Asus Zenbook S 16 assessment: a strong Home windows laptop computer

I’m not going to mince phrases right here — I like the Asus Zenbook S 16. Inside an hour of utilizing it, I used to be shocked not solely by its design but in addition by its efficiency capabilities. My emotions are the identical even after utilizing it for a couple of weeks. Its AMD Ryzen AI chipset packs a punch, and I’m impressed by what Asus has completed with this laptop computer. It is light-weight and skinny construct makes this a compelling 16-inch on-the-go laptop computer, particularly should you discover it on sale from its beginning value of $1,400.

The Asus Zenbook S 16 has been nothing wanting loopy. Intel and AMD are pushing new AI-powered chips with neural processing items (NPUs), and Snapdragon-powered Home windows 11 laptops are making a splash. Plus, Apple is predicted to announce new M4 MacBooks earlier than the tip of the yr. If you happen to’re searching for a brand new laptop computer, the market has by no means been so various. If you happen to’re particularly searching for a robust skinny 16-inch Home windows 11 laptop computer, the Asus Zenbook S 16 could also be what you’re searching for.

Advisable

Asus Zenbook S 16

The Asus Zenbook S 16 is an ultrathin 16-inch 3K 120Hz laptop computer. With an AMD Ryzen AI processor, it delivers highly effective efficiency and visuals for on a regular basis use.

Execs

• Distinctive and distinct design
• Highly effective AMD AI processor
• 120Hz OLED display screen

Cons

• Battery life is not pretty much as good as rivals
• Built-in graphics may very well be higher

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Worth, availability, and specs

The Asus Zenbook S 16 is a 16-inch laptop computer with a 2880 x 1800 pixel decision show with a 120Hz refresh price. Its show has 400 nits of brightness and as much as 500 nits of HDR peak brightness. The show is touchscreen and has pen assist.

The laptop computer weighs 3.3lbs (1.5kg) and its dimensions are available in at 13.92 x 9.57 x 0.47~ 0.51-inches (35.36 x 24.30 x 1.19 ~ 1.29 cm). Resulting from its wedge-shaped design, the laptop computer is thinner in the direction of the entrance and barely thicker on the again. It has a 78Wh battery.

The Asus Zenbook S 16 begins at $1,400 and is out there now in two configurations and colour choices.

The costlier configuration comes with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 12-core processor that enhances as much as a 5.1GHz clock velocity. It additionally has an built-in AMD Radeon 890M GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD.

The cheaper configuration comes with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 10-core processor that enhances as much as a 4.7GHz clock velocity. It additionally has an built-in AMD Radeon 880M GPU, 24GB of RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD. I shall be reviewing this mannequin.

Each configurations even have an AMD XDNA neural processing unit (NPU) able to as much as 50 trillion operations per second (TOPS).

Trying on the port choice, the left aspect of the Zenbook S 16 sports activities one HDMI 2.1 port, two USB 4.0 Gen 3 Kind-C with show and energy supply capabilities and one 3.5mm audio jack. The proper aspect sports activities an SD card reader, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Kind-A port, and a charging LED.

Home windows Hey is supported by the Asus Zenbook S 16 due to its entrance 1080p webcam with IR operate.

The Asus Zenbook S 16 is out there in two colour choices: zumaia grey or scandinavian white. This assessment options the zumaia grey colour.

What I preferred concerning the Asus Zenbook S 16

A singular Ceraluminum lid design and a lovely show

Instantly upon opening the field, I used to be shocked by the Zenbook’s Ceraluminum lid design. Asus says its new “high-tech ceramic” Ceraluminum materials boasts “unparalleled power” and elevated sturdiness. I used to be fairly impressed with this new materials, and I like the way it’s distinctively completely different from Apple’s MacBook lineup or different Home windows laptops. The Ceraluminum lid on the Zenbook S 16 is easy and feels nice to carry in hand, due to its gentle weight of three.31 lbs. Additionally, as somebody who prefers an excellent minimal look on a laptop computer, I feel Asus has finished an awesome job creating a definite, clear design.

Talking of the lid, the Asus Zenbook S 16 passes the important check of having the ability to open the lid with one hand or one finger. Behind the lid is a beautiful 3K OLED show. This display screen has every part you may need from a 16-inch show, due to its lovely brilliant colours, 120Hz refresh price, and skinny bezels. The 16:10 facet ratio is ideal, and I like the additional vertical display screen actual property area right here. I watched the finale of Rings of Energy on this laptop computer, and wow, I used to be blown away by how implausible it seemed. Whether or not searching the online, taking part in a sport, or scripting this assessment, the show by no means did not impress me. After utilizing this laptop computer for a couple of weeks, I’m extra persuaded than ever to get an OLED monitor for my gaming PC.

The AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 processor carried out nicely in my testing. Productiveness duties are not any problem for this laptop computer, and it stored up with all of the day by day duties I threw at, corresponding to picture enhancing, researching, and writing. For reference, the Asus Zenbook S 16 achieved a Geekbench 6 rating of two,802 in single-core and 12,799 in multi-core. That is designed to be a light-weight on-the-go laptop computer, so for on a regular basis productiveness duties the efficiency is greater than sufficient, however should you’re trying to do heavy video enhancing or gaming, you might wish to have a look at different laptops. I additionally discovered the laptop computer to be silent throughout fundamental duties, with the followers solely spinning up when opening up a sport.

The laptop computer additionally encompasses a devoted AI chip, an AMD XNDA NPU that Asus says processes as much as 50 trillion operations per second (TOPS) of efficiency for the native processing of AI duties, corresponding to Copilot and Asus’ AI. The MyAsus app has an AI Noise-cancelling microphone and AI Noise-Cancelling speaker setting. The NPU may also be used for Home windows Studio results, which applies AI-powered results to your digital camera, corresponding to a background blur and computerized eye contact. Whereas testing these options, I might see the NPU being engaged in process supervisor, and it was doing its job of taking some load off the CPU. Copilot+ options aren’t out there on the Asus Zenbook S 16 but, however extra on that later.

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Home windows Hey is a welcome characteristic on the Zenbook S 16, due to the 1080p entrance webcam with IR assist. I like how Home windows Hey permits you to arrange a further recognition scan to enhance its accuracy. I used to be capable of do a scan with and with out my glasses, which helped recognition. This laptop computer additionally helps Home windows Presence Sensing, which turns your display screen robotically on and off based mostly on whether or not you might be in entrance of the laptop computer. I like this characteristic, and it’s handy that the show robotically turns off after I stroll away and turns again on after I return to my desk.

If you happen to kind typically, the keyboard on the Zenbook S 16 is not going to disappoint. I discovered the typing expertise nice and comfy with a 1.1mm key-travel distance, and I had no points working and typing on this laptop computer for lengthy hours. There’s additionally a devoted Copilot key for fast entry to any AI inquiries. The touchpad is sweet and huge and helps gestures, corresponding to altering the system brightness by swiping the underside or adjusting the system quantity by sliding up and down the left aspect of the trackpad. A haptic touchpad would’ve been good, nevertheless it isn’t a dealbreaker for me.

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What I did not like concerning the Asus Zenbook S 16

Battery life is not dangerous, however may very well be higher, and the built-in graphics depart extra to be desired

The battery life on the Asus Zenbook S 16 provides me combined emotions. Is it dangerous? No. On common, I bought 8-10 hours of use earlier than I needed to plug it in. This concerned searching the online, utilizing Google Docs, and watching YouTube movies and TV reveals. So, for my use case, I might get all-day battery life out of it, however simply barely. When gaming, I stored the laptop computer plugged in. For an x86 structure laptop computer, the battery life is respectable. However it’s tough not to think about the Snapdragon X Home windows 11 laptops and Apple’s M3 MacBooks, which have higher battery life than this. If you happen to primarily use your laptop computer for productiveness duties, that further couple of hours might make fairly a distinction.

Copilot+ options are additionally unavailable to check on the time of writing. At the moment, Copilot+ options are solely out there on Snapdragon X Home windows 11 laptops. Nonetheless, they’re imagined to be out there on choose Home windows 11 AMD and Intel AI chipsets in November by a Home windows replace.

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Additionally, to take full benefit of the 120Hz show, I needed to disable the dynamic refresh price setting within the MyAsus app. The dynamic refresh price made it so the show would solely be 120Hz when plugged in. When the laptop computer was unplugged, it will be at 60Hz. I needed the show to be 120Hz on a regular basis, so I disabled this setting. 120Hz must be enabled proper out of the field; it makes a world of distinction.

The Asus Zenbook S 16 additionally suffers from the identical drawback the Asus Zenbook S 14 has: each USB Kind-C ports are on the identical aspect of the laptop computer. I observed this nearly instantly as I went to cost the laptop computer by plugging it on the best aspect, solely to appreciate the port was solely on the left aspect. The even funnier factor to me is that the battery charging LED isn’t beside the charging port; as an alternative, it’s on the best aspect of the laptop computer. So, you cost the laptop computer from the left and test to make sure it is charging on the best. I’m not sure why this design alternative was made, nevertheless it’s odd.

The Asus Zenbook S 16 does have an built-in GPU, an AMD Radeon 880M or 890M, relying on the configuration chosen. I examined the 880M configuration, and the built-in GPU was okay, however don’t count on to play something on excessive graphics. I examined Cyberpunk 2077 and Murderer’s Creed Mirage and bought a playable body price (40-60 fps) in each video games by decreasing the decision. In Cyberpunk 2077, I used the Steam Deck choice within the graphics setting, which labored high-quality. However throughout each play checks, this laptop computer heated as much as the purpose the place it was uncomfortable to the touch. This laptop computer could be very skinny, so it is extremely simple for this factor to get scorching quick. In all equity, the Asus Zenbook S 16 isn’t a gaming laptop computer, so should you’re not pushing this factor to the max on a regular basis, this won’t be a dealbreaker for you. If you happen to’re searching for one thing to primarily play video games on, you need a laptop computer with a devoted GPU, and at $1,700 for the highest Zenbook S 16 configuration, it feels prefer it ought to have one.

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Must you purchase the Asus Zenbook S 16?

If you happen to’re searching for a 16-inch Home windows 11 PC that’s skinny, moveable, and highly effective, the Zenbook S 16 is worthy of consideration

After utilizing a M1 MacBook Professional as my day by day driver for over three years, the Zenbook S 16 makes me assume it might be time to return to a Home windows laptop computer quickly. Its AMD AI CPU is highly effective sufficient to deal with on a regular basis productiveness duties with out breaking a sweat. Its 3K 120Hz show is gorgeous and appears nice for working through the day and watching media. Its Ceralumium design is exclusive, light-weight, and appears as nice because it feels. And all these options assist enhance the Home windows 11 person expertise. It nearly felt unusual to return to my Macbook Professional after utilizing it for thus lengthy, particularly since I additionally use a Home windows 11 desktop at dwelling.

The battery life isn’t pretty much as good as that of the Snapdragon X Home windows 11 laptops. Nonetheless, its x86 structure AMD CPU does imply it avoids any compatibility points that ARM architecture-based Snapdragon X processors at the moment face with some purposes. The $1400 mannequin looks like the best choice to me (even higher if on sale), particularly should you’re simply utilizing the laptop computer for fundamental duties. If you happen to’re available in the market for a skinny and light-weight 16-inch Home windows laptop computer for on a regular basis use, the Asus Zenbook S 16 received’t disappoint.

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Asus Zenbook S 16