Maroc - THECEKODOK.COM - A La Une - 17/Aug 02:17

ASUS Vivobook S 15 Review – MacBook Air Now Has Real Competitors

I've been using the Windows operating system for over 12 years and to this day I'm still trying to save money to buy a MacBook because I see it being used by my office mates. However, my ambition to buy a Mac had to be canceled because I fell in love with the recently launched Windows Copilot+ PC laptop.The laptop of my choice is the ASUS Vivobook S 15 with a Snapdragon X Elite chip and running Windows 11. This laptop chip uses the same Arm build on smartphones as well as Apple Silicon chips. Throughout my use, I believe and believe that this is the Windows laptop's answer to rivaling macOS – at least as a fierce competitor to the MacBook Air.SPECIFICATION AND DESIGNModel Name ASUS Vivobook S 15 (S5507) Copilot+ PCDisplay Size 15.6″, 3K (2880 x 1620) OLED 16:9, 120Hz,HDR True Black 600, Non-TouchProcessor Snapdragon X Elite X1E 78 100 Processor 3.4GHz(42MB Cache, 3.4GHz, 12 cores, 12 Threads)NPU Qualcomm Hexagon NPU 45TOPSAdreno X1-85 Graphics Chip (4.6 TFLOPS)RAM 32GB LPDDR5XInternal Load 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDMicro SD card readerFull HD Camera + Privacy Shutter2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A I/O plug2x USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C DP/PD1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS1x 3.5mmWindows 11 Home Operating SystemSecurity Face scan with Windows Hello70WHr battery90W chargerPrice RM6,299In terms of design, the ASUS Vivobook S 15 looks like an ordinary laptop. This is because it is indeed a normal Windows laptop that you are used to seeing. What's special about this Vivobook S 15 is the Snapdragon X Elite processing chip which is the new Arm chip for Windows devices instead of Intel or AMD's X86 chip. For three years I used a laptop with an 11th generation Intel Core i7 chip with 16GB RAM, but this laptop is already very powerful and it's not because of the 32GB memory.The large 15.6-inch screen, OLED panel with 120Hz, supports HDR10+ display but the bezel is uneven due to the chin for the wire + logo and the forehead for the camera with Windows Hello. The keyboard of this laptop is a full type with a number pad and F keys. The Copilot key is also included and the touchpad has a wide enough size. Other elements on the design of this laptop make it appear as a device for professional use with no complicated patterns, no complicated elements and very neat and simple.Vivobook S 15 is also equipped with 2x USB-C PD/DP, 2x USB-A, 1x 3.5mm audio jack, 1x HDMI 2.1 and also a micro SD card reader. The weight of this laptop is 1.42 kilograms which is light and thin enough to be stored in a backpack. In Malaysia, there is only the Cool Silver color that easily catches fingerprints and stains, but is easy to clean.BIOMETRICASUS does not provide a fingerprint scanner but uses an FHD camera with an infrared sensor for face scanning via Windows Hello. In my tests, it was fast enough but in the dark my old three-year-old laptop had faster Windows Hello performance. Hopefully it can be fixed with a software update.SCREENThe OLED screen offers blacks that are truly legapp and saves power consumption. The use of 120Hz does not really bring a significant difference compared to a laptop with a 90Hz screen because I do a lot of typing work instead of playing video games or using applications that have a lot of movement elements. The color display however is very beautiful with HDR10+ support, it makes it easy for me to edit photos with Photoshop.The thick bezel doesn't bother me, but it's not pleasing to the eye because it looks worn. I also don't like that touch screen support is not provided while competing laptops with more affordable prices can. The 15.6-inch screen size for me is quite interesting because every day I use a 14-inch screen so it is a very comfortable and adequate size.USAGE – SNAPDRAGON X ELITE + COPILOT+ PCMy daily work with a Windows laptop is using Adobe Photoshop, Photoscape, Spark, Firefox, Opera, WhatsApp, Quick Share and streaming video or music content. When I compare the experience of using an Intel laptop with the Vivobook S 15, the Snapdragon X Elite chip is clearly more powerful, more efficient and smoother. Opening an app is as fast as an app in a smartphone.The majority of apps I use every day are supported natively, except for a few like VPN and Quick Share. A temporary solution is to copy the program files from the old laptop to this laptop to use them, but not all applications can. Fast performance at the beginning I remember because of the 32GB RAM memory but not because the amount of memory usage on this laptop is lower.Photoshop and many web browsers are natively supported, so my daily work is not affected. For the generative AI feature, Photoshop does not support processing from within the device so it is more or less the same but the loading time is better. The one I can use with satisfaction is Cocreator on Paint. It's fun but not the AI ​​features I want.The Microsoft Recall feature that utilizes the power of the laptop's NPU and CPU still cannot be used. Even ASUS' own AI application, StoryCube, also has problems. Throughout my use, the Vivobook S 15 was not the promised AI laptop but a Windows laptop for more powerful productivity.For video games, I've tested Resident Evil Biohazard or RE7 via Steam. I was very surprised that unlike other productivity laptops, the Vivobook S 15 was able to run these high graphics games smoothly. Most of the default graphics settings are the highest and I received around 60FPS for a play session of around 30 minutes. This is a new game installed through the X86 to ARM translation process, not yet native.I can feel the transition of Windows laptops from X86 platform to Arm is fast. I say this because for me who used it for the first time it was comfortable and no work was affected. Coming more apps will be updated and become native it will definitely make it easier for people. After this, the selling price that needs to be ensured is affordable, because the MacBook Air can already be bought at a price below RM4000 but the Copilot+ PC is still above RM6000.Many buy MacBooks because of Apple's ecosystem, so what's the justification for them to switch to Windows if it's true that Copilot+ PC is a true MacBook Air competitor? The answer is Phone Link which is currently limited to Samsung and devices powered by Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 operate smoothly. Features of fast file sharing, instant hotspot, copy and paste text, broadcast phone screen content to laptop and all are slowly starting to be supported on many devices. So Copilot+ PC and Phone Link are the future hope for a semi-open ecosystem.PERFORMANCE & BENCHMARKSASUS Vivobook S 15 is indeed a powerful AI laptop. Although as I said earlier there are still applications that cannot run perfectly, this includes the benchmark application. To see what this device is technically capable of, I tested it with 3DMark Wild Life Extreme, Geekbench 6, CrystalDiskMark and also the latest Geekbench AI. The SSD read/write data is not as fast as I expected and this is evident when doing file transfers over 5GB. 3DMark has errors during testing, PCMark10 is not supported at all and Geekbench 6 displays scores as if it were a device with Snapdragon 8 Gen 3.For Geekbench AI, it displays scores in its own format, instead of TOPS. Based on the chart on the Geekbench site, the score of this ASUS AI laptop is actually not powerful enough when compared to other devices. This is probably because it is still in the first generation and there are still many update optimizations to be done.PCMARK10Still not supportedGEEKBENCH 62290/14072 for single core and multi-core.GEEKBENCH AI1765/1263/48753DMARK Wild Life ExtremeError during testingCRYSTALDISKMARK4044.81 MB/s Read, 3620.96 MB/s WriteCAMERA, KEYBOARD & TOUCH PADASUS Vivobook S 15 still uses the chicklet keyboard, which is quite good. As a user who is used to mechanical keyboards, using this laptop is a bit strange at first. Many of my keys were pressed wrong which made the text have spelling mistakes. However, after three days of use, I continue to feel normal and very comfortable. The backlight is not very bright but sufficient for typing at night. I rarely press the Copilot key because I'm used to using the mouse directly from the Taskbar.The contact pad with a glass layer for protection is also excellent. This large size and not so rude makes it easy for me to do various gesture controls. It doesn't matter whether it's official from Windows or special from ASUS such as scrolling on the right for sound level, on the left for brightness and top for video or music control. The large size is also very comfortable by ensuring all the controls are accurate.The web camera is usually a Windows laptop regardless of whether it is cheap or expensive is very weak. Vivobook S 15 uses an FHD camera with AI features as well as the new Windows Studio Effects which is full of interesting features. The picture and video quality is brighter, clearer and very easy to see in any teleconference session. Filter features, auto framing and so on are also fast and almost accurate.AUDIOThis laptop is equipped with harman/kardon stereo system. The audio driver is on the bottom, as is the speaker grille. The audio quality is quite good and balanced, it is also quite loud. I play music while doing work, audio disAUDIOThis laptop is equipped with harman/kardon stereo system. The audio driver is on the bottom, as is the speaker grille. The audio quality is quite good and balanced, it is also quite loud. I play music while doing work, the audio is delivered with an immersive listening experience. Watching movies without headphones or external speakers is also satisfying. Only, the vocals are a little drowned out because of the rather strong bass.BATTERYBattery is very important for laptop productivity. Snapdragon X Elite brings about the same battery capacity as Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 phones. ASUS promotes Vivobook S 15 to last up to 18 hours and I can use this laptop for more than 14 hours.This is an amazing durability, this is the first Windows laptop I have used that is very durable. Charging is via USB-C PD with 90W power, where around 1 hour the battery can be fully charged. The standby time of this laptop if I don't turn it off and just put it to sleep is also very long.WHAT'S IN THE BOX?1x ASUS Vivobook S 15 Cool Silver1x 90W USB-C Charger1x Set of manual and safety bookCONCLUSIONAfter years of saving money to buy a MacBook Air I have felt like the sky is falling, the earth is melting because the ASUS Vivobook S 15 gave me the confidence to continue to rely on Windows. Solid performance, long-lasting battery, interesting AI features, increasingly beautiful webcams and even a multi-device friendly Link to Windows ecosystem.The only thing I would wait for is the starting sale price of a Copilot+ PC. Now, Vivobook S 15 is RM6299 among the cheapest in Malaysia. If one day it becomes below RM5000 I will buy it myself for personal use.PROS & ADVANTAGESVery fast performance.Long lasting battery with fast charging.Beautiful screen, bright and easy to use.Some of the AI ​​features are really fun to use and really smooth.A more comfortable use of Windows 11.An increasingly beautiful web camera.Comfortable keyboard and touchpad.CONS & DISADVANTAGESThe build quality is not satisfactory.There are still important applications such as VPN, Premiere Pro that are not native with inconsistent performance.Long lasting battery takes a week to stabilize.There is no final word when this AI laptop will become a real AI laptop.The selling price is quite high.