Asus Vivobook S 14X OLED evaluation: fairly pixels for a reasonably value

One of the neat issues about seeing fancy options unfold throughout high-end laptops is the hope that these options will, sooner or later, seem in reasonably priced laptops as nicely. This yr has been the yr of a budget OLED display screen in that respect — not less than whenever you have a look at Asus. The firm has been plonking actually unimaginable screens onto otherwise-unremarkable finances laptops for years, and the brand new Vivobook S 14X OLED is not any exception. 

This new, $1,099 Vivobook targets a extra price-conscious viewers than Asus’ high-end Zenbook line, with a extra utilitarian chassis and a heavier construct. The panel is what units it aside from the ocean of an identical black notebooks that litter the midrange market. Asus is touting it because the “world’s first 14.5-inch 120Hz 2.8K OLED panel,” which is a type of hilariously particular accolades that Asus likes to crown itself with. But the numerous kernel of verisimilitude in there’s that that is the closest to a MacBook Pro 14 viewing expertise you’re more likely to discover at this value level.

Now, there’s not too a lot else to say about this laptop computer. Compromises had been actually made all through the remainder of the chassis in an effort to hit this value, and the excessive decision has its downsides within the battery life division. But the $1,099 tag (and there’s an $899 model as well, with the identical show) is that this Vivobook’s saving grace. It has lots of the similar flaws that we see on different premium OLED machines with {powerful} processors (quintessentially, Dell’s XPS 13 Plus). But at this value, that package deal is much more affordable — for a really particular consumer.

This show has every little thing you’d need. It’s a 16:10 OLED with 2880 x 1800 decision and a 0.2ms response time. That, alone, makes for a superb viewing expertise with deep blacks and uniform brightness. Details had been crisp, and colours popped (the panel covers 100% of the sRGB gamut, 98 % of Adobe RGB, and 100% of P3). 

What’s extra, the 120Hz refresh price makes for an exceptionally clean scroll. We’re beginning to see extra 90Hz OLED panels, however 120Hz continues to be extremely uncommon — in truth, I don’t know of any 14-incher with a 120Hz OLED panel presently available on the market that Asus doesn’t make.

Peak brightness, in my testing, was an affordable 379 nits (OLED panels are inclined to run a bit dimmer than LCDs). I noticed little or no glare on my home windows, even working with brightness pretty low. It’s a pleasant display screen to take a look at. Asus even claims that it emits much less dangerous blue gentle than different laptop computer screens do. The science behind the hazards of blue gentle is dodgy to start with, however no matter, it’s there for those who care about it. 

Here’s what this display screen comes hooked up to. The Vivobook has a reasonably customary black chassis. The branding on the lid isn’t obnoxious (which… some Asus branding is) — simply an unobtrusive nameplate with “Asus Vivobook” on it and another phrases that no person’s going to have the ability to see. 

The construct is sturdy (and in contrast to many Asus units, this one doesn’t have the “Ergolift hinge” that folds beneath the keyboard and digs into your lap). The lid and deck have a little bit of flex and a plasticky really feel (particularly the bezels across the display screen), however the total package deal is stable. 

You’ll discover that the webcam (which sadly doesn’t help Windows Hello) additionally has a bodily privateness protect. These issues are sometimes a tiny, invisible swap that’s a ache to seek out and transfer, however this one is massive and simply thumb-operable. And the keyboard has some good decorations, together with a shiny pink Esc key, a striped strip throughout Enter, and slightly “Ready to Explore” emblazoned throughout the underside edge. There’s a fingerprint sensor within the energy button, which works simply effective.

And then there are a bunch of compromises. You should care about all of these items lower than the display screen if you’re shopping for this Vivobook (and I do know a few of you do — energy to you). First, one of many USB Type-A ports (there are two, along with two USB-C, an HDMI, and a headphone jack) is just USB 2.0, whereas the opposite is USB 3.2 Gen 1. This isn’t going to affect everybody, but it surely’s one thing for homeowners of sure trendy equipment to pay attention to.  

Second, the chassis is a fingerprint magnet. The touchpad is kind of spacious (53 % bigger than that of its predecessor Vivobook, Asus says), however after only a few days of use, it was smudged up and down. 

While the touchpad was essentially the most excessive instance, this was a difficulty everywhere in the factor. After every week of use, there are fingerprints everywhere in the Vivobook’s deck, together with the keyboard and palm rests. The lid is, at this level, a mosaic of fingerprints and different smudges. Now, I’m responsible of battering my evaluation models round — they spend time in my backpack with a bunch of different electronics as I romp round New York each day, they spend lots of time on completely different desks, lap desks, tables, and rugs, they usually generally have issues stacked on prime of them. But I put a lot of laptops by way of these trials and tribulations, and most of them climate it simply effective. This lid is already trying worse for put on. 

Finally, it’s simply clunky. It’s 0.7 inches thick and three.5 kilos. For context, the also-powerful and also-OLED Dell XPS 13 Plus is just 2.7 kilos. That’s not horrifically heavy for this dimension, however as an individual of common energy, I discovered it a ache to hold round with one hand.

Inside this chassis is a few fairly noteworthy energy — which, just like the display screen, comes with battery-related drawbacks. This Vivobook has the Core i7-12700H, which is definitely the identical processor that powers plenty of common gaming laptops, together with Acer’s Predator Triton 500 SE, Lenovo’s Legion 5i Pro, and Alienware’s X14. This system’s CPU chops are not any joke, but it surely additionally doesn’t have a discrete GPU, that means it’s a lot graphically weaker than different H-series workstations. 

My $1,099 unit contains 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, whereas the $899 SKU has a Core i5-12500H and 8GB of RAM. Storage and reminiscence are upgradable. To contextualize how good of a deal that’s, the most affordable Dell XPS 13 Plus (which has a much less {powerful} processor, much less RAM, and a lower-resolution and decrease refresh price OLED display screen) is $1,399. The most cost-effective 512GB M2 MacBook Air, additionally with much less reminiscence and a decrease decision show, would value $1,399, as nicely. 

When it involves efficiency, this laptop computer had no drawback with day-to-day workplace duties (and the display screen made them look extra nice as I did them, as a bonus). It’s actually quicker than the U-series processors that energy many 13-inch and 14-inch laptops, although I’m undecided it’s a distinction an off-the-cuff Chrome consumer will discover. 

In benchmark testing, the Vivobook beats the Dell XPS 13 Plus (our XPS unit had the Core i7-1280P, which is a really related chip to the i7-12700H) in all the single-core and a lot of the multicore benchmarks we ran. It was approach behind within the graphics benchmarks we ran, nonetheless, which could possibly be a mirrored image of system reminiscence velocity or different elements. 

Of notice: Adobe Premiere Pro crawled on this machine. I felt like I used to be watching bars ceaselessly whereas tasks loaded. The Encoding part of the PugetBench take a look at for Premiere was so gradual it was painful to look at. Our five-minute, 33-second 4K export took 29 minutes, whereas it took round seven on the XPS. (This could also be on Adobe moderately than Asus, however no matter whose fault it’s, the export was hella gradual.) Any machine with built-in graphics goes to have some hassle with these duties, however these could be unacceptable speeds for folk who do video work with any diploma of regularity. The discrepancy in graphics outcomes is counterintuitive for the reason that two GPUs each have Iris Xe graphics — Notebookcheck found that it was as a result of Vivobook’s asymmetrical RAM configuration, so do with that what you’ll.

Fans had been fairly loud throughout benchmarking. “Damn, that fan,” my coworker Becca Farsace remarked as she walked previous my desk this afternoon. This was, in fact, whereas I had the High Performance cooling profile chosen — for those who choose Whisper Mode, as I did once I wasn’t benchmarking, the followers are quiet. The CPU was typically round 90 to 91 levels throughout benchmarking, which is a bit hotter than you need it, however not less than we’re not in a Dell nightmare cooling scenario.

But neither the graphics nor the fan noise is as egregious of an issue because the Vivobook’s battery life. I did my battery runs at medium brightness with battery saver on and the Eye Care colour profile chosen. I turned the refresh price right down to 60Hz as a result of I do know some individuals don’t care about refresh price (you’re all monsters, by the way in which), however I wasn’t prepared to show down the decision — for those who’re simply going to make use of this laptop computer at 1080p on a regular basis, it’s an goal waste of your cash. 

On my customary workplace workload, which makes use of round a dozen Chrome tabs with Slack, some Spotify streaming, and the occasional Zoom name, I averaged 4 and a half hours to a cost. You could get an extended lifespan than I do (though most individuals don’t, in my expertise), however I’d be shocked if this factor lasts anybody a steady work day. 

At a $2,000 value level, any outcome near that is unambiguously disqualifying. It’s a bit much less egregious at $1,100. (It additionally helps that the Vivobook is a quick charger, reaching 60 % in simply over 40 minutes with gentle Chrome use.) Still, it isn’t what I’d name acceptable — particularly since the advantages that workstations with discrete graphics supply in alternate for all-day battery aren’t current right here. Even the XPS 13 Plus, which has a higher-resolution display screen, lasted a bit longer than this one. 

This battery life narrows the Vivobook’s viewers considerably. As somebody who likes to hang around elsewhere all through my day, I rapidly grew aggravated with how usually I needed to stand up and get the charger. Even in case your battery outcomes are extra beneficiant than mine, you need to count on to have this plugged in so much if you buy it.

The Vivobook S 14X OLED is notable for one factor: its display screen. That such an distinctive display screen is out there at such a low value is a superb factor to see. That it’s being paired with an H-series processor is all of the extra notable. But I very a lot query the target market; how many individuals who want an H-series processor and are prepared to sacrifice portability for its energy are content material with built-in graphics?

My finest shot at labeling this group is: somebody who actually desires an inexpensive OLED for media consumption. I suppose this is likely to be an important choice for a school movie research main. More cash for an XPS can get you higher audio system, battery life, construct high quality, and graphics — however if you’re very budget-constrained and the display screen is your prime precedence, then certain, get this.

For everybody else, Vivobook is a superb proof of idea however much less sensible as a purchase order. Devices which might be distinctive in concept also needs to work in apply. They should not paintings; individuals use them each day. With battery life this dangerous, it isn’t a sensible buy. It is kind of cool, although.