How skinny is simply too skinny? It’s a query I discovered myself asking when utilizing the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED — the darling of the ultrabook lineup in 2023. Applause for managing to cram a lot tech into this tremendous luxurious chassis, however there are some issues.
I imply certain, Asus ticks all of the containers with an honest spec record (Intel Core i7-1355U CPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB SSD), an excellent vivid 13.3-inch OLED show, and an inexpensive price ticket, alongside an eye catching aesthetic that feels nice to the contact.
However in going this slender, has the corporate made one compromise too many? Perhaps. Let me clarify.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED value and compatibility
This configuration of the Zenbook S 13 is priced at $1,399, which is a $300 leap over the beginning value of final 12 months’s mannequin. Whereas which will sting comparatively, for what you get, this stays a mightily spectacular value.
That’s $50 greater than the bottom mannequin Lenovo ThinkPad Z13, and even after its value reduce at WWDC 2023, it’s nonetheless $600 lower than a equally specced M2 MacBook Air. So it’s competitively positioned within the ultraportable laptop computer class — now it simply wants to stay the touchdown.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED design
If we have been judging whether or not the Zenbook S 13 sticks the touchdown on its design alone, then Asus could be getting all of the roses thrown at it on stage and a protracted standing ovation. This factor is a real magnificence that instantly stands out in a refined style on any desk. Belief me once I say you’ll be the envy of your pals when you whipped this out at a restaurant.
From the ultra-thin construct to the sharp edges and easy, utilitarian aesthetic, you’ll love taking a look at this laptop computer from each angle. Shout-out specifically to the plasma ceramic aluminum lid with the delicate angular dashes of silver-etched lining. Not solely does it give it a MacBook-esque degree of name identification, it additionally feels actually good — like working your fingers over a easy piece of paper.
Beneath, you’ll discover two small fan vents accompanying the rear-facing exhaust, and none of this body creaks one iota. Each inch feels vital, and you may see Asus’ onerous work and engineering know-how utilized to maintain it as minimal as attainable in dimension. Sure, I’d even say it’s extra refined than my different favourite ultraportable: the ThinkPad Z13.
Talking of comparisons, at 11.6 x 8.52 x 0.43 inches, and with a weight of simply 2.2 kilos, it’s actually small and virtually shockingly light-weight. Comparatively, it’s just a little taller, however extra slender in all dimensions than the M2 MacBook Air (11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches, 2.7 kilos), and the identical might be mentioned concerning the Z13 (11.59 x 7.86 x 0.55 inches, 2.78 kilos).
So it’s thinner and lighter than the competitors, and never solely that, it is ruddy attractive.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED ports
For an ultrabook, the port array is respectable right here: USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-A and three.5mm combo audio jack on the precise, and two Thunderbolt 4 (USB Sort-C) alongside HDMI 2.1 on the left.
You possibly can see what the workforce has needed to do to place within the barely thicker connectors, because the HDMI and USB-A ports reduce into the underside of the body. For those who want extra ports although (like an SD card reader), then seize one of many finest USB Sort-C hubs.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED show
Asus has been aggressively spreading OLED all through its total lineup, and the Zenbook S 13 (as you may inform from the OLED moniker within the title) will get the identical therapy. The outcomes are, merely put, stunning.
This 13.3-inch panel with 2880 x 1800-pixel decision and 16:10 facet ratio is a flash flood of coloration no matter is placed on display. The emotional grand finale of Ted Lasso erupts off the show with AFC Richmond’s vivid blue uniform and the wealthy inexperienced of the pitch. And when modifying in Photoshop too, the colours and distinction of your image exude a wealthy vividity that you’ve confidence in.
And the numbers replicate this, principally.
| Take a look at | Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED | Apple M2 MacBook Air | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| DCI-P3 coloration gamut | 75.20% | 75.90% | 75.80% |
| Common brightness | 369.8 nits | 489.4 nits | 428.6 nits |
That may be a DCI-P3 which falls beneath the 89.3% premium laptop computer common, however stays shut sufficient to its competitors. Brightness falls in need of the 428.6 nit premium common, although, and it’ll trigger some issues viewing in direct daylight (one thing that I’ve learnt British individuals are deathly allergic to this week).
However in most circumstances, you’re going to completely love this panel, and given the OLED expertise works with no backlight, I consider that contributes to the first rate battery life (extra on that later).
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED audio
With its tiny type issue, I bought just a little nervous concerning the audio system in right here. Certain, you will get them tuned by Harman Kardon all you need, however there’s nonetheless not quite a lot of house for an honest driver and room for them to precise decrease tones.
Nonetheless, I’ll admit I used to be unsuitable. The S 13 OLED does an admirable job with decrease and mid tones, whereas offering a pleasant readability throughout discernible excessive frequencies. Even when placing them underneath intense stress with the bone-crunching breakdowns of Convey Me The Horizon’s guttural screams have been stored in verify throughout the broad soundscape that includes distorted guitars and thunderous drumming.
Comparatively, Apple’s magic does nonetheless imply the MacBook Air packs higher audio. However Asus offers it a superb run for its cash right here, and the ThinkPad Z13 doesn’t come shut by way of bass.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED keyboard and trackpad
Throughout my years at Laptop computer Magazine, it’s been pretty to see Asus’ enhancements to keyboard and touchpad ergonomics — from rising the journey of every key to rising the scale and snappiness of the pointing machine. The S 13 OLED feels a bit like a end result of these efforts. Put merely, it’s a pleasure to make use of.
The total-size QWERTY on right here feels nice to sort on, with every key having a cushioned, but tactile influence with a pleasant quantity of depth. You possibly can go for hours with no trace of fatigue. When placing it by the 10fastfingers.com wringer (I often hit a mean of 80 phrases per minute), this time spherical, I achieved 87 WPM at 99% accuracy.
Plus, the touchpad is an absolute ocean. At 5.9 x 3.2 inches, it dwarfs each the M2 MacBook Air (5.25 x 3.1 inches) and the ThinkPad Z13 (4.7 x 2.6 inches), and helps your whole Home windows 11 multi contact gestures. In comparison with the grippy floor of the keyboard deck itself, the graceful glass lets you make grand gliding sweeps throughout the OS with the best of ease.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED efficiency
Energy with limitations. That’s how I’d sum up the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED. There’s sufficient right here for many of your productiveness wants, and even some artistic professional duties like modifying massive RAW photographs in Photoshop.
| Benchmark | Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED | Apple M2 MacBook Air | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 5 single-core | 1799 | 1932 | 1501 |
| Geekbench 5 multicore | 7482 | 8919 | 8768 |
| Handbrake (4k video to 1080p transcode) | 11:16 | 07:52 | 07:09 |
| SSD switch price | 1257.3 MBps | n/a | 930.4 MBps |
As you may see, whereas it falls behind in uncooked CPU energy to its competitors and the class common (critically, that M2 is able to some nice issues), it does run circles across the ThinkPad Z13 by way of SSD speeds.
This comes all the way down to the configuration of the U-series chips being constructed extra for effectivity quite than peak efficiency. Oh, and don’t anticipate to do a lot gaming on this factor both.
| 3DMark Benchmark | Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Fireplace Strike | 4320 | 6653 |
| Time Spy | 1716 | 2535 |
| Evening Raid (built-in graphics) | 15396 | 24181 |
To not say that you’d consciously determine to fireplace up a AAA title on right here — that may be ridiculous. However even with the decrease requirements of built-in graphics in place, the S 13 OLED doesn’t actually put up a lot of a combat, particularly when in comparison with the ThinkPad Z13.
| Benchmark (frames per second) | Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED | Apple M2 MacBook Air | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (1080p) | 23.5 | n/a | 46.4 |
| Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm (full decision) | 16.5 (2880 x 1800) | 40.38 | 49.1 (1200p) |
In my very own expertise, I may get Two Level Hospital working at 20-30 frames per second on medium settings, which is okay, however nowhere close to the fps vary I get on Lenovo’s machine.
However broadly, for the day-to-day, which incorporates Google Chrome with a number of tabs, Spotify enjoying within the background, a few Microsoft Workplace apps and occasional Photoshop modifying, this capably dealt with it with out a lot slowing down at first.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED battery life
In comparison with its competitors, the battery life is definitely a weak point of the Zenbook S 13 OLED. However I really feel bizarre calling it a con, as a result of with practically 11 hours in our ruthless battery check, you’re nonetheless getting first rate longevity right here.
| Laptop computer | Battery Informant check (hours:minutes) |
|---|---|
| Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED | 09:03 |
| Apple M2 MacBook Air | 14:06 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 | 13:58 |
It pips the premium laptop computer common of 10:15, and if ever you’re feeling the battery anxiousness of that 63 WHr cell, the 65W quick charging is able to juicing this again as much as full in simply over an hour in my very own testing.
However we merely can’t ignore that it falls fairly a method behind one of the best of the extremely skinny and light-weight competitors. To most of you, this stamina might be high-quality, but when longevity is essential, there are higher choices.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED warmth
This results in considered one of my issues with the S 13 OLED, and possibly a broader problem of making an attempt to make a laptop computer so skinny and light-weight — it’s a spicy one. Sean Evans could be impressed.
| Laptop computer space (levels fahrenheit) | Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED | Apple M2 MacBook Air | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 Gen 1 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Touchpad | 81 | 80 | 83 |
| G/H key | 92.3 | 81.5 | 91.5 |
| Underside | 101.5 | 83.5 | 95.5 |
| Hottest | 115.3 | 83.5 | 99 |
Don’t get me unsuitable. Warmth dissipation is OK throughout what’s most vital just like the touchpad (80.1 levels Fahrenheit) and the middle of the keyboard (88.3 levels), and each of those fall beneath that 95-degree threshold that you could comfortably carry on typing with out feeling the warmth.
However the underside reaches 97 levels, and at its hottest level, you’re taking a look at 110 levels. You possibly can hear the followers preventing in opposition to the warmth generated in such a good body, and the tip result’s just a little thermal throttling at occasions.
Nothing that may disturb your primary productiveness wants, however on this small instance (I discovered it occurred twice for about 5-10 minutes throughout my three weeks with the S 13 OLED), Chrome tabs do gradual to a crawl at occasions, SSD loading occasions get slower and you may really feel a slight sluggishness to all of it.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED webcam
The 1080p webcam on right here is, surprisingly, fairly good. I say surprisingly, as a result of my current expertise with bettering the decision has been {that a} sharper image doesn’t make up for a slim aperture, and the overwhelming noise due to it.
And whereas there’s a barely spongy high quality in difficult lighting, the tip result’s a decently crisp image with first rate coloration and distinction. I’ll say the identical as I at all times do — don’t depend on a built-in snapper if you need an important image.
You’re going to want to purchase considered one of our finest webcams if you need one thing higher. However with an honest sufficient picture for all of your conferencing wants, and built-in IR capabilities for Home windows Hi there, this does the job properly.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED software program and guarantee
The Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED is definitely quite reserved in the case of bloatware. I solely needed to take 30 seconds to shortly take away McAfee’s anti-virus software program after being alerted to its presence with a by no means ending stream of notifications, after which the entire working system was quite clear.
After all, you additionally get MyAsus, which is your one-stop store for firmware updates, system information, and customizing key components of the best way your laptop computer runs like its fan profile. Phrase to the sensible, stick on Efficiency mode completely. It doesn’t activate when working on the battery, and it nearly eliminates the thermal throttling drawback I noticed.
This laptop computer additionally comes with a one-year restricted guarantee. See how Asus carried out on our Tech Help Showdown and Greatest and Worst Manufacturers rating.
Backside line
So, how skinny is simply too skinny? I feel the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED is urgent up in opposition to that boundary. To not say it is a dangerous laptop computer — it’s truly quite nice. However the tremendous slim chassis does imply Asus shoots itself within the foot sometimes.
Whether or not it’s the tendency to overheat and throttle energy barely, or the battery life not with the ability to cling with its slighly much less ultraportable brethren, the S 13 makes some compromises for the sake of its mightily spectacular dimension and weight.
However I can’t deny that I actually loved utilizing this tiny system across the house, and out and about. It is a critically modern machine with sufficient efficiency in your day-to-day, and a drop lifeless attractive OLED show.
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