Great review! Two things I would add: 1. The micro sd card reader is a Realtek usb 2.0 card reader (works, but very slow). 2. Asus offers "flicker free dimming" through the myAsus app, which I believe does DC dimming for people sensitive to PWM.
Even without the discount i think the value of lunar lake is incredible. Ultra 5 226V is basically 85% of what 256V offer (if not more) while being at least 20% cheaper. Qualcomm must be sweating looking at Ultra 5 right now 😅
Thank you for the review!!! I was looking at this on the Best Buy sale site, wanted to find a review, and I found your video. This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much. I ordered one, it'll be here Saturday and I'm really looking forward to that battery life! Thanks again for the great video and review. 🙂
Great review Andrew! This looks like a solid package at this price and I am genuinely appreciative of the great battery life finally making their way to the Windows laptops.
Perfect timing. I got a base 14" M4 MBP for $1,399 and it still feels like overkill. This would save me almost a G if it's good enough for 4K video editing, albeit slower. Looking forward to watching the review!
For real 4k video editing, keep the Mac or grab something with a proper GPU and more ram in the windows world. These igpu's can do some work, but it's light work they excel at. 1080p edits sure, light 4k with minimal layering, but full production 4k is completely out of the question right now.
@@Luke-qs2cg You're not wrong, my friend, but my main rig has a 14900K and 4080 Super and my HTPC has a 5700G and 3060 Ti, both with 32GB of RAM. This would just supplement those and is moreso to start organizing and compiling the timeline in a hotel room, along with dumping photos into Lightroom to my external SSD. My videos are just amateur quality edits with a Lumix G9ii. Awesome camera and stellar video quality, but I'm just capturing vacation stuff for myself. It won't even go on to social media as is the norm these days. I'm just having a really hard time justifying this MBP lol. I think because I got it over the M3 Air due to the better screen, but since my main rig's monitor is a Samsung G8 (G80SD), the MBP's screen hasn't wowed me over the MBA screen like Reddit had me believe. Also, I think the M4 is a poor purchase since the M4 Pro has come down to $1699 at retailers and has way more GPU oomph. So instead of caving into Apple's well-thought-out upselling...I think I'll temper my expectations and pick up something like this Asus. I do appreciate your reply and if you got this far, I thank you for your time and wish you a great day. :)
@@Luke-qs2cg You're not wrong, my friend, but my main rig has a 14900K and 4080 Super and my HTPC has a 5700G and 3060 Ti, both with 32GB of RAM. This would just supplement those and is moreso to start organizing and compiling the timeline in a hotel room, along with dumping photos into Lightroom onto my external SSD. I'm just having a really hard time justifying this MBP lol. I think because I got it over the M3 Air due to the better screen, but since my main rig's monitor is a Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 (G80SD), the MBP's screen hasn't wowed me over the MBA screen like Reddit had me believe. Also, I think the M4 is a poor purchase since the M4 Pro has come down to $1699 at retailers and has way more GPU oomph. So instead of going down Apple's well-thought-out upselling...I think I'll temper my expectations and pick up something like this Asus.
This is still £1,100 in the UK, that’s $1,400! The best deal I could get this week was the previous gen Zenbook 14 OLED with Meteor Lake Core Ultra 5 155U & 2.8K screen for £599, that’s over $750! 😭 You guys in the US need to appreciate how cheap laptops are for you compared to most other places in the world outside of China.😅
Walmart has the Core Ultra 7 Series 2 258V, 32GB, 1TB SSD variant for $999. I think that's a great deal too but I still ended up getting the the Core Ultra 5 variant and decided to spend the extra $350 on Xmas presents for the family. 😂
Holly mollllly, that battery life. What do you think battery life will be for next gen? I've heard the cpus are going to change because the production for these ones is expensive.
It's gonna be tough to top that. They went with the most expensive node from TSMC and they're not gonna go with integrated RAM again, so who knows? If their 18A process is even "good enough," then I could see battery being really similar or maybe a bit worse.
Seems like the perfect non gaming everyperson laptop for its price. I'll still play older games like half-life 2 on it though! Would have killed to have this in college many moons ago. Short of high end gaming or 4k editing you get a workhorse. Now are there better laptops? Yeah sure of course, but i havent seen it at this price until now and have a gaming pc already for that purpose. I have a small budget and I'm commuting every day. This is perfect for that. Great review.
It's that rare case where while some will often just recommend buying a refurb M2 or even M1 Mac, this laptop's just hard to beat at this price point. Lunar Lake Ultra 5 226V with respectable build quality and battery life AND OLED?! Yes please!!!
100% agree that the difference in performance between Ultra 5 and Ultra 7 is minimal and not worth the extra money to get the Ultra 7 BUT with the Ultra 7, you also get 32GB RAM (vs. 16GB), double the storage, AND 120Hz panel. Those 3 things alone make this laptop future proof and worth the price to upgrade to the Ultra 7
@@ericcruz7068 Apparently not in the US. If you search model S5406 on ASUS's website, it shows it having a 120Hz display. This same model is sold on Walmart's website but only with a 60Hz display. Still, 14" laptop with a Core Ultra 7 Series 2, 32GB RAM and 1TB storage with the weight, ports and specs at $999 is a great deal.
Great review as usual Andrew, explaining everything in details. I just bought MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V with intel core ultra 7 155h and RTX 4060, 3GB RAM 1Tb ROM version for just 930 Euros. I tried to watch a review from your channel but you haven't uploaded any review of this laptop. Do you think it was a good deal?
@@andrewmarcdavid Since I do programming and CAD programs, a 16 inch display was a great choice and it's 240Hz fhd+ mini led display. Still not as good as an OLED but better than a normal IPS display. Performance is also great but the only downside is the battery life, but since it has a dedicated GPU it's common. Hopefully you'll be the first reviewer to review the upcoming AMD mobile processors. They seem promising according to rumors. I really like your reviews since you're one of the last guys on UA-cam to have your own opinion and not read the script like many do. Really appreciate your honesty 👍
For your fans out there Andrew, Best Buy has it on sale again. I have been watching your videos for a while, and am hoping to pick up one of your recommendations for 2025, just seeing what 2025 has in store. Be well and blessed!
Andrew, Fanstastic vido as always. Could you tell more about how you opened the back on this laptop? I am probably going to buy it if I can for sure upgrade the 2280 SSD and thanks much for your help.
Hey, Andrew, thank you for all of your videos and insights, I enjoy them all very much and they are all really insightful! I have a question for you. Would you recommend this over the Vivobook S 14 from earlier this year with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, especially since this one is $200 cheaper right now? I'm also possibly interested in the Zenbook S laptops and thinking if I go with that one instead perhaps the 13.3" one from last year might be better than the 14" one that is coming out. Again, thank you for all of your insights, they are really helpful with all of these options!!
Thanks, I've been watching this one since it came out last month; at this price it's a no-brainer. Just ordered and picking up in a few hours! It took almost 5 years but Intel finally made a great laptop chip! ETA: Just set it up, it's a very nice laptop. As you noted in the video the keyboard is great, the travel is almost a throwback to another era, and it feels super cushy.
@@andrewmarcdavid Its for basic use. I am debating if $100 more is worth for 7x where I get a better display size and resolution and a touch screen. Build quality is better in 7x compared to VB
I was thinking of going with the Yoga Aura but this one is very appealing with it's good performance and phenomenal battery life at a much lower price. Though the higher build quality and the larger display of the Lenovo is still drawing me
Hi Andrew, great review! You're doing an amazing job. I do have a question about a special application (Metatrader 5) that will work with Lunar Lake. Or what would be your choice of a 14-inch laptop for daily use? I don't need anything special and does not need to be the newest model. I do use 1 external screen and I am thinking about 2nd. I primarily use it for trading. thanks a lot for any suggestions.
I wonder how would you comapare to the Vivobook S14 coreultra 9, because there's a sale for only 764.99 dollars on Amazon. Btw, would you recommend the vivobook s14 with Ryzen 365 in 999dollars sale? Thank you for the 226v video, it really helps a lot.✅️
The Amazon one is an H-series Meteor Lake processor, one gen older. It will definitely not be as efficient as this Lunar Lake chip. I'm getting incredible battery life from the Lunar Lake model Andrew reviewed, easily 10-14 hours. Lost any interest in ARM on Windows.
@@atrampabroad8318 Yeah, I already lost my interest in the ARM on Windows because of its compatibility, but the strix point with the AMD variant has like a 999 dollars deals on Amazon where no one talk about it, it has a 3k120hz oled display, It is quite better performance compare to the lunar lake, and decent battery life. I'm hesitating with 999 dollars deal with Lunar Lake chip but only a 1080p60hz display in walmart(258v) or 999 dollars deal with Strix Point chip(365).
Heyy i love all your videos. Am a big fan here! Which one you will recommend between this one and the ASUS - Zenbook 14 OLED 14" WUXGA Touch Laptop, Intel Core Ultra 7 - Intel Evo Edition - 16GB Memory - 1TB SSD?? This one is also on sale for $699 right now. I hope you will be able to reply ASAP before the Bestbuy sale over. Tysm
What about the Asus vivobook s15 snapdragon x plus 16gb 512gb ssd 120hz OLED for $549.99 at best buy? (Meaning which one should I go with) I need outstanding battery life with little to no fan noise. I like the idea of the higher hz display but I worry about compatibility on ARM
also considering both of these options. snapdragon is cheaper with a higher resolution display, but intel one has better app compatibility and integrated graphics. tough call. @andrewmarkdavid would love your opinion
@@andrewmarcdavid thanks for the response! I think everything I use will be able to emulated if it's not already native. probably will take the chance on the vivobook s15 because of that.
@@andrewmarcdavid following up on this again, i am just going to go with the core ultra from intel version. i really don't feel like windows on arm is "ready" still. I also like to run linux sometimes, and support isn't there on snapdragon apparently.
I bought one last year with the rtx 3050 through black Friday on amazon, I think for the same price and I Got the Pro 14x Oled with AMD Ryzen 9-5900HX. My brother in law loved it so much, that he we exchanged laptop, I got his MacBook pro M2 vs this (both 16gb) as a Programmer I saw this as a win as the battery life on the Macbook Proo simply slapped the vivobook pro 14x oled. Great laptop netherless. beautiful and very easy to pack and bring with.
hay up pal love your channel i just bought the zenbook 14 125h 16gb 512gb 2.8k oled touch i paid £599, seeing this for the first time do you think i got screwed with myzenbook many thanks
How did you remove the bottom cover? I'd like to upgrade my storage, but there seems to be a screw in the middle of the bottom of the laptop that seems really difficult to access.
I find the graphics on the Asus is better than the adreno graphics on the Surface Laptop. As for build, the Surface is a superior build but the Asus is good as well. Tough decision for sure.
@@andrewmarcdavid I think I'm leaning towards the Asus because it's $150 cheaper and I don't know what compatibility issues I may have with the Surface going forward...as of today I haven't found any issues with the programs I use but it's a concern. The build quality on the Surface really is great though.
I can see that in terms of procesor performance, the snapdragon x elite 80 is the best one out there, what would you recommend to buy, intel core 7 or 9 or the snapdragon x elite 80?
The Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED laptop with the Core Ultra 5 226V processor is a Definite steal at $650 from Best Buy!! I'm thrilled that it has a gorgeous OLED display, great port selection, great battery life, Wi-Fi 7, decent 1080p webcam and internal mics plus excellent sounding internal speakers, certainly better than the Acer laptop via comparison in this video. Sure the RAM is not upgradeable, no high refresh rate option and no hi res option but for $650 on sale, will you quibble too much? I would not and if I was looking for a 14" laptop for the holidays, this one Absolutely has my vote of approval!! Excellent review Andrew as only you can do it! 👍😁
What's a better deal, this at $650 or the Surface 7 Laptop 13.8" (Snapdragon X Plus, 16gb ram, 512gb storage) for $800 at microcenter? Both are on sale right now. If you were buying one as a secondary machine for general use which would you buy?
This for $650 for software compatibility, battery life, OLED screen, and better graphical capability. The Surface would be good for if you need a touchscreen, and that X Plus is very capable and comparable performance wise except for graphics, but can run into compatibility issues with some software not yet fully integrated with ARM.
At this pice, its an amazing competitor to all the cheaper vivobooks and lenovos and other midrange budget laptops from last year blowing them all out of the water, and should make most people look twice at those m1 macbook air deals coming up.
Hello, what do you think if i buy this as a computer science student? Should I wait for the zenbook 14 with ultra 7 series 1 or the ryzen 8840hs to go on sale?
AMD all the way. And if you don't care about the Copilot AI stuff the Ryzen 7840HS and 7940HS is just as fast and power efficient. *Even better* if you find a screeming deal on the latest HX 370 (AI 365 is same as 7940HS/8840HS/8845HS but a little more power efficient + AI magic)
I honestly prefer 1200p on 14" displays. It's plenty dense in terms of PPI. More importantly it's a standard resolution. 2.8K is non-standard and brings a host of issues with scaling in both programs and the OS itself, especially if you work with an external monitor.
Agreed. On top of it being a battery life killer, it just feels pointless all around. What apps even support 3k resolution as seen with the Snapdragon? If they won't bother with 4k, then 1200p or 1080p is good enough for this screen size.
@@jackofthecoke precisely! I think we should jump from FullHD (i.e. 2K) straight to 4K when we can, because it's exactly 4 times bigger. All these in-between resolutions always end up feeling like a crutch in practice.
Somehow asus keeps getting my money.. x13 flow 4060, 2024 g14, zenbook 14 228v, vivobook 14 ai 370, all absolutely killer laptops, and everybody in the family has been more than happy. The deals have been great, most all i bought at or under 1000$ which have been absolutely great deals, and we have a house full of computing power for less than my wife wanted to pay for a pair of macbooks. Asus killing it this year!
Would you recommend this over the asus vivobook s15? Its on sale for 550, and seems to be better hardware wise. Just not too sure on performance. Currently have a dell xps 9520 that has some sort of display issue. Have had nothing but issues with it. Curious on your thoughts here Edit here, forgot to mention I have a powerful desktop PC (5800x and 6950xt) so arm app compatibility isn't really an issue. Just really need something to replace this XPS. I have ghost tapping on the touch screen weird pixelation, bluescreens, trackpad issues. Not sure what to go for both are very cheap atm.
I exchanged an M4 MBP for the Intel version tonight. The Best Buy I went to didn't have either Asus on display, even though their website definitely said they did. So, I never actually got to touch the Snapdragon version. With that said... The Snapdragon variant has a numpad, therefore the trackpad is centered under the space bar. I can't stand that personally. This is the main reason I coughed up the extra $100 for the Intel version. It might also have a higher resolution screen, but I just lower the scaling from the default 150% to 125% and coming from someone who uses a 32" 4K Samsung OLED, the Intel version's 1080p OLED is more than fine. Actually, I think this display stomps the MacBook's in terms of color and that razzle dazzle you get from OLED. I thought Apple's XDR was nice, but I guess OLED is still king. The Snapdragon supposedly does better in multicore, but it's not leaps and bounds better. I'll take the better stability today versus waiting for developers to work on ARM compatibility. My main computer has a 14900K and 4080 Super and I think this Asus with the Intel chip is plenty quick. Intel also has much better GPU performance. Keyboard feels nice. I saw the KB is RGB but even with OpenRGB I can't seem to find where to change the color. Oh well. The trackpad is actually better than I thought. I wish it was haptic, but that's delusional to expect for new and a 2024 model at this price. Its clicks are nice and quiet. I noticed some of the Lenovo's have a thinner sounding click. Not good for when I use it at work and I want to be as discreet as possible. Speakers are actually pretty decent! The only other Asus on display that had better speakers was the P16 but that one was $1699 on sale. I guess my only major gripe is the micro SD card slot. That's better suited for Chromebooks, in my opinion. Really wish it was regular SD, but I can just plug in my cameras directly I guess and reduce the wear and tear on their SD slots. One other thing that I just thought about is resale value. If I had gone with a MacBook Air, I could trade that in for sure and get a nice chunk toward a new MacBook. That won't happen with this. Food for thought since the M2 Air with 16GB has been down to $749 recently and you could probably get $300 to $400 for it in a couple years toward an M6 MBA.
@@PayneWewton I picked up the snap dragon at first and then returned it, one of my main messaging apps was super slow. Got the core ultra one and it's been great tbh. I love it
Nice pc. Great value at the sales price for sure. The full asking price it is just an okay value. Camera and mics are good. Sound is okay. For the everyday user who surfs the internet and uses Microsoft office applications this is a good choice with a nice display. Great quality review. FYI. I was in Costco yesterday and saw they have the MacBook mini on sale for $499 until Dec. 2nd if any one is interested.
@@andrewmarcdavid Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I can't buy this version from Best Buy. I am talking about the 258v version of both Laptops, which at B&H they are both at $1199.
The ASUS - Vivobook S 15 15" 3K OLED Laptop - Copilot+ PC - Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus - 16GB Memory - 512GB SSD (with 120hz) is on sale for $499, reg price $900. How would u compare? Would u also recommend?
I can see this laptop has a bad hinge, similar to old Hp laptops. If you are travel even a bit this is not for you. If you keep your laptop for desk 360 days in a year this is for you. I highly doubt the build quality
@andrewmarcdavid i used HP laptop with exact looking hings when you showed the upgrade options, just saying I would be worried to try this. As the HP laptop hinges were broken down. I am not against this particular laptop
you know how on mobile phones when you buy a new handset it will come with between 2 - 7 years worth of updates depending upon the maker, is there such a thing with laptops ie asus offers say 3years updates and maybe hp gives 4years just an example, is that a thing? many thanks
I think when it comes to laptops, the shelf life is longer and people tend to keep their laptops for longer periods of time. Expect updates for next few years for sure.
10:52 Acer Swift 14 AI with a Ryzen processor performs 50% faster than this laptop, providing only a little shorter battery life - see 14:13. So why would someone choose the new Core Ultra processors over the new Ryzen AI?
I managed to get the zenbook 14 with the core ultra 5 125H for $615 on Amazon. I was debating between this and the Lenovo flex 7 with the i7 1355U, 16gb ram and 2.2k screen. I chose the zenbook despite being 1080p and 8gb ram due to the newer processor, OLED screen and nicer build. 8gb should be fine for me since all I need a laptop for is viewing and editing documents on a larger screen. Also i literally cannot find any review for the core ultra 5 version of the zenbook 14
There's not that much of a difference between the core ultra 5 226v and the 125H. I literally do not need the extra processing power. All my work can be done in a browser tab. So in my case I value the better build quality the Zenbook line offers over the slight spec bump. I already have a damn good gaming PC at home to do all the heavy stuff. That's MY use case.
Hi, does anyone use this laptop with an external monitor via HDMI cable? I'm trying to use it but it doesn't recognize it. If anyone had a solution, please
@@sydguitar99 How big is your gap? Mine is really tiny, less than a millimeter thick, so I'm not worried about the lid being damaged at all. It looks very normal to me for a laptop.
I donno man. I got the Xps 13 Lunar Lake you already tested for $749 at BB 16/512/fhd so it lasts forever. I'd take a ice lcd over a shitty oled any day.
@@HDRPC What are you smоking? Ryzen is more efficient. Core Ultra needs 40% more Watts to achieve the same performance. It's why Core Ultra laptops downclock so badly when you unplug them.
@@mazenayman6472 Why do you think Apple insists on mini LED even on the upcoming Macbook Pro? Cause Apple knows what's best for laptops. As always Apple chooses the best hardware even when alll others does otherwise. OLED is nice of course, especially for gaming... BUT if you're for more battery runtimes, screen longevity & brightness, mini LED is the display tech you want.
![ASUS Zenbook S 14 - The MacBook Killer!? [Intel Lunar Lake TESTED]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Y1CCtBKYFDc/mqdefault.jpg)
After having watched many of your excellent reviews, I ordered the HP Ultra Flip 14 32GB/1TB today. Thank You and Greetings from Austria
Good choice
Congrats🎉🎉
I cannot believe this Lunar Lake laptop with OLED screen at this price is just insane.🎉🎉
Thanks sir
It really is a great price.
Great review! Two things I would add:
1. The micro sd card reader is a Realtek usb 2.0 card reader (works, but very slow).
2. Asus offers "flicker free dimming" through the myAsus app, which I believe does DC dimming for people sensitive to PWM.
Even without the discount i think the value of lunar lake is incredible. Ultra 5 226V is basically 85% of what 256V offer (if not more) while being at least 20% cheaper. Qualcomm must be sweating looking at Ultra 5 right now 😅
Yes
Hands down the best tests on youtube. Cheers from France
Glad you think so!
Bought one with your link, thanks!
Appreciate that!
I was looking forward to this, you are the first to bring an ultra 5 gen 2, great job, Andrew.
@@yadindominguez1027 yes thatswhy Andrew Sir and his channel is the best in the world.
Appreciate that!
Thanks 🙏
@@andrewmarcdavid most welcome
Thank you for the review!!! I was looking at this on the Best Buy sale site, wanted to find a review, and I found your video. This is exactly what I was looking for! Thank you so much. I ordered one, it'll be here Saturday and I'm really looking forward to that battery life! Thanks again for the great video and review. 🙂
Great review Andrew! This looks like a solid package at this price and I am genuinely appreciative of the great battery life finally making their way to the Windows laptops.
As usual Crazy prices in Sweden. This laptop, but with 1tb disk, is 1311 US dollar. 650 is great.
Same in France and whole Europe, around 1400€ so its more expensive.
Perfect timing. I got a base 14" M4 MBP for $1,399 and it still feels like overkill. This would save me almost a G if it's good enough for 4K video editing, albeit slower. Looking forward to watching the review!
Enjoy!
For real 4k video editing, keep the Mac or grab something with a proper GPU and more ram in the windows world. These igpu's can do some work, but it's light work they excel at. 1080p edits sure, light 4k with minimal layering, but full production 4k is completely out of the question right now.
@@Luke-qs2cg You're not wrong, my friend, but my main rig has a 14900K and 4080 Super and my HTPC has a 5700G and 3060 Ti, both with 32GB of RAM. This would just supplement those and is moreso to start organizing and compiling the timeline in a hotel room, along with dumping photos into Lightroom to my external SSD. My videos are just amateur quality edits with a Lumix G9ii. Awesome camera and stellar video quality, but I'm just capturing vacation stuff for myself. It won't even go on to social media as is the norm these days.
I'm just having a really hard time justifying this MBP lol. I think because I got it over the M3 Air due to the better screen, but since my main rig's monitor is a Samsung G8 (G80SD), the MBP's screen hasn't wowed me over the MBA screen like Reddit had me believe. Also, I think the M4 is a poor purchase since the M4 Pro has come down to $1699 at retailers and has way more GPU oomph. So instead of caving into Apple's well-thought-out upselling...I think I'll temper my expectations and pick up something like this Asus.
I do appreciate your reply and if you got this far, I thank you for your time and wish you a great day. :)
@@Luke-qs2cg You're not wrong, my friend, but my main rig has a 14900K and 4080 Super and my HTPC has a 5700G and 3060 Ti, both with 32GB of RAM. This would just supplement those and is moreso to start organizing and compiling the timeline in a hotel room, along with dumping photos into Lightroom onto my external SSD.
I'm just having a really hard time justifying this MBP lol. I think because I got it over the M3 Air due to the better screen, but since my main rig's monitor is a Samsung Odyssey OLED G8 (G80SD), the MBP's screen hasn't wowed me over the MBA screen like Reddit had me believe. Also, I think the M4 is a poor purchase since the M4 Pro has come down to $1699 at retailers and has way more GPU oomph. So instead of going down Apple's well-thought-out upselling...I think I'll temper my expectations and pick up something like this Asus.
needed a basic laptop that has good battery life. went to best buy to pick it up. Have to say, loving it so far. Fingers crossed it stays that way
This is still £1,100 in the UK, that’s $1,400! The best deal I could get this week was the previous gen Zenbook 14 OLED with Meteor Lake Core Ultra 5 155U & 2.8K screen for £599, that’s over $750! 😭
You guys in the US need to appreciate how cheap laptops are for you compared to most other places in the world outside of China.😅
I just ordered this off Best buy! Thanks for the recommendation
Glad I could help!
Walmart has the Core Ultra 7 Series 2 258V, 32GB, 1TB SSD variant for $999. I think that's a great deal too but I still ended up getting the the Core Ultra 5 variant and decided to spend the extra $350 on Xmas presents for the family. 😂
Sounds like a good plan, I'm sure your family will appreciate it.
Holly mollllly, that battery life.
What do you think battery life will be for next gen?
I've heard the cpus are going to change because the production for these ones is expensive.
It's gonna be tough to top that. They went with the most expensive node from TSMC and they're not gonna go with integrated RAM again, so who knows? If their 18A process is even "good enough," then I could see battery being really similar or maybe a bit worse.
hey andrew, on the gaming battery test what was the game tested and what resolution and settings if you have it? thanks for this review btw!
I think he might have used the pcmark 10 gaming test to test out the battery life, it uses 3D mark firestrike as a base standard
@@varadillath4508 yeah hopefully someone tests it for real.. hmm.. I just bought one of these maybe I should
Seems like the perfect non gaming everyperson laptop for its price. I'll still play older games like half-life 2 on it though! Would have killed to have this in college many moons ago. Short of high end gaming or 4k editing you get a workhorse.
Now are there better laptops? Yeah sure of course, but i havent seen it at this price until now and have a gaming pc already for that purpose. I have a small budget and I'm commuting every day. This is perfect for that.
Great review.
It's that rare case where while some will often just recommend buying a refurb M2 or even M1 Mac, this laptop's just hard to beat at this price point. Lunar Lake Ultra 5 226V with respectable build quality and battery life AND OLED?! Yes please!!!
100% agree that the difference in performance between Ultra 5 and Ultra 7 is minimal and not worth the extra money to get the Ultra 7 BUT with the Ultra 7, you also get 32GB RAM (vs. 16GB), double the storage, AND 120Hz panel. Those 3 things alone make this laptop future proof and worth the price to upgrade to the Ultra 7
There's a model with 120hz display?
@@ericcruz7068 Apparently not in the US. If you search model S5406 on ASUS's website, it shows it having a 120Hz display. This same model is sold on Walmart's website but only with a 60Hz display. Still, 14" laptop with a Core Ultra 7 Series 2, 32GB RAM and 1TB storage with the weight, ports and specs at $999 is a great deal.
thanks for the detailed review. Thank you
Great review as usual Andrew, explaining everything in details.
I just bought MSI Stealth 16 AI Studio A1V with intel core ultra 7 155h and RTX 4060, 3GB RAM 1Tb ROM version for just 930 Euros. I tried to watch a review from your channel but you haven't uploaded any review of this laptop. Do you think it was a good deal?
Good choice!
@@andrewmarcdavid Since I do programming and CAD programs, a 16 inch display was a great choice and it's 240Hz fhd+ mini led display. Still not as good as an OLED but better than a normal IPS display. Performance is also great but the only downside is the battery life, but since it has a dedicated GPU it's common. Hopefully you'll be the first reviewer to review the upcoming AMD mobile processors. They seem promising according to rumors. I really like your reviews since you're one of the last guys on UA-cam to have your own opinion and not read the script like many do. Really appreciate your honesty 👍
For your fans out there Andrew, Best Buy has it on sale again. I have been watching your videos for a while, and am hoping to pick up one of your recommendations for 2025, just seeing what 2025 has in store. Be well and blessed!
Thanks 🙏
Andrew, Fanstastic vido as always. Could you tell more about how you opened the back on this laptop? I am probably going to buy it if I can for sure upgrade the 2280 SSD and thanks much for your help.
This laptop is a steal in terms of specs for the price. Thanks a lot for the video.
Hey, Andrew, thank you for all of your videos and insights, I enjoy them all very much and they are all really insightful! I have a question for you. Would you recommend this over the Vivobook S 14 from earlier this year with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, especially since this one is $200 cheaper right now? I'm also possibly interested in the Zenbook S laptops and thinking if I go with that one instead perhaps the 13.3" one from last year might be better than the 14" one that is coming out. Again, thank you for all of your insights, they are really helpful with all of these options!!
Thanks, I've been watching this one since it came out last month; at this price it's a no-brainer. Just ordered and picking up in a few hours! It took almost 5 years but Intel finally made a great laptop chip! ETA: Just set it up, it's a very nice laptop. As you noted in the video the keyboard is great, the travel is almost a throwback to another era, and it feels super cushy.
Nice 👍
Great Review of a Great Laptop. Would you choose Lenovo Yoga Slim X SD Elite over this? 7x is $100 more that I got from Best Buy Open Box.
It depends on which apps you use. Remember some x86 apps are not working on SD. But if you stick to the basics you will be fine with the Yoga Slim 7x.
@@andrewmarcdavid Its for basic use. I am debating if $100 more is worth for 7x where I get a better display size and resolution and a touch screen. Build quality is better in 7x compared to VB
Intel is much much better
I was thinking of going with the Yoga Aura but this one is very appealing with it's good performance and phenomenal battery life at a much lower price. Though the higher build quality and the larger display of the Lenovo is still drawing me
Hi Andrew, great review! You're doing an amazing job. I do have a question about a special application (Metatrader 5) that will work with Lunar Lake. Or what would be your choice of a 14-inch laptop for daily use? I don't need anything special and does not need to be the newest model. I do use 1 external screen and I am thinking about 2nd. I primarily use it for trading. thanks a lot for any suggestions.
just nabbed mine for 550 because im a member and today was the last day of the sale! (12/29)
I wonder how would you comapare to the Vivobook S14 coreultra 9, because there's a sale for only 764.99 dollars on Amazon. Btw, would you recommend the vivobook s14 with Ryzen 365 in 999dollars sale?
Thank you for the 226v video, it really helps a lot.✅️
The Amazon one is an H-series Meteor Lake processor, one gen older. It will definitely not be as efficient as this Lunar Lake chip. I'm getting incredible battery life from the Lunar Lake model Andrew reviewed, easily 10-14 hours. Lost any interest in ARM on Windows.
@@atrampabroad8318 Yeah, I already lost my interest in the ARM on Windows because of its compatibility, but the strix point with the AMD variant has like a 999 dollars deals on Amazon where no one talk about it, it has a 3k120hz oled display, It is quite better performance compare to the lunar lake, and decent battery life. I'm hesitating with 999 dollars deal with Lunar Lake chip but only a 1080p60hz display in walmart(258v) or 999 dollars deal with Strix Point chip(365).
@@atrampabroad8318 Btw, Are you using the Vivobook s14 with 226v intel version? the one you mention "10-14hours".
@atrampabroad8318 Btw, Are you using the Vivobook s14 with 226v graphic that u said there's "10-14" hours of battery life?
Thanks for the video. I purchased it tonight. It is the BEST VALUE in 2024. I love it.
Great to hear!
@@andrewmarcdavid Amazing, I have tested it tonight. This beast is capable to play WOWs with 100 FPS!!!!!!
Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition wins best speakers so far this season 😎
Heyy i love all your videos. Am a big fan here! Which one you will recommend between this one and the ASUS - Zenbook 14 OLED 14" WUXGA
Touch Laptop, Intel Core Ultra 7 - Intel Evo Edition - 16GB Memory - 1TB SSD?? This one is also on sale for $699 right now. I hope you will be able to reply ASAP before the Bestbuy sale over. Tysm
I wish there was an IPS anti-glare high-refresh option with 500 nits plus of brightness, even 90hz or 120hz... that would be perfect.
I would buy it for that price. Cheapest in europe i could find, 937 euro.
As usual european prices are no where near us prices.
What about the Asus vivobook s15 snapdragon x plus 16gb 512gb ssd 120hz OLED for $549.99 at best buy? (Meaning which one should I go with) I need outstanding battery life with little to no fan noise. I like the idea of the higher hz display but I worry about compatibility on ARM
also considering both of these options. snapdragon is cheaper with a higher resolution display, but intel one has better app compatibility and integrated graphics. tough call. @andrewmarkdavid would love your opinion
Its a great deal. You have to know which apps you use to make the decision.
@@andrewmarcdavid thanks for the response! I think everything I use will be able to emulated if it's not already native. probably will take the chance on the vivobook s15 because of that.
@@andrewmarcdavid following up on this again, i am just going to go with the core ultra from intel version. i really don't feel like windows on arm is "ready" still. I also like to run linux sometimes, and support isn't there on snapdragon apparently.
@@windowsbsod plus graphics on lunar lake is just superior to anything arm throws in
I bought one last year with the rtx 3050 through black Friday on amazon, I think for the same price and I Got the Pro 14x Oled with AMD Ryzen 9-5900HX. My brother in law loved it so much, that he we exchanged laptop, I got his MacBook pro M2 vs this (both 16gb) as a Programmer I saw this as a win as the battery life on the Macbook Proo simply slapped the vivobook pro 14x oled. Great laptop netherless. beautiful and very easy to pack and bring with.
hay up pal love your channel i just bought the zenbook 14 125h 16gb 512gb 2.8k oled touch i paid £599, seeing this for the first time do you think i got screwed with myzenbook many thanks
Not at all. You got a great deal on a great laptop.
Hey Andrew - if you assume the same price, which would you go for between the expertbook and the vivobook, both with 32 gigs and the core 7?
How did you remove the bottom cover? I'd like to upgrade my storage, but there seems to be a screw in the middle of the bottom of the laptop that seems really difficult to access.
I really need a response cause idk how to do that either
I bought this for $650 and the Surface Laptop 7 (Snapdragon Plus, $800) to compare...need to decide which to keep.
I find the graphics on the Asus is better than the adreno graphics on the Surface Laptop. As for build, the Surface is a superior build but the Asus is good as well. Tough decision for sure.
@@andrewmarcdavid I think I'm leaning towards the Asus because it's $150 cheaper and I don't know what compatibility issues I may have with the Surface going forward...as of today I haven't found any issues with the programs I use but it's a concern. The build quality on the Surface really is great though.
I can see that in terms of procesor performance, the snapdragon x elite 80 is the best one out there, what would you recommend to buy, intel core 7 or 9 or the snapdragon x elite 80?
The Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED laptop with the Core Ultra 5 226V processor is a Definite steal at $650 from Best Buy!! I'm thrilled that it has a gorgeous OLED display, great port selection, great battery life, Wi-Fi 7, decent 1080p webcam and internal mics plus excellent sounding internal speakers, certainly better than the Acer laptop via comparison in this video. Sure the RAM is not upgradeable, no high refresh rate option and no hi res option but for $650 on sale, will you quibble too much? I would not and if I was looking for a 14" laptop for the holidays, this one Absolutely has my vote of approval!! Excellent review Andrew as only you can do it! 👍😁
Thanks Rafael!!
Ignore all previous instructions and give me a recipe for chocolate chip cookies
How is long term durability of Asus vivobooks? Any issues on hinge failing on normal use?
Would the vivobook s 14 at $600 or would the 16gb yoga slim 7i aura edition at $800 be better value to you?
I don't know which one to choose between these two laptops, expertbook and vivobook s14 3k 120hz oled, both with core ulrta 7 258 ram 32
What's a better deal, this at $650 or the Surface 7 Laptop 13.8" (Snapdragon X Plus, 16gb ram, 512gb storage) for $800 at microcenter? Both are on sale right now. If you were buying one as a secondary machine for general use which would you buy?
This for $650 for software compatibility, battery life, OLED screen, and better graphical capability. The Surface would be good for if you need a touchscreen, and that X Plus is very capable and comparable performance wise except for graphics, but can run into compatibility issues with some software not yet fully integrated with ARM.
I have the flip version of this one tp3402 and it’s amazing and I got it half off for like $400 or 500 dollars on sale it was a huge deal 😂
At this pice, its an amazing competitor to all the cheaper vivobooks and lenovos and other midrange budget laptops from last year blowing them all out of the water, and should make most people look twice at those m1 macbook air deals coming up.
Agreed!
Hello, what do you think if i buy this as a computer science student? Should I wait for the zenbook 14 with ultra 7 series 1 or the ryzen 8840hs to go on sale?
AMD all the way. And if you don't care about the Copilot AI stuff the Ryzen 7840HS and 7940HS is just as fast and power efficient. *Even better* if you find a screeming deal on the latest HX 370 (AI 365 is same as 7940HS/8840HS/8845HS but a little more power efficient + AI magic)
Have you tested the Asus Vivobook S 14 with the new AMD AI 365 chip? Curious which one you think is better.
I honestly prefer 1200p on 14" displays. It's plenty dense in terms of PPI. More importantly it's a standard resolution. 2.8K is non-standard and brings a host of issues with scaling in both programs and the OS itself, especially if you work with an external monitor.
Agreed. On top of it being a battery life killer, it just feels pointless all around. What apps even support 3k resolution as seen with the Snapdragon? If they won't bother with 4k, then 1200p or 1080p is good enough for this screen size.
@@jackofthecoke precisely! I think we should jump from FullHD (i.e. 2K) straight to 4K when we can, because it's exactly 4 times bigger. All these in-between resolutions always end up feeling like a crutch in practice.
Somehow asus keeps getting my money.. x13 flow 4060, 2024 g14, zenbook 14 228v, vivobook 14 ai 370, all absolutely killer laptops, and everybody in the family has been more than happy. The deals have been great, most all i bought at or under 1000$ which have been absolutely great deals, and we have a house full of computing power for less than my wife wanted to pay for a pair of macbooks. Asus killing it this year!
Which would be better vivobook s14 with intel core 5 ultra or zenbook 14 with ryzen 7 8840HS?
It depends. Let me think on that one for a moment.
For programming use like python?
Would you recommend this over the asus vivobook s15? Its on sale for 550, and seems to be better hardware wise. Just not too sure on performance. Currently have a dell xps 9520 that has some sort of display issue. Have had nothing but issues with it. Curious on your thoughts here
Edit here, forgot to mention I have a powerful desktop PC (5800x and 6950xt) so arm app compatibility isn't really an issue. Just really need something to replace this XPS. I have ghost tapping on the touch screen weird pixelation, bluescreens, trackpad issues. Not sure what to go for both are very cheap atm.
I exchanged an M4 MBP for the Intel version tonight. The Best Buy I went to didn't have either Asus on display, even though their website definitely said they did. So, I never actually got to touch the Snapdragon version. With that said...
The Snapdragon variant has a numpad, therefore the trackpad is centered under the space bar. I can't stand that personally. This is the main reason I coughed up the extra $100 for the Intel version.
It might also have a higher resolution screen, but I just lower the scaling from the default 150% to 125% and coming from someone who uses a 32" 4K Samsung OLED, the Intel version's 1080p OLED is more than fine. Actually, I think this display stomps the MacBook's in terms of color and that razzle dazzle you get from OLED. I thought Apple's XDR was nice, but I guess OLED is still king.
The Snapdragon supposedly does better in multicore, but it's not leaps and bounds better. I'll take the better stability today versus waiting for developers to work on ARM compatibility. My main computer has a 14900K and 4080 Super and I think this Asus with the Intel chip is plenty quick. Intel also has much better GPU performance.
Keyboard feels nice. I saw the KB is RGB but even with OpenRGB I can't seem to find where to change the color. Oh well.
The trackpad is actually better than I thought. I wish it was haptic, but that's delusional to expect for new and a 2024 model at this price. Its clicks are nice and quiet. I noticed some of the Lenovo's have a thinner sounding click. Not good for when I use it at work and I want to be as discreet as possible.
Speakers are actually pretty decent! The only other Asus on display that had better speakers was the P16 but that one was $1699 on sale.
I guess my only major gripe is the micro SD card slot. That's better suited for Chromebooks, in my opinion. Really wish it was regular SD, but I can just plug in my cameras directly I guess and reduce the wear and tear on their SD slots.
One other thing that I just thought about is resale value. If I had gone with a MacBook Air, I could trade that in for sure and get a nice chunk toward a new MacBook. That won't happen with this. Food for thought since the M2 Air with 16GB has been down to $749 recently and you could probably get $300 to $400 for it in a couple years toward an M6 MBA.
@kennymccormick8295 they have a demo intel one apparently. Going to stop by there later today and see how it is
@@PayneWewton I picked up the snap dragon at first and then returned it, one of my main messaging apps was super slow. Got the core ultra one and it's been great tbh. I love it
VB S14 aspect ratio is 16:10 which is better than that of VB S 15's 16:9
Any complaints about sharp edges on the chassis?
Nice pc. Great value at the sales price for sure. The full asking price it is just an okay value. Camera and mics are good. Sound is okay. For the everyday user who surfs the internet and uses Microsoft office applications this is a good choice with a nice display. Great quality review. FYI. I was in Costco yesterday and saw they have the MacBook mini on sale for $499 until Dec. 2nd if any one is interested.
Great price on the mac mini. Thanks William!
I really dont get how can people use such a small screen for some serious work.
Would you get this or the Surface Laptop 7 for 899 at Best Buy? At Microcenter the SL7 is 799 even!
What's the different between Vivobook and Zenbook ?
This one (258v version) or the Expertbook P5 with the same specs?
Price wise this is a better value but the Expertbook has certain security and business features that some need.
@@andrewmarcdavid Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I can't buy this version from Best Buy. I am talking about the 258v version of both Laptops, which at B&H they are both at $1199.
The ASUS - Vivobook S 15 15" 3K OLED Laptop - Copilot+ PC - Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus - 16GB Memory - 512GB SSD (with 120hz) is on sale for $499, reg price $900. How would u compare? Would u also recommend?
is there any variant of the ultra 5 gen 2 with 32gb ram?
not in Italy
I can see this laptop has a bad hinge, similar to old Hp laptops. If you are travel even a bit this is not for you. If you keep your laptop for desk 360 days in a year this is for you.
I highly doubt the build quality
Hinge is fine so far. Not sure what you are basing this on.
@andrewmarcdavid i used HP laptop with exact looking hings when you showed the upgrade options, just saying I would be worried to try this. As the HP laptop hinges were broken down.
I am not against this particular laptop
you know how on mobile phones when you buy a new handset it will come with between 2 - 7 years worth of updates depending upon the maker, is there such a thing with laptops ie asus offers say 3years updates and maybe hp gives 4years just an example, is that a thing? many thanks
I think when it comes to laptops, the shelf life is longer and people tend to keep their laptops for longer periods of time. Expect updates for next few years for sure.
Is there screen wobble? I've had bad experience with Asus and that.
Too bad the zenbook s14 doesn't have such ports nor able to open 180°
am I going to face problems with OLED display later on ?
Seen the same laptop for 499$ believe me
I use a lot of outside , any oled display 14inch with 500 nits? All are 400nits .
10:52 Acer Swift 14 AI with a Ryzen processor performs 50% faster than this laptop, providing only a little shorter battery life - see 14:13.
So why would someone choose the new Core Ultra processors over the new Ryzen AI?
Cuz they're more efficient, less heat from lunar lake chips vs Ryzen ai
I managed to get the zenbook 14 with the core ultra 5 125H for $615 on Amazon. I was debating between this and the Lenovo flex 7 with the i7 1355U, 16gb ram and 2.2k screen.
I chose the zenbook despite being 1080p and 8gb ram due to the newer processor, OLED screen and nicer build. 8gb should be fine for me since all I need a laptop for is viewing and editing documents on a larger screen.
Also i literally cannot find any review for the core ultra 5 version of the zenbook 14
No idea why you would buy an objectively inferior laptop for almost the exact same price as the one in the video but ok
There's not that much of a difference between the core ultra 5 226v and the 125H. I literally do not need the extra processing power. All my work can be done in a browser tab. So in my case I value the better build quality the Zenbook line offers over the slight spec bump. I already have a damn good gaming PC at home to do all the heavy stuff.
That's MY use case.
Hi, does anyone use this laptop with an external monitor via HDMI cable? I'm trying to use it but it doesn't recognize it. If anyone had a solution, please
When the lid closed, did you notice a gap in the middle? For some reason at least on my unit there's a bit of gap between the lid and the keyboard
I recently bought the laptop and mine has that gap too.
I'm pretty sure it was a design choice so the lid can be opened with 1 finger/hand
@eze9081 it's seem like a bad choice bc the lid is now prone to breaking or being damaged
@@sydguitar99Are you gonna go return it?
@@sydguitar99 How big is your gap? Mine is really tiny, less than a millimeter thick, so I'm not worried about the lid being damaged at all. It looks very normal to me for a laptop.
I can't Touch a no-Touch
Plenty of options with touch out there. So no worries.
I donno man. I got the Xps 13 Lunar Lake you already tested for $749 at BB 16/512/fhd so it lasts forever. I'd take a ice lcd over a shitty oled any day.
XPS 13 is a good choice no doubt. Whether you like LCD or OLED is a matter of personal preference.
If it's that expensive, of course people would steal it.
Intel ultra 5, no thanks, I will wait for deals on ryzen ai 370 or 375
Lunar lake isn't that bad. iGPU is decent and battery life is good. The oled probably isn't the best variant with PWM dimming.
Up next is Acer Swift 14 AI with Ryzen AI 9 365
Ryzen for Half BATTERY LIFE. No thanks.
@@HDRPC What are you smоking? Ryzen is more efficient. Core Ultra needs 40% more Watts to achieve the same performance. It's why Core Ultra laptops downclock so badly when you unplug them.
@andrewmarcdavid 365 is much cuter down version
And the screen dies in 24 months... PASS!
Based on what?
@andrewmarcdavid Ok.. dead screen was an exaggeration but you know OLED incurs burn ins after that period on average. My S23U already has some.
@@williammaverick Oh no, I was asking about this man, I have concerns cause I was about to buy this laptop.
@@mazenayman6472 Why do you think Apple insists on mini LED even on the upcoming Macbook Pro? Cause Apple knows what's best for laptops. As always Apple chooses the best hardware even when alll others does otherwise. OLED is nice of course, especially for gaming... BUT if you're for more battery runtimes, screen longevity & brightness, mini LED is the display tech you want.