Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED (2022) review

It’s simple sufficient to discover a small laptop computer, however the Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED tries to transcend the norm with a sensational OLED show and a light-weight design.

Past the eye-searing display screen and svelte physique, there’s lots to love. The ZenBook deploys a factory-fresh AMD Ryzen processor and has lengthy battery life, too. And, at a beginning value of $1,299 within the US and £1,299 within the UK, the value isn’t outrageous both.

That sounds nice, however the ZenBook S must carry out if it desires to outpace the competitors: there’s the dominant Apple MacBook Air and its up to date M2 processor, and Dell’s XPS 13 and XPS 13 Plus are each spectacular.

Design & Construct

• Slim, mild and durable design
• A number of USB-C connectivity, however little else
• No facial recognition, however you do get a fingerprint reader

The ZenBook S 13 OLED is bodily spectacular. On the scales, this laptop computer solely weighs 1.09kg, so it undercuts all of its rivals – even when the MacBook Air and normal XPS 13 are a bit slimmer.

Asus’ pocket book has good construct high quality, too, with pleasing power all through the magnesium-aluminium alloy casing. Mix that with its MIL-STD 810H certification and also you’ve received a laptop computer that’ll simply face up to every day commuter life. It appears to be like good, too, with a matte metallic chassis and a brilliant chrome hinge.

Mike Jennings / Foundry

I’ve reviewed the Aqua Celadon mannequin, which has a slight tinge of inexperienced, and it’s additionally offered in shades of blue, white and beige. On this respect, its 4 color choices outstrip each opponents.

The ZenBook’s right-hand edge has two USB-C ports with energy supply, and there’s one other on the left. A type of powers the laptop computer, and Asus features a full-size USB adapter. The AMD internals means no Thunderbolt 4 help, which you can find on the Apple and Dell laptops.

The ZenBook has a 1080p webcam with out Home windows Whats up sign-in, however you get biometrics from the fingerprint reader within the energy button.

Keyboard & Trackpad

• Conventional structure
• Stand-out energy key
• Massive trackpad

Cleverly, Asus has made the facility button shorter and extra resistant than the remainder of the opposite keys, so it’s tougher to by chance hit whereas typing. Elsewhere the structure is standard, and the keyboard has a three-stage white backlight.

Mike Jennings / Foundry

See also  Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED review

Asus hasn’t made any massive adjustments on this era of ZenBook keyboard, however that’s no dangerous factor – the buttons nonetheless have stable journey and an motion that gives quick, constant typing. This keyboard simply matches any rival.

The trackpad is stable, too: giant, clean and with a responsive, shallow clicking movement. It’s usable for many duties, though you’ll need the USB-A adapter and a correct mouse for exact work.

Display & Audio system

• Excessive-quality 16:10 OLED show
• Supreme decision for inventive workloads
• Nice color efficiency in all gamuts
• Stylus included

The show has a stellar specification. It’s a 13.3in OLED show with a 16:10 facet ratio and a decision of 2880 x 1800. That’s extra pixels than the MacBook Air and a better decision than the XPS 13 until you pay for its dear 4K choice. The ZenBook’s panel is a touchscreen, and a stylus is included within the field besides – helpful for inventive work.

Unsurprisingly, the Asus displays sensational distinction: the OLED expertise signifies that darkish areas have unimaginable depth, and colors pop from the panel with spectacular vibrancy.

There’s lots to love about these colors, too. The display screen renders 100% of the sRGB gamut at a monster 161.7% quantity, and it produces 92.8% of the Adobe RGB gamut and 97.9% of the DCI-P3 house with volumes past 100%. Wow.

Mike Jennings / Foundry

They’re enormous figures and imply that this display screen produces nearly each shade wanted by inventive duties, together with people who want the Adobe RGB and HDR areas. And whereas the Delta E of three.12 may very well be a bit higher – and also you’ll want it to be extra correct in case you’re a very severe inventive – it’s nonetheless adequate to make sure accuracy in most workloads.

The one notable situation comes within the brightness division. Whereas this show can attain 550 nits in HDR mode, in SDR mode it tops out at 357 nits – advantageous for indoor use, however not fairly brilliant sufficient for constant out of doors utilization.

Nonetheless, that’s the one grievance I’ve received a couple of very good display screen. The OLED panel supplies a broad, correct color gamut, unimaginable vibrancy and a excessive decision. Solely the Dell XPS 13 Plus and its non-obligatory OLED show can compete.

Whereas this show is undoubtedly bolder than the IPS panels within the Apple and the usual XPS 13, you should still wish to keep on with these – they supply extra muted, life like colors. For plenty of work conditions, that is still a bonus so it depends upon your private utilization and style.

The audio system, in the meantime, supply first rate quantity and cheap mid-range readability, however there’s a extreme lack of bass so that they’re solely appropriate for background media use.

Specs & Efficiency

• AMD Ryzen 7 6800U processor with built-in graphics
• 16GB LPDDR5 reminiscence
• 512GB SSD

AMD’s new Ryzen 7 6800U takes centre stage within the ZenBook S 13 OLED. It makes use of an up to date model of the Zen 3 structure that’s been round since 2021, and this low-power processor has eight multi-threaded cores and a stable prime velocity of 4.7GHz.

Alongside the processing cores, you’ll discover AMD Radeon built-in graphics, 16GB of dual-channel LPDDR5 reminiscence and a quick 512GB SSD. That’s nice, and on the within customers can attain the SSD – however reminiscence upgrades aren’t doable as a result of the RAM is soldered to the motherboard. Connectivity comes from dual-band Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, however there’s no Ethernet for wired web as per most trendy laptops.

AMD’s up to date processor helps the Asus slot between its rivals. In Geekbench’s multi-core take a look at the ZenBook returned a results of 7,714. That’s a stable rating, and twice pretty much as good because the Intel Core i7-1250U that you simply’ll discover contained in the Dell XPS 13 – nevertheless it’s nonetheless round 1,000 factors behind the Apple M2 processor inside the most recent MacBook Air.

Mike Jennings / Foundry

There’s one other consideration from Dell’s line-up, too: the XPS 13 Plus. If you happen to configure that rig with a Core i7-1260P processor, that chip will outpace the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U contained in the ZenBook.

In real-world phrases, there’s sufficient grunt right here to deal with multi-tasking, any workplace app and mainstream content material creation. It’s definitely a greater productiveness transportable than the Dell XPS 13, even when it’s a little bit slower than the XPS 13 Plus and the MacBook Air.

There’s some proof that the Ryzen chip doesn’t run at its peak capability, which isn’t any shock from a slim laptop computer. The CPU hardly ever exceeded speeds of two.7GHz in powerful work assessments, and the metallic above the keyboard and on the underside grew to become extraordinarily heat after long-term work benchmarks.

That’s not a deal-breaking flaw, particularly in case you want a laptop computer for brief bursts of exercise. I’d additionally advocate the Balanced working mode, which does an amazing job of chopping again on temperatures whereas solely barely decreasing efficiency ranges so that you’re nonetheless left with sufficient capacity for multi-tasking and photo-editing.

The ZenBook fights again in battery life assessments. It lasted a monster 17 hours 55 minutes in our standard video playback take a look at, which is a few hours past the Dell and Apple notebooks. If you wish to use on a regular basis work purposes, you’ll nonetheless get ten hours from this rig. It’s a superb selection if you would like a laptop computer for all-day working – and in case you’re cautious along with your purposes and display screen brightness, it’ll deal with the night too.

Value & Availability

The Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED – mannequin title UM5302T – hasn’t but been launched within the US or UK on the time of writing. However when it does land, count on it to value $1,299 and £1,299. Because it stands, solely B&H has a list web page.

That tempting determine compares effectively to rivals. The Apple MacBook Air M2 prices $1,119 and £1,249 with a 256GB SSD or $1,499 and £1,549 in case you go for its 512GB SSD and beefier M2 chip.

Be aware that the mannequin reviewed right here is the highest spec however there’s additionally a lower-spec mannequin with a Ryzen 5 chip together with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. Asus has not but offered us with a value for this.

Mike Jennings / Foundry

It’s an analogous story on the Dell facet of issues. The brand new XPS 13 prices $1,449 or £1,279 in case you go for a specification that matches the Asus. The XPS 13 Plus begins at $1,349 or £1,349 and its costs rise dramatically in case you equip its OLED choice.

Take a look at our chart of the most effective laptops to see all the highest choices.

Verdict

The Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED lives as much as its title – its OLED show is beautiful, with enormous high quality and readability. Past that, this laptop computer is slim, mild and has an amazing keyboard. Its battery life impresses, and it’s received the facility for multi-tasking and mainstream inventive work. Its value even undercuts most rivals.

That’s to not say the Apple MacBook Air M2, Dell XPS 13 and different rivals are with out their charms. Apple’s machine is quicker. The Dell XPS 13 is slimmer than the Asus and it has Thunderbolt, and the XPS 13 Plus is out there with quicker processors and OLED panels.

There’s little doubt that the ZenBook is a superb competitor, although – simply in a position to stand alongside these different laptops. Its nice display screen, stable internals and prolonged battery life make this a superb ultraportable.

Specs

• Mannequin examined: UM5302T
• OS: Home windows 11 House
• Show: 13.3in OLED, 2880x 1800, 60Hz
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 6800U
• Reminiscence: 16GB onboard
• Graphics: AMD Radeon built-in
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
• Webcam: 1080p
• Connectivity: 3 x USB Sort-C, combo audio jack.
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
• Battery capability: 67Wh
• Dimensions: 11.65 x 8.26 x 0.58 inches
• Measured weight: 1.09kg