Asus Zenbook S 14 review: Performance meets efficiency

In the last couple of years, Intel has been facing quite a bit of heat – first from Apple’s silicon processors and now from Qualcomm’s entry into the PC market. With its new processors, Intel wants to up its game and a lot of OEMs have got new weapons in their arsenal. Like the Asus Zenbook S 14.

The new Zenbook S14 is priced starting at Rs 1,44,999 and for the price it brings a lot to the table most importantly the all-new Intel Core Ultra 7 200V series processor that’s designed to deliver powerful overall performance including CPU, GPU and AI with new 47 TOPS NPU unit. Not only that, the PC also qualifies as the Copilot+ PC which means it will get and handle all the AI features offered by Windows 11 as the operating system including the upcoming Recall feature, Windows Studio effects and integrated Copilot.

Intel has also highlighted that the new Core Ultra 200V series processors aim to deliver performance without compromising on power efficiency. As mentioned this is an important laptop for Intel as well considering the competition is getting tough out there with Qualcomm’s involvement in the PC chip space.

I used the laptop for almost a month as my daily driver and here are my final thoughts.

 

Performance: CPU, GPU and AI

 

Asus makes nice looking aptops and this one is no different, but the real beauty of this machine is performance so I will start with that. First up, the laptop comes with an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H processor that has 37W TDP. While it does not sound much, it comes in handy with the battery life and I will discuss that later. But let’s first talk about the core performance of the laptop.

Asus Zenbook S14 top view

Paired with 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and fast 1TB SSD storage, the laptop is always breezy and smooth like butter, even under heavy load. It’s an eight-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores and the base power starts at 17W and max out at 37W.

Apart from this, the laptop comes with Intel’ updated Arc Graphics 140V with a max frequency of 1.95GHz has 64 TOPs max and can handle DP 2.1 and HDMI 2.1. And, as already mentioned, the NPU is an updated one with 47 TOPs support and Intel AI Boost technology.

Now, all of these processor specifications alone are flattering. But I put them to the test and here’s what I found.

Daily driver test

There’s no doubt that a laptop like Asus Zenbook S 14 is aimed at people who are more into productivity and the main goal is to get a lightweight device that can keep up with their requirements. So, I tested it as my go-to laptop for work which includes a lot of browsing, typing, and replying to emails. Listening to music and even watching content at times. In my daily driver test, the laptop’s performance is impressive. There is no lag or stutter even when over 40 tabs are open in Microsoft Edge and what makes it more impressive is that the laptop handles it without running out of breath. What I want to say is that the laptop handles most parts without throttling or becoming a power hog. I also pushed its limits by running some editing tools in the background and that’s down to the updated AI performance, it handles them pretty well.

AI tools and performance

Asus Zenbook S14 qualifies as the Copilot+ PC and that tag alone brings a lot of AI-powered features offered by Microsoft as a part of Windows 11. For instance, the built-in AI Windows Stuiio effects came in pretty handy while attending a meeting. The integrated Copilot performance is also amplified, thanks to the Intel AI Boost feature. But, these features and took barely scratch the surface of the chip’s capabilities.

Asus Zenbook S14 Display is brightest and colourful among the competition.

We then installed Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Pro and used the integrated AI features to check how the laptop handles them. Well. for a 50MP photo, multiple layers and so many effects already applied on top of AI-powered features the laptop handled them without any issues or slowdown. The same applies to video effects and that too with 4K resolution video.

Intel and Asus have done a fine job of optimising the processor so well that it can handle even loaded tasks without altering the performance much. All other tasks in the laptop were almost unaffected during an ongoing AI process, thanks to Intel’s new smart task management where the processor identifies the process and then decides whether CPU, GPU or NPU is the right way to handle it and assigns the tasks accordingly. This not only keeps the overall performance of the laptop unaffected but also helps with the battery life.

Gaming performance

 

Gaming might not be the strongest suit of the Zenbook S14, but it can run games at decent frame rates in medium settings. I wasn’t expecting it to deliver a gaming experience like more powerful PCs with dedicated graphic cards. But, if you want to the laptop can handle lightweight games like PUBG, Valorant, etc. Even some triple-A titles run well with reduced graphic settings.

Performance is one part of the laptop experience. And, when it comes to an overall experience, other things like sound quality, keyboard, trackpad, etc matter a lot. Zenbook S14 does most of them right. For instance, the keyboard has an island style and good travel and feedback. It’s quiet and even when typed like a maniac, it does not bother your neighbours in the office. The backlight is another case here. It’s bright – insanely bright – Happident teeth bright. Jokes apart, the backlight of the keyboard gets pretty bright, but there are three stages and an automatic mode as well. So, you can control the brightness manually or the laptop will do it for you.

Ports are not a compromise on this laptop. It offers two Type-C, an HDMI, headphone jack on the left side of the laptop. There's a Type-A port on the right.

Talking about the trackpad, it’s big and responsive and supports gestures – all of Windows and some of Asus’. All the Windows’ gestures are fine but Asus ones are a little finicky. You can adjust volume, brightness, etc from the top and sides of the trackpad. Personally, not a big fan of it, but most people can find this useful. And, it works without any issues
Speakers on this laptop are also loud and clear and offer a good amount of bass too.

Design and display

 

It’s Zenbook and it looks like one with sleek and minimalistic design language. The all-metal design makes things more appealing and that wedge shape – thicker from the back and thinner at the front – adds to its sleek look and feel. Coming to the details, there’s some like at the top which resembles the new Zenbook logo and looks good and professional too.

The laptop is lightweight overall and weighs just 1.2 kg an overall footprint, despite the 14-inch display being almost equivalent to a 13-inch laptop.
Laptop
Dimensions
Asus Zenbook S 14 (Intel Core Ultra 7 258V)
12.22 x 8.45 x 0.47~0.51 inches
Apple MacBook Air 13 (M3)
11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches

Function over design is Asus’ last name and that is reflected here as well. Asus hasn’t compromised with the ports. The laptop comes with a regular USB Type-A port, two Type-C ports and an HDMI port too. That’s almost everything users need on a regular basis.

Moving on to the display, it’s a 14-inch OLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate. It’s bright and punchy and one of the best you can find in this segment. It’s certainly better than MacBook Air’s LCD Retina display if you are wondering.

Viewing angles is not a problem here and to keep it from burning over time, Asus has included several tools like automatic screensaver, automatic dimming and more.

Asus Zenbook S14 Keyboard and trackpad are well designed and deliver a good user experience.

But, it’s a glossy panel and at times it can become a problem, especially when you are working under direct sunlight or in a bright surrounding.

Battery life

 

Battery life is one of the most highlighted parts of the Zenbook S14. And, it is not only because of the OLED panel with comes with. The processor plays an important role here. In my testing, the laptop lasted for around 7 hours on a single charge in my daily driver test. This is more than enough for most people.

 

Verdict

Rs 1,42,999 is what Asus is asking for the laptop and it’s not some regular amount. However, for the price, the laptop delivers impressively on a lot of fronts including battery life and performance. If you have been looking for a premium lightweight and portable laptop, then the Asus Zenbook S14 is a good option to go with.