ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The Vivobook S 15, Asus’ first Copilot+ PC, usually retails for $1,299, however it’s presently on sale for $999 on Amazon.
- It’s modern and light-weight with a stunning OLED show, nice battery life, and snappy efficiency.
- Nonetheless, due to the character of Home windows on ARM laptops, it isn’t but optimized for sure apps and video games.
Asus’ first Copilot+ PC with the Snapdragon X Elite chip is the Vivobook S 15, a modern and light-weight 15-inch laptop computer with a stunning show and ultra-snappy efficiency. Proper now, it is presently $200 off the common worth, making it a steal for a number of the latest processor expertise available on the market.
The chassis’ minimalist, all-metal design is light-weight and ethereal, and it feels extra premium than final 12 months’s Vivobook S 14. It is solely 0.58 inches at its thinnest level, and it weighs simply 3.13 kilos, making it notably well-suited for hybrid or distant staff who need a highly effective laptop computer with a stunning show that does not weigh a ton.
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Like the entire new Home windows on ARM laptops launched this summer time, the Vivobook S 15 is quick and responsive with good battery life, but it surely comes with new expertise that is not absolutely optimized for all duties fairly but, which might restrict its use case for some customers.
For the typical shopper, nonetheless, that is the epitome of a laptop computer that appears and feels good proper out of the field, and it begins with the sensible 3K OLED show.
With an 89% screen-to-body ratio and ultra-thin bezels, the display is sensible and high-contrast, rocking a max 600-nit brightness and 120Hz refresh charge for some silky-smooth and crisp picture high quality.
The show’s 16:9 decision provides it that premium widescreen really feel, lending itself effectively to each watching and modifying media, but it surely won’t be for everybody. Most 15-inch laptops include a 16:10 decision, which could really feel extra “pure” for some, however in the end the excellence is delicate.
With 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, Asus is ready to hold prices near that $1,000 worth level with simply the correct quantity of {hardware} on this machine. And it feels even higher in tandem with the snappy, responsive efficiency the Snapdragon X Elite processor supplies.
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The Vivobook S 15 options the 12-core, 3.4GHz chip with a forty five TOPS NPU, the identical one discovered within the HP Omnibook X 14, however barely beneath the three.8GHz chip within the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Edge.
The benchmarking scores in Cinebench mirror that very same hierarchy, with numbers above the Omnibook and just under the Galaxy E-book 4 Edge. In testing the CPU’s efficiency, I received a single-core rating of 106 and a multi-core rating of 969. In Geekbench, I received a single-core of 2447 and a multi-core of 14384.
Keep in mind that these scores have been recorded whereas the gadget was plugged into energy. Whereas on battery, I received scores about 30% decrease — considerably extra of a distinction than I anticipated. That is compared to the HP Omnibook X 14, which had a a lot narrower hole in scores in my testing, something I noted as I was reviewing it.
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This paints an image of a laptop computer that has considerably variable battery life, relying on what you are doing and how much mode you’ve got the laptop computer in. There isn’t any escaping the ability this show requires, and in the event you’re somebody who sometimes ignores battery setting profiles and retains your machine blasting at “Finest Efficiency,” you could wish to alter the ability modes in both the MyAsus software program or in Home windows (or each) since you’ll see a drastic distinction.
That being mentioned, the Vivobook S 15’s 70Wh battery efficiency is nice, however the person should handle it to maximise its effectivity. Throughout the battery test that ZDNET runs on all laptops, I received about 10 and a half hours earlier than it died, however that quantity fluctuated in subsequent assessments with completely different energy mode settings.
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Optimization is the theme right here, and this additionally extends to its efficiency. The Home windows on ARM structure supplies incredible up-front efficiency in methods which can be instantly obvious to most customers. However while you begin wanting carefully at extra specialised duties, issues have the potential to get difficult.
For instance, the Vivobook S 15’s aforementioned 16:9 decision OLED display looks like it could be excellent for modifying video. Whereas the built-in Qualcomm Adreno GPU is as much as the duty, its interplay with completely different apps and their efficiency in Home windows (through Prism) remains to be a piece in progress.
Throughout my testing, I ran DaVinci Resolve for Home windows on ARM, and it labored principally positive, however the efficiency remains to be not 100% optimized. There was some lag, graphic stuttering, and quirkiness, particularly with 4K video. Adobe Photoshop, nonetheless, ran easily, with native AI-generative duties popping off seamlessly with assist from the NPU on board the Snapdragon. I anticipate efficiency to proceed bettering as Home windows improves and builders enhance their merchandise for the platform.
The opposite elephant within the room is gaming, which isn’t totally in control with Home windows on ARM. Sure, technically, you’ll be able to sport on this laptop computer, however many titles nonetheless do not run, and those that do are usually not well-optimized. Though the Vivobook S 15 seems like one thing you would possibly wish to sport on, I would not suggest it as a devoted gaming laptop computer. At the very least not but.
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As a substitute, I see the Vivobook S 15 as a main driver for distant staff or digital nomads who’re already integrating AI into their workflows and respect an aesthetic laptop computer with a superb show that handles media effectively. Supporting that use case, it has a beneficiant collection of ports: two USB-A ports on the right-hand facet, two USB-C on the left, an HDMI port, a MicroSD slot, and a headphone jack.
It additionally has a “full” keyboard (the quantity pad on the correct facet has barely smaller keys, as typical for sub-16-inch machines), which is satisfying and attentive to typing on. The keyboard has colourful LED backlighting that may be configured in many alternative lights and results. Nonetheless, once more, this isn’t one thing that I’d contemplate excessive on the precedence checklist when optimizing battery life.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
The Asus Vivobook S 15 is a modern and light-weight laptop computer with a stunning OLED show and strong battery life — so long as you are conscious of your energy utilization. I might suggest it to forward-thinking digital nomads who need a performant, AI-ready laptop computer with a blazing-fast Snapdragon X Elite processor. It is a strong funding for individuals who commonly swap between inventive work, productiveness software program, and media.
All issues thought-about, the sale price of $999 could be very aggressive for this laptop computer, notably for the show alone.
