This is a budget laptop of 2017, created specifically for people who are looking for a real “workhorse” for very modest money. What can this model offer its potential buyer? Let's find out!

Description

It has a very modest appearance and at first glance does not stand out in anything special, but if you take a closer look, you will find an interesting range of colors that the company offers. The laptop looks most interesting in white and red, although in addition to them there are also purple and black.

The material from which the case is made is high-quality plastic with a characteristic metal-like texture. The tactile sensations are pleasant, but the only downside is that fingerprints remain on the surface, which are very visible, especially on dark colors.

The battery of the laptop is non-removable, its capacity is 2500 mAh, which is generally normal for a budget model.

On the right side of the Asus X553S there is only a disk drive, but on the left there are all the necessary ports and connectors: USB 2.0, card reader, USB 3.0, HDMI, VGA, RJ-45 and a combined 3.5 mm for headphones or an external microphone. Also on the left side there is a connector for connecting an external power supply.

As for the screen, the Asus X553S has a 15.6-inch display with a resolution of 1366x768. The matrix is ​​made using TN technology, which, in principle, does not bring anything good, but Asus engineers did a good job. The screen has good viewing angles, as well as color reproduction, sufficient brightness and contrast. The overall impression is spoiled only by the glossy surface.

Characteristics

It's time to move on to the technical ones. For convenience, they are all listed in a small table.

Model
CPU	Intel Celeron DualCore N3050 Intel Celeron QuadCore N3150 Intel Pentium QuadCore N3700
RAM	DDR3 1600 2-8 GB
Video card	Intel
Screen	15.6" 1366x768 100.5ppi
Storage	500 GB - 1 TB
OS	No OS, Linux, Windows 10
Battery	2500 mAh
Interfaces	1xUSB 2.0, 1xUSB 3.0, RJ-45, HDMI, VGA, 3.5 mm
Dimensions (L/W/H)	380 mm/258 mm/25 mm

As can be seen from the technical characteristics of the laptop, the Asus X553S is a real budget model, which is intended only for work.

Main Features

Despite the fact that the Asus X553S is a budget model, this laptop has its own interesting features.

The first thing I want to note is the sound. The manufacturer installed here its proprietary SonicMaster development and AudioWizard equalizer to fine-tune the sound to suit various needs. SonicMaster makes the sound crystal clear and crisp by automatically adjusting the frequency balance. There are also several presets that can be applied depending on the conditions, for example, watching a movie or listening to classical music. And although there are ordinary speakers here, they really sound good.

The second thing to note is the Instan On feature. It allows you to wake up your laptop from sleep in 2 seconds and return it to a fully operational state.

And the last feature is cloud storage from Asus, which, in addition to being free, also allows you to save all your photos, videos and other files, and then share them with friends.

operating system

As standard, the Asus X553S comes with the Windows 10 operating system. But depending on the version and batch, you can find models running Linux or without any OS at all. In this case, installing Windows on the Asus X553S will not cause any difficulties; you just need to purchase a licensed disk with a system image, insert it into the drive and follow the instructions.

Today, many stores offer the opportunity to install the operating system directly on site, of course, for an additional fee. This is a good way to save time, and will also be useful for those who do not understand this issue and have never encountered self-installation.

Price

If we talk about the cost of the Asus X553S, today a laptop can be bought at an average price of 16-17 thousand rubles, which, in principle, is not so bad. For this amount, the user receives a quad-core processor, 4 GB of memory and a 1 TB hard drive. As for the operating system, most laptops in this price range come with either no OS or DOS.

2 years ago 0

There are none! except that the percentage is cold

2 years ago 0

Thin, light, silent, practically does not heat up, stylish design, clear sound, rich colors.

2 years ago 0

A laptop is like a laptop.

2 years ago 0

Price, design, weight, operating time

2 years ago 0

Didn't find it.

2 years ago 0

Works fast

2 years ago 0

Good quality, stylish appearance, high-quality image and sound, good ventilation, several types of connectors, low price

2 years ago 0

For a laptop with a drive - thin! For the price, the diagonal is normal and the keyboard is ergonomic. Very quiet. It practically does not heat up, although for some reason the seller claimed the opposite. Very good camera, the reception picture is simply exceptional. Easy.

2 years ago 0

Optimal simple beech.

2 years ago 0

Performance, lightness, low noise

2 years ago 0

Anyone who writes that the body is not collapsible is a loser. I disassemble and assemble in 15 minutes. Minutes is that there is one slot for RAM. And so in the end the laptop is ok

2 years ago 0

Not practicality, a mockery of admins and ordinary users! The battery is not removable, it is not easy to add memory, it is difficult to remove the screw, it is difficult to repair and clean, it is clear that it is made disposable. 2 USB ports!

2 years ago 0

not yet identified

2 years ago 0

You need to completely disassemble the entire laptop to get to the RAM slot.

2 years ago 0

Performance out of the box

2 years ago 0

The laptop was returned from the service with the formulation of a working matrix. In fact, it turns out that the X553Ma has a very cheap matrix installed, which also produces distorted colors and shadows at different angles of the monitor screen.
If I had known that after installing the OS I would see on the screen what I see now, I would never have bought this device.

2 years ago 0

2 years ago 0

I couldn’t find it for work, and it’s not intended for toys.
My brother recently purchased an Asus X553MA laptop, before that he used Lenovo, and after a couple of months he made some conclusions about this laptop, which I will now reproduce for you. So, briefly, in simple language, about the Asus X553MA laptop. Laptop...

2 years ago 0

The caps indicators and numeric keypad are terribly missing. Sometimes it’s a little slow, for unknown reasons it starts to “fly”, then it slows down again. I don't see a pattern yet. 2 USB is not enough, but the hub in 3.0 solves the problem. Many people talk about access to the memory bar, I don’t need it yet, but the problem is obvious. The sound is loud, but unpleasant; for music it is better to have an extra one. columns.

2 years ago 0

1. Everything in the laptop is done to prevent you from installing Windows 7.
2. Non-removable battery, no windows at the bottom for HDD and memory.
3. quiet dull sound.

Good day. 2015 has arrived, the long holidays are over and everyday work has begun. Most are aware of the political and financial situation in the country. Those who want to stay afloat start working more and often have to take what they didn’t manage to do during working hours and finish it at home. As a result, a single desktop PC in the house is not enough for the entire family. And as you know, work brings income to the family budget, which ensures well-being and stability in the modern world. There is only one thing left to do, buy another PC! But you no longer need a full-fledged desktop PC; a mobile, portable device is enough. So that after a hard day at work you can sit with him in a comfortable place. At the same time, calmly place it on your lap, a blanket, etc. without fear of blocking the air intake openings, which can lead to overheating and rapid failure of the device. The task has been set, the budget and requirements have been announced, all that remains is to select a suitable mobile PC, or rather a “laptop” for such needs.

We bring to your attention a combination of two great companies represented by ASUS And Intel in one device. The first company made a good laptop, and the second company equipped it with a great processor. And now, in order and in more detail.

After 2 days of torment of choice (thanks a lot to the help of the team of Masters and Gurus), it was decided to buy a laptop ASUS X553M

Specifications

Model - X553M (full marking X553MA-XX061H) Device type - laptop Color - black Material - plastic Screen diagonal - 15.6 Screen resolution - 1366x768 Screen coating - glossy Operating system - Windows 8.1 x 64Bit Processor - Intel® Pentium® Processor N3530 Basic processor frequency - 2.16 GHz Automatic increase in frequency - up to 2.58 GHz Number of cores - 4 Number of threads - 4 RAM - DDR3L 4G (1 pc.) Number of memory slots - 2 Max. memory capacity - 8 GB Graphics integrated into the processor - Intel® HD Graphics GPU frequency - 896 MHz DirectX support - DirectX 11 HDD capacity - 500 GB Rotation speed - 5400 rpm Optical drive - Super-Multi DVD Card reader - SD/SDHC Support Wi-Fi technology - 802.11 b/g/n Bluetooth technology support - 4.0 Type of Ethernet network adapter - (RJ-45) 10/100 Base T 1 x COMBO 3.5 mm jack (audio/headphones) 1 x VGA port (D-sub ) 1 x HDMI 1 x USB 3.0 1 x USB 2.0 1 x RJ45 LAN 1 x SD card reader Video camera - 0.3 MP Backlight - yes Microphone - yes Battery type - Li-Ion Number of sections - 2 / 30Wh Dimensions - 280 x 252 x 253 mm Weight 2.2 kg

PACKAGE

The laptop comes in an interesting box/suitcase. Small size, comfortable handle and nothing extra.

Device characteristics on the packaging.

Having opened our suitcase, we see the laptop itself in a protective bag, and next to it in the next compartment there is a charger.

Under the laptop, in a small recess, there is a warranty card, user manuals, an informational glossy brochure from ASUS and some more waste paper.

APPEARANCE

The power supply is unusually compact, more like a charger for a tablet or smartphone. A very pleasant surprise, compactness is good!

The laptop looks modest and not provocative in appearance.

The laptop cover is quite easily soiled even after several touches.

The surface is not smooth, perforated pattern.

But the lower part of the laptop is not only unusually flat and closed, but does not have ventilation holes and a removable battery.

This design allows you to easily place the laptop on your lap, bed, etc. There is no need to worry about overheating.

Still, there are a couple of small holes in the front, bottom part - these are 2 speakers installed. At first glance, the location is poor, the hole may close tightly, and the sound will be difficult to hear. But such expectations were not met; even after completely blocking the holes, the sound passes through the case and the keyboard holes quite well.

On the reverse side there are information stickers about the laptop model and the installed operating system.

All connectors are located exclusively on one side (on the left). Yes, yes, that's all there is. Of course, they were greedy with USB and very much, providing only 2 connectors, one version 2.0 and 3.0. Perhaps this will be enough for some, but for those who use a USB mouse and, for example, have access to the Internet via a USB modem, there are no more free ports left! The reason for this decision is not clear to me. Perhaps the manufacturer considered the use of USB modems to be a thing of the past and there is no need to increase the number of USB connectors for it. Although the space allowed for at least 1 more.

Opening the lid, we see a protective shipping sheet for the screen.

This is a standard 15.6" laptop. The manufacturer installed a full-fledged keyboard with a calculator; there were times when it was not available in budget solutions.

The keyboard is not removable, so to speak, it is made as one piece with the laptop body, which means there are no additional joints or transitions. The keyboard is not backlit. There is also no backlight for the on/off button.

The TouchPad is quite large and very convenient to use.

Information stickers on the front side from the Intel processor manufacturer, indicating the installed Pentium line processor

And the laptop manufacturer ASUS with brief information about the characteristics and technologies used in the laptop.

Here's a little more detail.

Clear and powerful sound: this is a strong sound, so to speak, you shouldn’t be happy if the first parameter is still implemented and sounds really clear. You can argue strongly with the second one about power, the volume is sufficient, but I had laptops with much more powerful acoustics. There is no bass at all, as in the words from the song I Love Oil: “The music doesn’t pump!”

The declared EFFICIENT COOLING is implemented 100%; during operation, our test laptop is not just cold, it does not heat up at all (but more on that later). How is this possible without ventilation holes, you ask? Of course it’s not possible, no one said that they don’t exist at all! They exist and are located in the back, hidden from view, in the hinge of the lid/monitor and are not immediately visible.

The glossy surface of the monitor perfectly reflects everything; as usual, such monitors are not very comfortable. When bright sunlight shines into the monitor, you have to watch not the image shown by the laptop, but the reflection.

TESTING

I would not say that the viewing angles are very good when you sit in front of the monitor, and even if it is turned a little to the side, you can see well. But as soon as you deviate a little more to the side, the image is no longer the same.

I give you, so to speak, a daisy of monitor viewing angles.

The webcam did not bring any surprises, the quality is sufficient to communicate on Skype, but nothing more.

An example of a photograph from a laptop camera; there is no point in talking about any bright colors or sharpness:

The camera itself is located, standard, at the top of the monitor frame on the lid of the laptop. Here is a small SURPRISE, so to speak, in addition to the standard microphone and camera, there is an LED backlight between them! Honestly, it doesn’t shine much, of course, but in a dark room, it can light up the face a little when talking on Skype. A small thing, but nice!

From left to right: microphone, light, camera

Let's start with a little testing of the laptop itself.

CPU-Z will help us with this.

When idle, the processor operates at lower frequencies.

Other CPU-Z readings.

Hard drive HDD from Western Digital with a capacity of 500 GB.

I’ll say right away, looking ahead a little, that this part is the loudest when the laptop is running, because... The CO is almost completely silent. If you replace it with an SSD you will practically get a tablet.

divided into 2 parts, C and D.

For the sake of sport, I tested both parts (although the meaning of this action is if it’s hard 1).

Disk C, the readings are not super, but average.

But Disk D surprised me, not critically, but with lower readings (the hard drive is 1 and the same).

Well, how can we do without STRESS TEST? LinX CPU FRYING:

At idle, about +40 °C, I think the result is quite good. This is confirmed by the effective cooling system from ASUS.

I note that the CO is not audible at all when idle while surfing the Internet while listening to music.

But during the stress test, the processor warmed up to an impressive +88 °C and only at this temperature did the CO become a bit audible! At the same time, barely warm air blew out of the ventilation hole.

If you turn to the source of information on Intel official website, we will see that the processor has not even reached its critical temperature of +100 °C.

This is why CO is so quiet and very efficient. And don’t forget that this is a LinX stress test, which loads the processor so much that you won’t achieve such loads when using it at home. This means the processor will not exceed +60 °C, which will not even strain the CO.

Let's summarize:

Honestly, I expected less from a budget NON-GAMING laptop.

4 full cores from INTEL + 4 GB of RAM make this laptop quite fast. And it won’t even occur to you that you have a budget device at your fingertips. Of course, you won’t be able to play modern games on such a laptop; you don’t even have to try! But you will not only be able to run old, undemanding games from 2000-2005 in the form of CS 1.6, Call of Duty (the first, second part), Command & Conquer Generals, but you will also be able to play!

But my surprises are not over, the laptop worked without recharging for almost 4 hours while surfing the Internet and 2/3 of the screen brightness!!! This is simply an excellent result. Watching movies drained the battery in 2.5 hours at full screen brightness.

Pros:

Fast 4-core processor

Webcam backlight

Long enough battery life

Excellent CO

Compact power supply

Cons:

Only 2 USB ports

The sound is not loud enough

No backlight on/off button

I couldn't figure out the laptop for a reason; I didn't buy it for myself.

Sorry in advance if anything is wrong. Write, criticism is accepted. This is my first laptop review.

A few months ago, the company introduced the Zenfone 3 line of devices. It includes several models with characteristics ranging from budget devices to high-end devices such as Zenfone 3 Deluxe and Zenfone 3 Ultra. At the lower end of this spectrum is the Zenfone 3 Max. In it, the developers made a choice in favor of battery life at the expense of functionality and speed. Like previous Max smartphones, the Zenfone 3 Max offers a large battery that should last a day or two even with heavy use.

The list of characteristics of the Asus Zenfone 3 Max ZC553KL cannot be called completely nondescript and there is something to look at here, in addition to the 4100 mAh battery. In particular, the 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1080p, a rear camera with a resolution of 16 MP and a fingerprint scanner stand out. The full list of characteristics is as follows:

• 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, IPS LCD; glass 2.5D
• processor 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 430, 1.4 GHz Cortex-A53; Adreno 505 GPU
• 32GB eMCP memory and 3GB RAM; there is a microSD slot
• Cameras: 16 MP rear, f2.0 aperture, laser and phase detection autofocus, dual LED flash; 1080p video recording with 3-axis electronic image stabilization; front 8 MP with f2.2 aperture
• FM radio
• dual SIM slots, 4G LTE with VoLTE
• Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n; Bluetooth 4.1; GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou
• microUSB; 3.5 mm jack
• battery 4100 mAh
• operating system Android 6.0 Marshmallow with ZenUI 3.0

As can be seen from the characteristics, we are talking about a large model Zenfone 3 Max (ZC553KL). Also on sale is a more compact 5.2-inch smartphone with a lower resolution screen, a MediaTek processor, lower camera resolution and reduced memory.

In addition, the specifications correspond to those of budget smartphones. The Zenfone 3 Max's closest competitor is the Redmi Note 3. It also has an impressive battery, and besides it, it offers a Snapdragon 650 processor, which is far superior to the Snapdragon 430 from the Zenfone 3 Max. Below we will find out what difference this makes.

Scope of delivery

The Zenfone 3 Max comes in a fairly simple package with few accessories. As mentioned above, there is a USB OTG adapter for charging other devices. It can also be used to connect accessories such as flash drives or a keyboard to a smartphone.

There's also a 5V, 2A charger. Fast charging is not supported, which is disappointing given the size of the battery.

Also in the box is a microUSB cable, a tool for opening the SIM card compartment and some papers. There are no headphones here and you will have to get your own.

Hardware components

Zenfone 3 Max has a similar appearance compared to other members of the Zenfone 3 line and other Asus products. The overall appearance of the smartphone is quite simple, but the developers have tried to make it more interesting in some places, giving a shining silver accent to the back surface and side buttons.

The screen is located at the front, the screen-to-body ratio is 73%. It is protected by scratch-resistant glass with an oleophobic coating. Asus doesn't specify the brand of the protective glass, but in testing it was as good as Corning Gorilla Glass 4 in terms of scratch resistance. 2.5D means there's a slight curve around the edges, which makes it sleeker and makes it easier to swipe across the screen.

Above the screen there is a headphone jack, a front camera, a distance and ambient light sensor. Hidden in the right corner is an LED indicator for notifications.

Below the screen are three capacitive buttons for navigation. Like other Asus smartphones, these buttons are not backlit, making them difficult to press in the dark.

On the right side of the smartphone there are power buttons and a volume rocker. The buttons are in a convenient place and their location makes them easy to reach. When pressed, a sensitive tactile response is given, the buttons sit firmly and do not wobble.

On the left side of the case there is a hybrid SIM card compartment where you can place one micro SIM and one nano SIM or one micro SIM and one microSD.

At the bottom side of the case there is a main microphone on the left, a microUSB connector in the center and a speaker on the right. At the top there is a headphone jack and a second microphone.

On the back of the device there is a 16 MP camera with a dual LED flash on the left and an infrared sensor with laser autofocus on the right. The glass on camera lenses is not scratch-resistant and should be handled with care. Below is a fingerprint scanner.

The back surface is covered with metal in the center, the top and bottom parts are made of plastic. The plastic areas don't blend well with the metal and therefore have jagged edges.

While design is subjective, the Zenfone 3 Max looks quite stylish and should appeal to a lot of buyers. The finish is quite adequate, the build quality is generally good and the device gives a feeling of solidity and confidence.

Thanks to the compact body for a 5.5-inch device, the smartphone is comfortable to hold in your hand. Despite the large battery, the device does not feel awkward or bulky. However, for many it will still be too big.

Zenfone 3 Max screen

Zenfone 3 Max has a 5.5-inch IPS LCD screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. The screen quality is quite impressive for a device in this price category. The image is clear with sufficient brightness and good viewing angles. The colors are a little muted, but still look pretty accurate.

The color temperature is closer to the cool side of the spectrum, and overall the screen can be called good.

Software and Performance

The smartphone runs Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system with ZenUI 3.0 user interface. This interface is well designed and has a number of extremely useful features. Unfortunately, it is spoiled by many pre-installed applications from Asus and third-party developers like Facebook.

Asus should make most or all of these apps optional so users can choose whether to install them or not. Nowadays, you have to spend time removing, hiding, or disabling them, as well as some annoying ZenUI features. Unfortunately, most users will never bother with these shutdowns and deletions, so their system experience will not be the most convenient.

In terms of performance, Zenfone 3 Max performs well in everyday use. Despite the inferior Snapdragon 430 processor, there are no problems with the speed of applications; opening, closing and scrolling through many applications proceeds smoothly. Even in the Chrome browser, only the heaviest pages with numerous ads can slow it down.

Unfortunately, the lack of performance is felt in games, where the Snapdragon 430 is not able to compete with the Snapdragon 650 in the Redmi Note 3. The latter can play all modern 3D games, but the Zenfone 3 Max struggles in many cases, coping better with simple 2D games .

Multimedia performance is more or less satisfactory. The screen is high enough for watching movies and TV shows on the go, and the sound quality in the headphones is also good. The speaker sounds a little rattly and isn't particularly loud, but it's good enough for watching YouTube in a quiet place.

Camera

Zenfone 3 Max has a 16 MP rear camera and a 1/3-inch sensor with f2.0 aperture. It uses Asus TriTech autofocus system, which is a combination of contrast detection, phase detection and laser autofocus. There is a dual LED flash.

The camera app is quite comprehensive, with several shooting modes including manual mode. It allows you to independently set the shutter speed, white balance, ISO and focus. The controls are well laid out and if you're using the auto shooting mode, the app will prompt you to turn on HDR or Night modes depending on the situation and provides a quick toggle at the bottom of the screen that eliminates the need to search for it in the menu.

As for the quality of photos, the rear camera is at a good level. Colors look pretty accurate, and the same can be said for contrast and white balance. And this is in Auto mode without optimizations. The quality of smartphone photos is not inferior to the capabilities.

The situation for the rear camera becomes less favorable in terms of dynamic range, which is quite poor here. Well-lit objects often turn out to be too bright; even reducing the exposure does not help when everything else in the photo is almost black. Redmi Note 3 performs better in high contrast situations. The HDR mode helps, so when shooting outdoors in bright light, it is better not to turn it off.

Another weak point of the camera is autofocus. This may be a specific firmware problem, but while the smartphone is constantly looking for focus while shooting, half of the photos come out out of focus. I would like to believe that the developers will fix this problem in an update.

1080p video also suffers from focus issues and poor dynamic range. Electronic image stabilization only works at 720p resolution.

Autonomous operation

Zenfone 3 Max has a 4100 mAh battery, which is the main attraction of this model. The battery life is impressive; with the screen on, the device can last 6-7 hours; together with the standby mode, it will last 24 hours without any problems.

The main advertised feature of the smartphone is its ability to recharge other devices. To do this, the package includes an OTG adapter that can be connected to another smartphone, tablet or smart watch.

Unfortunately, the charging speed is very slow. Having connected with a charge level of 1%, after an hour we managed to increase it to only 17%. At the same time, the charge level of Zenfone 3 Max dropped from 100% to 87%. The smartphone itself does not support fast charging standards. It takes two and a half hours to charge from zero to maximum.

Conclusion

Asus Zenfone 3 Max is a good product with a good combination of functionality and performance. It offers good design and decent build quality. The quality of the screen is impressive; it is one of the best for devices in this price category. Performance for everyday use is adequate, battery life is excellent. There are also good cameras here.

Unfortunately for Asus, Xiaomi offers a more attractive smartphone in terms of price and quality, especially the faster processor. Everything else between these two smartphones is approximately on the same level. If you can buy a Redmi Note 3 in your city, it’s quite difficult to recommend Zenfone 3 Max for purchase.