Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED review – a sleek all-purpose ultrabook at a premium

• The Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED is the company’s latest ultrabook in India.
• Priced starting at ₹99,990, the Zenbook S 13 OLED promises to be an all-purpose ultrabook with something to offer for everyone.
• If you are in the market for an ultrabook that looks sleek and premium, my review of the Zenbook S 13 OLED should help you out.

Asus has expanded its range of notebooks and ultrabooks quite aggressively over the last few years, catering to a wide range of users, from those who want a simple, lightweight laptop for professionals to fancy laptops with dual screens and dials aimed at creators.

The Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED sits somewhere between the boilerplate lightweight notebooks and those fancy high-end creator ultrabooks. Asus has tried to strike a balance between form and function, offering something for everyone.

I have been using the Zenbook S 13 OLED for a few weeks now, and here’s my full review of Asus’ latest laptop.

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED price and availability

The Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED price in India starts at ₹99,990, powered by AMD Ryzen 6000 series processors and Radeon graphics. The price goes up to ₹1,19,990, and the Ryzen 7 6800U processor powers it with 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD.

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED design and display

The Zenbook S 13 OLED sports a minimal design and is one of the lightest ultrabooks out there, weighing just 1.1 kg. It comes with a magnesium aluminium alloy chassis with a barely noticeable textured finish that keeps the fingerprints at bay for the most part. It also gives the laptop a premium feel, which you would expect from a laptop in this price segment.

The Zenbook S 13 OLED also comes with a more modern-looking Asus logo that finally looks like it belongs in 2022.

Its thin demeanour and lightweight design might make you question the laptop’s durability, but Asus says the Zenbook S 13 OLED can withstand accidental drops thanks to the alloy chassis and US MIL-STD 810H certification.

The thin form factor also means you will have to make do with only a few ports – the Zenbook S 13 OLED has only three USB Gen 3.2 Type C ports and a 3.5mm headphone jack. There’s no Type A or HDMI port, so you will have to source adapters if you need more than one – the box comes with a Type A adapter.

All three Type C ports support fast charging. The left side also houses air vents so the laptop remains cool even during extended usage.

Asus also redesigned the 180-degree ErgoLift hinge with caps – a small but nice touch to a premium offering. Given that the ZenBook S 13 OLED comes with touch support, a 360-degree hinge would have made this a nice convertible for when you want only the display, in case you want to draw something, for example.

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED display

Coming to the display, the Zenbook S 13 OLED sports a 13.3-inch 2K OLED display, which is a visual delight no matter what you are doing. I tried everything from games to movies to document editing and more, and I came away impressed at all times.

Although I’m not a creator, the Zenbook S 13 OLED comes with a Pantone-validated display, so colour accuracy is another standout feature. It also supports HDR and Dolby Vision and is bright enough indoors and outdoors at 500 nits.

The thin bezels and slim profile add to the overall visual delight. The Harmon Kardon speakers are adequately loud, too, so you don’t need a pair of external speakers to enjoy shows and movies. However, the speaker placement means the sound gets muffled to some extent when you place it on your laptop.

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED performance

The Zenbook S 13 OLED comes in two variants, with the Ryzen 5 6600U and Ryzen 7 6800U processors respectively. I received the Ryzen 7 6800U variant. It comes with Radeon graphics and Windows 11 installed out of the box.

Short of running video and photo editing programs, I threw almost everything at the Zenbook S 13 OLED. This includes having documents open in Office and Chrome, with half a dozen other tabs in the background.

I also tried to play games like the PC version of PUBG, which performed surprisingly well even though the Zenbook is not actually made for gaming. The laptop did heat up a bit after gaming for a while, but that is to be expected. However, don’t dream of playing AAA titles on this laptop; you are better off with gaming laptops for that.

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED keyboard and trackpad

The Zenbook S 13 OLED has a backlit keyboard and a large trackpad. The keys have great travel, and the edge-to-edge is utilized very well. The fingerprint sensor is integrated into the power button. To avoid accidental clicks, the power button is recessed and requires a slightly firmer press when compared to other keys.

Another nifty addition that Asus has been making to its notebooks is the NumberPad 2.0 feature, which comes in handy if you have to enter many numbers. You can simply turn it on by tapping the number icon on the top right of the trackpad.

Overall, the Zenbook S 13 OLED’s keyboard and trackpad offer good feedback, making the laptop ideal for those who write a lot.

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED benchmarks

The Zenbook S 13 OLED fares decently in benchmarks. While benchmarks don’t tell you the whole story, they are useful enough to give you a decent idea of what to expect.

In the PCMark 10 test, the Zenbook S 13 OLED scored 9,737 in Essentials, 8,007 in Productivity, and 6,354 in Digital Content Creation aspects.

Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED battery life

The Zenbook S 13 OLED is powered by a 67 WHr battery that promises to last an entire day of use. Even if you run out of juice, the fast charger can quickly give you a boost.

In my usage, the Zenbook S 13 OLED lasted 8 hours on average, with document editing in Word and Google Docs throughout the day. I also played some music in between and, over the weekends, played a few games. While I was usually plugged in while gaming, I did play once on battery and the laptop was down to 40% after gaming for a little over 3 hours.

Overall, this is very good for a laptop as thin and light as this.

Verdict

The Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED is tailor-made for professionals and perhaps even creators who don’t need extremely high-end hardware with dedicated graphics. Its thin and light profile makes this ultrabook highly portable, and the touchscreen also makes it ideal for creative users since it comes with stylus support.

The stunning 13.3-inch OLED display also makes this ultrabook a great consumption device, with the thin bezels adding to the experience. When you want to wind down and do some casual gaming, the Zenbook S 13 OLED can do that, too.

Overall, the Zenbook S 13 OLED is a sleek all-purpose ultrabook, but at a slight premium.

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