I've been using the Z13 and while its great and I'll be keeping it, there are 3 things I think everyone would appreciate if were added/changed
Monitor Mode:
A mode where the Z13 can be used as a monitor by plugging in a video USBC cable. Such a feature may not be heavily used early in its product life but when newer products come out, it would be really great to have a such a portable monitor since it has one of the highest refresh rates over other portable monitors available in the market. Please do not underestimate putting this feature in a tablet over putting it in a 2-in-1 or laptop, because those devices come with a keyboard which cannot be removed. Consumers and raters /reviewers would actually welcome such a feature as a great bonus for longevity in the device.
A fanless mode:
I understand a silent mode is available but it still stirs up the fans when more processing-intensive tasks occur. What I'm lobbying for is an additional mode where all the power levels/cores are tuned to such a point where the fans do not have to kick in, even under load. I understand that the performance would be much, much lower that its advertised potential but I actually think this would be an even better battery saver and can allow the device to stand as a fanless picture frame when not actively used. Additionally this would mean the device could be even be sealed up/cased and taken to the beach or areas of debris or heavy airborne particles. The device would have even more use cases than what is currently being advertised.
Easy refresh/reset download tool / ISO:
While windows surface devices can easily be put back to an original usable state by downloading and creating a "Surface USB recovery drive," the Z13 cannot. If the boot drive manages to become corrupted and the OS needs to be reloaded, there is no quick way to do so. Surface models, on the other hand, can be up and running in an original, functional state after booting with a special all-in-one tool. No drivers install necessary. Currently for the Z13, with a new SSD, the only way back to normal is to install windows first and follow up with a long list of driver installs, which are absolutely necessary since because of specialized components. The ASUS recovery method requires the necessary files to already be on the drive, which makes it useless if a new empty SSD is installed. I think providing an optional ISO like the surface line would lead to better user-self-recovery. There would be less technical support.
Lastly (not really a 4th), I think the product boxing is 15% excessive. There were paper-based information cards in a padded envelope. Papered information doesn't need to be padded.. Also, when I received it in the mail, the tablet was in a box, in another box, finally in the shipping box. I think some optimization could've been done there too.
Overall great product, but if these aspects are included, then the $300ish price surplus over similarly spec'd devices (even in the ASUS line) would be better justified.
Asus products owned (2008-2023): VW266, G73, UX303, GZ301
