Asus Zenbook S 14 Review

“Ceraluminum.” It’s a reputation for a cloth that may solely come from a advertising division. I smirked the primary time I heard the time period, however the joke has died since then. Now that Asus has debuted the Asus Zenbook S 14, showcased final month at IFA, I can’t mock it anymore. As an alternative, I’ve to take situation with the laptop computer’s efficiency, at the least for this mannequin.

The Asus Zenbook S 14 is an efficient laptop computer, however extra so due to its {hardware}, a large number of ports, and light-weight design than its reliance on the brand new chip. There’s one thing to be mentioned a few cowl materials that feels and appears distinctive. There’s additionally the brand new Lunar Lake Intel Core Extremely chip housed inside. Each these options are strong, although it’s a must to ignore the hype.

The newest 16-inch Zenbooks housed an AMD processor. That is the primary Lunar Lake Gen 2 laptop computer I’ve had the possibility to make use of in earnest. My overview unit of the Asus Zenbook S 14 homes the Intel Core Extremely 7 256V, which is true in the midst of the pack of the total Core Extremely 200V lineup. This model of the laptop computer prices $1,400 from Finest Purchase, although the $1,500 model comes with an Intel Core Extremely 7 258V. 

Does the chip mannequin quantity and 32GB of RAM make an enormous distinction when deciding on this or competing gentle laptops? In response to Asus, it does. My machine benchmarked comparatively properly however was beneath the comparable light-weight PCs of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite or AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. The subsequent step up in Intel’s chip lineup would supposedly meet or beat the competitors, however I’ve no method to show that simply but. This model didn’t settle too far beneath the curve, however the 256V wasn’t the spectacular showcase of the Lunar Lake chips I hoped for. 

And that’s a significant distinction when you have been hoping to make use of the redesigned Zenbook S 14 for something greater than shopping or streaming. The gadget is full of extra ports than you sometimes get on such a skinny body, together with an HDMI port practically as massive because the PC’s whole backside body. It’s not like this PC is compromised on the cheaper price level (although I used to be pressured to redo all my benchmarks as the most recent Home windows safety replace drastically decreased efficiency). As an alternative, it doesn’t match its full potential for $100 much less.

Asus Zenbook S 14 Overview: Design and Usability

One of the best factor in regards to the redesigned “ceraluminum” cowl is simply how distinctive it seems for what’s turn out to be right this moment’s exceedingly boring realm of labor laptops. The distinctive materials feels akin to plastic however with extra texture. There’s a pleasant sound once you faucet on the shell. Plus, the metallic traces operating by means of it give the Zenbook a contemporary look that may slot in together with your family decor much better than an everyday thick lump of grey or black aluminum.

I’d like to see “ceraluminum” in additional colours than slate grey or white, however I do know OEMs routinely say no one buys extra outlandish colours. And but, think about this materials in a deep purple or an ocean blue and inform me it wouldn’t stand out. The one drawback with the shell is how the darkish grey tends to select up fingerprints, particularly since I take pleasure in touching the laptop computer as a lot as I do.

The laptop computer is just .47 inches thick and weighs 2.65 kilos. For comparability, a 13-inch MacBook Air clocks in at 2.7 kilos, and a Dell XPS 13 begins at 2.6 kilos. Neither of these laptops has a USB-A or HDMI port. The Zenbook S 14 has each, plus two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports for charging and connectivity. The laptop computer is so skinny that the HDMI port is flush with the underside of the chassis, solely stored off the desktop by its sloping underbody. 

It meant that I didn’t need to plug in a port hub to make use of an exterior monitor throughout use. That’s a fairly good boon for an ultralight laptop computer, although measurement normally doesn’t do an excessive amount of for the keyboard. The Zenbook’s keys took a little bit of getting used to. The keys sport a restricted 1.1 mm of journey with near-silent sound. It was merely okay to sort on, however nothing stood out. On the very least, the body was sturdy; there was no noticeable buckling, regardless of the heavy falls of my fingertips.

The touchpad contains a number of “sensible gestures,” however eradicating the sticker within the field makes it simple to neglect the place to slip your finger for quantity or brightness. I actually did, however the perform row keys are the place they’ve all the time been. I don’t must study new gestures for features on each keyboard I’ve ever used.

The Asus Zenbook S 14 features a 3K, 2880 by 1800 OLED show, which—when you needed to guess— is colourful and a pleasure to make use of. It’s basically the identical display screen as Asus’ ROG Zephyrus G 14 from earlier this 12 months. It’s not the brightest show, maxing out at round 500 nits of peak brightness. 

I don’t put a lot inventory in laptop computer webcams, however the Zenbook’s was particularly low-res. It does the job, however when you hope this can turn out to be your the whole lot laptop computer, you should have the grainiest look in your weekly conferences.

Asus Zenbook S 14 Overview: Efficiency

I labored exhausting to push the most recent Zenbook to its restrict with its built-in Intel Core Extremely 256 V. Asus and Intel made it clear in all their press that they in contrast this chip to the latest AMD and Qualcomm CPUs, all gunning for the highest spot in chip stardom. I have no idea how the 258V performs compared, however in my exams, the 256V did high quality in some benchmark exams however not in addition to the competitors.

In different exams, it was sadly subpar. Take, for instance, our Blender exams, the place we time it for the way lengthy the PC takes to render a scene of a BMW. The Zenbook S 14 took practically 5 minutes to render on the CPU, whereas the M3 MacBook Air took just below 4 minutes. In our exams, the place we encoded a 4K video by way of handbrake, Asus’ newest 14-inch PC took greater than 8 minutes and 30 seconds, three minutes longer than a Microsoft Floor Professional with Snapdragon X Elite.

In Geekbench and Cinebench CPU benchmarks, the Intel Core 256V scored round 100 factors lower than competing chips below single-core settings. The distinction was round 1,000 factors off in multi-core settings.

I’d go so far as saying you shouldn’t be immediately evaluating this model of the Lunar Lake lineup to the top-of-the-line small-form, AI-centric chips from Intel’s competitors. The Intel Core Extremely 7 256V has most of the identical specs because the 258V, however there appears to be an enormous distinction between the 2 below the hood. I’ve solely seen the 258V and the top-end Intel Core Extremely 9 288V demos, however I’d count on extra from these chips. 

However as a lot (or as little) enjoyable there’s with harping about benchmarks, the 14-inch Zenbook by no means slowed or stuttered regardless of hours of use. I had no points with shopping duties. As for its gaming potential, I wouldn’t tout this model of the Zenbook S 14 as a shoo-in. It acquired worse 3D Mark Time Spy outcomes than a Dell XPS 14 with the last-gen Intel Core Extremely 7 155H. Intel guarantees customers ought to be capable to get 39 FPS with out Intel’s AI upscaling XeSS operating on the 258V. In my Cyberpunk benchmark, I may solely obtain 25 FPS on low to medium settings with XeSS operating.

Asus Zenbook S 14 Overview: Battery Life

The brand new 14-inch Zenbook has an all-day battery life for shopping and different work duties. In a number of days of testing, it lasted a median of 8 hours earlier than needing to be plugged in. That ought to be sufficient for virtually anyone who’s not going out on the street with out a wing and a prayer of discovering an outlet or a USB-C wire wherever.

Nonetheless, we have now to analyze that additional as a result of one of many massive promoting factors of the brand new Lunar Lakes chips was that they promised over 20 hours of battery life when doing video playback exams. That’s nearly as good, if not higher, than the latest ARM, at the least as promised by Intel. Take the Zenbook for instance of what battery life actually means in precise utilization. That’s not even contemplating the battery life when doing extra intensive duties.

The laptop computer has a 72Wh battery capability, and when Asus confirmed it off, it was blissful to declare it may do 20+ hours of battery life on video playback exams. I hope to complete these exams quickly, and I’ll replace the overview as soon as they’re full. Nonetheless, Asus is really solely promising the all-day battery, and in that means, it delivers.

Asus Zenbook S 14 Overview: Verdict

If I had one suggestion for anyone contemplating the Asus Zenbook S 14, it could be to go for the marginally dearer mannequin that sports activities the Intel Core Extremely 258V and 32 GB of RAM. I say that despite the fact that I don’t have direct expertise with that model of the laptop computer. Even when I ignore Asus’ efficiency guarantees on the $1,500 gadget, 32 GB of RAM would provide higher long-term use. It’s the route PCs are heading anyway.

These new Zenbook laptops and all Lunar Lake-bearing gadgets are Copilot+ licensed. If that issues to you, and when you’re one of many few excited to check out Recall when it will definitely comes out, be at liberty to set that NPU free. In any other case, you’re not getting a lot out of the neural processing capabilities if all you need is to run Microsoft’s boring and pointless AI artwork purposes.

It’s simple to suggest the Zenbook S 14 just because it presents so many I/O ports and a novel design in comparison with different 14-inch laptops. It simply feels considerably diluted by middling efficiency, even when it’s fairly able to its value. Its design oozes cool, however you’ll need extra energy to match.