ASUS Vivobook S16 OLED Is Spacious and Easy on the Eyes
Everyday laptops are everywhere, at the same time. No, really. If you’re looking for a laptop that can handle your daily tasks – be it work or personal business – then you have plenty of options to choose from. But not all of them are good or even worth it, so it can be difficult to find the best option for your needs. Introducing the new Asus Vivobook S16 OLED, a 16-inch laptop designed to be your everyday device, whether you’re a student, a businessman, or just looking for a reliable all-around machine for surfing the web and completing everyday projects. .
I’ve been using the Asus Vivobook S16 OLED as my daily driver for the past two weeks, and like most new Asus laptops, I’ve been really impressed with what it can do. It’s sleek, weighs just over 3 pounds (about the same as my regular daily driver, the 15-inch MacBook Air) and offers massive performance, not to mention a gorgeous 3.2K 120Hz OLED display that’s really just makes things popular.
Features and Performance
There are a few different variants of the Asus Vivobook S16 OLED, including Intel models, but the version Asus sent me included an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS chip (with Radeon 780M graphics), 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It’s a solid setup that didn’t leave me wanting more. The Ryzen 9 8945HS is a fantastic processor, especially for everyday tasks, and the integrated graphics are more than enough for basic work and personal use, as well as a little extra gaming.
Surprisingly, performance overall was always strong, and I never felt like the laptop was lagging, even when I had multiple Chrome tabs open, as well as various Office apps needed for day-to-day work. I even tried running a few games on the system ( Hades and other light indie games) and found that they played quite well considering the lack of a discreet graphics card. Of course, if you really want to play games on your laptop, I recommend getting a gaming laptop – perhaps the Asus Zephyrus G16 , which I previously reviewed. I had to make a lot of sacrifices to get Red Dead Redemption 2 running, and even then the frame rate often dropped below 30fps.
I didn’t put the laptop through the usual battery of tests I’d use for a high-end gaming laptop, but I did try loading it with a variety of applications like Photoshop, Premiere, and even After Effects running simultaneously. The Vivobook S16 OLED handled it all like a champ, without any major slowdowns, and was even able to export a 3-minute test video at 4K resolution in just an hour and twenty minutes. Of course, depending on the video you are exporting, rendering and export times may vary.
Here’s a look at the different ports that the Vivobook S16 OLED offers:
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1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C for display/power supply
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2 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports
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1x USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C for display/power supply
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1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS
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1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack
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Micro SD Card Reader
The Vivobook S16 OLED is also one of the first Asus laptops to feature a Copilot button, which you can ignore unless you’re interested in using Microsoft’s entry-level AI features . If you’re using it, there aren’t any of the nifty AI additions that Microsoft showed off for its Copilot+ PCs , but the Vivobook S16 OLED doesn’t need AI to stand out from other competitors. It’s simply a solid laptop in every way, but more importantly, it’s sleek.
Look and feel
Perhaps one of my favorite things about the Vivobook S16 OLED is the fact that Asus hasn’t gone out of its way to make this device stand out. For laptops, it’s pretty simple: a sleek all-metal body and a simple logo printed on the lid.
It’s a very understated design compared to other Asus offerings I’ve tried this year, and it really reflects my love of minimalism and simplicity. This all-metal body also means an extremely light and thin design that’s a pleasure to carry, even though the laptop has a large 16-inch display.
The trackpad and keyboard are also durable, and the trackpad greatly extends the body of the laptop, giving you plenty of room to work. Both the keyboard and trackpad feature Ergosense technology, which means they’re designed to provide optimal ergonomics without sacrificing the benefits you get from a high-quality typing and trackpad experience.
The Chiclet’s backlit keyboard is comfortable to type on—almost as good as my MacBook Air—and the addition of a numeric keypad is convenient, if a little cramped. Using the laptop on your lap, on a desk top, or anywhere else you might need to work is easy thanks to the laptop’s lighter weight (3.31 pounds).
Fitting that many keys on a laptop without taking up a lot of space is no easy task, but Asus has put together a decent key combination to give you everything you need.
Display and battery life
If you work on a laptop, you want it to have enough space to do everything you need to do. The Asus Vivobook S16 OLED doesn’t require much screen real estate as its large 16-inch 3.2K (3200 x 2000) Lumina OLED display delivers striking color balance with a beautiful large canvas that gives you plenty of space to juggle apps. . The 600 nits peak brightness is also sufficient for a variety of work environments, and I never worried too much about glare.
Plus, side-mounted HDMI and display-enabled USB-C ports mean you can also expand your display when needed, giving you even more space to be productive. I found this display to be one of the best I’ve seen on a laptop this year, and it makes working and watching movies a very pleasant experience. The colors in films like Dune: Part Two became vibrant, from bright sandy desert landscapes to dark cave scenes. I also tried playing a few inexpensive games on this machine, and it did a surprisingly good job while I was willing to go to a much lower resolution than the native 3200 x 2000.
With a display as beautiful and a powerful processor as the Ryzen 9 8945HS, you can’t expect more than a few hours of battery life from the Vivobook S16 OLED. During testing, I was often able to work throughout the workday, and sometimes into the evening, without having to plug in my laptop. This is approximately eight to nine hours, depending on the day. It also comes with various Asus software that helps manage the battery and keep it in optimal condition, so you won’t have to worry about overcharging it if you follow the instructions in the pop-up notifications.
Bottom line
The Asus Vivobook S16 OLED is a great all-around laptop for work, personal projects and school. Its lightweight design makes it a great option for people who travel a lot, or if you simply need to commute to work every day and want a laptop that’s easy to carry.
The powerful AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and integrated graphics in the model I received were more than enough for everything you might use in everyday life (but don’t expect it to handle high-end gaming). The Asus Vivobook S16 OLED configuration I tested is now available on the Asus website for $999.