Conclusion Get the lowdown
Features How they compare
Performance Real world benchmarks
Differences Technical showdown
Reviews Word on the street
Competition Others to consider
Discussion Answers and opinions

Compare with...

Apple MacBook Air 4th Gen
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
Apple MacBook Air 5th Gen
Acer Aspire S S7
Apple MacBook Air 3rd Gen

Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen

« Change

ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E

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13.3"
2.13 GHz Dual core
2 GB
128 GB SSD

older Released June, 2009

I have to say, the unibody design really makes the thing feel as if it was carved from one piece of aluminum.

Rated 80% by by Christopher-Tran (Dec, 2009)

11.6"
Core i7 1.8 GHz Dual core
4 GB DDR3
128 GB SSD

older Released October, 2011

The screen didn't seem all that impressive with slightly muted colours, shiny reflective finish and mediocre viewing angles but with an Air matching resolution 1,366 x 768 pixels it packs in enough detail.

by TrustedReviews (Sep, 2011)

Conclusion Which is better for you?

Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen

ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E

76%

75%

FeaturesView Details

19%

36%

Popularity

100%

PerformanceView Details

90%

64%

ReviewsView Details

Winner

AppleMacBook Air 2nd Gen

Overall Score

Features Key features of the Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen compared to the ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E

GHz2.13

I think the reason Apple confined it to the Asian market was because the keyboard is 87% the size of a full-sized keyboard: it's a netbook size keyboard.

Rated 100% by by Amazonman (Jan, 2010)

1.8 GHz

Intel Core i7 2677M

It has an inevitably shallow action but there's enough feedback to allow for easy touch-typing, and the layout is excellent.

by TrustedReviews (Sep, 2011)

screen size

MacBook Air 2nd Gen13.3"

ZENBOOK UX21E11.6"

The screen is super small and the proportions make pages look odd.

MacBook Air 2nd Gen by ADR (Aug, 2010)

I like the screen size, too, but my roommates complain that it is too small to watch a movie in a group.

ZENBOOK UX21E by Melissa (Mar, 2012)

screen resolution

Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen

1280 x 800 resolution screen

MacBook Air 2nd Gen 1280 x 800 resolution screen

ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E

1366 x 768 resolution screen

ZENBOOK UX21E 1366 x 768 resolution screen

It's light, fast, and the screen quality is excellent.

MacBook Air 2nd Gen by ADR (Aug, 2010)

Five stars if you are happy with a good, high resolution, good contrast screen.

ZENBOOK UX21E by AP (Oct, 2011)

cpu speed

0 GHz

MacBook Air 2nd Gen2.13 GHz

ZENBOOK UX21E1.8 GHz

3 GHz

This model is much improved over the first generation MBA: better graphics chip, faster processor, and cheaper.

MacBook Air 2nd Gen by Amazonman (Jan, 2010)

COMPUTING PERFORMANCE - First of all, in terms of the primary computing performance, including the CPU and memory performance, they're very similar, and both are very good.

ZENBOOK UX21E by b.-Weiss (Oct, 2011)

processor

Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen

Dual core

MacBook Air 2nd Gen Dual core

ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E

Dual core

ZENBOOK UX21E Dual core

The fan is pretty quiet and quickly ramps down when the processor idles back.

MacBook Air 2nd Gen by Robert-Lee-Moon--Lee-Moon (Dec, 2009)

The i7 processing speed seems to be the best selling angle for this machine and it is fast.

ZENBOOK UX21E by Chili (Mar, 2012)

memory

0 GB

ZENBOOK UX21E4 GB

MacBook Air 2nd Gen2 GB

4 GB

Even so, it would have been nice to be able to splurge and upgrade the RAM for screaming performance.

MacBook Air 2nd Gen by Pao13--s (Nov, 2009)

Performance Real world tests of Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen vs ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E

Differences What are the advantages of each

Full specs comparison

Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen

Read review

Advantages compared to the ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E

Bigger screen	13.3"	vs	11.6"
Around 15% bigger screen

Faster processor	2.13 GHz	vs	1.8 GHz
Around 20% faster processor; run computation-intensive applications, such as photo editing, faster

ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E

Read review

Advantages compared to the Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen

Has a microphone jack	Yes	vs	No
Somewhat common; Can use an external microphone for superior audio quality

Marginally newer	Oct, 2011	vs	Jun, 2009
Release date over 2 years later

Much faster Bluetooth	24 Mbit/s (Bluetooth v4.0)	vs	1 Mbit/s (Bluetooth v2.0)
24x faster Bluetooth

Sharper screen	135 ppi	vs	113 ppi
Around 20% sharper PPI; enjoy photo-realistic, crisp images

More RAM	4 GB	vs	2 GB
2x more RAM; run more applications and have more browser tabs open without slowing down the system

Reviews Word on the street

	Apple MacBook Air 2nd Gen		ASUS ZENBOOK UX21E
	Rated 89% by 37 users at amazon.com I haven't connected my Canon EOS 40D camera yet, but expect the Air to be a great traveling companion to the camera. Rated 100% by by Robert-Lee-Moon--Lee-Moon (Dec, 2009) I got a little griffin USB "Splitter" which was nothing more than a very tiny USB Hub, but it did have some trouble getting enough power to the HD from this one USB port, so I did have to add a USB power cable to the mix (the audio was clipping heavily during mixing and transition). Rated 80% by by Christopher-Tran (Dec, 2009) I have been using a rev. B MacBook Air with the 128GB SSD for more than a year now and I can confidently say that it is the best computer I have ever used. Rated 100% by by ursadog (Sep, 2010)		Rated 64% by 57 users at amazon.com Brushed metal looks very sleek and feels great. Rated 100% by by B.-K.-Lower (Nov, 2011) My experience is that to be just barely usable under direct sunlight, the screen must have a minimum of 300 nits in brightness. Rated 100% by by b.-Weiss (Oct, 2011) I work in a pretty tough environment and portability and durability are big necessity. Rated 100% by by alaskadg (Apr, 2012)