Asus ProArt PX13 Review: The ultimate laptop for content creators?

The ProArt PX13 is one of the first to ship with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 365 CPU. Then there’s the powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 GPU. Couple that with 24GB of RAM, 1TB SSD and a 13.3-inch 3K OLED touchscreen display, and you’ve got one loaded laptop.

The ports on the ProArt PX13 are more than sufficient. It comes with a USB Type-C port, an HDMI port, a DC charging port and a 3.5mm headphone jack on the left. The right side features one more USB Type-C port, a USB Type-A port, a microSD card slot and the power button. Both sides have vents for cooling.

The laptop is available in a single Nano Black colourway. The Nano Coating, in particular, helps swat away those pesky fingerprint smudges. It’s hardly the thinnest or the lightest 13-inch convertible. Yet, at 17.78mm thick and 1.38kb heavy, this laptop is easily portable and can be tucked away into a backpack with relative ease.

How creators can benefit

Being a convertible means you can use the ProArt PX13 in multiple ways. The screen can be folded over and used as a tablet, or you can set it up in ‘tent mode’ for a presentation and/or entertainment display. The 360-degree hinge is sturdy and exhibits absolutely no flex. Since the weight is evenly distributed, it’s easy to hold, and also easy to open with just a single finger.

Let’s get into the meat of it. The reason why creators are buying this laptop is not for the ASUS Pen 2.0 (which is your go-to drawing tool, and something I’ll get to in a bit) but for the Asus “Dial", as it’s officially known. It’s the centrepiece. It’s the centre of all your creative processes.

The Dial may not be new but it’s well-refined thanks to updates to both the hardware and software. It’s located at the top-left corner of the trackpad. To activate the Dial, all you need to do is touch the top-right corner of the touchpad and swipe down diagonally. Once the small LED light turns on, you’ll know the Dial has been activated. Just enter the “Asus Dial & Control Panel" and you can customise the Dial for your workflow. The Dial works in a variety of applications, foremost in Adobe Photoshop and DaVinci Resolve. If you were to boil it down to something simple, the Dial acts as a substitute for keyboard shortcuts and a mouse. For instance, in Adobe Photoshop, you can easily adjust brush sizes with the Dial.

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Then there is DaVinci Resolve or other similar video editing apps. Within DaVinci, the Dial can be used as a timeline scrubber. A video timeline scrubber is essentially a tool to navigate through a video. This is done by dragging the slider (or the timeline bar) back and forth. With the Dial, navigating the timeline has never been smoother. The Dial can be a game-changer for creators, as long as Asus and developers work together for more support. The Dial is a creative solution and is a better solution than connecting an external controller.

The Pen 2.0, while not as impressive as the Dial, is better than previous iterations. The Pen 2.0 has 4096 levels of pressure. With the ProArt PX13, the Pen 2.0 simulates brush strokes with fluidity and accuracy.

When you press down hard, you’ll feel the thickness of the stroke. When you hover your Pen 2.0 just above the screen, a cursor will register. It’s very comfortable to hold (despite not being the slimmest in the business), and it isn’t at all slippery. There are four interchangeable tips in the box (2H, H, HB, and B), and it is easy to swap thanks to the included tip remover. The Pen 2.0 comes with two buttons on the front side and one on the bottom. The front button turns on eraser mode, the other button is a right-click.

The only downside is that these buttons aren’t customisable. The Pen 2.0 is rated to last for 140 hours. While I couldn’t personally test that, in my two weeks of usage, I didn’t have to charge it even once. The charging port, for Pen 2.0, is hidden within the bottom section of the pen. It can be charged via USB-C.

What makes it less than perfect

While creators will be connecting the laptop to the power socket and an external display, for the most part, the laptop’s battery life and display could have been better. While the display does steal the show with its vivid 2880x1880 (3K) resolution, being a bright (500 nits of peak brightness) 13.3-inch OLD display and coming with a 16:10 aspect ratio, there is one big downside. Yes, all that I mentioned is great for work, but the kick here, just like with the standard iPhone 16 models, is that the display’s refresh rate is limited to 60Hz. One can argue that this is a creator laptop and not one for gamers, but in 2024, 120Hz should be the default. It’s easier on the eyes, especially when scrolling, and just a better experience overall.

Then let’s come to the battery life. Despite a 73Wh battery, the ProArt PX13 fails to impress. I suspect it is AMD more than Asus that is to blame here. With the new Ryzen AI 300 chips, AMD has been more focused on performance than battery life/power efficiency. The laptop, thanks to its powerful hardware, doesn’t have enough in it to last a full workday. I routinely got less than eight hours of battery life on a single charge out of the ProArt PX13. While the battery life isn’t bad, it pales in comparison to many other recently launched laptops that tout over 15 hours of battery life.

Let me put this in simpler terms. While the laptop is portable, it doesn’t have the best OLED display and neither is it one of the longest-lasting laptops when it comes to battery life. You’ll most likely be using it plugged in and connected to an external monitor.

Verdict: Best laptop for creators?

At an MRP of ₹2,15,990 (currently discounted to ₹1,79,990), the Asus ProArt PX13 comes with a hefty price tag to consider. There are many laptops on the market with similar or better performance at cheaper price points.

Still, the ProArt PX13 has a lot going for it. From a crisp and vivid OLED display to the innovative Dial on the touchpad. Then there is the Asus Pen 2.0 that glides across the screen with every stroke.

There’s just one thing to consider with the ProArt PX13 before making it to the top of your shopping list. Whether you’re travelling a lot and need something with longer battery life, or if you’re going to be plugged into a power outlet and external display for the most part. If it is the latter, then the ProArt PX13 becomes that much more of a viable option and one that I can easily recommend.

The Dial itself makes the ProArt PX13 one of the most innovative laptops of today. Asus has done a good job of pushing the boundaries, and that’s something we all can appreciate, despite the laptop not being perfect.

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