Pros: Quad Core AMD CPU, 8 GB of RAM, Windows 10, Radeon R6 graphics card, DVD reader, 1 TB of storage, balanced price point (check price).
Cons: 5 hour battery life.
Finding the perfect laptop is no easy chore. Generally we'll go through dozens of models before we arrive at one that finally get's us to cave in and for a laptop to get us excited, one of the biggest demands is that it provides a good price/specs relationship.
That said, today we're excited to talk to you about the Asus X550ZA-WH11, a very balanced laptop that stands out thanks to it' affordable price , its 8 GB of RAM and its powerful quad core AMD CPU.
Wanna know more? Then read on to find out every last detail on this full review of the Asus X550ZA-WH11.
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Review of the Asus X550ZA-WH11 Pros and Cons
Display and first impressions
As far as the display is concerned, we've got a standard 15.6 inch LED backlit display with a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution. It's not as interesting as the Full HD display we can find on the budget Asus F555LA-AB31
we reviewed early on, but it's pretty much on par with what most laptops in the market are offering nowadays in terms of display.
we reviewed early on, but it's pretty much on par with what most laptops in the market are offering nowadays in terms of display.
When it comes down to portability we're pleased to tell you that the Asus X550ZA-WH11 is a pretty lightweight machine, weighing barely above 5 pounds and measuring just 1.2 inches. All in all, a pretty portable laptop.
Quad core CPU, 8 GB of RAM and integrated Graphics
Time to move on with our Asus X550ZA-WH11 review and on this segment we take a look at the "guts" within the laptop. Basically, we delve into what makes this laptop "tick".
Starting off with the CPU, Asus chose AMD for this machine, betting on an AMD Quad Core A10-7400P to do the job. This is a strong processor, comparable to the performance of an Intel Core i5, performing at a base clock speed of 2.5 GHz that goes all the way up to 3.4 GHz with Turbo activated. Basically what we'd call a mid range CPU.
In terms of RAM, we've got 8 GB of DDR3 SDRAM clocking in at 1600 MHz. However, if you love multitasking with dozens of programs running at the same time then you should know that you may upgrade the RAM on this laptop all the way to 16 GB. Personally I believe 8 GB is more than enough for most users but if you're a very intensive user then you might want to consider the upgrade, be it now or down the line.
Finally, when it comes to graphics, the Asus X550ZA-WH11 isn't the most attractive machine, sporting an integrated AMD Radeon R6 graphics card that is comparable in terms of performance to that of the Intel HD Graphics 5500.
Summing it up: This combo of settings means that this laptop is perfectly equipped to deal with an intensive day to day user as well as a lightweight user who's just going to use the laptop to surf the web and watch a few movies.
It's lack of a dedicated graphics card means that it's not an optimal gaming laptop, however, it should be able to run some modern games at a 720p resolution and 25 fps. As far as video editing is concerned, you should be fine editing Full HD videos on this laptop as well as high resolution pictures using photoshop. I wouldn't recommend this laptop if you're a gamer or an editor since doing this set of tasks exclusively is not what this laptop is designed to do, however, for casual editing and gaming you're more than covered.
Storage and Battery Life
Being a pretty standard mid range laptop, the new Asus X550ZA-WH11 doesn't pull a lot of stunts when it comes to storage or battery life. Rather, it puts all of its efforts towards its sleek design and key components (RAM and CPU).
That said, we're not disappointed with the storage selection but we're not impressed either. Specifically, we've got 1 TB of Serial ATA Hard Drive storage running at a standard 5400 rpm speed. It would've been nice to run into an SSD but if that where the case then we'd also be looking at higher price tag.
When it comes to battery life, we're not impressed either, with the new Asus laptop sporting a lithium battery that gives us up to 5 hours of battery life which basically translates into about 4 hours of real life use when watching videos or surfing the web.
Ports and other stuff
We're finally closing in on our in depth review and it's time to talk ports and connectivity. Basically, we've got our standard WiFi b/g/n connection, Bluetooth 4.0, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 1 USB 2.0 port, HDMI, VGA and Ethernet ports as well as your standard SD card reader and you're VGA webcam.
We're glad to report that this laptop comes with Windows 10 off the box and as far as extras there's not much worth mentioning in a way that really stands out, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
Verdict: Should I buy it?
We've arrived at the end of the line in our review of the Asus X550ZA-WH11 and all in all we gotta say we're pretty happy with the new Asus laptop. Yes, we would've liked an SSD storage unit and Yes it would've been nice to find ourselves with a longer battery life but other than that when reminded that we're talking about a budget laptop we find the price/specs ratio to be outstanding on this unit.
Should you buy it? Is it worth it? Well, that's up to you and what you need out of a laptop. If you need a lot of battery life then this laptop isn't for you. However, if you don't mind the 5 hour battery life and you're willing to compromise on that in exchange for a powerful quad core processor and 8 GB of RAM then you're bound to be very happy with this laptop.
As far as intensive users are concerned, I wouldn't recommend this laptop if you're an intensive gamer or a video editor, but other then that I believe most intense users will be very pleased with it's performance.