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Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED UX5304MA laptop

January 10, 2025 — BarryK

I bought one. This has a very recent kernel; Intel Core Ultra 7 155U, hence the 6.12.9 kernel compile posted about earlier today:

Already have four laptops, do I really need another? Two reasons for the purchase. Firstly, for testing EasyOS -- someone recently contacted me to report getting a black screen trying to bootup on this CPU. Secondly, for touring.

I have posted about the panniers on my custom trike:

Those panniers have an internal pouch. Just enough space to slide a 13 inch laptop. But, it needs to be thin, so that the plastic containers will also fit into the pannier.

Didn't want to spend much money, but want 32GB RAM and at least 1TB SSD. Discovered the Asus Zenbook S13 UX5304MA, that ticks all the boxes. Also, Officeworks here in Australia were offering it very cheaply. Well, "cheap" is a relative term.

The Asus Zenbook S 13 originally had a Ryzen CPU. Sometime in 2023 they changed to an Intel Core i7 CPU, model UX5304VA. Then in January 2024 introduced the UX5304MA, with Intel Core Ultra 7 155U CPU:

https://press.asus.com/news/press-releases/asus-zenbook-s-13-oled-2024-intel-core-ultra-7/

What caused me some confusion is the price. The Asus AU website has it at AU$2,999 (but out of stock):

https://au.store.asus.com/zenbook-s-13-oled-ux5304ma-nq039w.html

Same thing at The Good Guys, an AU chain store, also AU$2,999:

https://www.thegoodguys.com.au/asus-zenbook-s-13-133-inches-evo-core-ultra-7-32gb-1tb-laptop-ux5304ma-nq039w

However, Officeworks had the same thing, online orders only, for only AU$1,997. So, bought it from them. Looked at their website yesterday, and it is now AU$2,797!

So that AU$1,997 must have been a promotion price. Great that I managed to get one 1,000 dollars cheaper.

Very thin, though those ridges underneath do make it thicker than 1cm:

img1

The big question, though, is Linux compatibility. Did some online research before buying, and reports are that most Linux distributions do not like the Intel Ultra 7 CPU. One guy tested several distros and reported that only Manjaro worked -- both video and sound.

I downloaded the Manjaro ISO and booted from a USB-stick -- at first got a black screen, but that is only because Manjaro is very slow to bootup. After several minutes, got a working desktop, and sound works.

Booted Easy Scarthgap 6.5.4, with the 6.12.9 kernel and some Xe firmware. At first got a black screen, but after some fiddling in the Xorg Wizard, did manage to get a low-resolution desktop. The 'xe.ko' kernel video module was loaded. No sound.

So this is a new project, a work-in-progress. Intend to get Easy working nicely on this CPU. Well, have motivation, as now own one of these. Here is a YouTube video:

"Asus ZenBook S13 ( UX5304M ) Intel Core Ultra 7 155U review"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZE26ZNVZzFE

Note that there are a lot of videos on YouTube for the superceeded UX5304VA, but I managed to only find one for the UX5304MA.

One thing that I am grumbling about is that this CPU is "AI-powered" with an Intel "AI-boost" NPU. As forum member Lobster commented, AI is "Augmented Incompetence".       

Tags: easy