Asus Vivobook Go 14 Review: A balancing act?

You don't need to sell your kidney to buy a good laptop. Nor do you need to settle for a sluggish snail that takes forever to load a webpage. There's a sweet spot between price and performance, where you can find laptops that are just right for your needs. Whether you're a student, a professional, or a casual user, you can get a laptop that can handle your work and play without breaking the bank. With increasing prices in mind, a Rs 50,000 budgets seems to offer that sweet spot and we have one new strong contender in that category--ASUS Vivobook Go 14 (E1404). 

In this review, we will explore what works in favour of the new Vivobook laptop and some of the elements that could have made the machine a better buy. The laptop is not flashy in anyway but its also not plain Jane. It is powered by AMD and also has some interesting design touches to make it stand out. 

Specs and Price of ASUS Vivobook Go 14 (Review Unit):

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7520U with Radeon Graphics
• GPU:AMD Radeon Graphics
• RAM: 8.00GB 
• OS: Windows 11 Home Single Language
• Price: Rs 52,990

Performance

The ASUS Vivobook Go 14 (E1404) is a mid-budget laptop that aims to appeal to a wide variety of audiences. The pricing starts at Rs 42,990. It has an AMD Ryzen 7000 Series Mobile Processor, LPDDR5 memory, and up to 512 GB of SSD storage. We tested the laptop for a couple of weeks and the performance was more than sufficient. Most of the usage involved opening multiple browsers with multiple tabs open at all times. ASUS Vivobook Go 14 (E1404) offers solid performance. The laptop is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 7020 family of processors, the laptop is available in two variants - Ryzen 5 7520U and Ryzen 3 7320U. The laptop also features AMD Radeon graphics, which are suitable for casual gaming and photo/video editing. Daily workflows are smooth on the laptop. However, there are a few software glitches that ASUS needs to iron out. I often got locked out of the system after it went to sleep. I fixed it by opening the task manager. Apart from this, the Vivobook Go 14 (E1404) is a good performer for daily tasks. In terms of gaming, you can run light titles with ease but extended gaming can lead to overheating resulting in a drop in battery and overall performance.

Design

The ASUS Vivobook Go 14 (E1404) uses plastic for the most part which makes it extremely light. ASUS has done a good job of offering a metal-like finish on the top shell. It is fairly fingerprint resistant and smooth to the touch. However, the Vivobook branding could be placed more unintrusively. The company claims to have tested the laptop using US military standards. There's a minor flex in the screen which is definitely better than competition in this price segment. The laptop has a 180-degree lay-flat hinge and a physical webcam shield for privacy which adds much-required functionality. 

Display

ASUS Vivobook GO 14 has a 14.0-inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS display panel with a 60Hz refresh rate, 250 nits of brightness and a 45 per cent NTSC color gamut. The laptop display is decent enough for indoor work but don't expect a lot from the panel. It does its job well but the colours are not very punchy. For display enthusiasts, ASUS has launched an OLED version of the Vivobook which is slightly more expensive. The colours will be much punchier in the OLED model. For general workflows, the screen does its job well without causing any kind of strain. The laptop gets an anti-glare display which can't be possible with an OLED panel. The laptop gets NanoEdge design with slim bezels and 83 per cent screen-to-body ratio which helps with its compact footprint. It is available in three colourways - Cool Silver, Mixed Black, and Grey Green.

Also read: ASUS ProArt Mouse (MD300) launched in India with a unique dial; check price, features, availability

Miscellaneous

The ASUS Vivobook  Go 14 (E1404) comes with some handy features, such as a complete num key functionality with virtual NumberPad 2.0 on the touchpad, AI Noise canceling technology for clearer calls, and a lifetime Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021 subscription included. The laptop also features an HD webcam with a physical privacy shutter. In terms of connectivity, the laptop has USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-C), USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB 2.0, HDMI 1.4, and 3.5mm combo audio. The type-C port cannot be used for charging the laptop. MyASUS is pre-installed for system-wide customization and diagnostics. 

Cons

One of the biggest issues with the laptop is a lack of backlit keyboard. This makes it difficult to type in darker environments. 

In terms of design, the numbers on the touchback are permanent and are not backlit either, which could make the trackpad look busier 

Occasional glitches on the password-entering page which could be resolved by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Delete. However, this could be fixed in the next update

Verdict

The cons mentioned above are definitely not deal breakers. The lack of a backlit keyboard in this price segment shouldn't sway the buyer the other way. However, it still comes down to user preference. The Vivobook Go 14 is a decent laptop in an extremely competitive price segment. A few omissions are a part of the balancing to reach the price segment. The Asus Vivobook Go 14 is a rare find when it comes to the price to performance ratio.