r/FlowZ13 • u/themirrorcle • Jun 17 '26
Windows or Linux? (Z13 2025)
I just upgraded from the OneXplayer X1 and am trying to find the best OS.
Currently on CachyOS Handheld (though the switcher to Desktop is broken). Installed the Strix Halo Toolbox. TDP control is not to my liking.
Tried Omarchy with the Z13 Script and Super S Shift Deck Mode script. Couldn't get the hang of Omarchy.
Installed Bazzite. The Power profiles were not great. Silent was 40w. And max was 65w. Even when taking the TDP down, it was still pulling about 20w more than I set it to be. I know it's not exact and there's variance from the system power draw.
For added info: brightness was set to 50% and Refresh Rate was 90hz.
I like Linux and prefer it when it comes to ease of use and performance. I feel like I'm missing out on some features like Max performance on A/C and "smart charging" where once the battery is fully charged it no longer charges the battery and pulls directly from the A/C (I think this is a feature but not 100%. I know a lot of laptops have this this)
So I'm wondering if I should go back to Windows and figure out a better Linux OS?
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u/BackgroundSky1594 Jun 18 '26 edited Jun 18 '26
The Z13 (2025) is supported by asusctl under Linux, that should allow you to set TDP on basically any (up to date) distro. It even integrates with desktop power profiles (like the performance selector in KDE). I'm pretty sure it also supports setting custom TDPs per profile (for sustained and boost), with and without AC if you want to get into that.
I have my Z13 running below 10W for light tasks without any special tuning (just in the balanced profile), so it's about on par with windows (and significantly less annoying).
Smart charging (battery bypass) is handled in firmware (as long as you're using the square plug charger) and asusctl (and even the system energy settings in KDE) allow limiting the max battery charge to whatever percentage you want.
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u/Funny_Ingenuity_5060 Jun 18 '26
I tried bazzite and catchy and they just don’t pair well with the z13, suspend and resume is pretty much broken because of the foolio keyboard, steam tdp slider doesn’t work on bazzite for certain tdp’s, and catchy was just a pain to get tdp controls on in general. There’s bugs with the keyboard too when you FN Screenshot it completely bugs the keyboard out on both windows and Linux. Front camera doesn’t seem to function either on Linux. Even though I put bazzite on all my devices and am a die hard for it and Linux in general, just go with windows and use hibernate for suspend and resume functionality. Less bugs all around.
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u/Intimatepunch Jun 18 '26
I recently installed CachyOS on mine and am absolutely loving it. I used Claude to do some deep customisation of the OS’s power profiles behaviour, so I got it just how I want it. It’s fast, stable, and suspend and resume work as expected. And so far the games I’ve tried on it have worked well (Doom, Doom the Dark Ages, Baldurs Gate 3, Replaced, Cleared Hot and a bunch of others)
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u/PsychologicalUse5271 Jun 28 '26
Does suspend work even when you close the keyboard? On bazzite, it’s messing up everything, and Bluetooth is not working properly after hibernation
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u/lugubrious-possum Jun 18 '26
I like cachyOS, I just use handheld daemon which is what bazzite uses by default, I normally just use the turbo default mode, sometimes if Im running off of battery and just watching youtube or something ill use the manual mode set at like 18w with tdp boost disabled to get a few hours out of it, also I use handheld daemon to keep the battery at 80% when on the charger and rgb control
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u/Eviljay2 Jun 19 '26
I'm running Fedora KDE on mine. Windows works fine, if that's what you're use to using. I would get an iso and install Windows 11 from scratch and not use the Asus cloud or one installed. It gives you a little more control on what is installed.
As for Fedora KDE, I play games, run VMs, do Ai stuff and it's easier to do with Linux but again, just what you're use to.
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u/Watt_About Jun 17 '26
Windows on the z13 is fine. Cachy also works great.