For Cyber Monday, Best Buy has substantially reduced the price tag on the Asus ProArt PZ13, making its new price $850 . The Asus ProArt PZ13 is an artistically-aligned laptop available at Best Buy for $1,100. It's ready to help pro-level artists with its vibrant OLED touchscreen, long battery life, and supportive apps. The device is held back by a limited array of ports and a substandard keyboard. A couple of months ago, I tested out Microsoft's Surface Pro 11 , a laptop that doubles as a tablet. It has Qualcomm's next-gen chipset and a lot of great features that made me enjoy the machine. I highly recommend it to business professionals who frequently travel. It seems Asus must've seen the Surface Pro and thought to itself, "We can do better." The result of this inspiration is the Asus ProArt PZ13 . Also: Best Cyber Monday deals live now I mentioned the Surface Pro 11 because the two share many similarities, although the ProArt model is better suited for artists and creative professionals. Asus ProArt PZ13 Asus' new ProArt PZ13 laptop is a lightweight machine that punches well above its weight class. Qualcomm's energy-efficient Snapdragon X SoC can take on the toughest of tasks. Upon lifting the laptop out of its box for the first time, you'll be greeted with a 13.3-inch, 3K (2880 x 1800 pixels) OLED touchscreen. Its resolution isn't as high as Microsoft's laptop, although the ProArt PZ13 more than makes up for this with image-enhancing apps. It has Dolby Vision, support for the entire DCI-P3 color gamut, and VESA DisplayHDR True Black for ultra-dark shadows. Everything works together to ensure a stunning visual experience, except for the 60Hz refresh rate. That's a fine speed, but I would've liked to have 120Hz. At 60Hz, motion and animations on this laptop can look a little blurry. Also: One of the most versatile laptops I've tested is a crowd-pleaser with solid hardware The device has a really neat feature called Creator Hub. It's a dashboard app that lets you adjust the PZ13 on the fly. The most impressive of its many tools is Color Control, which lets you change the on-screen color gamut at any time. For example, the DCI-P3 option tweaks the colors so they're best suited for movies while Display P3 is recommended for artists as it more accurately displays hues. You can even adjust the color temperature. Creator Hub gives creative professionals a great amount of flexibility. Although I'm not an artist myself, I certainly appreciate having the ability to fine-tune my experience instantly. Asus' machine is no slouch either, as inside the ProArt PZ13 is a Snapdragon X Plus chipset. I was able to maintain about 60 tabs open without experiencing any major slowdown. I had videos playing and Twitch streams running, and I could still check out my email without any issue. Sadly, I couldn't get a specific benchmark number on the SoC (system on a chip). None of the major benchmarking tests have been updated for the Snapdragon X, but hopefully, that day will come soon. Also: This lightweight laptop has one of the best displays I've seen, and it's not a MacBook Air Like other Qualcomm-based laptops, the ProArt PZ13 has a ridiculously long battery life, and for once, the marketing materials were correct. This device ran for over 21 hours straight when on the Best Power Efficiency mode. I left it on overnight and was shocked to see it was still active in the morning. On Best Performance mode, the model manages to outperform most Intel-based laptops, as it lasted for about 14.5 hours on a single charge. These battery times are perfect if you ever need to take the ProArt PZ13 on the road. There's no need to worry about the laptop dying on you at the worst moment. The tablet is 0.35 inches thick and weighs a little under two pounds. Asus throws in a muted-green protective cover with the purchase. The cover adds some bulk to the device, although not by much. It'll fit snugly inside a bag. As much as I like Asus' new computer, I didn't like the ProArt PZ13's keyboard. Asus states it has a 1.4mm key travel distance. On paper, that should ensure a good typing experience, but I felt the keyboard was flimsy. Pressing a key bends the accessory a bit. Also: One of the longest-lasting laptops I've tested also has a gorgeous display Furthermore, there are very few ports. You get three in total: two USB-C inputs and an SD card reader. Granted, the device is somewhat thin, so perhaps Asus couldn't find room for any more ports. Still, it could've at least included a headphone jack. My last critique is admittedly a nitpick. I would've appreciated a free stylus in the overall package. Microsoft's 11th-gen Surface Pro had one when I got it, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. So unless you already have a pen, you'll have to buy one for the PZ13, which isn't a big issue since the laptop is fairly cheap. ZDNET's buying advice Prices for the Asus ProArt PZ13 start at $1,100 on Best Buy , which is a steal. There is a more powerful version available on Asus' website -- for $1,649 , you can purchase a ProArt PZ13 sporting Qualcomm's Hexagon NPU, delivering extra power. Other than that, they're the same device. Get the Hexagon version only if you are expecting heavy workloads. How we test laptops We use a combination of methods to test laptops here at ZDNET. First, we acquire data from benchmarking software to analyze a system's metrics under the hood, and compare those to advertised numbers. Then, we spend an extended amount of time with the laptop (usually a week or two) using it the same way a typical consumer would, in order to analyze its portability, form factor, and how well the battery actually holds up, among others. For an extensive breakdown, check out our comprehensive laptop testing methodology . Benchmarking: We run a series of tests to put the computer's hardware through the wringer in order to see what it's capable of. Cinebench is one of the most commonly-used hardware testing suites, which tests the laptop's rendering performance on single and multiple CPU cores. PCMark 10 is another powerful program that covers a wide variety of tasks performed in the workplace. Processor: The "brain" of the laptop, and one of the most important factors that determines performance. This is tested in benchmarking software. The display: Brightness is measured in "nits," and color spectrums are tested in benchmarking software. The graphics processor (GPU): We test the GPU with a combination of benchmarking software, gaming, and media playback. Physical form factor: We carry the laptop around for at least a week and note how well it commutes. Battery testing: We test a unit's battery in a few ways. A handful of benchmarking programs have their own battery testing components, but we also will just let the laptop run for as long as it can under a medium load. The human element: As we mentioned earlier, metrics and system data is important, but numbers alone don't give you the full picture. This is where we weave in our personal experience with the device and tap into the practical use cases that consumers actually care about. Ultimately, our goal is to break down the capabilities of each and every laptop we test into digestible terms that people find useful. 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MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday apologized to his Azerbaijani counterpart for what he called a "tragic incident" following the crash of an Azerbaijani airliner in Kazakhstan that killed 38 people, but stopped short of acknowledging that Moscow was responsible. Putin's apology came as allegations mounted that Russian air defenses shot down the plane while attempting to deflect a Ukrainian drone strike near Grozny, the regional capital of the Russian republic of Chechnya. Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a Security Council meeting via videoconference Saturday at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia. Sergei Ilyin, Sputnik/Kremlin Pool An official Kremlin statement issued Saturday said that air defense systems were firing near Grozny airport as the airliner "repeatedly" attempted to land there on Wednesday. It did not explicitly say one of these hit the plane. The statement said Putin apologized to Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev "for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace." The readout said Russia has launched a criminal probe into the incident, and Azerbaijani state prosecutors have arrived in Grozny to participate. The Kremlin also said that "relevant services" from Russia, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan are jointly investigating the crash site near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan. The plane was flying from Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, to Grozny when it turned toward Kazakhstan, hundreds of miles across the Caspian Sea from its intended destination, and crashed while attempting to land. There were 29 survivors. According to a readout of the call provided by Aliyev's press office, the Azerbaijani president told Putin that the plane was subject to "external physical and technical interference," though he also stopped short of blaming Russian air defenses. Part of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane lies on the ground Thursday near the airport of Aktau, Kazakhstan. Administration of Mangystau Region Aliyev noted the plane had holes in its fuselage and the occupants sustained injuries "due to foreign particles penetrating the cabin mid-flight." He said that a team of international experts began a probe of the incident at Azerbaijan's initiative, but provided no details. Earlier this week, the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's office confirmed that investigators from Azerbaijan are working in Grozny. On Friday, a U.S. official and an Azerbaijani minister made separate statements blaming the crash on an external weapon, echoing those made by aviation experts who blamed the crash on Russian air defense systems responding to a Ukrainian attack. U.S. President Joe Biden, responding Saturday to a reporter asking whether he thought Putin should take responsibility for the crash, said: "Apparently he did but I haven't spoken to him." Biden made the comment after leaving church in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. Listen now and subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS Feed | SoundStack | All Of Our Podcasts Passengers and crew members who survived the crash told Azerbaijani media they heard loud noises on the aircraft as it circled over Grozny. Dmitry Yadrov, head of Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia, said Friday that as the plane was preparing to land in Grozny in deep fog, Ukrainian drones were targeting the city, prompting authorities to close the area to air traffic. Yadrov said after the captain made two unsuccessful attempts to land, he was offered other airports but decided to fly to Aktau. People attend a funeral Saturday for Mahammadali Eganov, who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's airport of Aktau at the age of 13, in Baku, Azerbaijan. Associated Press Earlier this past week, Rosaviatsia cited unspecified early evidence as showing that a bird strike led to an emergency on board. In the days following the crash, Azerbaijan Airlines blamed "physical and technical interference" and announced the suspension of flights to several Russian airports. It didn't say where the interference came from or provide any further details. If proven that the plane crashed after being hit by Russian fire, it would be the second deadly civil aviation accident linked to fighting in Ukraine. Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was downed with a Russian surface-to-air missile, killing all 298 people aboard, as it flew over the area in eastern Ukraine controlled by Moscow-backed separatists in 2014. Russia denied responsibility but a Dutch court in 2022 convicted two Russians and a pro-Russia Ukrainian man for their role in downing the plane with an air defense system brought into Ukraine from a Russian military base. The grave of Mahammadali Eganov, 13, who died in the Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 crash near the Kazakhstan's Aktau airport, is seen Saturday in Baku, Azerbaijan. Associated Press Following Wednesday's suspension of flights from Baku to Grozny and nearby Makhachkala, Azerbaijan Airlines announced Friday that it would also halt service to eight more Russian cities. Several other airlines made similar announcements since the crash. Kazakhstan's Qazaq Air on Friday said it would stop flying from Astana to the Russian city of Yekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains for a month. Turkmenistan Airlines, the Central Asian country's flagship carrier, on Saturday halted flights to Moscow for at least a month, citing safety concerns. Earlier this past week, Israel's El Al carrier suspended service from Tel Aviv to the Russian capital, citing "developments in Russia's airspace."