ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED review: Affordable OLED brilliance

The Asus Vivobook S 15 OLED is a laptop that aims to offer a combination of affordability, good display quality, and decent specifications. It's not a laptop that might break your bank but still, does it really warrant your money and attention? Let's dive into the details to provide a quick view of the factors that work in favour and some that work against the new laptop from Asus. 

Display

The display is the strong suit of the laptop. Undoubtedly the most prominent feature of the Asus Vivobook S OLED. It boasts a 15.6-inch 2.8K OLED panel with a resolution of 2880 x 1620 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The 100% DCI-P3 coverage ensures accurate and vibrant colors, further validated by Pantone and Delta

Design and Portability

The Asus Vivobook S OLED boasts a relatively sleek and compact design despite its 15.6-inch display. The laptop features an aluminum lid and an ABS body. Additionally, the 180° ErgoLift hinge allows for more flexible ergonomics. The laptop is pretty light at just 1.7 kg and is 17.9mm thin. It is easy to carry around in a standard saddle bag or a back pack. The laptop is available in colour variants such as Midnight Black, Cool Silver, Solar Blue, and Cream White. The Cool Silver review unit was good at camouflaging fingerprints.    

Performance

Under the hood, the Asus Vivobook S OLED offers a wide variety of performance options. It can be configured with Intel's latest processors, including the Intel Core i9-13900H, Core i7-13700H, and Core i5-13500H. Considering that these belong to the H-series chipsets, the processors utilize a 10 nm architecture. The laptop comes with up to 16GB of LPDDR5 RAM clocked at 4800 MHz. In our day to day tasks and multitasking, the laptop handled it with ease. The laptop also includes a PCIe Gen 4 SSD with options for 512GB or 1TB storage, offering fast data transfer rates of up to 3.5 Gbps. Average browsing and basic editing on the laptop is a breeze. However, some graphically intensive gaming titles can pump up the heat produced by the CPU and GPU. Another step where the Vivobook S 15 OLED falters a little is the use of Iris XE graphics.  

Connectivity and Convenience

The Asus Vivobook S OLED offers a good selection of ports and connectivity options. It includes Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 1.4, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack, among others. The laptop also gets Wi-Fi 6E which ensures faster and more stable wireless connectivity. The glass touchpad is responsive and provides a smooth user experience. At the same time, the Full HD 3DNR camera with an Infrared sensor and Windows Hello support offers facial recognition login. The laptop is equipped with a 75 WHrs battery and supports 90W fast charging. It is no battery champion but easily lasts up to 4 hours with casual browsing and video streaming. 

Additional Features and Software

The Asus Vivobook S15 OLED comes bundled with Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021. It also includes features like AI Noise Cancelation, MyASUS, and Alexa integration. While the laptop gets support for Dolby Atmos and Smart Amp technology, the speakers are not as loud as desired.  

Verdict

The ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED offers a range of features and specifications that are a steal at this price point. The standout feature is its display which makes it ideal for content consumption. However, the weak audio output is counterintuitive in this regard. The large trackpad and a good keypad contribute to comfortable typing and navigation. 

A few drawbacks to consider include the Iris Xe graphics which may not be ideal for heavy gaming enthusiasts. Additionally, some users, especially professionals may find the display to be too warm for editing visuals. Those looking for a machine to go through basic daily tasks and need a good display to watch high-quality content can easily opt for the S15 OLED.