ASUS Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 review: Snapdragon flexes its muscles

The ASUS Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 is a rather radical departure from the traditional x86 architecture that dominated the Windows laptop ecosystem for years.

Equipped with the new Snapdragon X Elite chipset, this is a machine designed to shatter the status quo, promising flagship-level performance and exceptional battery life. As one of the first laptops to come powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chip, the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 claims to redefine user experience.

With its premium design, stunning OLED display, and cutting-edge hardware, this laptop has the potential to appeal to a wide range of users. Let’s dive in and find out if the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 can live up to its lofty ambitions.

This device was originally reviewed by Florence George, and this article is based on his evaluation.

Here is a video review of the laptop:

Design and Display

At first sight, the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 impresses with its premium and classy design. Made from a full aluminium chassis, it radiates quality and durability, which people normally associate with much higher-end devices. Weighing only 1.4kg, the Vivobook is slim, light, and very portable.

Subtle VivoBook branding on the lid adds a touch of class, but overall, the aesthetic remains clean and understated, appealing to people who want a more professional look.

It can be opened with one finger, which also shows just how minute the detail is regarding the design of this machine.

However, the true standout feature of the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 is its stunning 15.6-inch OLED display. Boasting 3K resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh rate, and VESA HDR 600 certification, this panel delivers exceptional visual quality.

Colours are vibrant and punchy, blacks are deep and inky, and the 600 nits of peak brightness ensure excellent visibility even in bright environments.

The display’s 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage makes it an excellent choice for content creation tasks, such as photo editing and colour grading in applications like Photoshop and Premiere Pro. This versatility allows the Vivobook to transition between productivity and creative workloads seamlessly.

Keyboard, Trackpad, and I/O

ASUS has equipped the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 with a full-size membrane keyboard that offers a pleasant typing experience. The keys provide good tactile feedback, and the single-zone RGB backlighting adds a touch of customization.

The generously sized glass trackpad is responsive and supports a variety of useful gestures, including volume and brightness control through swipe gestures.

This integration of smart features enhances the overall user experience, making day-to-day navigation and multitasking more efficient.

In terms of connectivity, the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 offers a comprehensive selection of ports. Users will find two USB 4 Type-C ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a microSD card slot, and a headphone jack.

The inclusion of USB 4 ensures fast data transfer and versatile connectivity options, catering to the diverse needs of modern users.

The Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 is equipped with a 2.1-megapixel Full HD webcam that supports various studio effects and features from Windows.

Users can take advantage of a physical camera shutter, as well as options like creative filters, eye contact, teleprompter mode, and auto-framing. While the image quality is generally acceptable, we feel that it lacks the level of sharpness and clarity one might expect from a flagship-level laptop.

That said, the webcam’s performance is still a step up from many traditional Windows laptops, and the inclusion of advanced software features helps to enhance the overall video conferencing experience.

Performance

At the heart of the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 is the Snapdragon X Elite processor, a 12-core, 12-thread ARM-based chip that promises flagship-level performance.

Paired with 16GB of fast DDR5 RAM and a 1TB Gen 4 SSD, this laptop is well-equipped to handle a wide range of productivity and light creative tasks.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 holds its own against other high-end devices, showcasing the capabilities of the Snapdragon X Elite and the Windows on ARM ecosystem. However, the true test comes in real-world usage and gaming performance.

As far as productivity and media consumption go, the Vivobook performs exceptionally. Document editing, web browsing, and video playback are all very smooth, thanks to the ARM architecture and ASUS customisations.

In addition, with the MyASUS app, there are performance modes that allow users to further customise the system based on their needs for a balance of power and battery life.

Gaming, though, is a bit more complicated. While games like Asphalt 9 Legends and GTA V were fairly decent at Full HD resolution, demanding games such as Cyberpunk 2077 could not hold up stable frame rates and crashed very often.

Battery and Charging

Another highlight of the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 is its exceptional battery life. In our PCMark 10 video playback benchmark, the laptop managed an impressive 14 hours and 14 minutes of runtime, far exceeding the typical 8-9 hour performance offered by most Windows laptops.

This long-lasting battery makes the Vivobook an excellent choice for users who require all-day productivity on the go.

Whether you’re working on documents, browsing the web, or enjoying multimedia content, the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 can keep up with your demands without the need for constant charging.

The included 90W charger further enhances the user experience, allowing for quick top-ups when needed. The ability to quickly recharge the laptop is a welcome convenience, especially for those with hectic schedules.

Verdict

The ASUS Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 spells a new revolution in the evolving tapestry of Windows laptops. Embracing ARM-based Snapdragon architecture, ASUS has been able to bring something to the table that blows against tradition and combines performance, portability, and endurance.

Besides the premium design, beautiful OLED display, and long battery life, it is a fine solution for people who want versatility and unfettered computing.

Powered by the Snapdragon X Elite processor, this laptop is sure to provide robust performance for productivity, media, and lighter creative tasks that will appeal to today’s mobile professional.

However, this doesn’t mean that the Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 comes without its limitations. While gaming performance is decent for casual titles, it shows inferior performance in demanding games, further proving the underlying issues of software compatibility and emulation in the Windows on ARM ecosystem.

While synthetic benchmark performance may be reasonably good, in real-world workloads, they could still be trailing well behind their equivalent x86 brethren — for instance, cases which require specific performance by individual users or more heavy creative workflows.

Despite all this, the ASUS Vivobook S 15 OLED 2024 really is a compelling offering for most users who want a premium, portable, and long-lasting Windows laptop for everyday use. With its gorgeous display and good build—besides class-leading battery life—it’s hard not to like the Vivobook S 15 OLED as a premium laptop.

Editor’s Rating: 8 / 10

Pros:

• Premium design and build quality
• Stunning 3K OLED display
• Exceptional battery life
• Top-notch Snapdragon X Elite performance
• Versatile connectivity options

Cons:

• Limited gaming performance
• Webcam lacks sharpness
• Software compatibility issues