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The Zenbook S 14, as we examined it, options an Intel Core Extremely 7 258V processor (eight cores, 4.8GHz turbo), Intel Arc 140V built-in graphics, 32GB of RAM, and a 512GB solid-state drive. In accordance with Asus, fashions on sale immediately embrace twice the storage (1TB). The RAM is not upgradable after buy, since Intel’s Core Extremely 200V chips use reminiscence modules fitted onto their system-on-a-chip-style dies. No less than the battery and storage drive are user-serviceable.
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This Zenbook, priced at $1,599 and accessible by way of Asus or Greatest Purchase, is inside the anticipated vary for this premium class of ultraportable. Retailers promote it for much less, too: Through the evaluation interval, I noticed the bottom mannequin, which has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, for $999 at Greatest Purchase.In our efficiency testing charts, the Zenbook will face a mixture of conventional x86, Apple, and Snapdragon laptops. The contenders embrace the AMD-powered HP OmniBook Extremely 14 ($1,679 as examined), the Apple MacBook Air M4 ($1,199 as examined), a Qualcomm Snapdragon-based 13-inch Microsoft Floor Laptop computer ($1,999 as examined), and the Editors’ Selection award holder: the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Version ($1,519.01 as examined). Essentially the most essential comparisons listed here are the ThinkPad and the MacBook, and the Zenbook did not considerably threaten both. Within the case of the ThinkPad, the additional heft in its protruding cooling-system enclosure seems to have earned its Intel Core Extremely 5 226V processor the higher hand towards the Zenbook’s in any other case superior Core Extremely 7 258V on paper. Whereas a few of these laptops aren’t as laser-focused on portability because the Zenbook is, they’re price contemplating if you happen to spend this sort of cash.Productiveness and Content material Creation TestsOur main total benchmark, UL’s PCMark 10, assessments a system in productiveness apps starting from net shopping to phrase processing and spreadsheet work. Its Full System Drive subtest measures a PC’s storage throughput. (Notice: macOS and Snapdragon programs do not run PCMark.)Three extra assessments are CPU-centric or processor-intensive: Maxon’s Cinebench 2024 makes use of that firm’s Cinema 4D engine to render a posh scene; Primate Labs’ Geekbench 6.3 Professional simulates in style apps starting from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine studying; and we see how lengthy it takes the video transcoder HandBrake 1.8 to transform a 12-minute clip from 4K to 1080p decision. Lastly, workstation maker Puget Methods’ PugetBench for Creators charges a PC’s picture enhancing prowess with numerous automated operations in Adobe Photoshop 25. (That is one other take a look at the Snapdragon machines cannot run.)The Zenbook delivered respectable efficiency in PCMark 10, although the HP carried out higher due to its sooner processor, and the ThinkPad’s supposedly lower-tier chip tied the Zenbook’s. In different benchmarks (Cinebench, Handbrake), the Zenbook scored final. No less than the Zenbook comfortably edged out the ThinkPad in Geekbench and Photoshop.Nevertheless, the ThinkPad extra typically outpaced the Zenbook, which secured its rights to the Editors’ Selection award after we thought-about its comparable value and dimensions. Regardless, the AMD-based OmniBook and Apple’s MacBook Air led the pack interchangeably in our assessments. This Zenbook will definitely zip by way of common productiveness duties, but it surely will not crunch on these bigger tasks as rapidly as these alternate options.Graphics TestsWe problem every reviewed system’s graphics with a quartet of animations or gaming simulations from UL’s 3DMark take a look at suite. Wild Life (1440p) and Wild Life Excessive (4K) use the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds. Metal Nomad’s common (4K) and Gentle (1440p) subtests concentrate on APIs extra generally used for recreation improvement, like Metallic, DirectX 12, and Vulkan, to evaluate gaming geometry and particle results. A fifth take a look at, Photo voltaic Bay, emphasizes ray-tracing efficiency utilizing Vulkan or Metallic APIs at 1440p decision.The Zenbook produced spectacular graphics efficiency for an built-in resolution, outperforming the opposite Home windows laptops in Metal Nomad, each Wild Life assessments, and Photo voltaic Bay. The MacBook’s M4 GPU nonetheless surpassed Intel’s Arc 140V graphics in Wild Life Excessive and Metal Nomad Gentle. Although not designed for gaming, the Zenbook might be helpful for functions that depend on GPU acceleration, like minor content material creation.Battery and Show TestsWe take a look at every laptop computer and pill’s battery life by enjoying a domestically saved 720p video file (the open-source Blender film Tears of Metal) with show brightness at 50% and audio quantity at 100%. We make sure that the battery is totally charged earlier than the take a look at, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.To gauge show efficiency, we additionally use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Home windows software program to measure a laptop computer display’s colour saturation—what proportion of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 colour gamuts or palettes the show can present—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per sq. meter).Whereas the Floor Laptop computer’s battery life is tough to beat right here, the Zenbook’s spectacular almost 20-hour working time rivals the MacBook’s and ensures you received’t remorse leaving your energy adapter behind. It additionally outlasted our Editors’ Selection award winner, the ThinkPad X9, by a smidge (20 minutes). Whereas the ThinkPad’s display leads in colour protection, the Zenbook’s display high quality can be commendable, with near-complete protection of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. Roughly 400 nits of brightness is superb for an OLED panel, although the ThinkPad display reaches 500.
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