I’ve gathered my thoughts on the Asus ROG Flow Z13 in this article, the hyped 2025 GZ302-series update with AMD Ryzen AI Max hardware.
I didn’t get a review unit in time for the embargo last month, so I decided not to rush out an article and rather use this device for a few more weeks before making up my mind on it. Derek’s using one as well and will also put up together his thoughts in a separate article, and I’ll link it here once that’s published.
Hence, this review comes after using one of these Z13s for more than two months, initially an earlier pre-production unit and then the retail variant over the past weeks. All the tests and performance benchmarks were run on the retail model, with the more mature software available as of mid-March 2025, so a few weeks later than what you’ll find in most other articles that were released when the embargo expired in February.
Anyway, this Flow Z13 is a tablet computer format with a 13-inch IPS display and a keyboard folio. It’s well built and compact and somewhat portable, albeit not that lightweight. It types well and offers good IO, but the ports aren’t positioned ergonomically. Still, the hardware and general performance and capabilities of this device are its biggest selling points, unmatched by other platforms out there or by other thin-and-light implementations. Battery life isn’t bad either, and pricing, while steep at 2-3K between variants, is mostly fair for what you’re getting.
As a potential buyer, you’ll have to decide if you need the kind of sustained performance offered by this device in this sort of 13-inch format, but also whether a tablet chassis is ideal for your use cases. For me, this design has an edge in cooling capacity and overall thermal behavior over a traditional notebook format, but isn’t as versatile or comfortable to use as a regular laptop – it’s fine on a desk or flat surface, but rather cumbersome otherwise.
Anyway, enough with the intro, let’s dive into it.
Specs as reviewed – Asus ROG Flow Z13 GZ302EA
2025 ASUS ROG Flow Z13 GZ302EA
Display 13.4-inch, 16:10 format, touch, glossy with Gorilla Glass 5,
Processor AMD Strix Halo platform,
Video Radeon 8060S with 40 CU
Memory 32 GB LPDDR5x-8000 (soldered), up to 128 GB
Storage 1x 1 TB SSD (Kioxia BG6) – M.2 2230 PCIe 4.0 x4 slot
Connectivity Wireless 7 (MediaTek MT7925) 2×2, Bluetooth 5.4
Ports 2x USB-C with USB 4.0, 1x USB-A 3.2 gen2, 1x HDMI FRL, microSD UHS-II card reader, headphone/mic
Battery 70 Wh, 200W main charger and 100 W USB-C charger
Size tablet: 300 mm or 11.81” (w) x 204 mm or 8.03” (d) x 13 – 14.9 mm or .51″ – .59″ (h) folio: 300 mm or 11.81” (w) x 206 mm or 8.07” (d) x ~5 mm or .2″ (h)
Weight 1.24 kg (2.74 lbs) for the tablet alone,
Extras tablet format with single-zone RGB backlit detachable keyboard folio,
This is the mainstream Flow Z13 configuration available at launch. Options with up to 128 GB of memory will be offered in some markets, paired with the same Ryzen AI 395 processor, while options with a lower-tier AMD Ryzen AI Max 390 processor and 32 GB of RAM are also announced for some regions, at a lower price.
Update: If interested in another opinion on this series, here’s Derek’s review of the same Flow Z13 configuration .
Design and construction This 2025 generation of the Flow Z13 is a refinement of the original Z13 chassis from 2023. That means it’s the same tablet format with a 13-inch IPS touchscreen over the components, with ports on the sides, and with a detachable keyboard folio.
However, unlike the previous Z13, this model is a little thicker and heavier, at 2.75 lbs (1.25 kg) for the tablet and 3.6 lbs (1.65 kg) for the tablet+folio. And then you have to account for the 200W charger as well, which is quite big and heavy at 1.5 lbs (.7 kg). Thus, the whole package isn’t lightweight. But you can mostly use this with a USB-C charger if you want to, although that won’t get you quite its full performance potential. More on that in a following section.
As mentioned already, the ergonomics of this format are debatable. On a desk, this is fine, but otherwise, it depends.
As far as feel and construction go, though, this is a premium-feeling chassis and it looks nice as well, with the black color and the various muted branding elements. There’s an adjustable kickstand on the back side, which allows you to position the device in multiple ways, both in landscape and in portrait modes. One nit with the kickstand is the fact that they still didn’t add some sort of rubber foot on it, it’s still a metal part that can scratch surfaces during use.
The IO placement is rather awkward on this as well, with the ports all the way to the top on the left edge, which means you’ll have visible cables when connecting peripherals or even when plugging this on. Having these ports further down would have allowed for a cleaner design. As it is, I’d expect most to want to dock this at home or in the office and use it with an external keyboard and mouse.
As far as the actual ports go, there’s plenty here, with USB-C 4.0 ports, a full-size USB-A, a full-size HDMI, an audio jack, and a micro SD card reader. There’s no longer an XG Mobile slot because the 2025 generation of the XG Mobile external iGPU now uses a USB-C connector – the USB-C technology has matured and there’s no need for the proprietary port anymore.
Aside from the IO, the top edge is reserved for air exhausts, while the bottom houses the physical connector to the keyboard folio. This isn’t a Bluetooth folio with a battery inside like on the Zenbook Duo, it only works when physically connected to the tablet.
Another major selling point of this format is the fact that the components are placed behind the screen, which means the keyboard folio stays cool all the time, no matter what you’re running on the device. Plus, the cooling module is never obstructed in any way, unlike on regular laptops, where the fans are placed underneath the main chassis and with little space for proper airflow.
Keyboard and trackpad As mentioned, the Flow Z13 ships with a matching keyboard folio that hooks up to the tablet via a physical connector. Magnets are smartly positioned on the folio and the tablet to assist the latching process, making it perfectly smooth.
The folio comes with two working positions, one flat on the desk and another slightly raised up with magnets, covering the tablet’s bottom chin. I prefer this later one as it gives a more ergonomic typing position, and while this folio is thin and lightweight, it doesn’t flex or wobble that badly with use. In fact, the overall typing experience on this keyboard is close to a regular Zenbook keyboard.
I did notice, however, that the keyboard folds up a little high and almost covers up the bottom of the display in this mode. There’s still a tiny gap of a mm or two between the display and the folio, but somehow I found this limited bezel distracting when using the device. Not distracting enough to keep the folio flat, though. That mode doesn’t look good to me, as it leaves exposed all those creasing parts between the keyboard and the tablet.
The armrest part and the areas around the keys are made out of smooth plastic on this folio, while they were previously a sort of faux leather. The plastics should age better over time. The underside on the folio is still faux-leather, allowing for good grip when having the keyboard on a desk or when maneuvering the tablet with the keyboard folded off.
I’ll also add that this keyboard implements single-zone RGB lighting, with evenly-lit LEDs, but fairly dim even at the highest setting.
The clickpad is fine here as well, a little wider than on the previous Flow models, and made out of what feels like matte glass. Not sure if it’s glass or just very good plastic, though, but the surface worked fine with swipes and gestures and taps and everything. The physical clicks are a bit stiff and clunky, though.
Finally, for biometrics, there’s no finger sensor but the webcam includes IR and Hello support.
Screen There’s a 13.4-inch 16:10 touch display on the Flow Z13, with an updated IPS panel, with QHD+ resolution, 180HZ refresh, and 3ms response times.
This isn’t an OLED and doesn’t look as vibrant or as rich as a modern OLED. But it is brighter, at over 550-nits sustained in our tests, and doesn’t suffer from the potential culprits of OLEDs in PC implementations: flickering, burnin, etc. Overall, it’s a fine display.
Anyway, here’s what we got in our tests, with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro sensor :
Panel HardwareID: TL134ADXP03;
Coverage: 98.8% sRGB, 88.0% Adobe RGB, 94.7% DCI-P3;
Type: 10-bit HDR ??, 180 Hz;
Measured gamma: 2.22;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 570.60 cd/m2 on power;
Min brightness in the middle of the screen: 18.02 cd/m2 on power;
Contrast at max brightness: 1327:1;
White point: 6600 K;
Black on max brightness: 0.43 cd/m2;
PWM: Yes, to be discussed.
The panel comes well-calibrated out of the box and turned up uniformly in color and luminosity. Being an IPS, blacks aren’t perfect, but light bleeding around the edges is close to non-existent even at maximum brightness settings.
Hardware and performance Our test model is a mid-specced configuration of the 2025 Asus Flow Z13, code name GZ302EA, with an AMD Strix Halo Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor and Radeon 8060S graphics, 32 GB of LPDDR5x-8000 memory, and a fast 1 TB gen4 SSD.
Disclaimer: This review unit was provided by Asus for this article. We tested it with the software available as of mid-March 2025 (BIOS 306, MyAsus 4.0.34.0, AMD Graphics Driver 32.0.12045.4009). This software package is a few weeks post-launch, thus some aspects can still change with future updates.
Spec-wise, this series is based on the 2025 Strix Halo hardware platform , with a Ryzen processor and Radeon graphics.
Our configuration is a top-tier Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor, a very powerful design with 16 Zen5 Performance Cores and 16 Threads. This Flow is a mid-powered implementation of the hardware, running at 60W on Turbo and 80W sustained in Manual mode, albeit with high temperatures and loud fans. This hardware can run at up to 120W sustained in larger chassis.
Graphics are handled by the integrated Radeon 8060S chip, an iGPU with 40 RDNA3.5 compute units and clock speeds of up to 2.8 GHz. This is by far the most capable iGPU available today. For comparison, the Radeon 890M implemented with AMD Strix Point hardware offers 16 similar RDNA3.5 compute units.
A lower-tier configuration with a Ryzen AI Max 390 processor is also available for the Flow Z13. That’s a 12C/24Thread design on the CPU side, and a Radeon 8050S iGPU with 32 CUs, so about 75-80% of what’s offered with the AI Max+ 395 variant.
Our configuration also comes with 32GB of fast LPDDR5x-8000 memory, on board. Variants with 64 and 128 GB of memory are also available. The memory controller is 256-bit, which should allow for faster speeds than most other mobile platforms, albeit real-life performance isn’t quite what you’d expect in some situations, with writing speeds being faster than reading speeds.
By default, 4 GB of this RAM are allocated to the iGPU, but you can modify and allocate up to 24 GB to the graphics chip, both in Armoury Crate (in the Free Up memory subsection, under System Settings) and in the BIOS. For my time and tests with this Flow, I’ve set 8 GB of vRAM and 24 GB of system RAM.
For storage, Asus opted for a fast PCIe gen4 Kioxia BG6 drive here. This can be replaced and accessed via the dedicated service tray on the back of the device, under the kickstand. However, it’s an M.2 2230 format, so the options for high-capacity replacement drives are fairly few and expensive.
As far as internals go, getting inside this laptop is a challenge and not something I’d recommend to the average user, as it requires ungluing the display from the chassis, which is going to be difficult to mount back in place. I haven’t opened this unit just for the sake of opening it up, but if you’d have to access the motherboard and battery at some point, it can be done.
Specs aside, Asus offer their standard power profiles in the Armoury Crate control app bundled with all their ROG laptops: Silent, Performance, Turbo, and Manual.
Silent Performance Turbo Manual
CPU only, SPL/SPPT TDP
35/40W
45/52W
60/70W
80/92W
CPU only, FPPT
55W
71W
86W
93W
Crossload
35
45W
60W
80W
Noise at head level, tested
<35 dBA
~38 dBA
~45 dBA
~49-50 dBA
Between these modes, Silent is the best suited for daily use. This laptop performs snappily on Silent, unlike most other Windows devices, and the fan noise stays low, with idle fans during light use, and occasional activations with more serious multitasking. The CPU needs to stay under 50 C for the fans to idle, and this system rarely goes over this threshold on Silent mode. Performance and especially Turbo modes are significantly noisier even with light use when the fans kick in, though.
Before we jump to the performance section, here’s how this laptop handles everyday use and multitasking on the Silent profile, unplugged from the wall.
Productivity Performance and Benchmarks – AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 On to more demanding loads, we start by testing the CPU’s performance in the Cinebench R15 loop test.
The Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor runs at ~80W for brief moments on Turbo mode, and then settles around 70W in each loop. It rarely drops to the SPL setting of 60W in this test, but it does go there with longer-duration sustained loads, as you’ll see in a bit. The scores end up at around 4700 points, with temperatures in the high-70s Celsius and fan-noise levels of ~45 dBA.
Manual mode allows for higher power settings and louder fans, at 49-50 dBA. The system runs at 92W for most of the test, with temperatures in the mid to high 80s Celsius and scores of around 5100 points, about 7-8% higher than on Turbo.
The Performance mode keeps the fans quieter at sub 40 dBA, and the CPU stabilizes at 52W, with temperatures in the low-70s C, and scores of around 4000 points. That’s about 80-85% of the scores on Turbo.
Silent mode keeps the fans barely audible at sub 35 dBA, with the power stabilizing at around 40W sustained. The scores stabilize at around 3600 points, about 70% of what this device can do in Turbo mode.
On Performance mode unplugged from the wall, this platform performs identically to the plugged-in Performance scenario, but somehow the scores end up a few percents higher.
All these are illustrated in the graph below.
To put these in perspective, here’s how this AMD Ryzen MAX+ 395 implementation fares against other hardware platforms.
The multi-threaded CPU performance of this platform is unmatched by any other thin-and-light implementation out there, and even Silent mode smokes all other portable options. In fact, this mode probably makes the most sense for this comparison, as it’s a closer match for the power settings of other portable devices.
And here’s how this fares against full-performance platforms implemented in much larger devices and at higher power. Impressive. We haven’t yet tested the 2025 performance platforms, Raptor Lake HX and Dragon Range HX.
We then went ahead and further verified our findings with the more taxing Cinebench R23 loop test and in Blender. With these loads, the CPU stabilizes around the SPL settings for each mode (80W – Manual, 60W – Turbo, 45W – Performance, 35W – Silent), with slightly lower temperatures as a result.
We then ran the 3DMark CPU profile test on Turbo and Silent.
Finally, we ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook, on the Performance profile. 3DMark stress runs the same test for 20 times in a loop and looks for performance variation and degradation over time. This unit fails the test, but marginally, which means the performance is slightly impacted as the heat builds up and the system drops in power to the SPL setting of 60W combinbed.
With that out of the way, let’s get to some benchmarks. We ran our standard set of tests with the laptop on Turbo mode (~60W sustained TDP, 45 dBA noise) and the screen set at its default 2.5K resolution.
Here’s what we got.
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 12051, 16 – 12344, 8 – 7912, 4 – 4456, 2 – 2281, 1– 1161;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 23041 (Graphics – 25511, Physics – 37141, Combined – 10037);3DMark 13 – Port Royal: 4900;3DMark 13 – Steel Nomad: 1983;3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 9836 (Graphics – 9683, CPU – 10804);3DMark 13 – AMD FSR: FSR 2 Off – 33.86 fps, FSR 2 On – 57.76 fps, 70.6% performance difference.
Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 5841;Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 17262;
Aida64 Extreme, memory test – 115 GB/s read, 200 GB/s write, 152 GB/s copy;PCMark 10: 9133 (Essentials – 12202, Productivity – 10400, Digital Content Creation – 16287);GeekBench 6.2.2 64-bit: Multi-core: 20733, Single-Core: 2951;CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 4874 cb, CPU Single Core 314 cb;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 11491 cb, CPU Single Core 797 cb;CineBench R23: CPU 28921 pts (best run), CPU 27562 pts (10 min loop test), CPU Single Core 2022 pts (best run);CineBench 2024: CPU 1575 (10 min run), CPU Single Core 115 pts.
And here are some work-related benchmarks, on the same Performance profile:
Blender 3.6.5 – BMW Car scene- CPU Compute: 1m 15s ;Blender 3.6.5 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 2m 55s;Blender 4.3.2 – BMW Car scene- CPU Compute: 1m 18s ;Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 16s;Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – GPU Compute, HIP: 57s;
SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 119.02;SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 89.06;SPECviewperf 2020 – Creo: 137.90;SPECviewperf 2020 – Energy: 65.00;SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 413.65;SPECviewperf 2020 – Medical: 163.96;SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 338.16;SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 225.17;V-Ray Benchmark: CPU – 20773, CUDA – 509.
On the CPU side, these are spectacular results unmatched by other platforms implemented in thin-and-light computers, either AMD or Intel or Qualcomm. At the same time, though, very few thin-and-light devices run at 60W sustained, so keep that in mind as well. For a better comparison, check out the Silent 35-40W profile detailed further down.
But these results are even better than what most full-size performance laptops offered so far, and even with the 2025 hardware updates, few options will outmatch this Ryzen hardware in multi-threaded capabilities.
On the GPU side, the Radeon 8060s is by far the fastest iGPU implementation available so far, with solutions such as Intel Arc 140T or AMD Radeon 890M being far behind at less than half the capabilities. However, keep in mind that the Radeon iGPU doesn’t run at its full potential here in Turbo mode. In fact, it runs at about 80%, more or less, of what I’d expect it could do at 120W sustained.
These aside, the SSD is plenty fast here, although there are faster options. However, gen5 SSDs aren’t compatible here, if you need that sort of performance. As for the RAM tests, they showcase the difference in read and write speeds, which might matter for certain professional applications. Something to further look into if that’s what you’re interested in.
Manual mode – 80W sustained, 49-50 dBA noise The software allows for a Manual mode where you can push the AMD platform to 80 W SPL and 92W SPPT, and the cooling system actually allows for that sustained power, albeit with high internal temperatures in the mid to high 80s Celsius.
Here are some benchmark results in this mode:
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 11117, 16 – 13106, 8 – 8098, 4 – 4513, 2 – 2308, 1 – 1177;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 24171 (Graphics – 26890, Physics – 38854, Combined – 10396);3DMark 13 – Steel Nomad: 2097;3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 10750 (Graphics – 10658, CPU – 11307);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 6271;CineBench R23 (best run): CPU 31980 cb, CPU Single Core 2044 cb;Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 2m 57s.SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 123.40;SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 95.42;SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 430.17;SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 352.19;SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 239.21.
On average, we’re looking at differences of 2-10% between tests over the 60W Turbo mode, with the more notable gaps in sustained long-term multithreaded CPU loads. But even the GPU scores are about 5-7% higher here, as the GPU runs at slightly higher sustained clocks when supplied with the extra power.
However, the fan noise in Manual mode is very loud, at around 50 dBA at head-level, and 55+ next to the tablet. Not sure if that’s justifiable for the rather limited performance increase.
Performance mode – 45W sustained, <40 dBA noise Performance mode keeps power settings and fan noise lower, and allows for more comfortable internal and external temperatures.
Here are the results in this mode.
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 11729, 16 – 11447, 8 – 7393, 4 – 4372, 2 – 2260, 1 – 1148;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 20726 (Graphics – 22836, Physics – 33726, Combined – 9126);3DMark 13 – Steel Nomad: 1777;3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 8724 (Graphics – 8478, CPU – 10446);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 5054;CineBench R23 (best run): CPU 24943 cb, CPU Single Core 2020 cb;Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 53s.SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 108.59;SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 80.54;SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 373.49;SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 289.49;SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 200.46.
The CPU scores are 10-20% lower than on Turbo, and the GPU scores are 10-15% lower as well. But these are still excellent scores for a 13-inch device, better by 10-15% than on the previous-gen Flow Z13 with the Core i9 and RTX 4060 configuration on the same profile.
Silent mode – 35W sustained, <35 dBA noise And then there’s Silent mode, which showcases how the Strix Halo AMD platform scales down in power. This mode sets a 35W SPL power limit and keeps the fans at under 35 dBA.
Here are the results:
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 9905, 16 – 10904, 8 – 6679, 4 – 4156, 2 – 2270, 1 – 1156;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 16060 (Graphics – 18065, Physics – 28933, Combined – 6426);3DMark 13 – Steel Nomad: 1407;3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 6684 (Graphics – 6329, CPU – 9810);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 4271;CineBench R23 (best run): CPU 21714 cb, CPU Single Core 2020 cb;Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 4m 18s.SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 97.54;SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 71.58;SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 341.45;SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 270.09;SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 185.47.
These are about 70-75% of what the platform delivers on Turbo, and once more notably higher than on the i9+RTX 4060 implementation on the older Flow Z13, especially on the CPU side.
Turbo mode on 100W USB-C ROG charger We used the 200W main charger for all the previous tests, but here’s what we got on Turbo mode with a 100W ROG USB-C charger plugged in. Somehow, this unit allows Turbo mode even on USB-C, not sure if that’s the same with all retail models, as past ROG devices that I’ve tested only offered Silent and Performance on USB-C. This, however, allows all modes, including Manual.
Here are the results.
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 10939, 16 – 8304, 8 – 4730, 4 – 3407, 2 – 1796, 1 – 908;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 23337 (Graphics – 26134, Physics – 34105, Combined – 10254);3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 10277 (Graphics – 10221, CPU – 10609);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 5711;CineBench R23 (loop): CPU 28405 cb, CPU Single Core 1554 cb;GeekBench 6.2.2 64-bit: Multi-core: 20254, Single-Core: 2342;Blender 4.3.2 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 3m 17s.SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 115.91;SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 87.54;SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 397.56;SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 329.23;SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 218.88.
These are very competitive scores, within 5% of Turbo on the main 200W charger. However, the single-core CPU tests are an exception, at only 70% of Turbo, and that seems to be consistent between tests. It was also showcased on gaming tests, where the 1% lows suffered when having the device hooked up on USB-C power vs. the main 200w charger, even if the general framerates were otherwise close between the two scenarios. But the 1% lows are about half on USB-C power.
As mentioned, I’ve used a 100W ROG USB-C charger for these tests. I also tried a 90W ROG charger and that worked similarly for Turbo mode. I didn’t test a third-party USB-C charger, though, so can’t tell if the overall behavior differs. Past ROG devices were able to distinguish between ROG and non-ROG chargers on USB-C power and didn’t perform as well on non-ROG variants. Something to further look into if you’re interested in using this device on USB-C power when traveling, but still need this to work as best as possible in sustained loads.
Gaming Performance With benchmarks out of the way, let’s see how this Flow Z13 Ryzen AI Max+ configuration handles modern games. We tested a couple of different types of games on the various available profiles at QHD+ and FHD+ resolution.
Here are the results:
Asus ROG Flow Z13 Radeon 8060S QHD+ Manual, QHD+ Turbo, QHD+ Performance , QHD+ Silent, FHD+ Silent,
Black Myth: Wukong –
34 fps (26 fps – 1% low)
–
–
–
Black Myth: Wukong 62 fps (52 fps – 1% low)
60 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
52 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
44 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
50 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
Cyberpunk 2077 –
40 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
–
26 fps (18 fps – 1% low)
–
Cyberpunk 2077 58 fps (46 fps – 1% low)
54 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
46 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
35 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
46 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 6 66 fps (53 fps – 1% low)
63 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
57 fps (46 fps – 1% low)
44 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
62 fps (48 fps – 1% low)
Horizon Forbidden West 50 fps (40 fps – 1% low)
48 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
45 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
32 fps (26 fps – 1% low)
40 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
Horizon Forbidden West –
50 fps (40 fps – 1% low)
–
–
–
Red Dead Redemption 2 63 fps (45 fps – 1% low)
61 fps (43 fps – 1% low)
57 fps (40 fps – 1% low)
48 fps (30 fps – 1% low)
60 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
Resident Evil 4 72 fps (40 fps – 1% low)
68 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
60 fps (34 fps – 1% low)
44 fps (25 fps – 1% low)
62 fps (32 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 70 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
68 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
62 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
46 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
65 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (v4.04) 84 fps (63 fps – 1% low)
80 fps (58 fps – 1% low)
65 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
48 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
68 fps (46 fps – 1% low)
Cyberpunk, Horizon FW, Witcher 3, Resident Evil – recorded with MSI Afterburner fps counter in campaign mode;
Black Myth, Far Cry 6, Red Dead Redemption 2, Tomb Raider – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities;
Red Dead Redemption 2 Optimized profile based on these settings .
All these are solid results for 2.5K resolution and Ultra settings, but you will have to lower the graphics details in some recent AAA titles in order to get 60+ fps across the board. Or you’ll want to use FSR modes, although the impact isn’t as significant as with DLSS technologies on Nvidia’s side.
Nonetheless, these gaming results are notably better than on the previous-gen Flow Z13 with the i9-13900H processor and RTX 4060 50-65W GPU. We’ll discuss these differences more indepth in a separate article.
For what is worth, I also ran a couple of tests on Low settings, in order to compare the Radeon 8060S iGPU with the other iGPU options available out there from either Intel (Arc 140V, Arc 140T) or AMD (Radeon 890M). I tested both Turbo and Silent modes, to showcase how the gaming framerates scale down at lower power.
Here are the results:
Low settings Flow Z13 2025, Flow Z13 2025, Zenbook Duo 2025 ,Zenbook S 16 2024 ,Zenbook S 14 2024 ,Zenbook Duo 2024,
Black Myth: Wukong 122 fps (72 fps – 1% low)
96 fps (62 fps – 1% low)
38 fps (16 fps – 1% low)
52 fps (41 fps – 1% low)
–
–
Black Myth: Wukong 116 fps (74 fps – 1% low)
90 fps (58 fps – 1% low)
50 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
45 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
–
–
Dota 2 102 fps (48 fps – 1% low)
90 fps (40 fps – 1% low)
83 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
76 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
82 fps (46 fps – 1% low)
72 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 6 108 fps (76 fps – 1% low)
87 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (32 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
52 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
44 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
Horizon Forbidden West 70 fps (60 fps – 1% low)
58 fps (46 fps – 1% low)
44 fps (24 fps – 1% low)
38 fps (26 fps – 1% low)
40 fps (30 fps – 1% low)
–
Horizon Forbidden West 66 fps (56 fps – 1% low)
60 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
40 fps (24 fps – 1% low)
34 fps (24 fps – 1% low)
–
–
Shadow of Tomb Raider 147 fps (106 fps – 1% low)
124 fps (86 fps – 1% low)
71 fps (57 fps – 1% low)
66 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (32 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 128 fps (90 fps – 1% low)
92 fps (62 fps – 1% low)
51 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
46 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
44 fps (34 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 124 fps (86 fps – 1% low)
88 fps (66 fps – 1% low)
48 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
42 fps (33 fps – 1% low)
–
–
There’s hardly a comparison between the Radeon iGPU in the AI Max+ processors and everything else out there, even on Silent. We’ll go over this more in-depth in a separate article.
With that out of the way, let’s discuss some logs. For these logs, the device is hooked into the wall via its main 200W charger, unless specified otherwise.
The internals run at temperatures between 75-80 degrees Celsius on Turbo mode, with fan noise of 42-45 dBA. The crossload power stays consistent at 60W, as expected, and the GPU averages clock speeds of around 2.0 – 2.2 GHz between titles.
In theory, this GPU can run at 2.9 GHz sustained, which would require more power, probably around the 120W max TDP setting of the Ryzen platform. That means the Ryzen hardware can actually perform faster in devices that can sustain 100-120W TDP of power.
Manual mode allows for 80W sustained power, with GPU clocks of around 2.4 GHz, 10-20% higher than on Turbo. But that’s only possible with louder fans (49-50 dBA) and higher internal temperatures in the 85-90 degrees Celsius. Manual mode pushes the limits of this chassis, and I wouldn’t use this device this way for long gaming sessions, especially as the differences in framerates aren’t that significant, at only 2-5%.
Performance mode comes with a 20% cut in framerates compared to Turbo, but with quieter fans at sub 40 dBA and lower temperatures at 70-75 Celsius.
And then there’s Silent mode, which offers roughly 60% of the gaming capabilities of Turbo mode, with fans at sub 35 dBA (thus barely audible during gaming) and temperatures in the 65-70 C. Drop the resolution to 1200p and this mode is excellent even for modern games.
I’ve also tested the gaming performance on Performance, Turbo, and Manual modes with the device plugged in via a 100W ROG USB-C charger. The overall framerates and behaviors were nearly identical to the previous tests, where the Flow was hooked up to the wall via its main 200W charger, except for 1% lows, which were significantly worse. At about half and even less of what we got when using the main charger. I’d even say that gaming on this USB-C charger that I tested proved challenging because of the occasional stuttering.
On the other hand, this Flow Z13 performed admirably on battery power, on Performance mode, again identical to the same mode while plugged in with the main charger. The battery won’t last for more than an hour, though. But you can impose fps limits and other measures that could maybe squeeze 2-3 hours when gaming on battery. Maybe even longer on Silent mode and with older or more basic titles.
Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others Asus went with a dual-fan dual-radiator vapor-chamber thermal module here.
The exhausts are on the top edge of the tablet, which means hot air blows away from the user, while the intakes are on the back of the tablet and never covered or obstructed as they would have otherwise been in a notebook format.
This cooling module is mostly adequately suited for this hardware and chassis. Internals run hot on Manual mode, at 85C or higher, but don’t go over 80 C on Turbo, while the other profiles keep temperatures lower in the low-70s and even 60s.
As far as the noise levels go, expect 49-50 dBA on Manual, 45 dBA on Turbo, 38 dBA on Performance, and sub 35 dBA on Silent mode, all at head level.
The fans keep idle most of the time on the Silent profile while running casual tasks, and only kick in from time to time with multitasking. Furthermore, the experience is smooth and snappy even on this Silent mode, unlike on most other Windows devices on their low-power models, hence there’s no reason for using the other profiles with daily activities. Especially since those can push the fans to more audible levels.
As for external temperatures, the chassis keeps cool with light use, both at the screen level and on the back.
*Daily Use – streaming Netflix in EDGE for 30 minutes, Silent Mode, fans at 0 dB
With demanding loads, temperatures rise on all profiles, but with the keyboard folio being a separate part, you’re not actually getting in contact with any of the warmer or hotter elements of the chassis. Nonetheless, using the laptop at full blast on Manual mode leads to temperatures in the 50s Celsius at the screen level, so I wouldn’t be that comfortable using this device on this profile long-term – it could impact the IPS display in some way. Turbo and the other profiles are fine, though.
*Gaming – Silent mode – playing Witcher for 30 minutes, fans at <35 dB
For connectivity, there’s the latest-gen WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 through a Mediatek module on this device, which performed fine during all these weeks. Mediatek wifi chips have a history of inconsistent behavior, but I didn’t notice anything weird about this one here.
Audio is handled by a set of stereo speakers that fire through grills positioned in the bottom-side corners of the chassis. They’re tiny and don’t offer much in volumes either, so that’s one area where this Flow Z13 falls kind of short.
Camera quality is pretty poor as well. The front-camera webcam is supposedly 5 MPx, but doesn’t look better to me than a regular FHD shooter in any lighting conditions. By default, it actually defaults to 1080p on video in the Windows camera app, so you’ll want to manually change that to 1440p for slightly smoother quality.
There’s also a 13 MPx camera on the back of the tablet, for what that’s worth. I’m not taking pictures with a tablet, so don’t see the point of it.
Battery life There’s a 70 Wh battery inside this 2025 ROG Flow Z13, hefty for its size.
Here’s what we got in our battery life tests, with the screens’ brightness set at around 120 nits (~50 brightness) and at 60Hz refresh rate (the system automatically switches the display to 60 Hz when unplugging this from the wall). I also set the power mode in Windows 11 on Best Power Efficiency.
These are the results with only the main screen active:
<6 W (~12 h of use) – idle, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;8 W (~8-9 h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;7.5 W (~9-10 h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;7 W (~9-10 h of use) – Netflix fullscreen in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;8-12W (~6-9 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Silent Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;65 W (~1 h of use) – Gaming, Performance Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON.
These are fair results given the overall performance and capabilities of this platform, as well as the fact that the processor doesn’t implement Zen5c efficiency cores as on Strix Point devices.
The laptop ships with a standard 200W charger with a pretty bulky brink and long cables – this connects with a rectangular plug. My unit also came with a 100W ROG USB-C charger in the box, but I’m not sure that’s bundled in all markets and with all configurations.
Overall, I would have much preferred having a compact USB-C charger on this sort of device, and neither the main charger nor the ROG USB-C model are that compact or lightweight. If you’re getting this laptop, you should consider charging it with a third-party compact GaN charger instead, since there are many good and compact ones – not sure if that affects the overall performance though, something I’ll look into for an update.
Price and availability- 2025 Asus ROG Flow Z13 At the time of this article, the Asus ROG Flow Z13 is listed in stores in most regions, although finding it in stock might prove challenging in most areas.
This exact configuration reviewed here, with the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 / 32 GB RAM / 1 TB SSD goes for $2299 in the US and 2499 EUR over here in Europe, MSRP.
Configurations with 64 or 128 GB of RAM will be available in some markets, but not everywhere – Best Buy lists the 64 GB version at $2199, somehow $100 less than the 32 GB model. The 128 GB version is listed at $2799 on Asus’s website. Overall, pricing seems all over the place at this point, and I’d reckon should settle down once availability improves. If it improves.
Furthermore, a variant with Ryzen AI Max 390 graphics and 32 GB of RAM is also offered in some regions, at a slightly lower price – that’s for a 12C processor with a lower-performance Radeon 8050S iGPU.
Follow this link for updated prices and configurations in your area .
Final thoughts- Asus ROG Flow Z13 GZ302EA review The ROG Flow Z13 is an intriguing device.
Put simply, this is generally the most powerful compact computer available so far, with the implemented AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 hardware. And that’s despite the fact that it doesn’t quite run this hardware at its maximum potential possible in a larger and better-cooled device.
This allows the Flow Z13 to handle multitasking and sustained loads better than most other thin-and-light compact Windows devices, and even outmatches the MacBook Pro 14 in some regards. Furthermore, the platform scales admirably in power, which means you can set this on one of the lower-power modes and still enjoy capabilities unmatched by most other options in its segment, but with barely audible fan noise and comfortable temperatures. Hence, if you need a versatile device in a 13-inch chassis, this could be the one for you.
The Asus ProArt PX13 comes close, though, as a 13-inch convertible with Ryzen AI 9 hardware and up to RTX 4070 graphics, with arguably better ergonomics, better GPU performance, and an OLED display, but a heftier price tag.
The Flow Z13 isn’t cheap either, at 2-2.5K between regions, but is nonetheless fairly priced for what you’re getting.
These aside, though, there are still some potential deal-breakers that you should understand and accept when deciding on this device. The tablet format, for starters, is rather cumbersome for lap use and other situations where you’re not keeping this flat on a desk. The camera and speakers are rather mediocre as well, and the IPS display, while a good IPS panel, isn’t quite on par in overall image quality with modern OLEDs.
So at the end of the day, I feel that potential buyers should look beyond the hype here. Sure, the Ryzen AI Max platform is spectacular, but just make sure you actually need the kind of power this provides in this sort of format, and that you’re fine with the quirks of this tablet chassis. If that’s the case, this Flow Z13 is for you; if you can find it in stores. If not, perhaps that ProArt PX13 might be the one, or perhaps some of the other Stix Halo implementations that should be available in the future, or perhaps some of the other thin-and-light high-performance laptops discussed here .
Update: If interested in another opinion on this series, here’s Derek’s review of the same Flow Z13 configuration .
Anyway, this wraps up my time with the Asus ROG Flow Z13 GZ302, the 2025 generation with AMD Ryzen AI Max+ hardware. Looking forward to your feedback and thoughts in the comments section below.
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Navigation: Ultrabookreview.com » Asus
Review by: Andrei Girbea
Andrei Girbea is a Writer and Editor-in-Chief here at Ultrabookreview.com . I write about mobile technology, laptops and computers in general. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now. I'm a techie with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering. I mostly write reviews and thorough guides here on the site, with some occasional columns and first-impression articles.
Piotr
March 24, 2025 at 9:44 pm
I've seen the first listings for 64GB HP ZBook Ultra G1a in Europe at 3000 EUR :) "Prosumer" laptop tax is a bit absurd with this one. Realistically, the first time since never the best value for me would be an M4 Macbook Air or Lenovo Lunar Lake laptop while Z13 tempting with that SoC at a higher price (and annoyances of using it under Linux) ;)
Andrei Girbea
March 25, 2025 at 10:34 am
ZBooks have always been extremely expensive, especially over here in Europe.
The MBA is something else, but hard to beat in its class as long as you're fine with the OS and some of its ergonomic quirks (limited screen angle, 60 hz panel, limited IO, keyboard layout for the non-US model). I'm using an MBA M2 as my travelling laptop and I'm happy with it for light use.
Piotr
March 25, 2025 at 10:58 am
For webdev I run a kubernetes cluster which is RAM and storage intensive but the CPU load is all-core low, going up only for node projects, not for Python ones ;) Different keyboard/OS is a thing, although I'm using Linux daily so it's doable to hammer the desktop down into something more usable.
will blake
March 24, 2025 at 9:58 pm
I dislike the device but wanna buy this chip.
Yeshy
March 25, 2025 at 11:16 am
Can you verify it actually has native HDR? If it's the same-ish panel as previous ones it won't
Would've been nice to get some kinda HDR supporting OLED / miniLED…
In my opinion this has been a letdown for me; though the CPU performance is great:
It doesn't exceed, sometimes worse than the predecessor in games / GPU load
It's not much more efficient than Strix Point to use it to do work or game on battery (I could be wrong here on the CPU side actually)
The battery times should be significantly better imo, it's not bad in isolation but do you get better "Whrs per Hr" of battery?
RDNA4, whether it comes to laptops or not, seems to be much more efficient (especially when power limited/fps capped) and supports FSR4 (not backporting is sad, not sure if the NPU can help here)
I wish they offered it with the 385 SKU (and with 64GB RAM? I guess that's not happening unfortunately)
Piotr
March 26, 2025 at 10:40 am
Video HDR something and no actual HDR.
Aydin
March 27, 2025 at 5:20 pm
Thanks for the review! Do you have any sense of the quality of ASUS software, and/or the long term build quality?
I have a 2021 version of the Asus ROG flow X13, purchased in July 2021. I loved the concept, but have had a torrid time with the quality. Among other things:
1) firmware consistently is buggy, my laptop's keyboard lights will randomly flash on and off even if sleeping. The fans will also randomly turn on and off while sleeping.
2) my charger broke in 2023, forcing me to buy a new one
3) over 2024, the screen has been slowly breaking. It appears the connectivity between the screen and the body is loosening, so often it will boot up but give a black screen (or at best, 0 backlight). I've had to apply significant pressure on the back of the screen trying to "push" it back in to reconnect. It's getting worse and I am sure it will completely break in the next 6 months.
4) in addition, the screen often "goes manic". I can see it registering "ghost" touches all over the screen. This basically makes it monetarily unusable, though it rarely lasts long.
I contacted Asus about this and they basically told me "good luck, you're past warranty".
I've noticed you've reviewed many ASUS devices in the past. Is this been something you have ever experienced?
I love the concept and feel like this or the ProArt is still the best computer for my needs. But honestly, before this I had a Surface Pro which lasted me a good 6 years without issue, so having this many problems with Asus makes me hesitant to purchase another device from them.
Andrei Girbea
March 27, 2025 at 5:56 pm
Hi.
I've used hundreds of Asus devices over the years and had some issues with them. However, most of the aspect that you are mentioning, and that others might run into, happen longer down the road, after a year or two or more of use, and unfortunately it's impossible for someone like to estimate these sorts of things, as I usually jump between devices after a few weeks
Now, the forums are filled with various reliability complaints on Asus products, but idk if these issue occur more often on Asus devices than on other devices.
What I can tell is that I have an Asus ROG Scar 18 that I'm using daily, and have been over the last 2 years. Ran into both software problems, which I mostly fixed with a clean windows install and then using G-Helper as the control app, instead of Armoury Crate. But even this still throws bugs sometimes. For instance, the latest update affected F keys somehow and now they don't always register properly.
I'm also having an issue with one of the screen hinges that's starting cranking after a year or so, despite the fact that I rarely close the screen. So yeah, not a flawless experience either.
So in the end, what I'd do is maybe get extended warranty if that's an options and is available at a fair price. Over here you can generally get up to 5 years. I'd do that regardless or brand though. Things just break these days. Perhaps QC isn't great, perhaps it's planned obsolesce, but that's just a reality that I came to accept.
Kris
April 12, 2025 at 11:09 am
Hi. Thanks for the headsup. So what did you decide? Pro or Flow z13? Iam torn between new surface pro for business (intel) & Flow z13. I need a portable device for work and productivity. I don't game. But unable to decide between the two!
Catalin Damian
March 31, 2025 at 2:08 pm
I have been using the Z13 for the past 2 weeks. It is mostly great. I only have a few issues that are software related: sometimes the RGB stops working, or the screen flickers. The speakers are slightly better than in the previous Z13.
What I want to mention is that I have been doing some benchmarking on it using Shadow of the Tomb Raider and the performance using the type-c charger and the 200w charger is identical on manual mode.
Andrei Girbea
March 31, 2025 at 2:21 pm
1% lows as well? I got seeing similar framerates as well, but lower 1% lows and some occasional stuttering.
Haven't tested Shadow of Tomb specifically on USB-C, but a few other titles.
What happens when the RGB stops working? Need to restart the tablet? Armoury Crate can be buggy and I'd especially expect quirks with a new platform like this one. I had RGB issues on my Scar as well and in the end dumped Armoury Crate for GT Helper. Worth a try, although not sure how well it works with this AMD hardware. Worst case you put back Armoury Crate
Altandmain
April 2, 2025 at 11:04 pm
The Ryzen Max 395 chip is by far the most important part of the laptop and I hope that we will see more laptops with the chip.
Overall, I found the device to be lacking. I think that the IPS display is not ideal, especially not considering the high price – this should be with a Mini-LED display. Not having good speakers is also disappointing. The bad camera is not ideal either for video calls.
The other issue is that the tablet can't be used very easily in one's lap. The weight being distributed on thr screen prevents that. Finally, I wish the laptop had a haptic trackpad.
Overall, the Ryzen chip is interesting and gets the best performance to power ratio outside of the Apple chips, but the tablet form factor is less than ideal. Let's see if we can get a decent traditional laptop with the 395 chip.
Henry
April 11, 2025 at 12:10 am
Is there any chance this supports higher than 100w USB-C PD power? I know higher specs exist with PD 3.1 but I can't find any info on if Asus implemnted this. I know that likely means "no" but Im curious if the 140w chargers on the market designed for Macbook Pro 16" will charge/power this above 100w? Any chance you have one (both Apple and UGreen sell them, I'm sure others do too). and could test? I have one of these on order, coming eventually, curious if I should invest in a 140w charger for better performance when away from the official 200w brick at home.
Andrei Girbea
April 11, 2025 at 8:57 am
as far as I understand, it only supports 100W. I didn't have a 140W ROG charger at the time, but I do in the meantime. Maybe I get tot test it, I need to get the sample Z13 though, I don't have it anymore. But it still works fine even on 100W PD, with small exceptions.
NikoB
April 11, 2025 at 1:29 pm
https://www.techspot.com/news/107497-amd-confirms-zen-5-silicon-also-vulnerable-entrysign.html
As I initially assumed – AMD lied that Zen5 is not affected. And the commentator there correctly noted that this has already become a trend – first they release fast but leaky processors, and then "suddenly" discovering the holes they fix them, but this leads to a significant decrease in performance.
I would recommend retesting all Zen5 series after installing the patches. But we see the cold-blooded calculation of such unscrupulous manufacturers in the modern world, that professional testers and review sites have often already lost access to test samples, because they were forced to return them and they need to somehow get them again or buy them…
This is a complete analogue of Dieselgate, but processor manufacturers do not actually bear any legal responsibility for the decrease in performance to tens of millions of buyers. It's time to put an end to this at the state level…