ASUS ZenBook 14 OLED (AMD) Review: Matte Black x Team Red for the Win
Review Summary
Expert Rating
Earlier this year, ASUS gave its laptop lineup a shiny refresh, decking out the ZenBooks with the latest Intel chips. We’ve already spent some quality time with the ZenBook 14 OLED UX3405CA (review), a sleek powerhouse rocking the Intel Core Ultra 9 285. It’s fast and gorgeous, but at over ₹1.5 lakh, it’s definitely aimed at the premium crowd. But ASUS knows not everyone’s ready (or willing) to drop that kind of cash. Many ambitious students and go-getter professionals want to graduate from the Vivobook lineup into something more premium, without selling a kidney. Enter the ZenBook 14 OLED UM3406KA.
On paper, it mirrors a lot of what we loved in the Intel version: the featherlight design, the stunning 3K OLED display, and battery life that can outlast a workday. But this one’s got its own personality, thanks to a brand-new Jade Black colourway (a first for ZenBooks) and Team Red’s Ryzen AI 5 340 beating at its core. And at under ₹1 lakh, it’s looking like a tempting deal. The real question is: does it deliver the goods? Let’s find out.
Table of Contents
Design & Display: Matte Black with a Side of Class
The first thing you notice about the ZenBook 14 OLED is that this thing is seriously thin and light. At just 14.9mm thick and weighing around 1.2kg, it’s the kind of laptop you can carry around all day without a shoulder ache. Slip it into a backpack, tote bag, or even a padded sleeve under your arm; this thing actually competes with a MacBook Air. And that’s saying something.
Of course, what really sets it apart visually is the Jade Black finish. It has a matte texture that doesn’t scream for attention, but instead quietly radiates a premium vibe. Unlike glossy finishes that attract fingerprints like a buffet attracts free-sample hunters, this matte coat stays cleaner for longer. I mean, sure, it will still catch that occasional imprint, but it is overall a massive improvement from the usual finishes on the previous ZenBooks.
It’s still an all-metal build with MIL-STD 810H military-grade durability, so this isn’t some delicate showpiece, and can handle life on the move. The lid sports a minimalist ASUS logo spread across, keeping things clean and modern. Now, this might not be even worth noticing for some folks, but I can’t help appreciating how the subtle silver logo plays off that rich matte black finish. This colourway has been on the community’s wish list for ages, and it’s safe to say ASUS finally delivered… and did so without tripping over the hype.
Opening the lid reveals razor-thin bezels framing that jaw-dropping 14-inch OLED display. And this isn’t just any OLED. ASUS has gone for a 3K resolution (2880×1800), a 120Hz refresh rate, and full 100% DCI-P3 colour coverage. Translation? Everything looks buttery smooth and colour-accurate, whether you’re editing photos, binge-watching Netflix, or just admiring your wallpaper.
ASUS also throws in HDR support, with a VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification, meaning darker scenes in movies look deep and inky rather than washed out. Peak brightness hits 600 nits in HDR mode and a comfortable 400 nits in SDR, making it perfectly usable outdoors under shade. Of course, as you’d expect from an OLED panel, black pixels here are truly black because they’re literally turned off. Long story short, whether you’re colour grading, coding, or doom-scrolling, this display is going to spoil you.
Same-Same, But No Thunder
Before we talk about the performance, let’s get the rest of the stuff out of the way. Most of the package is pretty much the same as its Intel counterpart. The keyboard is classic ZenBook style, with spacious keys, subtle backlight, and a satisfying balance between key travel and tactility. It’s comfortable for long typing sessions, whether you’re writing essays, drafting reports, or rattling off code.
The trackpad is generously sized, smooth, and accurate. It also has support for Smart Gestures, which is what I personally prefer over the NumPad tech that ASUS had on their older models. Sure, you will have to rely on the keyboard deck for inputting the numbers, like most other 14-inch laptops, but you get a far more functional trackpad.
Up top, the webcam is a Full HD IR camera with Windows Hello support. Video calls look sharp, even in average lighting, and the IR sensors mean you can log in with your face in less than a second. There’s also a physical privacy shutter, because nobody trusts software-only camera killswitches anymore.
In terms of connectivity, on the left side, there’s a single USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, and that’s it. ASUS has fitted the vents on the left side for better flow, so most of the ports are now on the right side.
Speaking of which, the right side houses an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB-4 Type-C port, and a USB-C 3.2 port. The USB 4 port comes replacing the Thunderbolt port, which was there on Intel models, as you’d expect. There’s no microSD card here, and while I would have preferred another USB-A port on the left side, I’m not really complaining.
Performance: AMD’s AI-Fuelled Punch
Alright, time to talk performance. Under the hood, the ZenBook 14 UM3406KA runs on the AMD Ryzen AI 5 340. Built on AMD’s latest architecture, this 6-core/12-thread chip strikes a nice balance between strong multi-core muscle and impressive efficiency. But the real headline here is the integrated NPU (Neural Processing Unit), capable of 50 TOPS (trillions of operations per second).
This means the ZenBook 14 qualifies as a Copilot+ PC, letting you tap into Windows 11’s new AI tricks like Cocreator in Paint, Live Captions, and background effects in video calls. The NPU handles these tasks instead of the CPU or GPU, making them faster and lighter on power consumption, which in turn helps your battery stretch further during AI-heavy workloads.
For benchmarks, we put it through our usual suspects: Cinebench, Geekbench, and PCMark. While Cinebench R24 refused to load due to GPU memory limitations, the ZenBook still turned in strong scores in Cinebench R23 and Geekbench. To put it into perspective, I compared it against the Acer Swift 14 AI SF14-51, which is a similarly priced machine with an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V. The AMD chip consistently edged ahead in CPU tests, which isn’t shocking given it’s a 28W part going up against Intel’s 17W offering.
What is surprising, though, is how Intel managed to flip the script in GPU performance. Across the entire 3DMark suite, Intel’s integrated graphics came out ahead, with the ZenBook’s AMD Radeon 840M even failing to run a couple of tests. In Geekbench’s OpenCL benchmark, the Acer Swift nearly doubled the ZenBook’s score.
That said, the Radeon 840M is no slouch for what this laptop is built for. It still handles GTA V at over 31 FPS and Valorant at around 190 FPS on Low settings. Light photo editing in Adobe Photoshop is also perfectly doable, though heavy creative workloads will push it to its limits.
Bottom line? For its intended audience of students, office professionals, content consumers, and light creators, the ZenBook 14 is more than up to the task. It’s not aiming to be a performance beast, but it definitely doesn’t limp either.
Lasts the Day, Charges in a Jiffy
The ZenBook 14 OLED comes armed with a 75Wh battery, and when paired with the efficiency of the Ryzen AI 5 chip, it easily powers through 8–10 hours of mixed use. In other words, that’s a full workday’s worth of typing, browsing, and calls, with enough juice left over for an evening Netflix binge. For those who prefer hard numbers, it clocked just over 13 hours in PCMark’s battery video loop test at 80% brightness.
Of course, with a bright OLED display like this, your mileage may vary. Dial down the brightness, switch to dark mode, and you can stretch those hours even further. Charging is handled via a 65W USB-C adapter, and with support for fast charging, it can go from empty to roughly 60% in under an hour. Plus, since it charges over USB-C, topping up with a compatible third-party charger is no problem when you’re on the go.
Verdict: Sleek, Smart, and Mostly Spot-On
The ASUS ZenBook 14 OLED UM3406KA is exactly the kind of laptop that makes sense in 2025. It packs portability, premium build, a drool-worthy OLED display, respectable performance, and future-ready AI chops. All without making your wallet cry. If your day revolves around browsing, writing, spreadsheets, presentations, and the occasional creative project, this ZenBook is about as close to a perfect everyday companion as it gets.
That said, it’s not playing solo in this arena. Its closest rival, the Acer Swift 14 AI SF14-51, brings stronger GPU performance and slightly better battery life, though its 1200p OLED display is a clear step down from the ZenBook’s 3K beauty. If endurance is your priority, the ASUS ZenBook A14 with a Snapdragon X chip will keep going for nearly 20 hours in our PCMark test. Though you’ll be trading away raw performance, so keep that in mind. For those willing to stretch the budget, the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED with AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 remains our gold-standard pick for balancing power and portability. It’s not as stylish as the ZenBook, but you get more muscle, the same sharp 3K 120Hz display, and even better battery life.
Editor’s Rating: 8 / 10
Pros:
- Light, premium all-metal build with Jade Black finish
- Gorgeous 3K 120Hz OLED display
- Strong Ryzen AI 5 CPU performance
- Good port selection
Cons:
- Weaker integrated GPU
- Non-upgradeable RAM
