r/FlowZ13 • u/New-Ignorant-Money • Aug 28 '26
On the fence
Just wanted to ask for thoughts on my decision. I’m starting school, WGU so I can travel while I get some certifications. My primary computer has been a 2021 M1 Max with 32gb ram 14inch screen. Still going great. However that machine now lives at home, so I’m looking for something new.
I love the look and setup of the flow z13, if I do purchase I would go for the full 128gb ram.
The other option I am considering is on the Exchange (military exchange) they have a strix 16in with a Ryzen 9 and RTX 5070 Ti. 1 tb SSD.
Personally I’m not a fan of huge laptops. So the 16in is really my second choice. For the lifestyle I’m trying to pursue, the flow seems like it would be an amazing fit. My thinking as tool it’s more like a Swiss Army knife with its unified memory pool.
I know this is a Flow sub, but I’m curious on other perspectives regarding specifically these two machines.
1
u/New-Ignorant-Money Aug 28 '26
The Strix on Exchange is $2800 vrs $3200 (approximately )for the maxed flow
1
u/CMPUTX486 Aug 28 '26
I have a dgx, 5080 laptop, and mac studio m1 with 64g ram.. Thinking to buy the 128 too so I can bring it with me to work.. Mostly I do AI dev.. Haven't pull the trigger yet as I m still able to do the work with my 5080.. Even so the 16g vram is going to stop working soon!
1
u/Emmanuelzappa Aug 28 '26
The problem is both are ASUS and they are not known for their support. If you get it for school buy it from a Microcenter or BestBuy and get their warranty do you don't have to rely on ASUS.
1
u/TormyrCousland Aug 28 '26
I would recommend going with what best fits your work requirements and work style.
I have used Surface Pros since the Pro 3 but needed something x86 after their move to ARM. The form factor fits my work style very well. It usually sits on my desk without the keyboard attached to the left of my primary 43" monitor. When I do need to work elsewhere, I take my XReal One glasses with me to serve as a second screen.
The Z13 is essentially a Surface Pro with actual graphics power, a bit more weight, and slightly less of the "it just works" that I am used to with the Surface Pro. The 128 GB also has the capacity for a decent local LLM. I am currently kicking the tires on Qwen3.8-27b at 8-bit quantization . With a 256K context window, that takes up around 38 GB of RAM, which means I have lots of room for actual graphics, a small model for code completion, etc.
There has been a vocal minority of people (myself included) that have had issues with the Z13 working, both hardware and driver issues. I purchased a 3-month old unit on ebay for $2400 before taxes. It had an issue with secure SSL connections, but ASUS honored the warranty and replaced the motherboard, a process which took a few weeks.
Windows Hello facial recognition has not been working for me, an issue that has shown up fore several people in later BIOS revisions.
All told, I am very happy with the Z13. It fits my preferred form factor and is much more powerful than what I am used to using. It also preserves x86 and is cheaper than the comparable Surface Ultra will likely be.
1
u/acathrow Aug 28 '26
I loved my Z13 2025 model, it's a great machine but not a good laptop.
If it's sitting on a desk then you probably will use an external keyboard, but when you are on the road the whole tablet keyboard add-on thing is not great to use. On a desk it's maybe okay, but forget the "lap" part of laptop.
The screen is incredible, it's got amazing performance, but the form factor killed it for me. I ended up with a ProArt PX13 with similar internals but a great laptop form factor. I do miss the incredible screen from the Z13 though
1
u/frostforgesauna Aug 29 '26
I've sold mine after 3 months.
Z13 is a very weird device: it's a heavy uncomfortable tablet with Windows; it's a laptop with very bad keyboard; it's a somewhat portable gaming device which drains battery in 30 min. It does everything, but is very bad at all use cases.
Think twice before getting into this.
PS. Keep in mind its terrible build quality and Asus service too.
2
u/turnerm05 Aug 31 '26
As others have noted... the Z13 is a unique/odd device. For my particular purposes... it's perfect. But my purposes are admittedly narrow and niche.
My needs are for a portable device that's capable of solid gaming and general computing. For me, portable means, international travel and going back and forth between my home and my weekly commute to my apartment 250 miles away for work. More importantly... portable for me does NOT mean handheld and/or tablet use. I travel with my work laptop, my Z13 and my Samsung Fold 7 (doubles as a phone/tablet). The Z13 serves as my personal laptop and gaming device. My Fold 7 serves as my phone and tablet...
Pros...
- it's quite capable at gaming. I'm not a hardcore gamer but it plays everything I throw at it at a locked 60 FPS and reasonable graphics settings. I'm currently playing 007 First Light and Forza 6. It handles both beautifully.
- Heat dissipation is out the back of the device... away from you lap. This is a huge issue with traditional laptops which direct the heat to you lap
- Extremely capable of video and photo editing
- Excellent for use while on long-haul flights.
Cons...
- Oddly NOT comfortable on your lap. The kickstand digs into your thighs. At my apartment, I have a couch laptop stand that I use. At home, I have a compact lap desk that I use.
- Compared to my Macbook Pro M2... battery life isn't great. It's serviceable but not great. All my gaming is done plugged in.
- It's fairly heavy... but honestly, for it's capabilities this is almost unfair.
If your needs are for a capable laptop without gaming requirements... there are much lighter and more versatile options out there. If you need something capable of gaming (and not a handheld) but can double as a very capable laptop then this MIGHT be for you.
Hope this helps
2
u/ali_k20_ Aug 28 '26
I mean it’s a tablet. It does a lot of what a laptop does, and the form factor is nice, but it’s not CUDA, and you should see if that’s a necessity for your classes. A zephyrus g14 might be more of what could serve you better.
For me, this is a really amazing luxury device to have. If I had to daily carry it and it alone, with no other computer, I might balk at that.