People with a taste for luxury are very familiar with ASUS. The Taiwanese company delivers show stopping innovation with every release, building laptops for serious gamers, designers, software developers, and technophiles. With the ASUS 2-in-1 Q535, they’ve made their laptops more approachable for casual and business users as part of the ASUS Zenbook Flip series.
But like most of their designs, it costs a pretty penny, and understandably, people are hesitant to purchase it. In this ASUS 2-in-1 Q535 review, I’ll cover the performance, pros, cons, and give you first-hand insight on whether or not the Q535 is worth its price.
Full Review of Asus 2-in-1 Q535
Let’s cover the basics first. I’ll give you a complete run-down of six core aspects that I reviewed to have a better understanding of how these features come into play when I’m working on the laptop, as well as set a baseline for the ASUS Q535 performance review.
Design and Build
After I unboxed this masterpiece, right off the bat, I am greeted by a very premium-feeling metallic body that is solid but not overly bulky. Visually, I think it's very sleek looking, very modern, and very high-end.
The reason the ASUS Q535 is called a 2-in-1 is because it comes with a 360° hinge, allowing the screen to rotate all the way back and switch to tablet mode. It is an extremely convenient feature if you’re an artist, a graphic designer, or simply a student who wants to take notes on their laptop-turned-tablet.
Display and Audio
ASUS display quality always wows me, and the Q535 was no exception. The 4K UHD touchscreen offers crystal clear visuals. The picture quality is knife-sharp. The colors are vibrant and accurate, making it an ideal for photo and video editing.
It is one of the smoothest touch screens I’ve ever used. It is snappy, responsive, great at handling multiple tabs, or using multiple programs on a split screen. The brightness is also easy on the eyes indoors. It works pretty decent outside as well but not that great in direct sunlight, which is fair.
The built-in speakers are loud for the laptop’s size. The sound quality is crisp. Not exactly bass-heavy, but they work well for my movie nights or season binge, which is primarily what I’ll be using it for anyway. That and Zoom calls, casual music listening, and Netflix.
Performance
If you get a peek at the internal hardware, you’ll be pleased to find an Intel Core i7 processor. Combined with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, the ASUS Q535 is built for speed. The boot-up was super fast, and apps open and close with a snap of a finger. Working on these computers is like a smooth drive in a supercar.
Whether you have Windows 10 or Windows 11, the CPU is more than capable of keeping up with ever-increasing demands without so much as warming up.
Multitasking
I generally try to stay organized and on top of things, but unfortunately, I am one of those people who will have 20 tabs open for various videos, projects, and documents at a time. Thankfully, the ASUS Q535 is a champion at multitasking.
Office work is a breeze, I can work on spreadsheets while listening to my Spotify playlist in the background, and attend a meeting at the same time. Light creative software works pretty well on this thing as well. You can rest easy knowing you can open as many tabs as you want without the system crashing on you.
Gaming and Creativity
Full disclosure, the GTX 1050 GPU performance isn’t the top of the line quality by today’s standards, but it is still a very powerful processing unit, and still has a very loyal fanbase. If you like to play less graphic-intensive games like Fortnite or even GTA V on medium settings with decent frame rates, they should work remarkably.
Software like Adobe Premiere Pro or Lightroom works great as well. Is it as powerful as dedicated gaming laptops? No, it was never meant to be, but as a 2-in-1 laptop, I found it very impressive.
Battery and Thermals
The Battery will get you through a workday, so I’d say it's pretty decent. It’ll get by 6-7 hours of mixed use without needing a charge. The thermals are managed well, and I didn’t observe much overheating, and none at all during light work.
You can hear the fan, but it’s not annoyingly loud. I’d give it a solid 8/10 for its power and heat management.
Pros of Asus 2-in-1 Q535
There’s a lot to love about the ASUS 2-in-1 Q535. There are a couple of things that piqued my interest more than others. Here is a complete breakdown of everything that I think should be listed as ASUS 2-in-1 Q535 best features.
Stunning 4K UHD touchscreen display
If you love movies and seasons as much as I do, you’ll love the display quality on the ASUS Q535. The sharp visuals reduce eye-strain when I’m working, and I find that the touch screen is very convenient, especially with a stylus to annotate my documents or make notes along the margins.
Versatile 360° hinge for laptop/tablet mode
Personally I enjoy a good tablet, but I love it even more when it's a laptop AND a tablet. This part might have a little bit of bias, but I’m sure you’d agree, 2-in-1 gadgets are fun. Normally, laptops that also second as a tablet are a little unstable because the hinge is scuffed so many times, but the ASUS Q535 is extremely sturdy.
Strong performance with i7 CPU and GTX 1050
The i7 processor along with 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, and a dedicated GPU are the ones running the show. I can work on a Word document, have multiple Google tabs open at once for research, and talk with my mates on Zoom all at the same time, and this machine doesn’t even break a sweat.
The GTX 1050 might be a bit outdated, but given all the pluses, I guess I can compromise a little. Besides, it’s still miles ahead of other models such as ASUS Q525U and ASUS Q553UB in terms of processing power.
Cons of Asus 2-in-1 Q535
As always, there’s no such thing as the perfect computer. Even a machine this good is bound to have a downside. Here are a couple of areas that I think could use a bit of work:
Heavier than most 2-in-1s (4.4 lbs)
While I found it to be decently portable, I know most people would prefer it to be lighter. It is not terrible to carry around. You can carry it around for a couple of hours without a problem, but carrying it around all day is hectic.
Mediocre battery life under full load
The battery holds up okay if I’m doing mediocre tasks, but with increasing workload and the screen set to full brightness tends to drain it faster. I keep my chargers nearby at all times but I know that might not be the case for a lot of people.
GTX 1050 is outdated for modern AAA games
Casual gaming works great on the ASUS Q535, but I have seen better frame rates in the market. If you’re a serious gamer who plays a lot of modern AAA games, this laptop might not be the one for you.
Gets warm during heavy multitasking
Regular multitasking is great, running heavy software works fine as well, but if you’re someone who needs a lot of heavy software and some heavy-duty multitasking to go with it, your PC is going to strain a little and naturally heat up. It is a powerful laptop by the average user’s standard, NOT a professional user’s standard.
Fan noise can be noticeable
When I push this laptop to its limit, that is when this issue shows, which is something I can deal with because that is not what my everyday work looks like. This might not be a problem for everyone, but for users whose routine includes lots of background apps and creative works, the fan can start whirring up.
Work Smarter with ASUS 2-in-1 Q535 Using WPS Office
If you’ve just invested in a powerhouse like an ASUS laptop, the last thing you want is to drop even more money on an Office Suite. That’s where WPS Office comes in. It delivers high performance without the high price tag.
WPS Office is designed to be incredibly lightweight, running smoothly even on low-end, budget laptops. So, imagine how effortlessly it performs on something as powerful as an ASUS Q535.
And the best part? It’s completely free. I tested several Office Suites side by side, and WPS stood out. Not just for its speed, but also for the wide variety of tools it offers. Beyond the usual Word, Excel, and PowerPoint alternatives, it includes some surprisingly helpful extras.
Besides the standard Office tools, it also comes with a PDF summarizer so you can save time going through PDF documents instead of reading them word by word, page by page. Going through work documents was incredibly easy, and it took me less than half the regular time to read through everything.
On top of that, if you make any Word documents, you can have the AI Proofreader check them for you. I use it for all of my documents so I can publish error-free work.
It is fully compatible with Microsoft Office file formats, so you don’t have to worry about sending documents to your friends and them not being able to access the files.
WPS Office is so lightweight that the laptop doesn’t even need to work that hard to run it. I noticed a significant difference in speed and battery life.
Overall, WPS Office and ASUS, in my opinion, are a match made in tech heaven.
FAQs About Asus 2-in-1 Q535
1. Is the Asus 2-in-1 Q535 good for gaming?
It is a casual-use laptop and a powerful one at that, but it was not designed for gaming. It can handle light to moderate gaming, but the GTX 1050 is not ideal for demanding AAA titles.
2. Is It Possible to Upgrade the RAM and SSD on the Asus 2-in-1 Q535 Later?
Yes, this was probably the one factor that made me ignore all the cons. The Q535 supports upgrades for both RAM and storage. However, opening the chassis may require care and could void the warranty, depending on the seller's policy.
3. Is the Asus 2-in-1 Q535’s touchscreen responsive enough for drawing?
For casual use and note-taking? Yes, but digital artists may want a device with higher pen sensitivity. There are models with even better graphics and processing capacity on the market, specifically made keeping artists and graphic designers in mind.
4. Does the Asus 2-in-1 Q535 Come with a Stylus Pen Included in the Box?
I got the package that comes inclusive of the ASUS Active Pen, but it depends on the retailer and bundle. Some packages include the Asus Active Pen, while others do not. It is important to double-check the product listing or confirm with the seller.
