ASUS’ new Vivobook S14 OLED might not be a patch over the brand’s Space Edition Zenbook 14X you tried earlier, but it’s still approachable. Without the fancy faux pas and secondary screen on the cover worn by its space-themed cousin, the Vivobook S14 OLED borrows some design cues from it, and features a beautiful OLED display. Let’s dig deeper and see how this Evo-certified laptop performs in everyday use.
Design and Communication
Tipped the scales at 1.5kg and 18.9mm thick, the Vivobook S14 OLED isn’t really the thinnest or lightest, but it’s easy to handle and completely portable. My review unit came in Indie Black, with the lid getting a touch of gloss thanks to the embossed ASUS Vivobook branding that protrudes from the body to give a 3D look.
The lid opens with one hand, revealing the spacious keyboard and large trackpad, with a bright orange escape key that instantly grabs attention. A closer look reveals a striped pattern on the enter key as well. The screen has thin bezels on three sides, and a slightly wider chin bears the ASUS Vivobook branding. The webcam is in its usual place on the top frame, and next to it is a physical slider switch that toggles the privacy shutter.
The screen can open up to 180 degrees, giving you more flexibility in terms of viewing angles. Overall, fit and finish are excellent and there’s no flexibility to complain about. The bottom half of the device looks wedge-shaped at first because of the way it’s designed, and its edges tend to cut into your palm when moving the laptop. Another downside is the fact that the smooth matte body tends to smudge quite easily, with smudges perfectly visible on a darker-colored device.
On the left, there is a single USB A port next to the cooling vents, while all the other ports are grouped on the right side of the device. On the right, you get a 3.5mm audio port, another USB Type-A port, a pair of Type C ports that support Thunderbolt 4, and an HDMI port as well. No ethernet port, which is par for the course…but I’m missing the SD card reader here.
Show
The main aspect of this laptop should be its 14-inch 16:10 OLED display with a resolution of 2.8K and a refresh rate of 90Hz. Not only is it absolutely color accurate, featuring 100 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut, it’s bright enough at 600 nits as well. With certifications like VESA DisplayHDR True Black, TUV, and Pantone, it comes with strong credentials. It all translates to vibrant, sharp images, with ultra-sharp text, pop-up media, and luxurious blacks. I would say the Vivobook S14 OLED should be a solid choice for those who work with photos for color correction, and of course for media consumption.
Keyboard and trackpad
Despite the colorful escape key, the keyboard and trackpad on the Vivobook S14 are large and intuitive, allowing for easy interaction with the device. The keys are well spaced, slightly curved for easy text entry, and provide ample travel. The keyboard also features a 3-step backlit. The power key has switched places with the delete key so that the latter is in the upper right corner. The fingerprint scanner is embedded in the power button, and works quickly and accurately to give you access. The trackpad is also large and smooth, so no complaints there.
Software, performance and battery life
The laptop runs Windows 11 Home, and even Microsoft Office Home and Student Edition bundles for free. ASUS also preloads some utilities and utilities, and among them, the MyASUS utility deserves a special mention. This laptop management software allows you to customize various aspects of your device, including power, performance, audio, video, and input devices. More specifically, you can choose battery health charging modes, define fan profiles, set display color profiles, control refresh rate, and more. The program also allows you to take advantage of various promotions that come with the laptop, such as an additional 25 GB of space on Dropbox, free trials of programs such as McAfee Live Safe and Privacy Guardian, discounts on Acrobat pro DC and Ashampoo PDF Pro 3 among others.
Equipped with a 12th generation Intel Core i7-12700H processor along with 16GB of RAM, the laptop comes with a 500GB NVMe SSD for storage. The graphics are handled by Intel Iris Xe. This laptop is clearly not meant for serious gaming, but having said that, it has enough of the usual productivity-based tasks, multitasking and running a bunch of Chrome tabs together. It runs smoothly and hardly turns into a sweat when you’re stressed, just getting warm. Standard numbers show good results, too. Battery life is good, with a 70Wh battery providing approximately 6-7 hours of regular use, and the bundled 90W Type C charger getting it to work in less than 2 hours.
Rule
The ASUS Vivobook S14 OLED starts at 74,990 rupees, and for its asking price, it offers very little. The 720p webcam and missing memory card slot are just a shake, as the laptop scores highly on aspects like performance, battery life, and keyboard ergonomics. An OLED display, of course, is the side that might pull you towards it, and for good reason – it’s gorgeous and extremely capable, and it tops the laptop’s plethora of features and capabilities that make it an all-in-one work and entertainment machine.
Editor’s Rating: 4/5
Positives:
- Gorgeous OLED screen
- smooth performance
- good keyboard
- Ample ports and connectivity
Negatives:
- 720p webcam
- Lacks an SD card reader
- susceptible to staining