Customers are impressed with the Zenbook S 14's stunning screen quality, excellent battery life, and lightweight design, making it ideal for portability. Many appreciate its strong performance for everyday tasks and light workloads. However, some users find the RAM capacity limiting and experience occasional heat issues, particularly during demanding applications. The speakers also receive positive feedback.
This summary was generated by AI based on customer reviews.
The vast majority of our reviews come from verified purchases. Reviews from customers may include My Best Buy members, employees, and Tech Insider Network members (as tagged). Select reviewers may receive discounted products, promotional considerations or entries into drawings for honest, helpful reviews.
Page 1 Showing 1-20 of 266 reviews
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality, Portability
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
amazing lightweight machine
|
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
this laptop is pretty fantastic.
the pros:
the battery life is incredible (i mean like, multiple hours (3-4+) per day and still being at like, 30-50% battery on day 3. use case being web browsing, video streaming, and chatting on discord.
it also looks and feels great with the ceraluminum and the line design on the lid/cover.
the typing experience is nice, and the trackpad is solidly built. its definitely a "premium" feeling laptop even with it being as lightweight as it is
everything else about this thing is polished as well. nice bright display, very responsive and smooth.
the bad:
although solid, it takes juuust a bit too much pressure for a full "click" on the trackpad than i would prefer, and the hinge doesn't go as far as well. fully flat 180 degrees would be nice, but it only goes to about...120-130 degrees ish?
other comments:
ive had no issues with speakers/mic or webcam,
and the machine stays relatively cool even during light gaming sessions. you can adjust the fans for your preferred mode, but even with dynamic (or whatever its called, i forgot) they don't get terribly loud
i'm able to play league of legends/teamfight tactics comfortably with no lag or clunkiness, albeit at lower resolutions/settings (i havent tried on max, but i dont care about that)
i did buy the laptop on sale for around $950-$1k, and believe it would be the perfect purchase at that price.
its still a good value though even if you don't get it on as good of a sale as that
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality, Portability
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great for your daily rutine.
|
|
Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
İf you are looking for good laptop for the office programs and your daily works, watch movies and shows this is your laptop with fair enough cpu, great battery and also great 3K Oled screen. And it is realy light.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great launch, sleek without issues
|
Posted . Owned for 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Immediately, I've had great impressions with the S14. It has great stand-by/sleep battery performance. Over the course of 20 hours, the battery only decreased by 1% from full charge. This is great as I'm constantly moving between classrooms or around my workplace, and now I can do so without worrying about shutting down the laptop down.
During real world usage at 80% brightness, I had the S14 at 100% battery at 10AM and it decreased to 7% at 6PM, so a 93% decrease over 8 hours. During this period I was working heavily and switching through multiple Chrome tabs, programming in Android Studio, emulating Kali in VirtualBox, and participating in Zoom lectures. I was very impressed by the laptop holding up, generally I would need to find an outlet in the middle of the day.
I am certain if it was a less hectic day, I could easily push around 12 hours usage under casual use. One helpful feature that Windows has been pushing with any device with an IR camera (S14) with presence sensing where the screen dims when you look away or locks itself when you step away helps reduce battery drain as well.
As for the components, realistically the only upgradeable/replaceable parts would be the battery, the NVMe SSD (M2280), the fans, and the WiFi card. Everything else seems to be soldered down so 16GB DDR5 is all you'll be getting.
Some further context about my stance on this laptop is in contrast to my experiences with the Zenbook S16 that I exchanged for this. I had issues with upgrading the storage from 1TB and driver issues where the WiFi adapter would not properly work after waking from sleep requiring a restart. Also I found the lid to stain very easy with the Scandinavian White, just sliding it in and out against my felt pocket in my backpack had black stains on the corners.
Whereas the S14 took my 2TB 980 Pro upgrade without issue and I've yet to run into any driver issues with it. The S16 would fail to complete the drive upgrade no matter whether the data was cloned, installed from asus cloud reecovery, or clean installed (would BSOD). To be clear, this may have been patched for the S16 already, but right away the launch for the S14 has been far better without issue.
The Intel Arc APU has decent performance, nothing great but good enough you would be able to play games. I found that Deadlock could be run ~55-70 FPS on low settings, Helldivers on steam deck graphics settings on performance rendering ~60 fps, and Cyberpunk ~29fps on low with xess on performance.
Ultimately, I'm very happy with the S14. It's portable, has solid power, and its resolution is large enough that coding is not an issue despite being 14".
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Weight
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Awesome Overall.
|
|
Posted . Owned for 2 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Excellent, sleek and battery lasts really long. Its really lightweight and battery charges really quickly. Haven’t noticed any thermal throttling so far. Speakers are pretty good for an asus laptop. Screen is really bright.
Pain points-
1. Too many ASUS apps preinstalled
2. Face recognition needs improvement. It does not recognize me 40% of the time.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Zenbook S 14: Elegant with impressive battery life
|
|
Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This is an ultraportable laptop with impressive battery life. The 3K OLED screen delivers vibrant visuals. The Core Ultra 7 processor excels in single-core tasks and graphics performance but, falls behind in multi-core tasks compared to its competitors.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Do Not Hesitate - The Zenbook S14 is Amazing
|
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Unbelievable! Honestly, I thought I'd never find a PC I liked better than my HP X360 Spectre 14" with 3K x 2K OLED. But that is not true any more. Both of these are top quality with the same resolution. Only the Zenbook S14 is years newer and has better tech. Be sure to use the Asus control panel and turn the fan to whisper quiet - you will never hear it and it will never get hot. I love the design too.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality
Cons mentioned:
Heat
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
Shockingly hot to the touch
|
|
Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
It okay not great. This laptop is getting returned. It has a beautiful display and I really like the keyboard but it just gets to dang hot. This laptop was on the verge of burning me as it went through all of its inital setups when I first opened the laptop. I was shocked at how much it got hot just going through the setup screens. I do all of my work on my laptop...well on my lap. So this is a huge deal breaker for me. Getting returned
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Brand response from ASUS Answers
Posted .
Dear YourFavNurse,
Thank yo for your comment.
We do understand your concern about thermal issues. It is normal for laptop, with the same hardware configuration and regardless of the manufacturer, to generate more heat than normal while under heavy load especially when running resource-intensive applications, WINDOWS Update and antivirus scan. When system resource utilization is high, this will generate more heat than normal and tends to trigger the fan to spin at full throttle. Please ensure the air ventilations are free from obstructions in order to have an efficient air flow for better heat dissipation. While running power-hungry applications, ensure no other resource hungry applications are running in the background, this will definitely spike the temperature. The heat or temperature does decreases or normalizes once system resource utilization goes down. Additionally. ensure Windows, drivers, BIOS and applications are up to date to ensure optimum advance configuration power management in Windows is maintained. Updates for this laptop are available at: https://www.asus.com/us/laptops/for-home/zenbook/asus-zenbook-s-14-ux5406/helpdesk_download?model2Name=UX5406SA . Should you need further assistance with the product, please email me at [email protected] and I would be more than happy to help. Or you are most welcome to call Product Support Hotline at: 1(888) 678-3688. Also, you can chat with an ASUS live support agent from the link: https://www.asus.com/us/support/article/1135/.
Thank you for choosing an ASUS product.
Regards,
Rodel ASUS Customer Loyalty
Pros mentioned:
Portability
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
10/10 would recommend
|
|
Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
I’m very pleased with this laptop—it has exceeded my expectations. I originally purchased it for academic use and was looking for a device with strong performance, ample storage, and versatility. This laptop delivers on all fronts. It handles light gaming, research, streaming, and music playback with ease.
The setup process was straightforward, and the user interface offers a range of useful settings. I also appreciate the sleek, modern design. Its lightweight and compact build make it ideal for travel, whether for long-distance trips or local commutes. Overall, I highly recommend this laptop to anyone in need of a reliable, multi-purpose device. With its impressive specifications and storage capacity, it’s built to last. :)
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Portability
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Best by Price
|
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The best Laptop I ever had. Small and light weight, perfect if you do most of work outside. Computer Spec is also good I can do work & gaming related stuffs (Like Dota2 etc.)
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Great if on Sale
|
|
Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Overall, it's a great device. The only drawback I've noticed is the screen door effect when there's a lot of white on the display. Other than that, the battery life is fantastic, and it handles multitasking and work exceptionally well.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Premium thin & light laptop.
|
|
Posted . Owned for 1 month when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Overall is good for me. I like the display and speakers, quite great for entertainment for non gaming laptop. The cover lid still get finger print easily. Battery is better from previous gen, it's good but not that great.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Build quality
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Look great. Microphone is problematic.
|
|
Posted . Owned for 2 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The laptop look sleek and very modern. The screen is sharp. However, the microphone keeps giving me problems. It might be the driver for Copilot+PC. For such a highend machine, I expect everything to work out of the box.
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality, Portability
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
ASUS Zenbook S 14: Elegantly Powerful
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The Asus Zenbook S 14" OLED 3K AI Copilot laptop is a premium portable ultra-thin laptop. I stress the word "Premium." It can compete with any laptop in this category. With its smooth ceraluminum finish, it's ultra-thin design, premium sound, vapor chamber cooling, and AI hardware capabilities, it's everything that a working professional could want in a laptop. I would highly recommend the S 14 for work productivity, creative professionals, and students.
Let's start with the build quality and design. The Zenbook S has a sleek ceraluminum finish that most of us haven't seen before. Ceraluminum is ceramic bonded with aluminum that is lightweight, scratch-resistant and also recyclable. It also looks like a brushed matte finish. The surface inside and out also manages to avoid those aggravating fingerprints and smudges. The S 14 weighs in at an ultralight 2.65 lbs with dimensions of 12 x 8.5 x .5 inches. There are 2 thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, a 2.1 HDMI port and a 3.5mm jack on the left side. On the right there's a lone 3.2 Gen A USB port. As mentioned before there's a vapor chamber for cooling. Air is drawn under the bottom of the laptop and up through the top vent just below the display. Speaking of the display the OLED 3K screen has no screen wobble and the hinges feel sturdy.
*Tech Specs*
The Zenbook S 14 has the long awaited Lunar Lake 8 Core Intel Ultra 7 Series 2 256v with a base clock frequency of 1.6 GHz and a boost clock of 5.1 GHz. There's an NPU capable of 47 TOPS, and Intel Arc integrated graphics. It features an even smaller SOC. There's a 1 TB NVME SSD and 16GB of LPDDR5X 8533 MHz RAM. The 72Wh battery shines, delivering over 20 hours of life. With demanding tasks, I was able to get over 15 hours. The battery can also give you 50% charge in about 30 to 45 minutes if you need it. The Zenbook S 14 comes equipped with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 too.
*Hardware*
CPU - Lunar Lake Intel Core Ultra 7 Processor Series 2 scored 8022 Multi and 1660 Single core scores on Cinebench R23. It also scored 10591 Multi and 2514 Single core scores on Geekbench 6. The CPU gives you plenty of power but all while prioritizing battery life.
Battery - 72Wh, Power cable is a 65W slim. Battery life is outstanding due to the hardware efficiency.
Graphics - Intel Arc Integrated Graphics 140V 8GB can handle all your productivity tasks with ease. It breezed through Creative Suite and zipped through a few AI tasks as well. It can absolutely handle light to medium gaming at 1080p and still look beautiful. I ran Minecraft at 116 FPS with a CPU temp averaging around 66 degrees Celsius. Overwatch 2 played at 75 FPS and ran the CPU temp up to about 75 degrees Celsius peaking at 87 on load. While gaming the keyboard was a little warm but comfortable, mousepad and adjacent areas were cooler, and the top vent was warmer than both.
TimeSpy score: 4240 (Graphics 3969, CPU 6933) Performance Fan Profile
Night Raid w/Integrated Graphics: 27198 (Graphics 36129, CPU 11329) Performance Fan Profile
Display - The 14" 2880 x 1800 Lumina OLED touch screen is Pantone Validated, HDR True Black Certified, and Dolby Vision Certified. It has a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 120Hz refresh rate making it easy on the eyes. There is 100% sRGB 94% AdobeRGB and 99% DCI P3 coverage. Amazing coverage that makes it the perfect screen for creative, photo, or graphics oriented production. The OLED has beautiful vibrant colors and deep blacks. I tested a few movies out and it doesn't get much better on an OLED. Peak brightness is 500 nits. The touch screen is responsive and the display opens up to about 130 degrees (does not lay flat.) Frankly, I haven't found much use for a laptop that lays flat, although I'm sure it has its purpose.
Cooling - There is an even better vapor chamber in the Zenbook S 14. Fans rarely come on but when they do they're quite, peaking at about 45 decibels on performance mode. On standard mode I was seeing about 30 to 35 decibels. This is very impressive. You won't feel anything warm unless you're really pushing the machine. The cooling technology on the Zenbook S is top-tier.
Keyboard and trackpad - The first thing I noticed is how easy it was to read the keys. They're well lit and slightly larger than normal. The keyboard and the trackpad both feel great. You won't think about them much while using and that's how it should be. The trackpad supports Windows Gestures. You should use these features. If you swipe up and down on the left side of the trackpad you can adjust the volume, side-side at the top is rewind/fast forward through videos, up/down on the right side adjusts your brightness, and a diagonal swipe down from the upper right corner will open up ASUS Screenxpert. Keyboard travel is 1.1 mm and it feels just right.
Audio - The Zenbook S 14 has Harman/Kardon speakers that really surprised me. I've had a ton of laptops and these are the best sound I've heard from external speakers on a PC laptop. There's an adequate amount of mids and lows that I just haven't heard yet on my previous laptops, and the fact that they managed to squeeze this sound into a 14" chassis is even more impressive. If you need the external speakers for a movie, music, or a conference call you won't be disappointed. In fact, you might not need the headphones.
Camera - Video is 1080p 30fps with IR. AI does a great job canceling out background noise and focusing on the speaker during conference calls. AI also blurs the background. This camera also supports Windows Hello mode and detects quickly.
*Software*
Windows Hello makes logging in and entering passwords easy.
The My Asus App included helps you monitor your system performance, but it also allows you to adjust a few important settings. You will have access to your CPU load, CPU Temp, Memory Usage, and Hard Disk space usage on your main dashboard. You also have product registration and warranty info here.
A few changes I would recommend in Device Settings:
1. Under Battery Care I set the max charge at 80%. This will help lengthen battery life.
2. Fan Profile can be set to 4 different modes. If you're working with creative, ai, or gaming I would choose Performance mode which will boost cooling performance. Otherwise, I would use standard or whisper mode to quiet the fans. Even with fans on Performance Mode I was around 35 to 40 decibels. In standard mode you will dip down to 28 to 33 decibels.
3. Set the Sound Mode under Audio/Visual to Dynamic. This will let Dolby Atmos identify the Audio and adjust accordingly.
4. Turn Volume Booster on if you need a little bit more volume using external speakers.
5. Turn on "Automatically hide Windows taskbar in desktop mode. This will help prevent static images on your OLED screen.
6. Also under Color Gamut (in Audio/Visual settings) you can adjust your monitor from Native to sRGB or DCI P3 if you need it for creative editing.
7. Under Input Device Settings you can lock the Fn so that your Function keys will trigger the event automatically. For Example, instead of typing Fn + F1 for Mute Volume Key. You would just type F1 and the volume will mute.
8. Last recommendation, you can lock in 120 Hz by clicking on the Fixed Refresh Rate. Otherwise it will default to dynamic which will lower it down to 60Hz when you're on battery to preserve battery.
The system diagnosis option is a comprehensive intuitive tool if you're having issues ranging from blue screen to a slow system.
*Performance*
The Zenbook S handled the Creative Suite with every task I threw at it. The Office Suite was a breeze. All the while, it rarely needed fans. Browsing the web, I counted 23 tabs open and not one bit of lag or slowdown. I had a variety of apps open as usual and you'll barely notice the Zenbook having to work. AI tasks happen quickly. I believe the longest I waited on AI might have been about 10 seconds when generating graphics.
*Pros*
*Beautiful 3K OLED screen
*Sleek Design
*Powerful AI
*Quiet
*Long Battery Life
*Top Tier Cooling
*Needs Improvement/Suggestions*
*Video Camera is good, but it would be nice to go QHD for conference calls
*Would like to see more AI software bundled
The Zenbook S 14 OLED 3K is made to perform. It checks every box for a premium Ultrabook for a work professional. It's portable, powerful, and classy. You can work all day with it, but also enjoy a great looking/sounding movie with the OLED and Harman Kardon speakers. As mentioned in the beginning of this review, I highly recommend the Zenbook S 14. It's hard to find a weakness. 5 Stars. Asus delivered.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Asus zen book s
|
|
Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Great laptop great speeds and screen size makes very easy to use. Touch screen is very nice touch
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality, Portability
Rated 4 out of 5 stars
Super lightweight with a stunning display
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The ASUS Zenbook is a gorgeous laptop computer that has the ability to satisfy a wide range of users. The touchscreen display is nothing short of amazing. The native OLED 120Hz 3K display resolution of 2880x1800 delivers sharp text, extra-fine details, and rich, vivid colors. The display gives users a premium experience no matter what task you choose. Whether you are working on documents, editing photos, or watching movies, the 3K display is among the best I have ever seen on a Windows based notebook. The display has a perfectly balanced and sensitive touchscreen that works very much like a tablet with gestures. You can even customize the gestures in the settings to your liking. While dragging your finger around the screen a faint gray line follows your path making it even more accessible for everyone. A nice touch I must say and it doesn’t get in the way of your productivity. The screen is also really easy to keep clean with only a microfiber cloth. No cleaning solution needed.
The build quality is excellent, however, I did find one minor issue, more on this later. Made out of a durable hybrid substance ASUS calls “Ceraluminum,” the laptop has a luxurious, premium feel, and resists fingerprints extremely well. Weighing in at only 2.65 pounds, and just under a half inch thick, its super sleek, lightweight design will have you taking it everywhere you go. The laser etched design on the top of the laptop is also a nice touch and shows that ASUS goes one step further to make their computers stand out among the crowd.
The battery life has been among the best of any laptop computer I have ever used. Your mileage may vary, but I can comfortably use the Zenbook for general computer use all day without worrying about having the charger with me. That said, the charger is small so having it in your bag just in case you need it is good standard practice.
The keyboard feels well built and has a nice feel when typing. I do miss having a 10 key, but there is simply no room on a 14” laptop. Keyboard backlighting is available with the press of the F4 button and has three brightness levels, including turning it off if you don’t need it. On my copy, I do have an issue with the “5” key. Straight out of the box, the backlight LED is non-functional (see attached photo). While this isn’t a deal breaker for me since I rarely use the backlighting feature, it is still something that needs to be mentioned. Out of all of the ASUS products I have owned and used over the last few decades, this is the first time I have ever experienced an issue like this.
Performance has been fantastic so far. Utilizing the new Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, the Zenbook is extremely efficient and can handle most tasks with no issues whatsoever. For content creators, editing both photos and videos looks sharp and stunning on this display. This laptop can even get through 4K video editing if you create proxies before you get started on your project. A great practice to get into if you want to edit high resolution video on almost any PC.
While the Zenbook isn’t designed for hardcore gamers, I have found that the integrated Intel ARC graphics can run Diablo IV perfectly, and again, the display looks amazing while doing so. This is the only PC game I play on a regular basis so it’s great that this laptop is so portable and I can take the game anywhere I go. Coupling this with the already generous battery life, getting some dungeon crawling and leveling up on-the-go is easier than ever. For optimal performance with high frame rate FPS games running at the highest settings, a dedicated gaming laptop may be a better choice, but for casual gamers, the Zenbook is plenty powerful enough.
The built in Harmon/Kardon speakers sound nice if you don’t push them too hard. They have a really nice sound at lower to mid level volumes, but do start to break up at higher levels. I have found that if you keep the volume at 50 or below it does sound quite good. If you want full sound immersion, I would recommend using your favorite wired or Bluetooth headphones when possible. ASUS have included an audio combo jack for wired headphones and a microphone. The other ports include a single standard Type A USB 3.2 port, one full size HDMI port for easy dual monitor setups, and two USB C / Thunderbolt 4 ports. As a content creator, I do wish they would have included an SD card slot, but due to the thin profile of the notebook, I can see why that may have been difficult to include. I have personally been using a dock that includes an SD card slot, so this is not an issue.
In conclusion, if you are looking for an ultra portable, lightweight, well built, versatile laptop computer that has quite possibly the best display I have seen to date on a 14” Windows laptop, the Zenbook should be high on your list. Do yourself a big favor and visit your local Best Buy to see one in person if they have one on display, because the display is just that good.
~~ Pros ~~
The screen is absolutely glorious!
Battery life is exceptional
Lightweight and thin
Built solid, everything feels premium and responds well
Easy to clean both the screen and the exterior
~~ Cons ~~
The speakers break up at high levels
My copy has a bad LED under the “5” key
I would recommend this to a friend
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Processor speed
Cons mentioned:
Ram
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Elegant, Lightweight, with Remarkable Battery Life
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
OVERALL: Although I initially had a less than pleasing Out Of Box Experience (OOBE), once I was able to setup and configure this ASUS Zenbook S14, it has been nothing by smooth sailing without issues. Overall, a well-designed laptop, with one gorgeous 3K OLED “touch screen” display, backlit keyboard, massive 72Wh battery power life, coupled with a speedy Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 processor with an Intel AI Boost NPU. Add in the Intel WiFi 7 (BE201) network card, the WD SN560 1TB SSD, the Asus FHD and IR cameras for Windows Hello, plus four Harman/Kardon speakers. All of the above contained in a very thin and lightweight “Ceraluminum” (fused ceramic & aluminum) case. Very sweet indeed!
My only “nitpick” is the non-upgradable 16GB of onboard memory that may limit (I said may…) future upgradability to support memory intensive applications. But for the moment, the current memory configuration is just fine for my daily business and internet surfing use.
RATING: After using for five days, this ultraportable Intel based Asus Zenbook S14 earned itself a solid 5-Start rating. Its assets far outweighed any perceived liabilities. Would be an excellent choice for business, home, or classroom use. Go for it!
TL;DR:
DISPLAY: I am somewhat taken aback by the gorgeous OLED 3K 14-inch display. Currently, it is the best-looking display I have ever seen and used, a real work of art. Blacks are black at any viewing angles, and colors pop. I had no issues with outdoor use as long as it was not competing in direct sunlight. Note that there can be some glare depending on positioning, but I consider that is the trade-off for having vibrant colors and crisp looking text.
Now for my daily use, I had to re-configure the default and recommended 200% Scale to 250% to enlarge the type to something that was actually readable. And I did change to a static 60Hz refresh rate (disabling Dynamic Refresh Rate) for better battery life without any perceived loss of screen motion. Must also mention, this is the first display that I can actually live with “Dark Mode” on. All in all, no major or minor complaints, only compliments after configuring for my personal requirements.
BATTERY: Another “Shaking My Head” in somewhat disbelief with the 72Wh battery life provided by this S14 laptop. I am averaging between 9 to 12, and sometimes up to 14, hours of battery life as reference by the task bar Battery Status ICON. And overnight in Sleep Mode, it is only losing about 2 to 3%. Working collectively, ASUS, Intel, and Microsoft deserve credit here for an outstanding job managing power for an extended use experience. One final comment, the provided small 65-watt power adapter is sufficient and gets the rechanging job done.
PORTS: Dual USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, and one HDMI 2.1 port. Plus, the 3.5mm headphone jack. Would have been sweet if one of the USB-C ports was on the right side for different charging options, but that is just another nitpick.
TOUCHPAD: Although this has a very responsive “touch screen” display, I have grown up with a mouse and touchpad as my primary tools for control of motions. Having a fairly large touchpad helps and normally does not get in my way. Asus including additional touchpad functions (volume & brightness) is another step in the right direction, even though I use the 4-finges touchpad control to adjust volume, and the keyboard function keys for brightness.
COPILOT: OK, I’ll admit I don’t currently have a need for Copilot, or the AI Assistant. But I just may in the future. Having options is always a good thing.
MANUALS: Was able to find online and download three PDF manual for this unit. One being a User Manual, along with two Service Manuals. Coming from a computer service background, I can’t say enough on downloading manuals prior to actually needing them. And I always recommending getting them while you can.
OOBE: The “Out Of Box Experience” was slightly spoiled by over 3 hours of ASUS and MS updates which included numerous rebooting. I get it, not totally the fault of ASUS, but both MY ASUS and Microsoft Updating just doing their thang.
Normally I would not mention the given updating requirements, but there were three updates that failed repeatedly over the first 2 days. Those being Realtek Semiconductor Corp Extension 6.0.0.68, Realtek Extension 9.21.3690.3, and Intel Corp Media 20.42.11265.1. The primary issue I experienced was not being able to determine the actual devices that required these updates. Using Device Manager typically points me to the culprit device, but it showed no conflicts. And online research provided no clues. But on the third day of use, and after general daily updates, all three prior update failures just disappeared on their own at boot up. Whatever…
.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Love it
|
|
Posted . Owned for 3 weeks when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Such a good laptop. Suitable for all scenarios. Fast, stable and reliable. Perfect in 1000 bucks budget.
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Asus Zenbook s14
|
|
Posted . Owned for less than 1 week when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
This laptop so amazing, it’s look so fancy and run really fast in this price. I love it so much bc this is my first laptop in my life
I would recommend this to a friend
Rated 1 out of 5 stars
Was great. Then it wasn't.
|
|
Posted . Owned for 7 months when reviewed.
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
Absolutely loved this Zenbook for 7.5 months. Then.... in 8th month, the Camera & Microphone both stopped working and it won't turn on without approx 5 - 10 button pushes and reboot process that gives bizarre memory training message (see pic). It's not software - it's hardware issue. Asus tech support? Don't even try - it's literally impossible to get to them. They just refer you to BestBuy (even though it's fully covered warranty). Their "troubleshooter" is a joke. When I bought, I ignored a few reviews like this - assuming they just got a bad unit. Well, now I'm one of "them"... Don't buy unless you want to be like me....
No, I would not recommend this to a friend
Brand response from ASUS Answers
Posted .
Dear ASB1,
Thank you for your comment.
We certainly understand your disappointment and the inconvenience this may have caused if you started experiencing issues with this laptop after 8 months of usage. ASUS is an ISO certified company, as a result, all products go into a strict quality manufacturing standard. All ASUS products undergo intensive quality control testing and inspections that ensure each one is trouble-free, this is a random problem. ASUS provides warranty coverage for the product. We recommend you send the product in for service to determine if this is a hardware issue so this may be resolved immediately. An RMA number is required to send it in for service. For RMA details, please go to: https://www.asus.com/us/support/article/818/. Before sending it in for warranty service, try to perform a Cloud Recovery, if possible. For helpful tips on how to run a Cloud Recovery, visit our Product Support page at: https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1048106/ .
If you need more information or further assistance with the warranty for the product, please email me at [email protected] and I would be more than happy to help. Or, you are most welcome to call Product Support Hotline at: 1(888) 678-3688. Also, you can chat with an ASUS live support agent from the link: https://www.asus.com/us/support/article/1135/.
Thank you for choosing an ASUS product.
Regards,
Rodel ASUS Customer Loyalty
Pros mentioned:
Battery life, Build quality
Cons mentioned:
Ram
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
Thin, Light, Powerful with excellent battery
|
Posted .
This reviewer received promo considerations or sweepstakes entry for writing a review.
The Asus Zenbook S 14 uses Intel's latest Lunar Lake mobile CPU platform to enable snappy fast performance, all--day battery life and best-in-class connectivity in a beautiful and premium feeling form factor.
The Zenbook 14 will immediately invoke comparisons with XPS13 or MacBook Air but it is actually larger in terms of screen size, yet manages to be thinner and lighter too. The keyboard and trackpad feel great and have excellent backlighting. What really strikes me is that the keys are separated and have good key travel and feel when pressed, unlike the latest iteration of XPS13 where all the keys felt spongy and almost feel like they are connected.
For connectivity, there's two thunderbolt 4 USB-C connectors that also provide power delivery, a full size HDMI 2.1 connector, and also a USB-A 3.2 connector on the other side along with a 3.5mm mini-jack for headphones. Most laptops in this class only have 2xTB4/USB-C connections, so the extra connectivity is awesome for those who need to connect or present to TVs or Projectors, or connect a USB thumb drive to pull files off. For wireless, you have WiFi 7 and BT5.2. The nice thing about BT5.2 is that with Windows 2H24 you get Phone Link even with iPhone, so you get pictures and text messages on your laptop, works great!
Another nice feature is that Intel's Lunar Lake chipset has an excellent NPU for local Copilot AI processing. This allows you to use AI features like ChatGPT, even if you're offline. Definitely worth checking out, although the online versions are still faster/more updated, this is a good option if you don't want to connect to cloud AI or don't have a reliable connection available.
The great battery can't be overemphasized, this laptop has all-day power that is better than the Snapdragon Elite laptops but not quite as good as Apple but getting closer and closer. This is great for folks who are on the go and I expect to see these more in Corporate work environments.
The 3K OLED screen and Dolby Atmos speakers make for an excellent TV show and movie watching experience. At first I didn't like the look of the metal grill at the top for the speakers, but after I heard them, I understood why they were so big. Excellent sound for such a thin form factor laptop.
Definitely enjoying this new Ultra Light laptop from Asus, it will definitely be my new daily driver and its something I'll certainly recommend to my IT department at work. I would say the only negative is that this chipset from Intel has the RAM directly on-package with the CPU which is limited to 2xRAM chips, so I believe it will be 16GB max, which is not going to be enough for heavier power users that need more RAM. I'm not sure if storage can be upgraded either, but it comes with 1TB and you can store to the cloud so that's not as big of a concern for me than the limited RAM. Typed this whole review on the Zenbook S and it was an absolute pleasure doing it on the wonderful keyboard.
Make sure to update the drivers, firmware and Windows itself, as there’s a lot of updates. I did get a blue screen on wake up with driver power state failure until I updated the drivers. Given this laptop goes to sleep frequently to save power, then wakes up with Windows Hello facial recognition and proximity sensing, you will want to make sure the drivers are updated asap.