The concept of Zen is not new to any of us. It represents peacefulness, calmness, and simplicity. It’s no surprise that ASUS Zenbooks evoke these types of feelings with sleek, understated elegance, and performance that can take you a long way.
The ASUS Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) doubles down on the Zen concept. It provides all the tools required by this era’s nomadic professionals while maintaining that sophisticated yet striking design language. Peace is achieved by maximizing your productivity, especially with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). Let’s dive deeper into ASUS’ latest masterpiece.
Design and build
The Zenbook S 14 comes in Zumaia Gray. Its luscious matte finish is due in part to Ceraluminum. This new material combines aluminum and ceramic to achieve a smooth and satisfying feel while still maintaining a lightweight and durable build.
I am a huge fan of this laptop’s style. It perfectly captures the essence of Zen – effortlessly elegant.
However, more often than not, elegance could connote fragility as well. That isn’t the case for the Zenbook S 14. This laptop may be a stunner, but it also has a lot to offer in the durability department.
The Ceraluminum plays a role in durability, providing better scratch and wear resistance and corrosion protection. Users will also have that peace of mind due to the laptop’s military-grade durability, passing numerous rigorous stress tests.
Apart from being robust, the laptop also comes in a slim and lightweight form factor. Its thinness clocks in at just 1.1 cm while it weighs 1.2 kg. Portability is definitely one of the many strengths this laptop boasts.
Moving on to the external components of the Zenbook S 14, you should not miss the geometric grille design found on top of the keyboard. At first glance, it would seem more like a speaker, but they are actually reimagined air vents that increase airflow efficiency.
Under these cooling vents, you will find the backlit chiclet keyboard. While this may provide a comfortable typing experience for most, I personally prefer one with tactile feedback. However, I am a huge fan of the 75% layout, which is what I’m more used to on my desktop. One thing worth noting, which is a choice I am all for, is that ASUS replaced the right Ctrl key with the Copilot key to easily access the AI companion.
The Zenbook S 14 is built with an enlarged ergonomic touchpad that features Smart Gestures. Swiping vertically on the left side of the touchpad allows you to control the volume while the opposite side controls the brightness. Swiping horizontally on the top part of the touchpad gives you video playback controls. All-in-all, these gestures provide quick access to adjust your ideal setting when consuming media.
Located above the display is a built-in HD webcam. The webcam is utilized for face ID as well. There is no built-in webcam shutter, so you might have to make use of external privacy covers.
Lastly, the Zenbook S 14 comes with a USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, two Thunderbolt USB-C ports, which are also used for charging, and a 3.5 mm audio jack.
Display and speakers
ASUS’ laptop displays never disappoint. The Zenbook S 14 features a 14-inch 3K ASUS Lumina OLED touchscreen display. It boasts a 120Hz refresh rate accompanied by a 16:10 aspect ratio, a 90% screen-to-body ratio, and 500 nits of peak brightness.
The display delivers crisp visuals and vivid colors that provide an immersive viewing experience. Whether you’re a video editor, a casual gamer, or a professional binge watcher, the Zenbook S 14’s display will undoubtedly hit all the right spots.
Accompanying the viewing experience are four Harman/Kardon speakers that support Dolby Vision-Atmos. There’s nothing much to say – these are top-quality speakers that you can find on a laptop.
Performance
Under the hood, the Zenbook S 14 is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor 258V with up to 47 TOPS of AI performance, coupled with Intel Arc integrated graphics. Intel’s latest Lunar Lake processors ensure you’ll be capable of effortlessly carrying out everyday tasks while allowing for improved power efficiency and seamless integration of AI applications.
The laptop is equipped with 32 GB of RAM and 1TB of storage as well. These are what you would come to expect from a top-of-the-line device.
With the use of Cinebench R23, we were able to perform benchmarking on the Zenbook S 14. These were the results:
Multi-core – 7,594
Single-core – 1,703
The Zenbook S 14 should be able to perform tasks such as casual video editing and content creation, as well as light gaming with ease. Without a dedicated GPU, more demanding tasks such as 3D modeling, 4K video editing and playing triple A games may require more patience.
Something to take note of for those in creatives: The Zenbook S 14 comes with a one-month subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud.
In terms of gaming, I tried running Counter Strike 2 on this laptop. I was averaging between 60 to 90 FPS at the lowest settings. Casual gamers should be able to enjoy titles such as Counter Strike 2 and DOTA 2 on the Zenbook S 14. However, if you’re a serious gamer and looking to go pro, you might want to invest in a laptop that’s built for gaming.
Despite being an ultraslim laptop, the Zenbook S 14 performs well when it comes to heat dissipation. This is due to a vapor chamber that acts as a thin thermal solution, making sure heat is efficiently disbursed.
AI features
AI is the talk of the town. Tech brands are constantly finding unique ways to harness its power in their devices. The Zenbook S 14 is built with AI in mind.
Copilot is your standard AI companion. It can answer questions, generate some images, or just converse with you should you need someone to talk to. A Copilot license also allows you to use it with applications such as MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, among others. Regarding these applications, the laptop comes with a free lifetime license to Office Home 2024 as well as a 1-year subscription to Microsoft 365.
Copilot+, on the other hand, is an enhanced experience that offers more creative and comprehensive tools. Recall, Cocreator, Live Captions, and Studio Effects are just some of the features that will be available soon. Definitely can’t wait to give these a go.
The ASUS StoryCube is your one-stop AI media Hub. It’s an intelligent digital asset management app. It allows you to efficiently organize your media files while recognizing the type or theme of said files.
Privacy and security features
ASUS values your privacy just as much as you do. The Zenbook S 14 comes with a suite of security features for the user’s peace of mind.
As mentioned earlier, the AI-powered webcam can be used for unlocking the device with a face ID. It also makes use of Adaptive Dimming and Adaptive Lock. The former uses the camera to track your presence and automatically dims when you look away, while the latter locks the device when you step away.
Meanwhile, Microsoft Pluton is designed to enhance the security of your device. It is built into the CPU and provides a host of security features. In short, your sensitive data is in good hands.
Battery and charging
A 72Wh battery powers the Zenbook S 14. Its battery life is up to 27 hours using a 1080p video playback scenario with Wi-Fi enabled, but not connected to any access point. I was able to get more than 27 hours on this since my usage included a mix of streaming videos and working (such as writing this very review on the laptop).
The Zenbook S 14 also boasts fast charging. You can get from 0 to 60% in under 50 minutes. With the impressive battery life and fast charging, you are assured of uninterrupted productivity (or leisure).
Verdict
ASUS has truly captured the essence of Zen with the new Zenbook S 14. The design evokes minimalism and elegance, while the combination of its performance and AI-driven features provides you with peace of mind to achieve ultimate productivity and enjoyment.
The ASUS Zenbook S 14 is priced at PHP 109,995. Packaged with the device is an exclusive ASUS laptop sleeve, which perfectly complements the laptop’s aesthetics. Reach a higher state of Zen with the ASUS 4A Quality and Service, which includes a two-year International Warranty for added peace-of-mind.
Should you decide to get one, I will be the first one to personally welcome you to your Zen era.
Photos by Mica de los Reyes
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