Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED review: the MacBook Air alternative

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If you have used one of the Zenbooks, you have used them all. They are the closest thing to a MacBook Air competitor, with a slightly flimsier design, fancy features, and less intimidating prices. They are one of the cheapest ways to get a laptop screen.

This particular Zenbook, the $1,299 Zenbook S 13 OLED, is exciting because it is one of the first devices I have gotten to test with the new Ryzen 6000 series. The Zenbook has a chip inside that is some of the best you can get in an ultra-thin laptop. That power, combined with the ultra-portability that the Zenbook line is famous for, makes it a very viable MacBook Air alternative for people who are open to Windows.

The Zenbook S 13 doesn't look different from other Zenbooks, but that's not a bad thing. It is one of those devices you can squeeze into the most packed of backpacks, and one you won't feel while it's in there. The lid and keyboard deck have a plastic feel, but there isn't much flex in it. Zenbooks had an issue with both of them being resistant to collecting fingerprints.

This device is breathing fresh air. It's not as bright as the most expensive ones on the market, but it's still quite nice, with almost no glare, in my testing. More vertical space is afforded by it.

I averaged seven hours and 45 minutes of office work per day on this device, with the screen at medium brightness and battery saver on. While I can get a few hours more out of the most recent MacBook Air, it's still good compared to the various 12th Gen Intel machines I've tested so far.

It works well for that use case, and is one of my favorite multimedia machines. Bass and percussion were audible and there was no distortion in the audio. It sounded similar to the MacBook Air in side-by-side testing. It felt like my music was surrounding me, and everything is adjusted in the app. I thought the Game and Movie profiles lead to better-sounding and better-surrounding music than the music profile did.

People were able to hear me over the loud air conditioning in my apartment, thanks to the microphones.

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 6800U
• RAM: 16GB LPDDR5 6400MHz
• Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 SSD
• Weight: 2.43 pounds (1.1kg)
• Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.59 inches (296.2 x 210.8 x 14.99mm)
• Battery: 67Whr
• Display: 16:10 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED touchscreen, 0.2ms response time
• Wi-Fi: Dual-band Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) 2x2 LAN

People should be aware of the port selection issue. The Zenbook doesn't have a lot of features, but it does have three ports and a jack. There is at least oneUSB-C port on each side, and they are compatible with the newer version of the device. To use the Zenbook's box, you need to use the left and right dongles. Some previous Zenbooks have made the unfortunate decision to not include a headphones jack.

The Zenbook 13 S is currently listed for $1,299. The package includes the eight-core Ryzen 7 6800U, 1 terabytes of storage, 16 gigabytes of RAM, and a 2880 x 1800 display. It is a very attractive price for those specifications.

There are mandatory policies for which an agreement is needed.

• A request for your region and keyboard layout
• Connect to Wi-Fi network
• Microsoft Software License Terms and Asus Notice
• Sign into a Microsoft account
• Create a PIN

There are a lot of things that can be agreed to.

• Name your device
• Set up Windows Hello fingerprint recognition
• Device privacy settings: Find My Device, Inking and Typing, Advertising ID, Location, Diagnostic data, Tailored experiences
• Customize your device for personalized tips, ads, and recommendations (you can choose between entertainment, gaming, school, creativity, business, and family)
• Microsoft 365 free trial
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate free trial
• Provide information such as name, region, email address, phone number, country, and / or serial number for Asus and its business partners to contact you. Release this information to register you for an Asus account, receive emails from Asus, and register for a McAfee account.

There are 20 optional agreements.

The system worked well during my day. I used a lot of chrome tabs on top of downloads, apps, and a call on battery saver with no issues. I sometimes felt warmth on the bottom of the device, but never on the palm rests or keyboard deck. Unless I had the Performance profile on, I didn't hear the fans. The computer didn't pass 96 degrees Celsius, but it spent a lot of time hovering between 85 and 95 degrees, which is definitely hot.

A 5 minute, 33 second 4K video was exported from the Zenbook in just over 15 minutes. The scores from previous machines that have completed the test do not compare favorably to the scores from the latest version of Premiere Pro. It is worth noting that these types of workload aren't the strength of the company. The device is defeated by the M2 MacBook Air and the M1 device on PugetBench for Premiere Pro, which tests live and export times at 4K and 8K, as well as various 12th Gen Intel systems.

The integrated graphics are very impressive. There isn't much of a case to be made for buying a laptop with an entry level graphics card when integrated graphics are doing well.

The system averaged over 200 frames per second on League of Legend and over 100 on Rocket League. At the preset settings, the game was able to be played at 52 frames per second and 83 frames per second, respectively. Shadow of the Tomb Raider averaged 53 frames per second at the lowest settings. It averaged 25 frames per second at the highest settings.

The results of integrated graphics in a 13 inch device are some of the best we have seen. They beat both the M2 MacBook Air and the M1 model of the Dell XPS 13 Plus. This device is more affordable than both of those laptops and that is quite impressive.

Some of the best integrated graphics you can get in a laptop of this size are made byAMD.

The 13-inch space is home to both Apple and Intel's best mobile chips. While it doesn't provide the long battery life that the M2 does, nor does it have Intel's dominance in creative workloads, it's still an all-around powerful chip that delivers a really excellent gaming experience. This year, Intel won't return to the top of the chip market.

It is an excellent option for anyone who finds a premium ultraportable such as the MacBook Air to be over budget.

• The letter keys are 1.6 x 1.6 centimeters with 0.5 centimeters between them. All keys are backlit. The Caps Lock, camera, and microphone keys have indicator lights. The power button is 1.4 x 0.8 centimeters. The volume keys are 1.4 x 0.8 centimeters. The keys are dark blue with white text and take very little force to depress.
• The speakers reached an average of 75 decibels in my testing.
• The lid can be opened with one hand with some difficulty. It can be tilted back to 180 degrees.
• The screen reached 360.4 nits of brightness and a 22,670:1 contrast ratio in my testing.
• The touchpad is 12.8 x 7.3 inches and supports precision gestures.
• Setup involves turning the device on and clicking through several menus.
• The Zenbook supports fingerprint login but not facial login.

• Windows 11 includes a dedicated accessibility menu.
• Windows 11 includes a built-in screen reader (Narrator). It supports third-party screen readers including NVDA from NV Access and Jaws from Freedom Scientific. A full list of compatible software can be found on Microsoft’s website.
• Windows 11 supports voice typing (accessed by Windows + H) and speech recognition (toggled with Windows + Ctrl + S).
• Color Filters including inverted, grayscale, red-green, and blue-yellow can be toggled with Windows + Ctrl + C. Contrast themes are toggled with Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen. Standard Dark Mode and custom colors are also available under Personalization.
• Caption color and size can be customized and appear close to the bottom of the screen.
• The keyboard can be remapped with Microsoft’s PowerToys. Sticky Keys is supported. An on-screen keyboard is available.
• The cursor’s size and speed can be adjusted, and gestures can be remapped in Touchpad Settings.
• Windows 11 supports eye control with external eye trackers.
• Windows 11 includes a Snap Layout feature, accessed by hovering over the Maximize button on any open window.