Note: This review was first published on 30 December 2024.
Image: HWZ
As one of the first laptops to be launched with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor in the middle of this year, the budget-friendly focused Vivobook S 15 is also ASUS’ first Copilot+ PC. I won’t go in-depth about Microsoft’s Copilot+ initiative, which we have already covered before (you can read all about it here). Instead, I’ll be focusing on the Vivobook S 15’s hardware and performance.
For those who are keen to know what the new Qualcomm processor is all about and if it matters because it's not an Intel or AMD processor, here's our video primer to walk you through:-
Image: HWZ
A silverish plain Jane
At a glance, the ASUS Vivobook S 15 looks like a conventional laptop with its silver colour chassis, without any of the sleek design and edginess of its premium Zenbook siblings. That’s not to say the laptop is boring in design, but by ASUS’ lofty standard I thought it looked bland and generic – especially when compared to similarly priced but nicer-looking laptops from competitors, such as the Lenovo Yoga 7i that I reviewed a little while back (read the review). But that said, the laptop’s build quality is pretty impressive despite its slim form factor, exhibiting zero flex when in use.
Model | ASUS Vivobook S 15 |
Display | 15.6-inchOLED, 2,880 x1,620 pixels resolution |
Processor | SnapdragonX Elite X1E78100Processor (3.40 GHz) |
Memory | 32GB DDR5 |
Storage | 1TB SSD M.2 |
Graphics | IntegratedAdreno GPU |
Dimensions | 22.69 x 1.59 x 35.26 (cm) |
Weight | 1.42 (kg) |
Battery capacity | 70Wh |
As its name implies, the Vivobook S 15 comes with a 15.6-inch display powered by an OLED panel and wrapped in a 22.69cm by 35.36cm aluminium body, with a height of just slightly under 1.60cm when fully closed. Compared to smaller laptops, an advantage of a 15-inch sized laptop like the Vivobook S 15 is that its larger footprint allows for a keyboard with a number pad – this could be useful for some users with specific productivity workloads, such as accounting. Each key has a pretty good travel and a clear actuation point with a slight tactile click, and is comfortable enough for long typing sessions.
Image: HWZ
The touchpad on the Vivobook S 15 also felt responsive and precise in my time with the laptop. But its offset placement to the left so as to keep it directly beneath the spacebar felt a little odd for me, as this design made the palm rest feel slightly cramped on the left side, as my palm occasionally ended up resting on the edge of the touchpad. To be fair, this is an inherent issue (if it can be called that) with most, if not all, laptops with a keypad layout.
ASUS’ laptops that come with OLED displays usually don’t disappoint, and I’m glad to see that the Vivobook S 15 continues that trend. The laptop’s display has an incredible contrast ratio that is typical of an OLED panel and comes with a wide and vibrant colour gamut. It’s 16:9 aspect ratio makes the Vivobook S 15 a great companion for videos and movies streaming, but could make general productivity like internet surfing, and especially word processing, a tad cramped as compared to 3:2 aspect ration screen (as seen on the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7) or even the more balanced 16:10.
Image: HWZ
Image: HWZ
For connectivity, ASUS has struck a balance between modern and legacy options with the Vivobook S 15. The laptop features a pair of USB 4 Type-C ports that also act as both a DisplayPort and for charging. It also has two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, making it simpler to plug in older accessories such as a wireless mouse with a dongle, as well as an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, and thankfully, a microSD card reader too. Unsurprisingly, there isn’t an Ethernet port but like all Snapdragon X-powered laptop it supports the latest Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 wireless standards.
Battery and real-world performance
Our Vivobook S 15 test unit came with 32GB of memory and 1TB of storage and in my battery and productivity performance tests using UL Solution’s Procyon (the only real-world office productivity benchmarking tool compatible with non-x86 chips), the laptop’s performance results were decent at best when compared to some other Snapdragon X-powered laptops in the market. Let’s have a look at the charts below.
The higher the score, the better.
The longer the time, the better.
As we can see from the battery tests, the Vivobook S 15’s battery life is pretty good as one would expect from a laptop powered by an efficient Snapdragon X Elite processor, but it doesn’t quite hit the mark when compared to the Lenovo Slim Yoga 7x or the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 – a 14- and 15-inch laptop respectively. I also took into account that the Lenovo laptop uses a smaller OLED display while the Surface Laptop 7’s LCD panel does not guzzle up power like an OLED one, but the Vivobook S 15 going behind the former by almost two hours in the office productivity battery tests make it the least compelling option if you’re looking for a laptop that can last you through days without access to a charging point.
The shorter the time, the better.
The Vivobook S 15’s performance in our office productivity and content creation tests, showed some interesting results however. While it excelled at Handbrake, scoring an impressive 10mins 42secs in encoding a 4.7GB HWZ video – the fastest Snapdragon X-based laptop here so far, it slipped behind the Slim Yoga 7x in our Microsoft Office benchmarks and even came out the slowest among the laptops tested when running the same tests running on battery. It looks like ASUS might need to fine tune some optimisations with their laptop.
Not quite the ASUS laptop we were expecting
The ASUS Vivobook S 15 is an intriguing addition to the Snapdragon X-powered Copilot+ PC line-up, especially as one of the first laptops to feature Qualcomm's efficient processor. It offers a commendable mix of features, including a vibrant OLED display, a well-rounded array of ports, and lightweight portability. However, in my opinion it falls short of being a standout product.
Its design lacks the flair typically associated with ASUS’ premium laptops, and while performance is respectable in some areas, it lags in others, particularly in battery efficiency and optimisation during real-world productivity tasks. The Vivobook S 15 seems best suited for users prioritising a larger screen and a slim form factor over outright performance or battery longevity. While it holds its own against certain laptops from the competition, it doesn’t quite rise to the level of a must-have in its category. If you’re after an affordable 15-inch Snapdragon X-powered machine, the Vivobook S 15 and its $2,199 SRP is worth a look, but there are more polished alternatives out there.
The ASUS Vivobook S 15 with 32GB of memory and 1TB of SSD storage (reviewed here) is now available to buy at the ASUS e-store for $2,199
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