Note: This feature was first published on 8 January 2025.
ASUS's selection of Snapdragon X laptops increases. (Image source: ASUS)
While the company has announced a new lineup of 2025 gaming laptops and devices for its ROG brand, ASUS's mainline notebooks are also seeing refreshes, particularly their Zenbook and Vivobook lines, which now fall under the Copilot+ PC banner.
Snapdragon X-powered Vivobooks and new Zenbook
Aside from the traditional Intel and AMD processors, the new announcements see variants of the Vivobook 14/16, Vivobook S14/S16 and Zenbook A14 which are all powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chip. Not to be confused with the entire Snapdragon X family of processors it takes its name from, the standalone Snapdragon X processor (or X1-26-100) is itself a recently-revealed product debuting at CES 2025. Certain models are configurable up to a Snapdragon X Elite CPU as well.
The selling point for the Snapdragon X is its AI capabilities, with an AI performance of 45 TOPS. However, the new Vivobooks and Zenbook aren't the first to be powered by a Snapdragon X processor, and neither is it the first Copilot+ PC that ASUS has released. The Vivobook S 15, released in May 2024, had Snapdragon X Core and X Elite chips as its CPU options, and it takes the mantle as ASUS's first Copilot+ PC. What this new announcement does indicate, though, is that ASUS is putting more eggs into this basket.
The ASUS Vivobook 14. (Image source: ASUS)
The Snapdragon-powered Vivobook 14/16 (X1407QA/X1607QA) are what ASUS is pushing as the mainstream, conventional option for most people. The company claims that the Snapdragon X-powered Vivobook 14 and 16 provide a 44% performance boost and double the battery life, tested against a previous generation Vivobook 14 powered by an Intel Core 5 120U (Meteor Lake)Processor. As part of the pitch, the Vivobook 14 and 16 have MIL-STD-810H durability, as well as support for Snapdragon Seamless and Microsoft Phone Link technology for cross-device use.
Additionally, one example of the AI push is the inclusion of StoryCube, a feature meant for creators that sorts your media collection through AI, and which also previously appeared in the Vivobook S 15. Another example that ASUS lists is Live Captions.
The Vivobook S16. (Image source: ASUS)
The Zenbook A14 is a new addition to the Zenbook lineup. (Image source: ASUS)
This pitch extends to the Snapdragon X-powered Vivobook S 14 and S 16 (S3407QA/S3607QA). The S-series Vivobooks, however, have a greater focus on portability, being 1.59cm thin and weighing in at 1.39kg. The Snapdragon S-series laptops also feature a choice between a FHD OLED or a 2.5K IPS display. Interestingly, ASUS also lists the starting price at US$799, which is uncommon given that pricing for the rest of the devices here hasn't yet been revealed.
Finally, rounding up the new Snapdragon X-powered notebooks is the new Zenbook A14 (UX3407QA/UX3407RA), a new name in the Zenbook family. Like the Vivobook S-series laptops, the Zenbook A14 is designed for portability but takes it up a notch, as ASUS touts it as the world's lightest Copilot+ PC, at least compared to products of a similar class from other manufacturers.
The Zenbook A14 weighs in at 0.90kg (for the Snapdragon X variant) to 0.98kg (for the Snapdragon X Plus and X Elite variant). It utilises what ASUS terms "Ceraluminum", a material which has made appearances in past ASUS notebooks, but in the Zenbook A14's case, lightens the load as it's 30% lighter than anodised aluminium. Although the main draw for the A14 is its lighter weight, ASUS also notes that battery life is rated at 32 hours, and the Zenbook A14 also comes with more luxurious features, including up to a 2880 x 1800 pixels resolution OLED display, a 1TB NVMe SSD option and up to 32GB of LPDDR5X memory.
Intel Core Ultra and Ryzen AI laptops
The Zenbook Duo sees an internal upgrade, but otherwise much remains the same. (Image source: ASUS)
Of course, if you're more inclined to choose from Intel or AMD, ASUS has also refreshed its Vivobook and Zenbook line with a list of new laptops powered by the traditional two giants.
In fact, the number of Intel and AMD-powered notebooks in this announcement outnumbers the Snapdragon X laptops. These are the new ASUS notebooks in the AMD category:
- Zenbook S16 (UM5606KA)
- Zenbook 14 (UM3406KA)
- Vivobook 14/16 (M1407KA/M1607KA)
- Vivobook S14/S16 (M5406KA/M5606KA)
Do take note of the model numbers, as in the case of Vivobooks 14/16 and S14/16, they determine whether the model your looking at is powered by an AMD chip or a Snapdragon one. For the AMD-powered S14 and S16, the highest display option is also now a 3.2K ASUS Lumina OLED display.
Although not powered by Snapdragon, these too are Copilot+ PCs, and like the Snapdragon-powered notebooks, ASUS is pushing AI with these laptops. All AMD-powered Vivobooks and Zenbooks go up to an AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 processor, which offers up to 50 TOPS of AI performance.
For the Intel category, the refresh is mostly similar, except for the inclusion of one dual-screen laptop:
- Zenbook S16 (UX5606SA)
- Zenbook 14 (UM3405CA)
- Vivobook 14/16 (M1407CA/M1607CA)
- Vivobook S16 (S5606CA)
- Zenbook Duo (UX8406CA)
Perhaps the most standout of these new laptops is the refreshed Zenbook Duo, which is now powered by the just-announced Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor aimed at creative professionals. This refresh is rather iterative, however, as aside from the updated CPU, many core specifications remain the same, including the two 14-inch 16:10 3K OLED touchscreens at 120Hz, the same 75Wh battery, and the same 1.35kg (without a keyboard) weight. That said, the new Intel Core Ultra 200H series is the first of this class to sport an NPU, more powerful Intel Arc integrated graphics and improved CPU throughput. So, the enhanced processing capabilities themselves are the star and could benefit a pro-class laptop like the Zenbook Duo. Check out our review of last year's edition to learn more of what to expect from it.
The other Intel-powered Zenbooks also see a refresh to various Intel Core Ultra series 2 CPUs. Similar to the Zenbook Duo, the Intel-based Zenbook 14 is configurable up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 285H processor, while the Zenbook S16 goes up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 Processor 288V 32GB. The Vivobooks, however, only top out at an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H for the Vivobook S16 and Ultra 5 processors for the Vivobook 14/16.
Local pricing and availability for ASUS's new laptops are not available yet, but we'll update you once we get them.
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