From www.pocket-lint.com
Summary
- Asus debuts Zenbook Ceraluminum Signature Edition series inspired by natural landscapes.
- The Ceraluminum material bridges tech and nature, and is more durable than standard metals.
- Four finishes are available: Obsidian Black, Pamukkale White, Terra Mocha, Luminous Blue.
Asus has announced its Zenbook Ceraluminum Signature Edition series. Featuring quite possibly four of the most beautiful laptop finishes I’ve ever seen, the worldwide tech giant isn’t playing around with its materials, philosophy, and commitment to not only be inspired by nature, but to embody it in every capacity.
Straight from Milan at Asus’ Design You Can Feel exhibition, here’s everything you need to know about the brand-new Zenbook Ceraluminum Signature Edition series from Asus.
ASUS Zenbook S 14
A thin-and-light Windows 11 laptop that ships with the latest Intel Core Ultra 7 (Series 2) processor and a 14-inch 3K OLED display.
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Inspired by nature
And you can feel it
Asus
Asus’ patented Ceraluminum material is the first thing you notice when you go hands-on with a Zenbook S. It feels stone-like rather than metal, and that is what Asus was aiming for — its mission is to lead technological design to a future where we aren’t so separate from nature, using its own devices as the bridge between us.
Through an electrochemical manufacturing process void of organic compounds, heavy metals, and strong acids, Asus ceramicizes aluminum alloys to create Ceraluminum. The curious result actually takes what’s best about both aluminum (strength and malleability) and ceramic (hardness) and creates a surface that’s three times as fracture resistant as anodized aluminum. It also makes Zenbooks much more durable with day-to-day wear, optimizes their electrical insulation and thermal management systems, and gives them a longer lifespan in general — talk about drawing inspiration from everlasting natural landscapes both in vibes and hardware.
While the material and specs-side of things aren’t anything to skip, I know you’re curious about what these finishes look like. From the land of fire and ice all the way to otherworldly blue isles, here are the four new looks Asus unveiled in its Zenbook Ceraluminum Signature Edition series.
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Obsidian Black
Inspired by Iceland’s volcanic landscapes
Asus
If a helicopter dropped you in Geldingadalir, Iceland, you’d have a picture-perfect example of the new Obsidian Black chassis.
This finish plays with both matte and glossy textures, not unlike flowing and cooling lava in among the dark jagged terrain. The Ceraluminum in this particular design is treated with precision laser sintering (a particular kind of 3D printing that fuses material to a surface layer by layer) to create the depth you see here. It aims to strike the balance between natural chaos and harmony, much like a volcanic eruption. But, unfortunately, it’s not going to spew magma (though that could be a cool feature, Asus).
I wish that this finish could have included some color contrast, like the Pamukkale White and Luminous Blue finishes do. Rather than ‘cooling’ lava, I think a more vibrant orange or red in the ‘cracked’ part of the chassis would have been a bolder move, especially for a limited edition.
Asus
Pamukkale White
Reflecting terraced mineral formations in Turkey
Asus
In stark contrast to Obsidian Black is the bright white and gold of Pamukkale White. My first thoughts were that it embodied a bright summer day, and then I saw the landscape that Asus drew its inspiration from.
Pumukkale, Turkey, is home to a phenomenon I hadn’t even heard of: cascading terraces of rock formation flowing with mineral-rich thermal waters. Often called the “cotton castle,” it used to neighbor a Roman spa city called Hierapolis, and both are UNESCO World Heritage Sites as of 1988. So how on earth did Asus manage to embody it?
The company uses CNC precision milling (basically mechanical sculpting to shape sections of the Ceraluminum). This creates two different golden sheens that represent the pools themselves.
I have to admit, just looking at the chassis makes me want to book a spa day.
Asus
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Terra Mocha
Drawing inspiration from sprawling desert in Jordan
Asus
Now I have to say, this one didn’t start off as my favorite. However, the longer I looked at it, the more it grew on me. Right off the bat, the warm brown isn’t something I see every day, especially when it comes to laptops and other devices. It doesn’t scream “futuristic,” but it does embody the desert, which is a solid bit of geography that isn’t just timeless, but also endless in the expansive sense.
Specifically drawing inspiration from Jordan’s Wadi Rum, Asus examined its sandstone cliffs and endless dunes to develop the warm brown you see in the Terra Mocha chassis. Similar to the Icelandic Obsidian Black, this design plays with the chaos of a wind-sculpted sea of sand and the solidness of rock formations jutting out of it.
It might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but in general, I think it’s one of the most unique and ambitious designs of the four. Warm brown is bold in the tech world where devices often slip into cool gray-scale neutrals.
Asus
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Luminous Blue
Capturing the essence of bioluminescence in the Maldives
Asus
It’s hard to tear your eyes away from the Luminous Blue Zenbook. Aside from the bright flecks of gold in the Pamukkale White design, Luminous Blue is the only colorful design in the Signature series. But how could Asus draw inspiration from nature without celebrating the largest biome on Earth — the ocean.
Asus didn’t hold back any magic in this one. There are few phenomenons in the world that match the ethereal magic of bioluminescent plankton. In my book, it’s as close to touching the Milky Way with our bare hands as humans can get — almost a microcosm of the unreachable heavens above. Don’t mind me getting emotional over a laptop chassis, would you?
The Ceraluminum on this finish balances delicate pockets of turquoise glow with a deep blue that reminds me of deep water. A mirror to a moonless night sky, perhaps?
Asus
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An ode to nature
Creating a future where technology and the natural world coexist
Asus
Asus celebrates nature with its Zenbook Ceraluminum Signature Edition series, and it doesn’t just do so through its environmentally responsible manufacturing process. Right on par with the name, Asus creates a design you can feel with this series, from the way Ceraluminum feels under your hands to the connection the texture and colors make between your eyes and the real-life landscapes they were modeled after.
Each limited-edition Zenbook S will come packaged with:
- A laptop sleeve bag made by Kvadrat & PU leather
- A Type-C charger
- An adapter
- An Asus Pen
- A Ceraluminum mouse
- A booklet detailing the particular model you purchase
ASUS
Asus has not announced a release date at the time of writing.
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