A closer look at the ASUS Zen AiO S, a high-end all-in-one with Windows 10

By Richard Devine
published

ASUS Zen AIO

We actually first saw the ASUS Zen AiO out in Taipei at Computex 2015, but back then it was a "look, but don't touch" scenario. Fast forward to IFA and we get to see it all over again. Only this time it's more than just a box with a screensaver on it, this time you can play with it.

So here's a second, closer look at ASUS' high-end all-in-one with Windows 10.

Some of the highlighted specs include:

  • 4K touchscreen display
  • Up to 6th Generation Intel Core i7 CPU (Skylake)
  • 8GB of RAM
  • 1TB HDD or optional 512GB SSD
  • USB-C ports
  • NVIDIA GeForce 950M graphics
  • Intel RealSense camera for Windows Hello

We really like it and it's just another piece in an ever stronger Windows 10 device portfolio. Check out the video above for a closer look.

Richard Devine
Richard Devine
Managing Editor - Tech, Reviews

Richard Devine is a Managing Editor at Windows Central with over a decade of experience. A former Project Manager and long-term tech addict, he joined Mobile Nations in 2011 and has been found on Android Central and iMore as well as Windows Central. Currently, you'll find him steering the site's coverage of all manner of PC hardware and reviews. Find him on Mastodon at mstdn.social/@richdevine

67 Comments
  • Finally an Asus Zen without Android...
  • Yes
  • If you don't need the portability of a laptop or tablet, why would you buy this instead of making your own desktop PC?
  • Everyone likes making PCs would be your argument there? I know I don't.
  • I don't know many people who would pay a high premium to spare themselves the 30-minute trouble of making their own desktops (rather than buying a laptop with similar specs except for the display) is my argument.
  • I want to see you build an all-in-one in 30 minutes. Actually no, I want to see you build it at all.
  • Same reason I don't change my own car oil anymore in my garage. I got better things to do than saving a few bucks.
  • I'm an engineer, but I couldn't build a computer in 30 minutes, because, (A) I don't have the knowledge about all sorts of motherboards, casings, fans, PCUs, etc, not to mention, how to put all of them together working harmoniously; (B) I would have to spend days, maybe weeks to search internet and shops for ALL the parts I need; (C) put it together, probably being met with problems I have to fix; and (D) configuring BIOS and all the software that would be a done job on a pre-configured PC. YOU could not do this in 30 mins, starting from scratch, even if you had all the knowledge. But me, going to my local electronic store for non-PC tinkers takes me literally 15 there and buy, 15 minutes back.
  • Why would I want to make my own PC when I can buy one ready made? It's not like I'm poor or want to waste my life putting bits of PC together! Just saying :)
  • It takes maybe half an hour. Maybe.
  • Well, then that's a half an hour I would save.
  • It's way cheaper to build your own. That's why most of us would gladly spend the 30 minutes to an hour doing it ourselves. Plus, its always nice to use something you built yourself. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • "Most of us", like you're the majority. Take a look around outside of your tiny circle of friends, dude.
  • It'd take half an hour to just unbox all the parts. You can certainly build exactly what you want, and might be able to save a few bucks on a high end machine....maybe. You can't build a typical machine as cheaply as OEMs that buy parts in bulk. You certainly can't build am AiO. There are way to many options, and way to many deals, to waste time building my own appliance.
  • It's not that if you build your own you can customize the hardware variation all you want. Windows 10 license linked to your motherboard ID so you can change the hardware all you want as long as the board stay same. If you want to change the board just sold it and says that windows 10 license are linked to it all they need to do is instal the right version and the product automatically activated. You can freely change CPU (as long as the socket stay same) add more RAM, upgrade graphics card, add extra drive
  • All you have to do is call MS and have the license tied to new hardware (motherboard), unless that is a change from 8.1 to 10. Cause I've done that on 8.1. Didn't read that changed. That would cause outrage. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • I changed the Motherboard/CPU/RAM and Case then reused the SSD (Wiped) and the PSU..and it activated without robo-call only office required phone activation. I thought for sure I'd need phone activaition to my surprise I did not .  
  • In that case you could just get a laptop with those same specs. If you want a desktop, you'd save a lot of money for investing 30 minutes or up to 1 hour for something with even better specs than this.
  • To be fair, building your own All-In-One computer is a pain, which is the target market for this PC.  It's difficult to find a nice All-In-One case for your own custom build.  Most All-In-One cases are built for very specific hardware and motherboards which makes it pointless to build yourself. A laptop won't suffice since they want a full desktop experience, but without the hassle of the cords and separate components.  Further, All-In-One computers are very easy to setup, so they are especially nice for those who are not necessarily tech savvy.
  • I have over 300 PCs at work. Why would I want to be responsible for all those components - over 1800 if you count the case, mobo, power supply, HDD, RAM, & license - when I can have an OEM be responsible for those and all I have to track is the internal ID we assign.....
  • Pretty sure no one think you're weird for not building 300 PC's... ;). Work vs personal is different, you don't want the liability if it fails, even if the part(S) can be replaced. Too much hassle, work PC's are too important. Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • At work we are replacing all our desktops with AIOs.
  • I prefer a beautifully designed desktop computer that comes with support/warranty (and not separate warranties for individual parts) any day of the week over a custom built PC (which often looks blocky, tacky, etc.) There may be circumstances where the ones on the market don't have the specs you need (and you really want the ability to upgrade hardware), or you don't care about design. Then you should make your own.
  • I have to disagree.  Custom built machines are built to the specific person's aesthetic tastes.  As such generalizing all custom built PCs as “Blocky”, “Tacky”, "or if you don't care about design" is a bit asinine.  I would have to say that people who build their own PC's put way more thought into design than those who buy cookie cutter PCs. I will agree having a general warranty can be nice, particularly if you do not have the technological knowledge to troubleshoot and isolate the problems yourself.
  • And I'd have to disagree with you. I have yet to see a beautifully crafted self-built PC. Yes, they're very interesting, cool and flashy works of art, but none of them are beautiful in my eyes. A specifically crafted/CNC'd casing built around the internals can't be compared to the towers most of you buy from the likes of Corsair, Phantek, Cooler Master, etc. Those towers are also made to be bulky and airy, something most people don't want to see in their rooms.
  • I can well understand not wanting to build your own PC, but if you really need a high end PC just get a proper desktop. AIOs are fine if all you need is a lightweight machine that looks good and doesn't get in the way.
  • This AIO from Asus can come with skylake i7 and discreet graphics. Seems high endier
  • That's a mobile i7 (AFAIK) and a mobile graphics card. My point was, if you need more power than a ~$600 AIO can give you, it seems wiser to just go with a proper desktop PC.
  • You can build a high end PC, sure. But you can never build a high end all-in-one PC.
  • It is a nice All-In-One machine but it is hardly a high-end PC.  The specifications are mid-range at best.
  • nope its not. latest i7. nvidia 950 and 32gb ram? thats high end. you people should stop saying something its not high-end just because it looks low end compared with custom designed desktop PCs, with 128 gb ram and 3 video cards -_-
  • Man do I love PCs, but even people from this PC master race are asshats sometimes. Not everybody needs to run Crysis at 4K ultra with anti-aliasing to the max. Gaming for most people doesn't require holy-sweet-mother-of-Jesus graphics to be considered gaming.
  • It's using a mobile i7, not a desktop i7, and a mobile GPU hence the m in nVidia 950m. Mobile processors and GPUs are widely known to be much less powerful than their desktop counterparts. As for the 32GB of RAM, its seriously overkill even in a high-end desktop gaming rig and in this mid-range AiO it is laughable to have that much RAM. The only reason it has 32GB of RAM is for idiots, the same idiots who don't know the difference between mobile CPUs and GPUs. The guy you responded to was right in saying this is saying this is a mid-range system at best.
  • price ?!
  • Because you can't make one as sleek and got looking as this one. You're apparently into building gaming rigs which everyone isn't into!
  • Too bad the screen is so reflective...with a different screen this could replace my 5 year old gateway AIO
  • this is a touchscreen ... that's why it's more reflective than classic screen.
    By the way, don't forget that it's a show room with many lights.
    I'm sure that it's not so reflective at home
  • Any chance of an all in one like this with internal battery?
  • Yes, this is called a laptop :)
  • LOL
  • Add your car battery and youre ready to go :)
  • Ooh USB-C, can it act as a dock for the new WP flagship?    Edit: wait, that makes no sense, the thing is already a PC. D'Oh.
  • Heh ;-)
  • I'm more interested in the red little laptop on the right side in the video. Asus? Looks nice.
  • looks like a MAC
  • Was waiting for someone to say that. I think Apple's gonna sue somebody. :P
  • This looks a lot like an iMac. Not a bad thing: that design has been pretty successful.
  • Not bad looking if you like Macs. Where are the windows hello camera announcements? Did I miss something?
  • "AiO S" :D ?
  •   950M won't be able to run your games on 4k.  
  • Should get about medium 1080p though. Nothing really runs 4k well yet.
  • gtx 980 does i think & the next gen GPU's will sureply run 4K !!
  • 980 Ti runs 4k as does Fury X, but not all that well (>60fps steady). That said, we are long overdue for a new node tech for desktop GPUs, going 14/16nm will surely bring about 4k -capability.
  • How much??
  • The reporting is not good.  The are two two versions and the high end one with 23 inch screen starts at 1499 Euros. The one shown here I think is the 19 inch and it starts 999 Euros.
  • There is no 19 inch version of this. I sat in the launch event in Taipei.
  • Sorry...I thought there was one during computex  a few months ago. When is the release date?
  • This may be the machine to replace my ancient...10 year old Dell Desktop. Then again, why replace what isn't broken? Sure it's slow, has 4 gigs of ram 3 usable, my tablet blows it out of the water speed wise, and my laptop totally kills it...but it does turn on and displays a picture. I guess I'm cheap/frugal or I know I never use it enough to care. BUT with this AiO I would become a desktop person again!
  • Stylus pen support? Hand gesture support?
  • I Long for the day when an AIO will come with a proper graphics card instead of a laptop one.
  • my personal guess is it is and probably always will, impossible. not because of the space. you could make the AIO a little ticker. but because of the heat. 
  • 8GB of RAM but why?
  • What's high end on this aio?
  • point.......
    1 tb is common now, 8 gb is ok ok types (16/32 gb high end),& 950 can never take on 4k !! 
    guess its high end bcoz these are specs of an AIO & it has 4k !!
    only 4k display is high end !!
    6th gen intel processor is latest but not necessarily high end (may be a latest mid range processor, i mean)
  • I almost thought that was an iMac at first glance.  Screen seems super duper glossy though.  Not sure if that would be usable in my computer room with the blinds open on a sunny day without some serious rearranging.
  • hii everyone....but sm1 tell me this !!
    is 950 really powerful enough to take on 4k ??
    bcoz even gtx 980 has a hard time dealing with 4k gaming ??
    yess....may be 950 is good enough for videos n movies.....but gaming (950 on 4k resolution ? )
  • When will this be for sale and where can I buy this set up?