ASUS VivoBook Flip 12: At First Glance
The ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 looks to be a solid delivery of everything ASUS promised. It is just as thin, light, and functional as we all expected.
ASUS has done a great job with the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 even though it was designed to meet the needs of budget-conscious users. Moreover, its hardware components promise good performance.
This ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 is a 2-in-1 masterpiece that can be afforded by almost everyone.
ASUS VivoBook Flip 12: Design, Dimension, and Weight
The ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 is a 2-in-1 convertible laptop. It is able to switch between a traditional laptop mode, tent mode, or tablet mode.
This laptop has a smooth aluminum chassis. It is available in Shimmer Gold, Rose Gold, and Star Grey colors.
Furthermore, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 has a 360-degree twin-gear metal hinge. It uses a part of its hinge in laptop mode, but it implements its hinge completely when rotated through 180 degrees.
Additionally, this laptop is very portable and light. It measures 280 x 200 x 17 mm and weighs 1270 g, making it more portable than the HP Pavilion x360 (334.8 x 226.9 x 19.9 mm, 1720 g).
One of the reasons ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 is lightweight is its plastic keyboard deck. This keyboard deck looks like a brushed aluminum surface.
The keyboard itself is full-sized with a backlight feature. Though this keyboard has a good tactile feel, its backlight, however, tends to leak around the edges of its keys.
Furthermore, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12’s touchpad is below-par. The touchpad feels cheaply built, so it’s not as sensitive as you would expect it to be.
On a better note, this touchpad features a fingerprint sensor at its top-right corner. The fingerprint sensor allows you to sign-in to the laptop via Windows Hello.
Along its sides, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 features a USB 3.1 Type-A Gen 1, a standard USB port, one HDMI port, and a headphone jack.
Overall, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 has a very sturdy build quality for a budget laptop. Hence, it scores eight in this review.
ASUS VivoBook Flip 12: Processor (CPU) Performance
ASUS offers two processor configurations for the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12. You can get the dual-core Intel Celeron N3350 or the quad-core Intel Pentium N4200 processors.
Both processors have a base frequency of 1.10 GHz. However, the Pentium N4200 can attain a slightly higher maximum frequency of 2.50 GHz than Celeron N3350’s maximum frequency of 2.40 GHz.
Furthermore, both processors offer a satisfactory level of performance. However, this review focuses on the quad-core Intel Pentium N4200.
With this Intel Pentium processor, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 offers a good performance for a laptop of its range. This laptop handles web browsing, sending emails, and document editing tasks quite well.
On a Geekbench 4 overall test, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 scored 12,295, which is just above the 9,482 mainstream laptop average score. It also nearly equaled the Pavilion x360 that scored 12,495 points.
Therefore, it scores an eight in this review for its excellent CPU performance.
ASUS VivoBook Flip 12: Memory (RAM) Performance
The ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 comes with 2 GB DDR3 RAM. However, this laptop allows you to upgrade its RAM to a maximum capacity of 4GB RAM.
With its 2 GB RAM, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12’s memory performance is nothing spectacular. However, as expected, the RAM performance of this laptop is much better with 4 GB RAM.
With 4 GB RAM, the laptop handled 15 Chrome tabs smoothly (one was streaming a 1080 YouTube video). It is also easily switched between different applications without hanging.
However, it began to slow down a little when different applications were opened simultaneously with the Chrome tabs.
In conclusion, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 scores a seven in this review because it multi-tasks considerably well.
ASUS VivoBook Flip 12: Storage Options and Performance
The ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 offers 64 GB eMMC storage. It also offers a multi-format card reader as part of its storage options.
The 64 GB storage can only store a small number of your documents, standard and multimedia files. To make up for the storage limitations, ASUS includes an SD card.
Also, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12’s eMMC storage technology allows the download of more contents per unit of power it consumes. However, this storage type is not as fast or as reliable as the SSDs.
On a CrystralDiskMark test, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 recorded a sequential read speed of 223.1 MBps and a sequential write speed of 138.2 MBps. It is considerably slow in comparison with the Pavilion x360, for example, that recorded a read speed of 1069.5 MBps and a write speed of 130.1 MBps.
In conclusion, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 scores a six in this review for its fair storage options.
ASUS VivoBook Flip 12: Graphics Card Performance
The ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 features an integrated Intel HD Graphics card. This GPU has a base frequency of 200 MHz and a boost frequency of 750 MHz.
The ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 isn’t very suitable for gaming. It does not offer an enjoyable gaming experience with modern AAA title games, but it performs well with old games.
However, you might be able to get around 20-30 FPS with some AAA title games when you reduce the graphics setting to its lowest. Nonetheless, this laptop’s GPU is more suitable for general purpose usage like 4K video streaming.
On a gaming test, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 played Dirt3 at 24 FPS, nearly matching the 30 FPS minimum rate for playability. In comparison, the HP Pavilion x360 that ran at 26 FPS couldn’t match the 30 FPS minimum playability, too.
In conclusion, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 scores a six in this review for its below-average gaming performance.
ASUS VivoBook Flip 12: Battery Life and Performance
ASUS equipped the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 with a 2-Cell 36 Wh Polymer battery. According to ASUS, this laptop can last up to 8 hours of working time on a single charge.
However, this was not the case on our battery performance tests. During general usage such as word processing, web browsing, and sending emails, the laptop lasted 5 hours 45 minutes.
With the screen at minimum brightness, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 lasted 7 hours 10 minutes on the same test. Also, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 lasted for 6 hours on a video streaming test.
Furthermore, the ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 exceeded the mainstream laptop average time frame of 6 and 39 minutes, on the web surfing test. It also surpassed the Pavilion x360 that lasted for 6 hours and 17 minutes.
Therefore, it scores an eight in this review for its excellent battery life.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Asus Vivobook Flip 12 is surprisingly powerful for a budget laptop. It also has an impressive battery life and a very solid overall build. Though the 4GB RAM slows it down slightly when working with a lot of multimedia data or browser tabs, it is capable of handling basic productivity tasks.
The Asus VivoBook Flip 12 is only capable of light gaming. However, you might be able to get around 20-30 FPS with some AAA title games when you reduce the graphics setting to its lowest.
Yes, it does. The Asus VivoBook Flip 12 offers an 11.6-inch touch display with an HD (1366 x 768) resolution.
No, it is not. Asus is officially known as AsusTek Computer Inc., It is a Taiwanese multi-national tech brand.
According to their official website, ASUS takes its name from Pegasus, the winged horse in Greek mythology that symbolizes wisdom and knowledge.
Conclusion
The ASUS VivoBook Flip 12 is a very portable laptop that delivers a satisfactory level of performance. However, it doesn’t perform well with heavy gaming.
Nonetheless, it is a good budget laptop. I would recommend this laptop, especially for students because of how portable it is.
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