ASUS Vivobook S 16 OLED Review
The ASUS Vivobook S 16 OLED is a new contender in the ever-growing market of thin-and-light laptops. This offering boasts a sleek design, a gorgeous OLED display, and impressive battery life. But how does it fare in other aspects? Is it truly a well-rounded device, or are there hidden shortcomings? This review dives deep into the ASUS Vivobook S 16 OLED. It explores the laptop’s design, display, performance, features, and everyday usability. This information will help you decide if it’s the right choice for you.
A Look and Feel That Impresses
ASUS has opted for a modern design aesthetic with the Vivobook S 16 OLED. The majority of the laptop’s construction utilises aluminium, offering a premium feel and a touch of sturdiness. ASUS employs a CNC machining process to achieve a smooth and refined finish, adding to the overall sleekness. The laptop is incredibly thin and light, tipping the scales at a mere 1.5 kilograms. This makes it a perfect companion for students and professionals. It is also ideal for anyone who needs a highly portable device. It is suitable for both work and entertainment on the go.
Colour options are limited but tasteful. Neutral Black provides a classic and professional look, while Mist Blue offers a more modern and eye-catching alternative.
A Display That Stuns
One of the most captivating features of the Vivobook S 16 OLED is undoubtedly its display. ASUS has equipped this laptop with a stunning 16-inch 3.2K (3200 x 2000) OLED panel. The 16:10 aspect ratio provides a more immersive viewing experience compared to traditional 16:9 displays. This makes it ideal for tasks like browsing the web. It is also better for watching movies or editing photos. The display boasts a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, ensuring silky-smooth visuals for fast-paced content and gaming.
But the true magic lies in the OLED technology itself. Thanks to ASUS Lumina OLED technology, the display delivers exceptional brightness, deep blacks, and incredibly vivid colours. This translates to a truly captivating viewing experience, whether you’re working on creative projects, enjoying multimedia content, or simply browsing the web. For added peace of mind, the display is VESA DisplayHDR True Black certified, ensuring accurate colour reproduction for professional use. It also features TUV low blue light certification to reduce eye strain during extended use.
ASUS goes a step further by including OLED Care technology to help prevent burn-in, a common concern with OLED displays. The company even offers a free OLED screen exchange program for any burn-in issues that may arise within the warranty period. With all these features combined, ASUS promises a display that is not only beautiful but also reliable and long-lasting.
Sound That Gets the Job Done, But Not Much More
The ASUS Golden Ear team has tuned and Harman Kardon has certified the pair of bottom-firing speakers featured in the Vivobook S 16 OLED. While the speakers are loud enough for everyday use like watching YouTube videos or attending video conferences, I found the sound quality to be quite decent, particularly for music and movies. The details were picked out impressively well especially when you consider that these are just laptop speakers. However, I do find myself reaching for my headphones at times when I need that extra oomph.
A Keyboard for Work and Play
For many users, the keyboard is a crucial factor in choosing a laptop. The Vivobook S 16 OLED features a backlit keyboard with customisable RGB lighting. This allows users to personalise the look of their keyboard and choose lighting effects that suit their taste or workflow. Despite that, I do feel that the lighting is a little on the weaker side and is barely noticeable. Beyond aesthetics, the keyboard itself offers a comfortable typing experience. The keys have a satisfying amount of travel and provide good tactile feedback. I found it to be quiet yet responsive, making it suitable for extended typing sessions without fatigue.
A unique feature of the keyboard is the dedicated Copilot button. This button allows users to instantly access Microsoft’s AI tool, which can be helpful for various tasks. However, I feel the placement of the Copilot button to be somewhat inconvenient, as they accidentally triggered it while typing on multiple occasions. Ideally, ASUS could consider placing this button in a different location on the keyboard or even providing a dedicated space for it elsewhere on the laptop to minimise accidental presses.
A Touchpad That Makes a Difference
ASUS has equipped the Vivobook S 16 OLED with a generously sized touchpad. Compared to the previous generation, this touchpad is a whopping 40% larger, providing users with more space for navigation and multi-touch gestures. The touchpad also features silent touchpad technology, which reduces the clicking noise and creates a more pleasant user experience.
Seeing Clearly: The Webcam
The Vivobook S 16 OLED comes equipped with a webcam that ASUS calls the ASUS AiSense Camera. This webcam boasts AI-enabled features like Windows Studio Effects. These effects include Background Effects, Eye Tracking, and Auto Framing, which can be particularly useful during video calls for both professional and personal use. Background Effects allow you to blur your background for increased privacy or replace it entirely with a virtual background. Eye Tracking helps to ensure you’re always looking directly at the camera during video calls, and Auto Framing automatically keeps you centred in the frame, eliminating the need for constant adjustments.
However, privacy remains a concern for many laptop users. Fortunately, ASUS addresses this by including a physical slider that covers the camera lens when not in use. This allows you to completely cover your webcam when you don’t need it, providing peace of mind.
Connectivity Options Galore
The Vivobook S 16 OLED is well-equipped when it comes to connectivity options. This is a welcome sight in an era where many laptops are sacrificing ports for a sleeker design. The Vivobook S 16 OLED boasts two Thunderbolt 4 ports, which offer blazing-fast data transfer speeds of up to 40 Gbps, DisplayPort functionality, and Power Delivery for charging your laptop or connecting external displays. There are also two USB 3.2 ports for connecting various peripherals like external storage drives, printers, or mice. A microSD card slot provides additional storage expandability, and a headphone jack ensures compatibility with wired headphones or headsets.
The inclusion of a full-sized HDMI 2.1 port is a major plus for users who want to connect their laptop to an external 4K monitor for enhanced productivity or entertainment. This eliminates the need for additional adapters, making it a convenient solution for presentations or multitasking with multiple displays.
Staying Powered Up: Impressive Battery Life and Fast Charging
Another key selling point of the Vivobook S 16 OLED is its impressive battery life. The laptop is equipped with a 75Wh battery that can deliver up to 8 hours of continuous use on a single charge with light tasks like web browsing or document editing. This makes it ideal for students who need a laptop that can last a full day of classes and studying, or professionals who need to work on the go without worrying about constantly searching for an outlet. Even with more demanding tasks like gaming, I was able to squeeze out a respectable four hours of continuous use before needing to recharge.
ASUS complements this impressive battery life with fast charging capabilities. The included 90W charger can take the laptop from 0% to 60% charge in just 49 minutes. This is a significant advantage, allowing you to quickly top up your battery during short breaks or while travelling, ensuring you’re never left without power for too long. ASUS also boasts that the laptop is compatible with various chargers, including airline chargers, portable chargers, or power banks, providing additional flexibility for on-the-go users.
The Brains of the Operation: Powerful Performance
Under the hood, the Vivobook S 16 OLED packs a punch with Intel’s latest Meteor Lake architecture. This new processor architecture boasts improved performance and efficiency compared to previous generations. The specific model included in the Vivobook S 16 OLED is the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H processor. This processor is paired with Intel Arc Graphics, offering a capable solution for handling everyday tasks and even some light gaming. The laptop also boasts a dedicated Neural Processing Unit (NPU), which provides AI capabilities for various tasks. This can be beneficial for applications that leverage AI, such as image and video editing, or even for background noise reduction during video calls.
One of the most exciting aspects of the Meteor Lake architecture is its modular design. The processor is comprised of four unique tiles: Compute tile, SOC tile, GPU tile, and IO tile. These tiles are connected through Intel’s Foveros 3D packaging technology. This allows for more efficient use of power and space within the laptop, ultimately contributing to improved performance and battery life. The Intel AI Boost unit further optimises performance for tasks that leverage AI, making the Vivobook S 16 OLED a well-rounded performer.
Gaming Performance is Impressive
For many users, gaming performance is a crucial factor when choosing a laptop. While the Vivobook S 16 OLED isn’t specifically designed for hardcore gaming, it can handle some lighter titles surprisingly well. I was able to play games like GTA 5 at Very High settings with a stable 60 frames. There were occasional slowdowns, but they were infrequent and didn’t significantly impact gameplay. It’s important to remember that this isn’t a gaming laptop, so attempting to run AAA titles at the highest settings might not yield the best results.
However, for casual gamers or those who enjoy older or less demanding titles, the Vivobook S 16 OLED should provide a satisfactory experience. The Intel Arc Graphics boasts up to two times the performance compared to the previous Iris Xe graphics, offering a noticeable improvement for casual gaming and everyday tasks that involve graphics processing.
Other specs
Beyond the processor and graphics, the Vivobook S 16 OLED comes equipped with 16GB of fast LPDDR5X RAM and a 512GB SSD. This combination ensures smooth multitasking performance and allows you to load applications and files quickly. The LPDDR5X RAM offers faster data transfer speeds compared to traditional DDR4 RAM, further contributing to a snappy and responsive user experience. The 512GB SSD provides ample storage space for your documents, photos, videos, and applications. However, users with extensive storage needs may want to consider an external hard drive or cloud storage solution for additional space.
To keep the laptop cool under pressure, ASUS has implemented an enhanced cooling solution. This solution features dual 97-blade fans, dual vents, and two heat pipes. The fans are equipped with dust filters that help to prevent dust and debris from entering the chassis, ensuring optimal cooling performance over time. I feel that the cooling system did its job effectively, keeping the laptop from overheating even during demanding tasks.
Software
The Vivobook S 16 OLED comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Home. This operating system offers a familiar and user-friendly experience for most users. Additionally, the laptop is Intel Evo certified. This certification signifies that the laptop has been tested and meets specific criteria set by Intel regarding design, charging speeds, and battery life. Essentially, it ensures a certain level of quality and performance from the hardware.
The Vivobook S 16 OLED also supports Bluetooth 5.2 for connecting wireless peripherals like headphones or mice. It boasts Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, offering faster and more reliable wireless internet connections compared to previous Wi-Fi standards. This is particularly beneficial for users who rely on cloud storage, streaming services, or online gaming. For content creators and media enthusiasts, the laptop supports 8K HDR and AV1 codecs for smooth playback of high-resolution videos.
The Verdict: A Stylish and Capable All-Rounder
The ASUS Vivobook S 16 OLED is a compelling option for users seeking a stylish, portable, and well-rounded laptop. Its stunning OLED display is a showstopper, offering exceptional brightness, vivid colours, and a smooth viewing experience. The impressive battery life and fast charging capabilities make it ideal for users on the go who need a device that can last a full day without needing to be plugged in. The powerful processor and capable graphics ensure smooth performance for everyday tasks and even some light gaming.
While the sound quality might not be ideal for audiophiles, it’s sufficient for everyday use. The accidental key presses with the Copilot button can be a minor annoyance, but hopefully, ASUS can address this placement in future iterations.
Overall, the ASUS Vivobook S 16 OLED offers excellent value for its price point. With its combination of premium design, stunning display, long battery life, and capable performance, it’s a strong contender in the market for thin-and-light laptops. Whether you’re a student, professional, or content creator, the Vivobook S 16 OLED is a portable and reliable companion. It’s definitely worth considering. However, if you prioritise top-tier audio quality or hardcore gaming performance, you might want to explore alternative options.
The ASUS Vivobook S 16 OLED has a starting retail price of RM4,699. You can purchase the laptop through the official ASUS Malaysia eStore as well as their official stores on Shopee and Lazada.
