Asus Zenbook S14 OLED (2024) review: Power and Portability Redefined

The Zenbook S14 OLED (2024) is a visual treat. The Scandinavian White colorway exudes a clean, minimalist aesthetic, while the Ceraluminum lid adds a touch of premium sophistication. This isn’t just about looks, though. The laptop feels incredibly solid and well-built, a testament to its MIL-STD 810H military-grade certification. Despite its robust construction, the laptop weighs in at just 1.2kg, making it a true travel companion. It’s so convenient to slip into a bag that you barely feel its weight. The retail package even includes a nice cover, making it feel like you’re carrying a slightly heavy file – a perfect disguise for your powerful machine. 

When it comes to connectivity, the Zenbook S14 OLED offers a generous selection of ports. You’ll find a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports (supporting display and power delivery), an HDMI 2.1 port, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. Wireless connectivity is equally impressive, with support for the latest Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) and Bluetooth 5.4. This ensures fast and reliable connections for both work and play. 

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The star of the show is undoubtedly the 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED display. This translates to a crisp pixel density, ideal for both productivity and media consumption. The 120Hz refresh rate makes scrolling and animations incredibly smooth, while the deep blacks and vibrant colors of OLED technology create a truly immersive viewing experience. Asus calls this their Lumina OLED display, and it certainly lives up to the name. It offers a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio, ensuring inky blacks and bright whites, and covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, making it suitable for colour-sensitive work. The display also has a 0.2ms response time, minimizing ghosting and blur. It’s VESA DisplayHDR True Black 500 certified, meaning it can achieve a peak brightness of 500nits in HDR mode, though the typical brightness is around 400 nits. It’s also Pantone-validated, assuring color accuracy.  

The bezels are slim, which allows you a larger screen space in a compact body. However, this slimness can be a double-edged sword. While holding the laptop and touching the screen from the left or right side, I occasionally found myself accidentally scrolling. It’s something to be mindful of.

Another factor to consider is the screen’s reflectivity. While it looks stunning indoors, I found it quite reflective outdoors, making it difficult to focus, especially under harsh sunlight. Increasing the brightness to the maximum and switching to Light mode instead of Dark mode helped to some extent, but it wasn’t a perfect fix. If you’re using the device while travelling in a cab or bus, you might face similar visibility issues.

The keyboard is comfortable to type on, with good key travel and spacing. The backlighting is a welcome addition for working in low-light conditions. However, the placement of the Delete button right next to the Power button is truly annoying. Deleting text is a frequent action while writing, and accidentally hitting the power button results in a screen lock, requiring a face scan and unlock, disrupting the workflow. Asus should reconsider this button placement. The enlarged touchpad is a plus, providing ample space for gestures and navigation. It’s smooth and responsive, making tasks like scrolling and multi-touch gestures feel intuitive. The size also makes it comfortable to use for extended periods, reducing wrist strain.

The audio quality is surprisingly good for a laptop of this size. The Harman Kardon-tuned speakers deliver clear and balanced sound with decent bass response. The FHD webcam with IR support for Windows Hello facial recognition is excellent. It also has a smart privacy feature: the camera dims when you are not looking at the screen and turns off the screen entirely when you step away from the laptop, enhancing both privacy and energy efficiency. 

The Zenbook S14 OLED packs a punch when it comes to performance. Powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor and 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, the laptop handles demanding tasks with ease. The 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD provides ample storage and blazing-fast read and write speeds. 

The Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor is a significant step forward, designed to compete with offerings from Qualcomm and AMD. Intel launched the Ultra series to address the growing demand for power-efficient yet high-performing processors, especially in the thin-and-light laptop segment. The “258V” designation likely indicates a specific power and performance profile within the Ultra 7 lineup. Intel’s Ultra series includes various variants like U (ultra-low power), V (balanced performance), and H (high performance), catering to different needs.

The Zenbook S14 OLED performs well in benchmarks, demonstrating its strong performance across various tasks. In Geekbench 6, it achieved a single-core score of 2541 and a multi-core score of 9037, showcasing its ability to handle both everyday tasks and demanding workloads. In Cinebench R23, it scored 1709 pts in single-core and 6598 pts in multi-core tests, further emphasizing its processing capabilities. 

Beyond processing power, the Zenbook S14 OLED delivers impressive storage and AI capabilities. CrystalDiskMark revealed fast read and write speeds, with sequential reads reaching 5005.27 MB/s and sequential writes reaching 3460.34 MB/s. In Geekbench AI, the device secured a strong overall AI score of 1802, highlighting its proficiency in AI tasks. While not a gaming-centric machine, its integrated Intel Arc 140V GPU achieved a 3DMark Time Spy graphics score of 1145, demonstrating its competence in lighter graphical workloads.

The Zenbook S14 OLED’s integrated Intel Arc 140V GPU allows for casual gaming, smooth streaming, and content creation tasks like photo and video editing. It can also handle AI-powered image generation and accelerate performance in applications that utilize graphics processing. While not a replacement for a dedicated graphics card, it strikes a balance between performance and portability for everyday computing and lighter graphics workloads. The AI performance is equally impressive. In AI image generation benchmarks using Stable Diffusion, the Intel Lunar Lake chip leveraged its GPU prowess to achieve significantly faster results compared to its competitors.

The Zenbook S14 houses a 72WHr battery, providing excellent battery life. I consistently achieved 9 to 10 hours of use on a single charge, which is impressive for a laptop this thin and light. In my real-world usage, including a trip to Mumbai and Delhi for my work, I found the battery life to be more than sufficient. Even with a full day of work and travel, I comfortably returned home with power to spare, eliminating the need to carry the charger and further reducing the weight of my backpack. The included 65W USB-C charger allows for fast charging and it does a full charge in under two hours. It’s a compact and convenient charger to carry around.

The Asus Zenbook S14 (2024) is a truly impressive laptop. It combines stunning design, a gorgeous display (despite its reflectivity), powerful performance, and long battery life into a sleek and portable package. The keyboard is comfortable, but the button placement needs rethinking. While the price may be a bit steep for some, the overall package justifies the cost. The bundled 65W USB-C charger is a convenient addition.

Asus Zenbook S14 (2024) price in India

The Asus Zenbook S14 OLED (2024) is available in two options in India:

• 16GB + 512GB: Rs 1,34,990
• 32GB + 1TB: Rs 1,49,990
• Colors: Scandinavian White and Zumaia Gray

The Zenbook S14 OLED is a great choice for professionals, creatives, and anyone who needs a powerful and portable laptop that can keep up with their demanding lifestyle.