ASUS Zenbook S 16 review: A showcase of AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor for Copilot+ laptops
Looking for a laptop that balances power, portability and a slim profile? Then the ASUS Zenbook S 16 could stand out as a solid all-rounder.
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By HardwareZone Team -
Note: This review was first published on 23 September 2024.
The ASUS Zenbook S 16 is one of the first laptops to be powered by AMD's new Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 mobile processor. PHOTO: HWZ
AMD’s newest mobile processors, the Ryzen AI 300 series are here, and they don’t need much introduction – .
But the quick summary is this; The Ryzen AI 300 series is AMD’s answer to Microsoft’s Copilot+ standards and goes head to head with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X and Intel’s upcoming Lunar Lake AI-focused mobile processors. As such, the standout feature of these new System on Chips (SoCs) is their NPU (Neural Processing Unit), which surpasses the capabilities of the rather short-lived AMD Ryzen 8000-series introduced at this year’s CES.
There are just two processors in the series, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 and Ryzen AI 9 365. In my review here is the flagship Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 that boasts a 12-core and 24-thread configuration, Radeon 890M graphics, and a sizeable 36MB cache. Meanwhile, the Ryzen AI 9 365 offers 10 cores and 20 threads, a Radeon 880M graphics and a 34MB cache. Both processors are also equipped with a 50 TOPS NPU that surpass Microsoft’s Copilot+ standards, which mandate that such laptops must have an on-board NPU that’s capable of 40 TOPS.
Of course, it would be remiss of me not to talk about one of the first laptops to be powered by the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 – the ASUS Zenbook S 16.
While there are 2 models available, ASUS is only selling the lower-end model of the Zenbook S 16 in Singapore. PHOTO: HWZ
As its number implies, the Zenbook S 16 comes with a 16-inch touchscreen display with a 2,880 x 1,800 resolution. As with most if not all of ASUS’ Zenbooks in 2024, that display is powered by a gorgeous OLED panel that I find little fault with. LCDs may pip it in brightness levels, but an OLED panel like the one used by the S 16 has great and vivid colours, and that stunning deep contrast ratio is why I think OLED is truly the way to go.
The laptop comes with sufficient ports including two USB4 Type-C ports, a HDMI-out and an audio jack. PHOTO: HWZ
And yes, ASUS has also smartly included an SD card reader. PHOTO: HWZ
Size wise, this Zenbook comes in a svelte chassis that measures just 1.29cm at its thickest (and 1.1cm at its thinnest). Its 16-inch form factor also allowed it to fit a relatively large 78Wh battery, which is quite an impressive fit when you consider that the S 16 weighs only 1.5kg. The S 16 is gorgeously sophisticated looking too, with an outer body finished in ceraluminium that gives the lid an incredible textured finish that feels great to the touch and seems to be very good at resisting fingerprints and smudges too. Ceraluminium is essentially a ceramic and aluminium composite created by ASUS, from a special process that leaves a hard, ceramic oxide layer over the surface of the aluminium chassis.
ASUS' new Ceraluminum finishing has to be seen in real life to be fully appreciated. PHOTO: HWZ
The ASUS Zenbook S 16 that AMD sent over comes with a configuration that includes the earlier-mentioned Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, 1TB SSD and 32GB of memory. From my understanding, this configuration is not available in Singapore. Instead, the Zenbook S 16 available for Singapore customers come with the lower Ryzen AI 9 365 (with Radeon 880M integrated graphics), 1TB and 24GB of memory for S$2,549.
Now let’s look at how the laptop, and by extension the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 performs.
Performance benchmarks
As we review more laptops that are powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 series, Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite and Intel’s upcoming Core Ultra 200V series (aka Lunar Lake), we’ll focus on using real-world, rather than synthetic, benchmarking tools that are cross-compatible with both AMD and Intel (x86 based) and Qualcomm (Arm based) platforms. This is so that results across these different platforms can be used for accurate comparisons. For now, UL’s Procyon Office Productivity and 3DMark apps are our favoured tools as both are the only benchmarks that can be used across all Snapdragon, AMD and Intel-based PCs.
For comparison with an Arm-based PC, we’ll use the almost similarly sized 15.6-inch ASUS Vivobook S 15 (review coming up shortly) that is powered by a Snapdragon X Elite X1E78100 processor, has 1TB of storage and 32GB of DDR5 memory, and has a battery capacity rated at 70Wh.
Model | ASUS Zenbook S 16 | ASUS Vivobook S 15 OLED |
Display | 16-inch 3K (2880 x 1800), OLED, 400nits, 500nits HDR(Peak),120Hz refresh rate | 15.6-inch 3K (2880x 1620), OLED, 600nits (Typical), 120Hz refresh rate |
Processor | Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 Processor (up to 5.1GHz) | SnapdragonX Elite X1E78100 Processor (3.40GHz) |
Memory | 32GB DDR5 | 32GB DDR5 |
Storage | 1TB SSD M.2 | 1TB SSD M.2 |
Graphics | Radeon 890M | IntegratedAdreno GPU |
Battery capacity | 78Wh | 70Wh |
The higher the score, the better.
The higher the length of time, the better.
When comparing the Zenbook S 16 with its Snapdragon-based counterpart, it’s clear where the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 chip takes the lead: graphics performance. While general tasks like email, web surfing and office productivity see comparable performance across both AMD and Qualcomm platforms, the Zenbook S 16 proves its edge in gaming – albeit only in light gaming.
The higher the frame rates, the better.
Thanks to its x86 Windows platform, most games will run smoothly on the Zenbook S 16 without much hassle unlike the Vivobook S 15 (and not all games will run on the latter too). For example, Shadow of the Tomb Raider struggles to run above 1080p on the Vivobook S 15, and without any super scaling technology, could only run the game at 24fps in medium settings. In contrast, the Zenbook S 16 handles the same game almost 20 more frames per second at 1080p on the same settings and with XeSS (Intel’s open-sourced super scaling technology) switched on.
Admittedly, laptops of this class with its integrated GPU aren’t designed for heavy hitters like Cyberpunk 2077 at full resolution, but AMD’s own FSR 2.1 super scaling technology here helps bridge the gap. With FSR enabled, running the game at 1080p with medium settings, I averaged around 44fps. It’s not a bad playing experience even at below 60fps, and tweaking down the settings to low made the gameplay even smoother. The Vivobook S 15, on the other hand, just refuses to run the game even though I could install it.
But then when it comes to battery life performance, I thought the Zenbook S 16 disappointed. Admittedly, I had higher expectations of the laptop especially given its sizeable 78Wh capacity. It’s not that the battery life is poor – it still manages around 11 hours in Procyon’s Battery Test in Office Productivity. But when you compare it to the Vivobook S 15, which delivers more than 14 hours on a battery that’s about 11% smaller, the difference becomes more noticeable.
Should you buy an AMD Ryzen AI 300 series laptop?
The Zenbook S 16 has proven to be a good all-rounder, but it doesn't stand out enough from Snapdragon-based laptops.
If you are looking for a laptop that balances power, portability and a slim profile, then the ASUS Zenbook S 16 could stand out as a solid all-rounder. But with a couple of caveats to consider first, before you make that final decision.
Firstly, Qualcomm-powered machines like the ASUS Vivobook S 15 have better power efficiency and battery life overall as compared to laptops powered by AMD’s Ryzen AI 300 series. The other thing is that while Microsoft has been pushing its Copilot+ PCs, its AI-driven features like Cocreator and Live Translation are only available on Snapdragon laptops for now. However, these features are expected to arrive on AMD Ryzen AI 300 laptops by this year.
If battery life and AI functionality are your main reasons for considering the Zenbook S 16, it might be worth waiting a bit longer and perhaps until more AMD laptop options and even Intel’s impending Copilot+ PCs to be available first. Right now, I don’t think there are even any meaningful ways to leverage AMD’s 50 TOPS NPU (or Snapdragon’s 45 TOPS NPU on those laptops) that is beneficial for users anyway.
The ASUS Zenbook S 16 is available in Singapore for S$2,549 at ASUS e-store.
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