Asus ROG Flow Z13 ACRNM gaming slate is an almost perfect rugged tablet with Windows 11 Pro and stylus

The ROG Flow Z13 runs on Windows 11 Pro and even comes with a stylus

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From afar, the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM from Asus looks like arugged tabletsimilar to the one magnesium-coatedToughPadmodels from Panasonic. However, come closer and the industrial design, the CNC-milled aluminum chassis, the reinforced corners and the bundled accessories just ooze “schmexi-ness”, to paraphrase our sister publication,Laptopmag.

Produced in partnership with revered artist Errolson Hugh, the RMT02 (as it is otherwise known), is pitched as a gaming tablet but its price (£2999 in the UK, $2500 in the US) and form factor make it a match in heaven for businesses, organizations and professionals eager to get a top of the range slate without an outrageous price tag.

The fact that it runsWindows 11 Proby default, supportsMicrosoft Windows Hello, has a stylus and a full array of accessories (accessory bag, keyboard strap, main strap and detachable keyboard) makes it a very enticing proposition. Could it be used as abusiness tablet? We wouldn’t say no.Mobile workstation? Definitely given its specs.

A great alternative to boring business tablets

A great alternative to boring business tablets

And the RMT02 delivers value-for-money in spades but let’s start with the bad news though: it is not IP-rated so you won’t be able to use it in dusty or moist environments. It’s not been tested to MIL-STD-810G standards either although Asus says that it has robust protection with plenty of rubber around the chassis to mitigate any falls. There’s also no fingerprint reader which is a shame.

The rest though is spectacularly good, very good: there’s a 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900H processor (that’s 14 cores and 20 threads), an Nvidia Geforce RTX 4070 GPU with 8GB GDDR6 (remember, this is agaming laptopwannabe), 32GB LPDDR5, 1TBSSDand Wi-Fi 6E. Despite being a mere tablet, it has a TB4 port with two USB ports, an audio jack and even a card reader.

The screen certainly remains the highlight: a sumptuous QHD+ 13.4-inch display that is not only DCI-P3/Pantone validated (making a good choice when searching for thebest monitors for photo editing) but also one with a high brightness (500 nits), perfect for the busy outdoors. Asus chose a 56WHr battery, powered by a 130W AC GaN adapter, to keep the tablet running. At 1.32Kg alone (add 390g for the backlit chiclet keyboard), the ROG Flow Z13-ACRNM is light enough to be carried around.

There’s plenty else to talk about: Dolby Atmos, two speakers, a trio of microphones, Dolby Vision HDR support and the ability to support external GPUs. Just be mindful that battery life will not be great because of the high refresh rate and the small battery size.

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Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled inwebsite buildersandweb hostingwhen DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.

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