Abstract
- The Asus Zenbook S 14 is a thin-and-light Home windows 11 laptop computer.
- The gadget packs Intel’s newest Core Extremely 7 (Collection 2) processor, full with a 47 TOPS NPU for AI-based duties.
- Regardless of some minor hiccups, Asus has constructed a 14-inch laptop computer that is merely a pleasure to make use of.
Asus’ Zenbook laptop computer lineup has a storied historical past with its selection of thin-and-light Windows 11 PCs. Now, the Asus Zenbook S 14, the latest member of the product household, has hit the cabinets.
Windows 11 performed a task in reinvigorating the considerably stagnant PC market, and in 2024, competition from the likes of Dell, HP, Surface, and others is fierce. The query right here is whether or not Asus’ new 14-inch pocket book, mixed with a brand-new Intel chip, is worthy of standing alongside one of the best of one of the best. I took the Zenbook S 14 out for a spin to search out out.
Editor’s Alternative
Asus Zenbook S 14
A skinny-and-light Home windows 11 laptop computer that ships with the most recent Intel Core Extremely 7 (Collection 2) processor and a 14-inch 3K OLED show.
- Bodily nicely constructed
- One-handed lid operation
- Consists of Home windows Whats up and Presence Sensing
- No haptic trackpad
- The USB-C ports are each on the one aspect
- AI-ready processor, however not a lot AI to talk of
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Value, availability, and specs
The Asus Zenbook S 14 is a 14-inch laptop computer, however its footprint would have you ever imagine it is packing a 13-inch panel. The gadget is available in at 12.26 x 8.42 x 0.47 ~ 0.51-inches (31.15 x 21.39 x 1.19 ~ 1.29cm) dimensions throughout the board. The wedge-shaped design makes it such that the laptop computer tapers down barely, from 0.51-inches at its thickest, to 0.47-inches at its thinnest. This, together with its 2.65lbs (1.20kg) weight, makes the pocket book svelte and simple to maneuver.
The star of any fashionable laptop computer is its show, and the Zenbook S 14 does not disappoint — Asus has outfitted the gadget with a 14-inch 2880 x 1800 pixel decision OLED panel, full with a quick 120Hz refresh charge, 500nits of peak HDR brightness, and a contact display configuration with assist for each pen and inking.
Beneath the hood you may discover considered one of Intel’s newest chips, upwardly configurable to the Intel Core Extremely 7 (Collection 2). That is an x86 processor, which implies it provides full compatibility with the breadth of Home windows functions and legacy applications. That is in distinction to the ARM architecture-based Snapdragon X processor present in choices like Asus’ personal ProArt PZ13 hybrid PC.
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Relating to port choice, the Zenbook provides an honest assortment of choices. The twin Thunderbolt 4 USB Kind-C sockets are naturally welcome, as is the extra USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A port for interfacing with legacy peripherals. An HDMI 2.1 port is right here for straightforward exterior show connectivity, and there is a 3.5mm headphone jack on board as nicely.
With an MSRP of $1,500, the Zenbook S 14 is on the market in Zumaia grey and Scandinavian white colorways, and ships with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.
What I preferred in regards to the Asus Zenbook S 14
The laptop computer’s ‘Ceraluminum’ lid materials lives as much as the hype
From an exterior perspective, the Zenbook S 14 is a stunner. The clear traces, metallic chassis, and design language minimalism are all proper up my alley, and I recognize that Asus has tried to craft one thing visually distinct from Apple’s MacBook and Microsoft’s Floor. The highest lid is product of a ceramic materials that Asus affectionately refers to as ‘Ceraluminum,’ and it feels each bit as nice because it appears to be like.
‘Ceraluminum,’ feels each bit as nice because it appears to be like.
The corporate describes the hybrid materials as providing each the resilience of ceramic and the lightness of metallic, and the refined geometric sample provides a splash of character into the combination with out coming throughout as gaudy. I examined the Zumaia grey model, which I discovered collected fingerprints fairly simply. Should you’re seeking to keep away from the necessity to wipe down the gadget with a microfiber fabric to maintain it wanting pristine, the Scandinavian white mannequin would possibly fare higher.
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The laptop computer passes the lid-opening take a look at with flying colours, as nicely. Time and time once more, I used to be capable of carry open the lid with a single finger, with out the remainder of the pocket book shifting or stopping straightforward hinge motion. The military-grade US MIL-STD 810H customary certification implies that that is additionally a reasonably ruggedly designed PC, having undergone stress exams beneath excessive and low temperatures, extra humidity, vibration and shock, in addition to excessive angle situations.
The laptop computer passes the lid-opening take a look at with flying colours, as nicely.
As soon as I satisfyingly swung open the lid, I used to be greeted by a brilliant and delightful OLED show panel. The display might be my favourite side of the Zenbook S 14 — colours pop, brightness is passable even in brightly lit environments, and the 120Hz refresh charge makes Home windows 11 feel and appear fluid. I am blissful to report that Asus opted for a 16:10 side ratio right here, versus a extra customary (and cheaper) 16:9 widescreen panel. The added vertical actual property is indispensable in terms of workplace work, which I do numerous in my every day life.
Asus has matched the engaging OLED show panel with a reasonably respectable speaker setup, incorporating 2 tweeters and a couple of woofers for immersion, in addition to each Harman Kardon and Dolby Atmos certifications. The previous is a stamp of approval from audio specialists to make sure the standard of audio loudness and depth, whereas the latter is meant to broaden the digital encompass sound expertise. I discovered the audio output to be fairly loud and clear by thin-and-light laptop computer requirements, during which area constraints are likely to make it difficult to embed a high-quality speaker system in.
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I am a giant fan of Windows Hello facial security recognition, which the Zenbook S 14 manages to squeeze into its small prime show bezel. The inclusion of Presence Sensing {hardware} is one other constructive, which permits for the display to dynamically activate and off based mostly on whether or not I am sitting at my desk. Home windows 11 provides native assist for the function, and I hope to see it develop into customary throughout the PC {industry} sooner slightly than later.
The brand new Intel Core Extremely 9 (Collection 2) processor carried out nicely in my testing, maintaining with all of the duties I recurrently threw at it. For reference, the gadget achieved a Geekbench 6 rating of 1,384 in single-core and seven,536 in multi-core. As is the case with different skinny consumer laptops, the Zenbook S 14 is not finest fitted to graphically intensive gaming periods or hardcore video enhancing. It’s going to carry out simply fantastic for lighter video games and enhancing wants, however actually, it is not constructed with these duties in thoughts.
For reference, the gadget achieved a Geekbench 6 rating of 1,384 in single-core and seven,536 in multi-core.
The laptop computer runs quietly beneath basic workloads — Asus quotes beneath 25dB throughout mild workloads. There is a vapor chamber beneath the hood, in addition to a singular geometric fan grill design donning the area instantly above the keyboard deck. Apart from wanting visually distinct, the cooling vent design guarantees enhanced air circulate effectivity. Even throughout extra reasonable workloads, with loads of Google Chrome tabs open and media streaming within the background, the twin followers remained barely audible to me.
For workplace work, together with phrase and spreadsheet processing, the Zenbook S 14’s keyboard provides a pleasing typing expertise. The 1.1mm journey distance of the keys was snug for longer typing periods, and I discovered the steadiness between clickiness and springiness to be an excellent one.
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What I did not like in regards to the Asus Zenbook S 14
The trackpad is ok, nevertheless it considerably lets down the in any other case premium person expertise
Whereas the keyboard could also be fairly nice total, the Zenbook S 14’s trackpad is extra of a blended bag. It is good and huge, and completely correct in terms of gesture efficiency, however I can not assist however want it was powered by haptics as an alternative of a bodily diving board mechanism. Haptic suggestions really elevates the laptop computer expertise in my eyes, and I really feel it could have been well-suited on a tool of this caliber. The prevailing click on sensation is sort of good by conventional trackpad requirements, however it will possibly’t maintain a candle to what ships on a post-2015 Macbook or on a Floor Laptop computer 7, for instance.
The port choice is fairly nice on the Zenbook S 14, and the Thunderbolt 4 ports are able to a powerful 40Gbps of knowledge bandwidth. In actual phrases, this implies the laptop computer might be hooked as much as 2 exterior 4k screens on the similar time with out placing up a fuss. A minor quibble, however one value noting regardless: as with many different PCs, each USB-C ports are situated on the identical aspect of the gadget. Relating to handy charging and peripheral growth, having one port on both aspect is just much more ultimate.
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The laptop computer ships with a 65W USB-C charging adapter, and the unit is powered by a 72Wh energy pack. Asus says the gadget provides all-day battery life, and I discovered that for my private work circulate, this was usually the case. Intel’s newest chips are considerably extra power-efficient than earlier generations, however they nonetheless aren’t fairly on the similar degree as ARM-based processors. Battery life and top-up speeds had been each good, however definitely not industry-leading.
After which there’s synthetic intelligence — the Intel chip inside the pocket book touts a neural processing unit (NPU) able to as much as 47 trillion operations per second (TOPS), which is in the identical ballpark because the 45 TOPS output of the competing Snapdragon X processor platform. That being stated, Home windows 11 does not leverage this newfound AI energy in lots of significant methods, even when accounting for Microsoft’s latest Copilot+ AI PC initiatives.
The Zenbook S 14 will ultimately be receiving the upcoming Home windows Timeline function for AI-based snapshot indexing, and at launch it provides some fundamental Home windows Studio digicam instruments.
The Zenbook S 14 will ultimately be receiving the upcoming Windows Timeline feature for AI-based snapshot indexing, and at launch it provides some fundamental Windows Studio camera tools for blurring out backgrounds and the like. The NPU does future-proof the gadget to a level, and it is good to know that the {hardware} is able to domestically accelerated AI efficiency for functions and new options down the street.
Outdoors of AI, the pocket book provides a reasonably customary Home windows 11 expertise. Asus ships the product with a variety of its built-in apps, together with StoryCube (a photograph and video gallery app), GlideX (a subscription-based display sharing app), in addition to the PC-management MyASUS and ScreenXpert utility applications. Relying in your mindset, you could discover these inclusions helpful, or you could really feel that they merely add litter to the person expertise. Fortunately, it is easy sufficient to easily delete these apps in case you’re like me, and don’t need them taking over any area.
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Must you purchase the Asus Zenbook S 14?
In order for you a thin-and-light Home windows 11 PC that is constructed nicely and natively helps Intel x86 apps, then the Zenbook S 14 is worthy of consideration
Total, Asus’ new Zenbook S 14 is a very stable 14-inch thin-and-light Home windows 11 laptop computer. The construct high quality and aesthetic design is arguably top-notch, the port choice is pretty beneficiant, and it provides further quality-of-life additions like Home windows Whats up and Presense Sensing know-how.
The OLED show is engaging, and it is bordered by skinny bezels that make the gadget really feel modern and high-end. Whereas the keyboard was a pleasure to sort away on, I discovered myself eager for a haptic trackpad all through my complete time with the pocket book.
New Intel-based PCs together with the Zenbook S 14 take a giant step-up by way of energy effectivity, and I by no means discovered myself sad with battery life throughout common use. Nonetheless, by way of sheer effectivity, ARM-based Snapdragon X-based choices have Intel barely crushed.
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Should you’re available in the market for a premium Home windows laptop computer, and do not thoughts (or also have a choice for) Intel x86-based computing structure and its associated app compatibilities, then the Asus Zenbook S 14 is totally worthy of consideration.
This gadget was supplied to Pocket-lint by Asus.
Editor’s Alternative
Asus Zenbook S 14
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