Asus Vivobook S 15 assessment: A strong however drab Copilot Plus PC

Value When Reviewed

$1,299.99

Greatest Costs As we speak: Asus Vivobook S 15

The Asus Vivobook S 15 is one in all over half a dozen PC laptop computer makers which have joined Microsoft in launching the brand new Copilot Plus PCs, all of which at the moment have Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors. They mark a significant shift in the kind of {hardware} that’s obtainable in Home windows laptops, however you wouldn’t know that from wanting on the Vivobook S 15. It’s a completely typical laptop computer and, though nice to make use of, Asus’ determination to play it protected makes the Vivobook tougher to advocate.

In search of extra choices? Try PCWorld’s roundup of one of the best laptops obtainable proper now.

Asus Vivobook S 15: Specs and options

The star of the present right here is undoubtedly the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor. The Asus Vivobook S 15 I obtained for assessment had the Elite model, which is an improve over the Snapdragon X Plus and brings two extra processor cores. The Snapdragon is paired with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB strong state drive, which is typical for mid-range Home windows laptops..

• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite XE 78 100
• Reminiscence: 16GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: Qualcomm Adreno
• Show: 15.6-inch 2880 x 1620 OLED with 120Hz refresh price and HDR
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 strong state drive 
• Webcam: 1080p with dual-mic array and bodily privateness shutter
• Connectivity: 2x USB-C 4, 2x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm combo audio, microSD card reader
• Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: Home windows Hi there facial recognition
• Battery capability: 70 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 13.88 x 8.93 x 0.63 inches
• Weight: 3.13 kilos
• MSRP: $1,299.99

Pricing begins at $1,099 for the entry-level mannequin with the Snapdragon X Plus and a 512GB strong state drive. The mannequin that I examined, with the Snapdragon Elite and 1TB strong state drive, was priced at $1,299. That’s not costly for a Home windows PC with a Qualcomm processor (the least costly begin at $999).

Asus Vivobook S 15: Design and construct high quality

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

If anybody from Asus with management over the corporate’s design reads this assessment, I’m begging you: please discover a new design language that helps ASUS laptops stand out. I’ve reviewed laptops lengthy sufficient to recollect the corporate’s great “concentric circle” design, which at all times let me know I used to be taking a look at an Asus. In comparison with that, the Asus Vivobook S 15 is as bland as oatmeal.

My complaints come all the way down to the main points. When closed, the laptop computer’s silver aluminum physique has essentially the most generic look and texture possible. When opened, the laptop computer is revealed to have the identical texture and look inside, and a bland silver keyboard (which, as is typical for such keyboards, doesn’t fairly match the luster and hue of the laptop computer’s physique) stretches out throughout the inside. Frustratingly, I discover it even much less distinctive than different Asus Vivobook and Zenbook laptops that I’ve reviewed over the previous few years.

Nevertheless, the Vivobook S 15’s construct high quality chalks up a win. It’s a skinny and light-weight laptop computer, weighing simply 3.13 kilos and measuring solely 0.63 inches thick. Regardless of that, it feels inflexible when picked up, and even the show lid permits solely a touch of flex when opened. The Vivobook S 15 is noticeably extra inflexible than a typical LG Gram or Acer Swift laptop computer, that are barely lighter however roughly equal in girth.

Asus Vivobook S 15: Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Asus Vivobook S 15 has a spacious keyboard with a quantity pad. The one keys which might be noticeably smaller than normal are the quantity pad keys, that are slim, however that’s typical for a 15 or 16-inch laptop computer that features a quantity pad. The quantity pad keys stay massive sufficient to make use of simply. A white keyboard backlight is customary, too, and by default activates robotically when the keyboard is in use.

Key really feel is strong however not particular. Every key prompts with good key journey and a definitive motion that has some clicky tactile really feel. It’s not a lot totally different than the keyboards on price-competitive laptops, however I feel most individuals will discover it comfy to make use of for hours on finish.

The touchpad measures about 5 inches huge and a bit of greater than three inches deep, which is widespread for a laptop computer of this measurement. Some opponents just like the Dell XPS 16, Apple’s MacBook Professional, and Razer Blade have a tendency to supply bigger touchpads, however they’re costlier. 

The Vivobook’s touchpad is tremendously offset to the left of the laptop computer, although, to maintain it centered beneath the spacebar. That may make the palm relaxation really feel cramped on the left aspect of the laptop computer, as my palm got here to relaxation on the left fringe of the touchpad. Fortuitously, I didn’t discover issues with unintended inputs attributable to my left palm grazing the touchpad, which felt responsive and correct the whole time I used it.

Asus Vivobook S 15: Show, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

Asus ships the Vivobook S 15 with a 15.6-inch OLED show that has a 16:9 side ratio and a decision of 2880 x 1620. It’s show with few perks and quirks.

First, let’s speak about side ratio. The 16:9 side ratio is now unusual amongst mid-range and high-end Home windows laptops. Many have moved to make use of a 16:10 side ratio, which is barely taller. Going again to 16:9 makes the show really feel cramped when viewing internet pages, paperwork, and different content material that’s vertically oriented.

That apart, the show is gorgeous in all of the methods typical for an OLED panel. It advantages from an unimaginable distinction ratio that gives a practical sense of depth and immersion, in addition to a large and vibrant colour gamut that helps content material seize your consideration. Brightness, too, is strong.

HDR is a perk, because the show is VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 licensed. That’s a better stage certification than most opponents and provides HDR content material a bit extra affect on this laptop computer than on the Acer Swift Edge 16 and LG Gram 16.

The Vivobook S 15’s ship sufficient quantity at their most and provide a crisp, clear midrange in most conditions, though music with a heavy bass line could cause some noticeable distortion. Exterior audio system are nonetheless an enormous improve, however the laptop computer’s audio is nice for a skinny and light-weight Home windows laptop computer.

Asus Vivobook S 15: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

Each Asus Vivobook S 15 has a 1080p webcam with a most framerate of 30 frames per second. The digicam has a large subject of view—which is perhaps good or dangerous, relying on the way you wish to use it—and acceptable picture high quality. The digicam picks up a transparent picture with good colour replica however will nonetheless look reasonably comfortable and grainy, particularly in a dimly lit room. Nevertheless, it’s greater than usable for many video calls, and significantly better than the 720p webcams that had been widespread a number of years in the past.

The twin-microphone array is completely fitted to video calls. It picked up good quantity and offered my voice clearly. Background noise was tremendously lowered, too: just about not one of the noises in my room, together with a fan and low-volume music, made it into the recording. 

As a Copilot Plus PC, the Vivobook S 15 advantages from AI-driven studio results and noise cancellation. It may possibly even caption and translate video on-the-fly. These options can be found on different Copilot Plus PCs however, for the reason that Vivobook S 15 is among the many cheaper Copilot Plus PCs, it’s an inexpensive option to entry them.

Biometric login is supported, too, although Home windows Hi there facial recognition. The function is straightforward to arrange and works in all kinds of lighting situations. A fingerprint reader is just not included.

Asus Vivobook S 15: Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Asus Vivobook S 15 has mixture of forward-looking and legacy connectivity. It consists of two USB-C 4 ports, each of which help DisplayPort Alternate Mode and USB Energy Supply, which suggests the USB-C ports can be utilized to hook up with an exterior show or to cost the laptop computer. The laptop computer additionally ships with a USB-C charger that delivers as much as 90 watts of energy.

The laptop computer additionally has two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, so it’s straightforward to attach a wired keyboard and mouse. Further ports embrace an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, and a microSD card reader. This offers sufficient ports to deal with each fashionable gadgets, most of that are going to make use of USB-C, and older gadgets that also depend on USB-A. The one port lacking is Ethernet.

Most customers will forgive that, nevertheless, as a result of the laptop computer’s wi-fi connectivity is great. It helps Wi-Fi 7, which is the most recent and quickest Wi-Fi customary obtainable, and Bluetooth 5.4, which once more is the latest model of that customary. The Vivobook S 15’s wi-fi connectivity is future-proof: it’ll possible be a decade, or extra, earlier than the laptop computer’s wi-fi connectivity turns into out of date

Asus Vivobook S 15: Efficiency

The bottom Asus Vivobook S 15 has a Snapdragon X Plus chip with 10 processor cores, however the Vivbook S 15 I reviewed had an improve to the Snapdragon X Elite with 12 processor cores. The chip additionally has Qualcomm Adreno built-in graphics. It’s a succesful chip that may typically defeat Intel Core Extremely and AMD Ryzen processors, although not in each occasion.

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

2438 / 14270 

First up is Geekbench 6, an artificial processor benchmark. Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite posted glorious multi-core scores on this take a look at. That’s as a result of the Snapdragon X Elite has 12 processor cores, none of that are “environment friendly” or “low-power” cores. Intel processors have increased core counts, however normally have extra “environment friendly” cores than “efficiency” cores. AMD Ryzen processors don’t use “environment friendly” cores, however Ryzen cell chips max out at eight cores, 4 lower than the Snapdragon X Elite.

The Asus Vivobook S 15 is a bit slower on this take a look at than some opponents, however the variations are so small they’re unlikely to matter in real-world use.

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

Cinebench R24, a closely multithreaded benchmark, additionally posts glorious outcomes on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X {hardware}. Going for a complete of 12 efficiency cores pays off in any workload that leans closely on multithreaded processor efficiency. You’d must go for an Intel chip from the corporate’s extra power-hungry lineup, just like the Core i7-14700HX, to hurry previous this end result, and no laptop computer with that processor might be as skinny or mild because the Asus Vivobook 15 S.

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

Now we transfer on to 3D benchmarks with 3DMark Time Spy and Night time Raid. These assessments are key. 3DMark Night time Raid is Arm-native, that means it’s optimized to run properly on Qualcomm chips (and others which use the Arm instruction set). Time Spy is just not Arm-native, nevertheless, so it runs by way of Home windows’ PRISM emulator.

The distinction is stark. Qualcomm’s Adreno appears to, in principle, show simply as succesful as one of the best Intel Arc and AMD Radeon built-in graphics resolution—however that’s solely true if a 3D sport or software has an Arm native model. Adreno’s 3D efficiency inevitably falls behind in apps not optimized for it.

That, as I not too long ago investigated with an in-depth take a look at of over a dozen video games, is an issue. A number of Arm-native video games exist, however Steam, GOG, and the Epic Video games Retailer don’t distribute Home windows on Arm video games but.

It’s value remembering that the Vivobook S 15’s worth of $1,299 at the moment places it in league with laptops which have discrete graphics just like the Asus Vivobook 16X OLED and Acer Swift X 16. It’s one thing of an apples-to-oranges comparability, as a result of these options are heavier and have far shorter battery life. Nevertheless, it reveals that if you would like good 3D graphics efficiency at a mid-range worth, the Vivobook S 15 is just not for you.

Asus Vivobook S 15: Battery life

A large 70 watt-hour battery is discovered within the Asus Vivobook S 15. That, paired with the environment friendly Snapdragon X Elite processor, hints at excellent battery life. The Vivobook S 15 doesn’t fairly hit that mark, although its battery life remains to be sturdy.

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

IDG / Matthew Smith

The Vivobook S 15 endured roughly 15 and a half hours in our customary battery take a look at, which loops a 4K file of the quick movie Tears of Metal. It’s end result though, because the graph reveals, it’s in the direction of the decrease finish of what we’ve skilled with new Copilot Plus PCs which have Qualcomm Snapdragon X inside. 

Actual-world use mirrored the battery take a look at. The Vivobook S 15 sips battery, however much less so than another laptops with Qualcomm {hardware}. Apple’s MacBooks with Apple Silicon can last more, and a uncommon handful of Home windows laptops with AMD Ryzen 8000-series chips are practically as environment friendly.

Asus Vivobook S 15: Conclusion

The Asus Vivobook S 15 is a reliable entry into the Copilot Plus PC enviornment, however one which struggles to face out from the options. It delivers good efficiency, lengthy battery life, and a pleasant mixture of wired and wi-fi connectivity—however the identical is mostly true of different Copilot Plus PCs. I’m additionally not a fan of Asus’ ho-hum design, which isn’t becoming for what ought to be a flagship laptop computer. The Vivobook S 15 is an effective choose if you would like a skinny and light-weight 15-inch machine, although, and defeats options just like the Acer Swift Edge 16 and LG Gram 16.