Intel’s Lunar Lake processors make this one merely unimaginable

Pros:
– Strong efficiency
– Massive improve graphic efficiency
– Gorgeous OLED show
– Excellent battery life
– Solid port choice
– Premium design
– Strong constructed high quality, regardless of thin-and-light kind issue
– Solid Harman Kardon audio system

Cons:
– Slightly costlier that it must be
– Web cam may be disappointing at occasions
– Trackpad lacks haptic suggestions, and may be very tight

Price: Starts at Rs 149,990/-
Rating: 4.5/5

The Asus Zenbook S14 is likely one of the first ultrabooks to pack Intel’s new Lunar Lake processors, also called the Core Ultra 7 200 collection chips. These are the successors to final 12 months’s Meteor Lake processors and produce some large enhancements, particularly round effectivity. Intel has made these new chips extra battery-friendly, with higher CPU efficiency, an enormous graphics enhance by the built-in Arc GPU, and a slight improve in AI efficiency because of the NPU.

Intel has a fairly intelligent technique right here, particularly when you think about Qualcomm’s concentrate on battery life. Intel has been making processors for ages, and x86 has confirmed itself over time. Nearly all software program is constructed round x86, so it’s a strong alternative for many individuals. ARM, alternatively, provides distinctive battery life and portability, but it surely nonetheless struggles with compatibility for sure video games and productiveness apps — particularly in company settings. While the state of affairs’s bettering, ARM isn’t fairly there but for everybody.

Intel is positioning itself as the higher alternative for individuals who want these apps to work nicely, promising that its newest Core Ultra 200 chips supply comparable effectivity and performance-per-watt to ARM. In some circumstances, the x86 route is just the smarter alternative.

That brings us to the Zenbook S14. This laptop computer is tremendous slim — simply half an inch thick — and weighs round 1.2 kg, making it extremely transportable. And that 3K OLED show? Gorgeous.

But does the Zenbook S14 dwell as much as the hype? Is x86 actually nonetheless the most suitable choice, or is ARM the way in which ahead? Let’s discover out.

Asus ZenBook S14 OLED Review: Design and construct high quality
The Asus Zenbook S14 OLED stands out with its glossy portability, because of Intel’s new Lunar Lake processors. This ultrabook combines a 14-inch show with an impressively slim profile, making it a great companion for anybody who wants a robust but light-weight laptop computer.

Weighing simply over 1.2kg, it’s simple to slide right into a bag, so carrying it round doesn’t really feel like a chore. Whether you’re engaged on the go or just want a compact machine for on a regular basis duties, the Zenbook S14 delivers with out weighing you down.

When it involves design, the Zenbook S14 retains issues attention-grabbing with its daring, angular traces. Asus has gone for a extra distinctive look in comparison with the extra minimalist designs from rivals like Apple and Microsoft.

The keyboard options sharp, squared-off keys, and the warmth grille above the keyboard provides a pleasant contact of character. The total impact is a contemporary, utilitarian look that’s not afraid to face out.

A spotlight of the Zenbook S14 is its hinge. It’s strong, clean, and really easy to open that you are able to do it with only one finger. Plus, it stays regular even when bumped, guaranteeing that the display doesn’t wobble uncontrollably.

Another notable function is the Ceraluminium end on the lid, combining ceramic and aluminium to create a glossy, geometric design that feels premium to the contact. The floor has a delicate, virtually paper-like texture, including a tactile layer to the laptop computer’s elegant look. It is available in Scandinavian White and Zumaia Grey, although the matte end can present fingerprints, particularly within the darker colors.

We additionally just like the geometric grille design of the vents on the prime of the laptop computer, simply above the keyboard. Asus tells us that it’s made utilizing CNC machining, and vastly helps with the thermals. The cherry on prime of the improved thermal administration can be how aesthetic it seems to be.

Despite its slim body, the Zenbook S14 is constructed to final. It’s MIL-STD-810H military-grade licensed, so it may possibly deal with a couple of knocks throughout journey with out worrying about injury. The laptop computer’s development feels strong, and whereas there’s a tiny quantity of flex when making use of stress to the centre of the keyboard, the display stays largely inflexible, a testomony to its sturdiness.

Connectivity-wise, the Zenbook S14 covers all of the necessities with one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, HDMI 2.1 for exterior shows, and a 3.5mm audio jack. It would’ve been good to see an SD card slot for individuals who depend on it for pictures or video modifying, however in any other case, the port choice is spectacular for such a slim design.

On the wi-fi entrance, you get dual-band WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4, guaranteeing clean, high-speed web and system connections. We additionally don’t get any LTE choices.

Asus ZenBook S14 OLED Review: Keyboard and trackpad
The Asus Zenbook S14 OLED includes a keyboard and touchpad that really feel premium but sensible. The keys have a delicate, barely textured end that’s satisfying to kind on, providing simply the correct quantity of suggestions.

The keyboard’s low-profile design doesn’t really feel hole, because of the strong decrease casing that enhances the typing expertise. The keystrokes are brief however deep sufficient to make typing snug. Plus, the keyboard has an extremely brilliant backlight, making it simple to see in numerous lighting circumstances.

Surprisingly, the journey is respectable, particularly given the Zenbook’s slim construct. In phrases of typing consolation, I’d say this is likely one of the higher ultrabooks round.

However, the trackpad is a little bit of a letdown. While it’s a very good measurement, glass, and clean to the contact, it feels a bit sluggish and stiff in motion. On the plus aspect, it handles gestures nicely, and Asus has added a couple of additional options, like quantity and brightness management, in addition to video scrubbing, utilizing edge gestures. While the trackpad works, it’s not as fluid or responsive as I’d like, particularly in comparison with the remainder of the laptop computer’s glossy design.

Asus ZenBook S14 OLED Review: Webcam and Speakers
The Asus ZenBook S14 OLED comes outfitted with the ASUS AiSense Camera, a full HD digital camera with an IR sensor that helps Windows Hello. Positioned on the skinny prime bezel, this digital camera provides clean 1080p decision for digital conferences, guaranteeing clear video high quality. It additionally options auto-reframing, which mechanically adjusts the sector of view, an amazing addition for individuals who have a tendency to maneuver round throughout calls.

Thanks to the highly effective NPU, the laptop computer totally helps Windows’ AI-powered Studio Effects, a part of Copilot+, bringing enhanced video high quality and real-time changes.

While the Windows Hello-compatible webcam provides handy logins, the 1080p digital camera doesn’t present the sharpest element. It seems to be considerably grainy, particularly in low mild, which is usually a draw back in the event you’re used to high-end cameras.

As for audio, the ZenBook S14 OLED doesn’t disappoint. Equipped with Harman Kardon-branded audio system and Smart Amp Technology, it provides surprisingly good sound high quality for a skinny ultrabook.

The 4 drivers produce strong quantity, with respectable bass and minimal distortion, even when a number of audio tracks are enjoying. By default, the audio system have dynamic loudness, however you may fine-tune them for a extra refined sound. Whether you’re on a name, listening to music, or watching a video, the sound is obvious and full, making it one of many better-sounding Windows laptops on this class.

Asus ZenBook S14 OLED Review: Display
The Asus Zenbook S14 OLED’s 14-inch 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED touch-enabled show is really spectacular, providing sharp, vibrant visuals that make it stand out within the ultrabook class. With a 16:10 side ratio and a 120Hz refresh charge, the display offers a clean expertise, whether or not you’re looking, engaged on paperwork, or streaming motion pictures.

Its 500 nits peak brightness makes it brilliant sufficient for many indoor environments, although it struggles a bit in direct daylight. While it may not be the only option for outside work on sunny days, it’s actually not a dealbreaker for many customers.

The standout function of this show is its color accuracy. The Zenbook S14 OLED is Pantone-validated, which means the colors are true-to-life, making it excellent for individuals who want exact color copy for duties like picture modifying. The show can be TUV Rheinland-certified

With a 100 per cent P3 color gamut and VESA HDR True Black certification, the show covers a large colour vary, guaranteeing vibrant photos, deep blacks, and crisp whites. Watching movies or engaged on spreadsheets feels extra immersive with such wealthy and detailed visuals. Plus, with its sRGB 100 per cent color area protection, the Zenbook S14 OLED is a wonderful alternative for anybody who enjoys media consumption or wants color accuracy for skilled work.

Thanks to extensive viewing angles of the show, you gained’t lose color consistency even when viewing from the aspect. However, the shiny touchscreen floor can typically decide up reflections from surrounding mild, which can be a bit distracting in some settings. The touchscreen itself is clean and responsive, making navigation simple and intuitive, whether or not you’re scrolling by paperwork or utilizing gestures to swipe between apps.

The 16:10 side ratio additionally provides helpful vertical area, which is very useful for productiveness duties. Whether you’re engaged on a big spreadsheet or going by a prolonged PDF, the additional display actual property is extremely helpful.

Asus ZenBook S14 OLED Review: Performance
The Asus ZenBook S14 OLED is provided with Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V chip, a strong mid-tier processor from the brand new Core Ultra 200 collection. Though it’s not the top-of-the-line chip, it provides an amazing steadiness of efficiency, effectivity, and energy financial savings. The chip is constructed utilizing TSMC’s N3B lithography and packs 4 Performance-cores and 4 Efficiency-cores, providing a complete of 8 cores and eight threads.

This setup doesn’t embody hyper-threading, which limits multitasking barely, however the chip makes up for it with wonderful single-core efficiency. The base clock is 2.2GHz for each P-cores and E-cores, with the P-cores turbo-boosting to 4.8GHz and the E-cores reaching 3.7GHz. This makes the ZenBook S14 quick and environment friendly for on a regular basis duties.

In phrases of RAM, the ZenBook S14 comes with 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM clocked at 8533 MT/s in our take a look at unit. For storage, we get 512TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD, though you’ve an choice for 1TB SSD as nicely. Because the Intel Core Ultra 200 processors are an SoC, the RAM, iGPU NPU and controllers are all designed into the Chip. That is why, we’ll solely see a restricted variation in reminiscence configurations accessible to the person. Our recommendation can be to all the time go for the best RAM variants that you may accommodate in your price range.

This is greater than sufficient for many workplace purposes, mild artistic work, and even gaming, because the laptop computer runs easily with no noticeable slowdowns. The Intel Smart Cache, with a capability of 12MB, additionally helps pace up duties by holding regularly used knowledge available.

When it involves AI efficiency, Intel’s onboard Intel Arc 140V iGPU delivers 64 TOPs, whereas the NPU provides one other 45 TOPs, giving the ZenBook S14 a complete of 115 TOPs. While not the perfect measurement for total efficiency, this setup makes the laptop computer a powerful contender in AI-related duties, particularly for machine studying and processing.

In phrases of real-world efficiency, the ZenBook S14 handles typical enterprise duties with ease. Intel has prioritized single-core efficiency and built-in graphics, leading to higher effectivity and battery life than earlier generations. The chip performs persistently whether or not the laptop computer is plugged in or working on battery energy, making it nice for customers on the go.

For gaming, the Intel Arc GPU proves its value. Games like F1 23 and Cyberpunk 2077 run easily at Full HD decision with Intel’s XeSS upscaling bettering the visible high quality. While it’s not a substitute for a devoted gaming laptop computer, the ZenBook S14 can deal with informal gaming nicely sufficient, with environment friendly energy utilization as well.

Even throughout gaming periods, the laptop computer maintains an affordable 28W energy draw, guaranteeing higher efficiency with out sacrificing battery life. During video games, it could go as much as 35W however for should of the day, throughout irregular use, it could keep round 18W.

And all this whereas, the laptop computer stays cool, because of Asus’ intelligent thermal resolution that makes use of a mixture of bi-layer graphite sheet, and vapour chambers.

Although we did run a couple of benchmarks, we’ve got to say that at this time limit, they’re fairly pointless for one easy cause — Intel’s important goal with the Core Ultra 200 collection is Qualcomm and ARM processors. In some benchmarks, Intel outscored Qualcomm, and in some Qualcomm got here out on prime.

We additionally get a couple of nifty AI options from Asus. For instance, StoryCube is a superb media organising device that makes use of AI & ML to kind, tag and discover your media from throughout gadgets and purposes into one neat window.

What exacerbates this sentiment extra is the truth that ARM nonetheless can’t among the mostly used software program with out main glitches goes to be a sore level for some. The Intel Core Ultra 7 200V processors, in that case, turn out to be a no-nonsense engine for a laptop computer that can simply work — all the time.

Asus ZenBook S14 OLED Review: Battery
Intel clearly designed the brand new Core Ultra 200 collection of processors with effectivity in thoughts, and it actually reveals in our battery assessments. The ZenBook S14 OLED packs a strong 72WHr, 4-cell Li-ion battery, which performs admirably throughout our typical use. In truth, the ZenBook S14 lasted almost 15 hours — 14 hours and 50 minutes to be precise — whereas we had been dealing with emails, writing, and leaping between video calls.

While it could not utterly outpace the MacBooks or Qualcomm-powered gadgets that boast 18+ hours, the ZenBook continues to be remarkably shut and delivers improbable outcomes for a Windows laptop computer.

In phrases of charging, this laptop computer doesn’t disappoint. It comes with a 65W quick charger within the field, and the pace at which it juices up is spectacular. In nearly half-hour, the battery expenses to 50 per cent, and inside an hour, it’s totally topped up. This means you gained’t need to waste a lot time ready for a cost while you’re in a rush.

One of one of the best options right here is the minimal battery drain in sleep mode. Close the lid with out totally powering down, and also you’ll barely discover any drop in battery proportion. This is a big improve in comparison with older Windows laptops that used to empty loads of battery whereas in sleep. With the ZenBook S14 OLED, you may relaxation assured that your battery will last more and cost rapidly, making it a dependable companion for lengthy hours of labor and play.

Asus ZenBook S14 OLED Review: Verdict
The Asus ZenBook S14 is an actual standout, providing an amazing mixture of efficiency and elegance. Powered by Intel’s Core Ultra 7 258V processor, this ultrabook is all about delivering strong efficiency whereas holding issues environment friendly. Even although it’s not the top-of-the-line chip from Intel’s Core Ultra 200 collection, it’s greater than able to dealing with on a regular basis duties with ease. Thanks to 32GB of RAM and the built-in Arc GPU, the ZenBook S14 doesn’t break a sweat with electronic mail, internet looking, video calls, and light-weight productiveness work.

While the laptop computer may not crush multicore-heavy benchmarks, it excels in single-core efficiency, making it fast and responsive for many makes use of. It’s additionally not designed to be a gaming machine, however for informal gaming, it does simply high-quality, dealing with video games like F1 23 and even Cyberpunk 2077 with a couple of tweaks. And with the onboard NPU, you get entry to some neat AI options that improve your total expertise, even when they’re nonetheless a piece in progress.

The 3K OLED show is beautiful, providing crisp visuals and vibrant colors. Whether you’re working, watching content material, or simply looking, the display is a pleasure to make use of. The keyboard is snug, and the Ceraluminum chassis provides the entire laptop computer a premium, sturdy really feel.

The trackpad might use a bit extra responsiveness, and the digital camera isn’t one of the best, however these are minor complaints. Overall, the ZenBook S14 is a improbable ultrabook that checks all of the bins for efficiency, design, and usefulness. It’s an amazing alternative for anybody in search of a well-rounded, environment friendly laptop computer.