ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED 2024 review: a capable runner-up in a crowded race

ASUS has been at the forefront of the thin-and-light revolution in India. Although Dell and HP still command the lion’s share of laptop sales in the country, ASUS’ offerings bring enough substance to stand out. Take the company’s all-new Vivobook S 14 OLED, for instance, which democratises premium features reserved for pricier laptops, like an OLED display or an RGB keyboard. It’s built like a tank, too, and touts enhanced cooling as well. 

If anything, the laptop’s Ryzen 7535HS processor may raise some eyebrows, given how competing Intel Core Ultra processors have a leg up in the performance department. Regardless, the Vivobook S 14 OLED is a fine machine, and here’s everything you need to know about it before you add it to your cart.

Design

I am in two minds about the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED’s design. On one hand, the laptop feels extremely premium to the touch, as it is made entirely of metal. It might just be one of the most sumptuous notebooks in its price segment, for that matter. I also like the company’s all-black colour scheme, which is a refreshing departure from a sea of grey-coloured notebooks on the market. And, while this may seem trivial, the company’s redesigned font for its Vivobook branding actually looks quite classy. 

The chrome etching adds a subtle touch of pizazz to the laptop’s monochromatic colour scheme, and I’m all for it. The laptop is quite compact, too, and it weighs just 1.3 g. It’s also extremely robust and is backed by a MIL-STD-810H rating. As such, the laptop has been tested against drops and can operate in extreme temperatures, too. My only qualm with the machine’s design is that it has extremely sharp edges that poked into my wrist. I would’ve liked it if ASUS had used a chamfered frame for the laptop. 

Another thing worth mentioning is that the laptop uses a redesigned hinge that takes up less space than what you’d get on competing notebooks. The smaller hinge unquestionably adds to the laptop’s allure, and it doesn’t feel like an eyesore. Additionally, it doesn’t cause any display wobble and keeps the screen fixed at the desired angle. Put everything together, and there’s a lot to admire about the Vivobook S 14 OLED’s design. And, as you’ll read about in the next section, the same goes for its display too.

Display and Audio

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED features a 14-inch, Full HD+ OLED display. The panel offers a 16:10 aspect ratio and is highly colour-accurate, covering 100 percent of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. The screen can get quite bright, too, at 600 nits, and I never struggled to use the laptop in my room with all the lights turned on or outside under Delhi’s scorching sun. Adding to the list of pros, the panel comes with DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification, too. 

Needless to say, the laptop is a godsend for media buffs. I’ve been watching a lot of shows on it, including ones set in picturesque locations like Drive to Survive and Full Swing, and the laptop’s display really enhances the visual appeal of these shows. The colours appeared vivid, and the screen offered inky blacks and excellent contrast, making each episode pop. You can also use the laptop in creative workflows, as it has a colour-accurate screen. So, you should see an accurate representation of colours when you’re editing photos on it.

For the price, the laptop’s display checks all the right boxes but one – the refresh rate. On that note, the Vivobook S 14 OLED’s screen refreshes at 60Hz, so it’s not as smooth as what you’d get with say, a Galaxy Book4. Having said that, the display should suffice for most buyers as it is adequately sharp, vivid, and bright. As for audio, the laptop comes with downward-firing speakers that can get quite loud. Although, it’s quite easy to muffle the speakers if the laptop is placed on your lap. 

Ports and I/O

Contrary to what its size may suggest, the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED features a bevvy of connectors. The laptop comes with two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ports and two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports. It also has an HDMI 2.1 connector, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm combo jack. As such, you should have no trouble connecting a bunch of accessories to the laptop. 

The laptop also comes with an IR camera, which allows you to unlock it seamlessly courtesy of Windows Hello authentication. The Full HD webcam offers good image quality, too, and should suffice for taking video calls when on the go. I will add, though, that the laptop doesn’t come with Windows Studio effects like auto-framing and background blur. 

However, ASUS has facilitated similar features via the MyASUS app. Note that you can only use one feature at a time through the app. So, you can either have the camera keep your face in the frame or use the background blur feature, but not both simultaneously. Additionally, the output leaves something to be desired here as well. The blur effect, for instance, cuts into my ears and offers an unnatural bokeh effect. Similarly, the auto-framing feature doesn’t work as well as it does on laptops that facilitate it through Windows Studio effects.

Keyboard and Trackpad

The Vivobook S 14 OLED features a fantastic keyboard and a sizeable trackpad. The keys are well spaced out and don’t feel congested on the laptop’s diminutive frame. They offer excellent travel, too, and the keyboard even comes with RGB backlighting. It’s also compatible with Windows Dynamic Lighting effects, allowing you to change the strobing pattern or choose a fixed solid colour for the keyboard lighting.

The trackpad is also quite accommodating, and I didn’t have any issues using multi-finger gestures on it. It offers a smooth surface and clicky left and right mouse buttons, so no complaints here. 

Performance and Battery

The Vivobook S 14 OLED is powered by AMD’s Ryzen 5 7535HS processor. The hexacore CPU supports 12 threads, a base clock speed of 3.3GHz, and a turbo boost speed of up to 4.55GHz. Notably, the CPU has a higher base TDP of 35W compared to a competing Intel Core Ultra processor, such as the 125H CPU, which has a PBP of 28W. Despite that, the laptop sips on power and offers terrific battery backup. More on that later, though. 

For RAM and storage, the Vivobook S 14 OLED comes with 16GB of LPDDR5X memory clocked at 6,400MHz and a 1TB PCIe Gen4 SSD. With the specs out of the way, let’s talk about how the Vivobook S 14 OLED stacks up against the competition. Well, the CPU’s performance is similar to that of a laptop powered by a Core Ultra 7 155U processor, albeit inferior to that of a Core Ultra 5 125H processor. 

The laptop’s synthetic test scores, for instance, were lower than what we got from the Acer Swift GO 14 with a Core Ultra 5 125H processor, albeit higher from devices like the HP Envy 14 x360, which is powered by a Core Ultra 7 155U processor. In Cinebench R24’s single and multi-core runs, the Acer Swift GO 14 logged 97 and 731 points, respectively. The Envy 14 x360 scored 95 and 377 points, and the Vivobook S 14 OLED put forth 82 and 471 points. 

The Acer Swift GO 14 took a commanding lead in both PCMark 10 and PCMark 10 Extended tests, scoring 6,473 and 6,778 points, respectively. In comparison, the Vivobook S 14 OLED and HP Envy 14 x360 achieved slightly lower scores, with the former scoring 5,893 and 5,199 points and the latter scoring 5,757 and 5,435 points. 

The Swift GO 14’s iGPU also fared better and netted 7,821 and 25,895 points in Fire Strike and Night Raid benchmarks. Conversely, the Vivobook S 14 OLED logged 4,463 and 18,211 points. The Envy 14 x360 trailed the pack and scored 4,571 and 16,600 points.

I also ran PugetBench’s Photoshop benchmark on the laptop to get a number on its photo-editing capabilities. Here, the laptop matched the Envy 14 x360’s run and took a similar time to complete tests like applying the Wide Angle Correction or Lens Correction filters. 

All said and done, the Vivobook S 14 OLED is backed by a capable processor. While it’s not the most powerful machine in the segment, I didn’t find its performance lacking. In my case, the laptop easily juggled apps like Asana, Slack, Microsoft Excel, and Google Chrome, which had several tabs open. If your day-to-day involves using similar project management and communication tools, chances are you will find the laptop’s performance adequate, too. 

You might also be wondering about its gaming performance. Well, to cut a long story short, the laptop isn’t geared for gaming. You can get away with less demanding games like Hades and Hollow Knight and even older AAA games like GTA 5 or Middle Earth: Shadow of War. On that note, the laptop overturned over 150FPS in Hades, over 40FPS in GTA 5 running at high settings, and around 33FPS in Shadow of War running at low settings. Esports games like Valorant and Rocket League also run well, but most modern AAA titles will bring the laptop to its knees.

The laptop also supports a Memory Allocation Management feature, which, per the brand, allows the laptop’s iGPU to leverage more VRAM. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the feature to work on my review unit. I have reached out to ASUS for a possible solution, though, and I will update this article with relevant information. 

Since we’re on the subject, you should know that the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED dissipates heat well. The laptop’s CPU idled around 55 degrees and, when taxed with games, peaked at around 92 degrees. 

As prefaced previously, the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED offers a fantastic battery backup and I could comfortably use it for around six hours at a stretch. The device also secured top marks in our PCMark 10’s Battery test. Here, the device played a continuous video on a loop at 80 percent brightness for over 12 hours. The icing on the cake is that the laptop ships with a compact travel adapter too. 

Verdict

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED costs Rs 89,990 in India. For its asking price, the laptop gets a lot right. With that said, I should point out that the device faces stiff competition from laptops like the Acer Swift GO 14, which features a faster processor and a more powerful integrated GPU. Additionally, Acer’s contender comes with Windows Studio effects, which make it a better prospect for office-goers who routinely jump in and out of video calls. It also delivers more performance per buck spent. However, the Vivobook S 14 OLED does feature a capable processor and a stunning OLED display and comes wrapped in a robust, all-metal build. The laptop’s excellent battery life makes it a great choice for anyone concerned about battery performance too. 

In sum, the ASUS’ Vivobook S 14 OLED would be worth your while if you have battery anxiety, or want an RGB backlit keyboard. 

Editor’s Rating: 7.5 / 10 

Pros: 

• Sturdy and elegant design
• Compact build 
• Sharp, colour-accurate display
• Excellent battery backup

Cons:

• Not the fastest laptop in its price range
• MyASUS’ WebCam features could do with some tweaks