Categories: Techno

Asus Vivobook S 15 Snapdragon Review: A Windows PC That Finally Lasts as Long as MacBooks

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Equipped with the Snapdragon X Elite processor, the new Vivobook from Asus promises performance worthy of a high-end ultrabook, while finally erasing the major disadvantage of Windows PCs compared to MacBooks. Is this first model with ARM architecture worth a look??

From the first glance, the Vivobook S 15 impresses. Its metal chassis has a satin finish that looks great. The lines are clean and Asus has played the sobriety card with a discreet logo on the cover.

The 15.6-inch screen is surrounded by thin borders, offering a great immersion. The chiclet keyboard, meanwhile, is probably our only disappointment in the Vivobook 15's overall design. Its key travel is too long to provide a good typing feel, and the lighting is so weak that it's hard to tell whether it's even there on the gray-keyed keyboard.

On the connectivity side, Asus has been rather generous by the standards of current ultrabooks:

2 USB-C 4.0 ports
2 USB-A 3.2 ports
1 micro-SD card reader
1 3.5mm jack socket
1 HDMI output

Its format is as compact as it is light with its 147 mm thickness for 1, 42 kilos makes it the ideal traveling companion.

Asus has been spoiling us with ever more beautiful OLED screens for several years now and the OLED screen of the Vivobook S 15 does not exception. Its definition of 2880 x 1620 pixels offers a remarkable display finesse, with 211 dots per inch.

Factory calibration ensures impeccable color fidelity, creatives will appreciate. The icing on the cake is the 120 Hz refresh rate, which provides exceptional fluidity in everyday tasks as well as in games (when it is possible to play on it, a point to which we will return later).

Asus has collaborated with Harman/Kardonfor the audio part. The result is rather correct for an ultraportable. The speakers deliver a clear and balanced sound, necessarily lacking bass given the size and thickness of the speakers. For impromptu movie sessions or video conferences, it works rather well. We will regret however that the experience can be random given that the speakers and their openings are located on the lower part of the Vivobook. Thus, the sound produced can be muffled depending on the surface on which the computer is placed.

The heart of the Vivobook S 15 is its Snapdragon X Elite processor. This ARM chip designed by Qualcomm marks a turning point for Windows PCs . With its 12 cores clocked at 3.4 GHz, it competes without complex with the best Intel and AMD processors of the moment, but also with Apple's M3 chip.

In benchmarks, the Snapdragon X Elite is on par with a Core i9 in single-core use. It lags slightly in multi-core, but compensates with exemplary energy efficiency. In practice, responsiveness is there. Applications open instantly, multitasking is fluid.

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The only downside is compatibility. The ARM architecture means that some x86 software runs in emulation, which can impact performance. It should be noted that the situation is improving day by day, with publishers gradually optimizing their applications.

Asus has gone all out on RAM. The 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM runs at a mind-blowing 8440MHz. This is something never seen before on a consumer laptop. The result is constant responsiveness, even with dozens of tabs open in Chrome.

The 1TB NVMe SSD ensures lightning-fast loading times, and the heaviest applications launch in the blink of an eye. Suffice to say that for office use, the PC tested here is one of the best of all.

Autonomy is THE great strength of the Vivobook S 15. With its 70 Wh battery and its processor particularly optimized in its energy expenditure, the S 15 holds easily fifteen hours in office use. A record for a Windows PC, and this thanks to the ARM architecture of the Snapdragon processor.

In concrete terms, you can go to work without a charger for two full days. No more stress about a dead battery without a power outlet nearby. The Vivobook S 15 redefines what you can expect from an ultrabook in terms of endurance, and thus joins the autonomy champions that are Apple MacBooks in this area.

The Snapdragon X Elite processor integrates an Adreno GPU. Its graphics performance is correct for office and multimedia. But when it comes to gaming, it's a different story. Recent games will run rather poorly, even at low resolution. Suffice to say that you will have to make do with games that require very little graphics power, as is customary on ultrabooks anyway.

The Vivobook S 15 features Windows 11 in its latest version. The interface is fluid and responsive . But the real novelty is the advanced integration of AI with Copilot+.

A dedicated button lets you summon the virtual assistant at any time. Copilot can answer your questions, suggest actions, or even generate content. However, its daily usefulness remains to be proven. AI functions are available, such as real-time subtitling or searching for files by description. But unfortunately, it is difficult to find any real interest in the marketing point raised by Asus here, the most important thing for us remaining rather the gain in autonomy offered by the ARM architecture.

With a price of 1499€, the Vivobook S 15 positions itself well against the competition. For this price, you get a 120 Hz OLED display, a latest generation processor, 32 GB of RAM and 1 TB of SSD. All in a premium chassis with record battery life. Compared to a MacBook Pro 14″, the Vivobook S 15 is an excellent deal.

The Asus PC equipped with a Snapdragon processor marks a turning point for Windows PCs. For the first time, an ultrabook with Microsoft's OS rivals MacBooks in terms of battery life, without compromising on performance.

The ARM Snapdragon X Elite processor thus keeps its promises. It offers high-flying performance while consuming a minimum of energy. The 120 Hz OLED screen is excellent, then the battery life of around fifteen hours in real use is a game-changer on a daily basis. For office use, the Vivobook S 15 is a solid ultrabook.

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Teilor Stone

Teilor Stone has been a reporter on the news desk since 2013. Before that she wrote about young adolescence and family dynamics for Styles and was the legal affairs correspondent for the Metro desk. Before joining Thesaxon , Teilor Stone worked as a staff writer at the Village Voice and a freelancer for Newsday, The Wall Street Journal, GQ and Mirabella. To get in touch, contact me through my teilor@nizhtimes.com 1-800-268-7116