Unboxing: To Mars and Beyond With the ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition
Geophysicist Dr. Sian Proctor and Abigail “Astronaut Abby” Harrison decipher the many space-age qualities of this celestial laptop design.
“A lot of people ask if it’s like riding a rollercoaster,” says geology professor and the first black female pilot of a spacecraft, Dr. Sian Proctor, on the sensation of zero gravity. “It’s more like that idea of Peter Pan, where you just lift up, and you’re just suspended”. That same feeling is captured by ASUS’ ethereal new laptop, the Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition.
Built to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first ASUS laptop being sent to space aboard the Mir space station in 1998, the exterior of this special edition laptop will be immediately familiar to anyone who has dreamt of slipping the earth’s surly bonds. Encased in an exclusive Zero-G Titanium color, the construction of the Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition is certified as compliant with the US space-grade durability standards, able as it is to withstand up to 2,000Hz of vibrations and temperatures ranging between -24 to 61°C, and weighing in at a feather-light 1.4kg and 15.9mm in thickness.
Abigail Harrison, space ambassador and founder of The Mars Generation outreach organisation, joins Proctor in their space-bound mission to unpack this state-of-the-art sliver of cutting-edge technology. On the laptop’s 14-inch 2.8K OLED display—replete with 16:10 aspect ratio, 2880 x 1800 pixel resolution, and 90 Hz refresh rate — the duo explore the symbolism literally etched into the laptop’s outer casing. There’s a 3D schematic representing the Mir space station, lines of Morse code which read out the models of ASUS laptops that have gone to space over the years, and the motto “Ad Astra Per Aspera” (Through hardships to the stars) strategically located all over the shell of the laptop.
And of course, who could miss the 3.5-inch OLED ZenVision screen on the back of the laptop monitor which, like a cockpit window, offers an ever-changing view of the stars? Offering infinite customizability, the ZenVision can also be programmed to show the time, battery level, calendar, custom text, your personal identity tag, and more.
As they explore the many features of the Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition, Proctor and Harrison also ponder the nature of space travel and the human urge to reach for the stars. What does it take to send a person into space? How does it feel like to sit in the cockpit of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft? And what’s the best piece of advice for aspiring astronauts? The duo unpack these questions and more—with a little help from the laptop’s 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 H-Series processor, up to 32 GB of LPDDR5 4800 MHz memory, and a high-speed SSD of up to 1 TB PCIe 4.0.
Join Proctor and Harrison as they take a closer look at the ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED Space Edition in the unboxing video above. Interested fans can head over to the brand’s website for more information and to purchase the laptop.
