a pleasant Home windows laptop computer that packs a punch

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 job 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 the very best of the very best. I took the Zenbook S 14 out for a spin to seek out out.

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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 (Sequence 2) processor and a 14-inch 3K OLED show.

Execs

• Bodily properly constructed
• One-handed lid operation
• Contains Home windows Howdy and Presence Sensing

Cons

• 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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Worth, availability, and specs

The Asus Zenbook S 14 is a 14-inch laptop computer, however its footprint would have you ever consider it is packing a 13-inch panel. The system 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 straightforward to maneuver.

The star of any trendy laptop computer is its show, and the Zenbook S 14 would not disappoint — Asus has outfitted the system with a 14-inch 2880 x 1800 pixel decision OLED panel, full with a handy guide a rough 120Hz refresh charge, 500nits of peak HDR brightness, and a contact display configuration with help for each pen and inking.

Below the hood you may discover considered one of Intel’s newest chips, upwardly configurable to the Intel Core Extremely 7 (Sequence 2). That is an x86 processor, which suggests it presents full compatibility with the breadth of Home windows functions and legacy packages. 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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In terms of port choice, the Zenbook presents an honest assortment of choices. The twin Thunderbolt 4 USB Sort-C sockets are naturally welcome, as is the extra USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-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 properly.

With an MSRP of $1,500, the Zenbook S 14 is offered in Zumaia grey and Scandinavian white colorways, and ships with 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage.

What I favored 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 strains, steel chassis, and design language minimalism are all proper up my alley, and I admire that Asus has tried to craft one thing visually distinct from Apple’s MacBook and Microsoft’s Floor. The highest lid is manufactured from a ceramic materials that Asus affectionately refers to as ‘Ceraluminum,’ and it feels each bit as nice because it appears.

The corporate describes the hybrid materials as providing each the resilience of ceramic and the lightness of steel, and the refined geometric sample provides a splash of persona into the combo with out coming throughout as gaudy. I examined the Zumaia grey model, which I discovered collected fingerprints fairly simply. For those who’re trying to keep away from the necessity to wipe down the system with a microfiber material to maintain it wanting pristine, the Scandinavian white mannequin would possibly fare higher.

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The laptop computer passes the lid-opening check with flying colours, as properly. Time and time once more, I used to be capable of elevate 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 commonplace certification signifies that that is additionally a reasonably ruggedly designed PC, having undergone stress assessments below excessive and low temperatures, extra humidity, vibration and shock, in addition to excessive angle situations.

As soon as I satisfyingly swung open the lid, I used to be greeted by a shiny and exquisite OLED show panel. The display might be my favourite facet 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 look fluid. I am joyful to report that Asus opted for a 16:10 facet ratio right here, versus a extra commonplace (and cheaper) 16:9 widescreen panel. The added vertical actual property is indispensable relating to workplace work, which I do a number of in my each day life.

Asus has matched the enticing OLED show panel with a reasonably respectable speaker setup, incorporating 2 tweeters and a pair 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 increase 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 house constraints are likely to make it difficult to embed a high-quality speaker system in.

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I am an enormous fan of Windows Hello facial security recognition, which the Zenbook S 14 manages to squeeze into its small high show bezel. The inclusion of Presence Sensing {hardware} is one other optimistic, 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 presents native help for the characteristic, and I hope to see it turn out to be commonplace throughout the PC {industry} sooner relatively than later.

The brand new Intel Core Extremely 9 (Sequence 2) processor carried out properly in my testing, maintaining with all of the duties I frequently threw at it. For reference, the system achieved a Geekbench 6 rating of 1,384 in single-core and seven,536 in multi-core. As is the case with different skinny shopper laptops, the Zenbook S 14 is not greatest suited to graphically intensive gaming periods or hardcore video modifying. It’s going to carry out simply wonderful for lighter video games and modifying wants, however actually, it isn’t constructed with these duties in thoughts.

The laptop computer runs quietly below common workloads — Asus quotes below 25dB throughout gentle workloads. There is a vapor chamber below the hood, in addition to a singular geometric fan grill design donning the house immediately above the keyboard deck. Moreover wanting visually distinct, the cooling vent design guarantees enhanced air circulate effectivity. Even throughout extra average 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 presents a pleasing typing expertise. The 1.1mm journey distance of the keys was snug for longer typing periods, and I discovered the stability between clickiness and springiness to be one.

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What I did not like in regards to the Asus Zenbook S 14

The trackpad is okay, however 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 enormous, and completely correct relating to 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 actually 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 present click on sensation is kind of good by conventional trackpad requirements, however it could actually’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 information bandwidth. In actual phrases, this implies the laptop computer will be hooked as much as 2 exterior 4k screens on the similar time with out placing up a fuss. A minor quibble, however one price noting regardless: as with many different PCs, each USB-C ports are situated on the identical aspect of the system. In terms of handy charging and peripheral enlargement, having one port on both aspect is solely much more excellent.

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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 system presents all-day battery life, and I discovered that for my private work circulate, this was typically the case. Intel’s newest chips are considerably extra power-efficient than earlier generations, however they nonetheless aren’t fairly on the similar stage as ARM-based processors. Battery life and top-up speeds have 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 mentioned, Home windows 11 would 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 Windows Timeline feature for AI-based snapshot indexing, and at launch it presents some fundamental Windows Studio camera tools for blurring out backgrounds and the like. The NPU does future-proof the system 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 highway.

Outdoors of AI, the pocket book presents a reasonably commonplace Home windows 11 expertise. Asus ships the product with numerous 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 packages. Relying in your mindset, it’s possible you’ll discover these inclusions helpful, or it’s possible you’ll really feel that they merely add muddle to the person expertise. Fortunately, it is simple sufficient to easily delete these apps when you’re like me, and don’t need them taking over any house.

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Must you purchase the Asus Zenbook S 14?

If you would like a thin-and-light Home windows 11 PC that is constructed properly and natively helps Intel x86 apps, then the Zenbook S 14 is worthy of consideration

General, Asus’ new Zenbook S 14 is a extremely 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 presents additional quality-of-life additions like Home windows Howdy and Presense Sensing know-how.

The OLED show is enticing, and it is bordered by skinny bezels that make the system really feel up to date and high-end. Whereas the keyboard was a pleasure to kind 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 an enormous 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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For those who’re out there for a premium Home windows laptop computer, and do not thoughts (or also have a desire for) Intel x86-based computing structure and its associated app compatibilities, then the Asus Zenbook S 14 is totally worthy of consideration.

This system was supplied to Pocket-lint by Asus.

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Editor’s Alternative

Asus Zenbook S 14