate: no miracles are to be expected from the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 in terms of battery life. However, it is not bad at all, which is mainly due to the more compact display.

In our battery test, the device lasted for about 6 hours in WLAN use with minimum brightness, and about 3 hours and 45 minutes are possible in maximum brightness when browsing. However, it is better not to play games in battery mode because the detachable runs out of steam after less than an hour.

On the other hand, charging is quite fast: A complete charging process takes about 100 minutes – the first half is done in just 27 minutes and 42 seconds.

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 review: Conclusion

The ASUS ROG Flow Z13 reveals light and shadow in equal measure in the test. On the plus side, the detachable has a unique design. Especially in combination with the powerful Core i9 CPU and RTX 3050 Ti, the device can show its strengths against the competition in the office or multi-media segment.

For a tablet, the Z13 is extremely well equipped and is also perfectly suited for demanding tasks like image and video editing. As a classic gaming notebook, however, the GPU is clearly lacking in power to compete with established representatives of its guild. And if you want more power to handle demanding games, the external GPU comes at a high price.

Thus, the ASUS ROG Flow Z13 is somehow caught between two stools. It is convincing as a compact and powerful tablet/notebook, but only conditionally as a gaming notebook. Other devices are much more capable here and at a much lower price.

However, if you only want to play games from time to time and do not necessarily want to play the latest titles in maximum details, the performance is sufficient and the Flow Z13 serves exactly this niche excellently. Everyone else will find more powerful devices at a reasonable price – if you can do without the versatility of the detachable keyboard.

ASUS ROG Flow Z13 Review; Gold Award

ASUS ROG Flow Z13

Design & workmanship
Display
Features
Performance
Battery
Value for money

88/100

Versatile gaming notebook and tablet in one with a strong CPU and great display, but it is only suitable for modern games to a limited extent.

Simon Lüthje

I am co-founder of this blog and am very interested in everything that has to do with technology, but I also like to play games. I was born in Hamburg, but now I live in Bad Segeberg.

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The ROG Flow Z13 is a real revolution because the gaming tablet is a notebook and tablet in one. The device also features powerful hardware, especially an Intel Core i9 CPU. Our ASUS ROG Flow Z13 review of the GZ301ZE-LD002W model clarifies what the 2-in-1 gaming laptop is capable of and where its weaknesses lie. … (Weiterlesen...)

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