Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Review

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED stands out as more than just a budget-friendly laptop – it’s an exceptional device overall.

Pros:

• Remarkable value for money.
• Competent productivity performance.
• Impressive battery life.
• Comfortable keyboard and NumberPad 2.0 touchpad.
• Sturdy build with an attractive aesthetic.
• Outstanding OLED display.

Cons:

• Falls short in creative performance.

Presenting a design that exceeds typical budget aesthetics, the ZenBook 14 OLED embraces a minimalist approach that has become the norm in contemporary laptops. Eschewing unnecessary embellishments, the laptop showcases sleek lines, subtle logos, and a distinctive rounded hinge. Departing from the once-iconic concentric circles, Asus opts for a solid black chassis that exudes elegance.

Constructed with an aluminum alloy chassis, the ZenBook 14 OLED impressively resists flexing on the bottom and keyboard deck, offering a quality build at an affordable price. While the display exhibits a slight bend under pressure, it maintains commendable rigidity, especially considering its cost in comparison to competitors like the Dell XPS 13 Plus.

The laptop’s display bezels, though not the slimmest, achieve a balanced size, contributing to a device that is 0.67 inches thick and weighs a reasonable 3.06 pounds. Although it may not be the thinnest or lightest 14-inch laptop, its portability remains noteworthy.

Users will appreciate the ZenBook 14 OLED’s keyboard, featuring large keycaps, excellent key spacing, and responsive switches. While it may fall short of matching the top-tier keyboards on Dell’s XPS line or HP’s Spectre machines, it offers a comfortable typing experience. The touchpad, complemented by the NumberPad 2.0 technology, provides a convenient LED numeric keypad without compromising usability.

Boasting an array of ports, including USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, and a microSD card reader, the laptop caters to diverse connectivity needs. Despite lacking Thunderbolt 4 due to AMD chipset limitations, it compensates with up-to-date wireless connectivity. The 1080p webcam delivers a quality image, accompanied by a fingerprint reader embedded in the power button for efficient authentication. Although lacking an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello, the fingerprint reader serves as a reliable alternative.

Equipped with AMD’s 6-core/12-thread Ryzen 5 7530U clocked at 15 watts and up to 4.5GHz, the Zenbook 14 OLED introduces commendable performance in the low-power CPU category. In a head-to-head comparison with the Intel Core i7-1355U, a 15-watt chip featuring 10 cores, the Zenbook showcased competitive results. While Intel excelled in single-core performance, AMD’s multi-core capabilities outperformed. Despite trailing the Apple MacBook Air M2 in creative benchmarks, especially those involving the GPU, the Zenbook remains adept at handling demanding productivity tasks.

Although not claiming the title of the fastest laptop, the Zenbook 14 OLED proves itself proficient in managing productivity workloads. However, its Radeon graphics exhibit limited capability, notably evident in the 3DMark Time Spy test, scoring just 1,221 (1,226 in performance mode), confirming its unsuitability as a gaming machine.

Opting for a low-power CPU pays off in terms of battery life, and the Zenbook 14 OLED excels in this aspect. Housing a substantial 75 watt-hour battery, the laptop competes admirably with its low-power Intel counterparts in battery tests. Although falling short of the Apple MacBook Air M2’s exceptional longevity, it outperforms most alternatives. Even against the pricier HP Dragonfly Pro with a low-power AMD Ryzen 7 CPU and IPS display, the Zenbook proves its mettle in two of our tests.

With its robust battery performance, the Zenbook 14 OLED is poised to endure a full day of work, provided it isn’t subjected to overly strenuous tasks.

The Zenbook 14 OLED boasts an impressive OLED display, offering vibrant colors without oversaturation and deep, inky blacks—a consistent trait across OLED displays we’ve tested. While the colorimeter analysis reveals it falls short of being the best, with a brightness of 369 nits (compared to Acer Swift Go 14’s 523 nits), it still impresses with wide color gamuts: 100% sRGB, 96% AdobeRGB, and 100% DCI-P3. Although accuracy sits at a DeltaE of 1.44, slightly behind some OLED displays, its 25,660:1 contrast ratio, typical for OLEDs, surpasses IPS displays significantly.

Beyond its monetary value, the Zenbook 14 OLED’s display excels universally, catering to productivity users, creators, and media enthusiasts. The VESA DisplayHDR 500-True Black HDR support enhances the visual experience, although not reaching the brilliance of Apple’s MacBook Pro mini-LED displays.

Priced under $1,000, the Zenbook 14 OLED stands as an unparalleled choice. With ample speed for most users, outstanding battery life, solid build quality featuring a remarkable keyboard and touchpad, and an excellent OLED display, it outshines competitors in its price range. Even when spending significantly more, the Zenbook 14 OLED remains a true bargain, making it a top contender unless extensive power is a primary requirement.