A new Asus Zenbook is in town with an interesting design and the latest Intel Core Ultra Lunar Lake processors. Regarding Ultrabooks based on Windows, the Zenbook has always been there among the best. Therefore, when Asus stretched out for an examination of the new ZenBook S 14 OLED (UX5406), I immediately said yes. So far, all ZenBook models have had an excellent design, beautiful screens and a decent battery life. However, the new ZenBook S 14 takes a notch. After having used it for about two weeks now, this is why this is now my new favorite ultrabook.
The new Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED was launched in India last month at RS departure price. 1.42,990. The high -end variant that we received for examination is delivered with a storage of 32 GB of RAM + 1 TO and is at the price of RS. 1.49, 990. The two options in India are available with the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V CPU (series 2) 140V. The chipset also has a dedicated NPU for AI tasks.
Asus ZenBook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Design: Unique
- Dimensions – 31.15 x 21.39 x 1.19 ~ 1.29 cm
- Weight – 1.20 kg
- Colors – Zumaia Gray, Scandinavian white
Asus used a new material for the ZenBook S 14 OLED cover. This is called “Ceratununium”, and it is supposed to be the best of both worlds – ceramic and aluminum. Without going into too much detail, the material is both difficult and withstanding scratches / spots. And really, the lid barely attracts fingerprints. The cover also presents silver lines that run with the Asus Zenbook logo in the upper left corner. It really stands out among all boring laptop covers.
Ceratununium lid barely attracts fingerprints
The laptop also has a geometric grille above the keyboard, which has 2,715 CNC machined vents which have a unique design. This is also supposed to improve the efficiency of the air flow.
The design of the geometric grille also includes the new ASUS logo
The rest of the laptop has fully metal construction and is delivered with US MIL-STD 810h certification. There is no flex anywhere on the laptop. The hinge also seems durable and you can open the cover with a finger. However, the hinge is not 180 degrees. You will find the intake vents at the bottom and two slits on the sides for 2 of the 4 speakers. Meanwhile, the exhaust ports are on the back.
You get enough ports on the ZenBook S 14 OLED
Although it is only 1.2 cm thick, Asus managed to add an HDMI 2.1 port, two USB type-C ports, a USB type A port and an audio 3.5 mm combo socket.
Asus ZenBook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Display: Ideal for business and pleasure
- Size and type – 14 inch OLED (touch and non -touch)
- Resolution – 3K (2,880 x 1,800), 16:10
- Refreshment rate – 120 Hz
The 14-inch OLED screen on our revision unit has a touch support, and you can also get an unlit panel if you opt for the RAM 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage variant. The touch support is a good feature, but I barely used it during my two weeks using the laptop. It is not really very useful on a traditional laptop.
The display is however quite good, and you will have a good time to look at content and work. Being an OLED panel, you get superb colors, deep blacks and good light (400 nits, as Asus claim). It also offers HDR, Dolby Vision, a 100%DCI-P3 color coverage, and is validated by Pantone. You can choose between a range of different colors in the Myasus application.
You can choose between a touch screen or not Touch on the ZenBook S 14 OLED
Overall, this is an excellent display for all kinds of work. However, working outside is not ideal because the screen obtains a shiny coating. The visualization of the angles is on the point.
Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) keyboard, touchpad, speakers and webcam
- Keyboard – backlit chiclet style, co -pilot key
- Speakers – 4 x Harman / Kardon with Dolby Atmos
- Web camera – 1080p IR camera
The keyboard is an area where Asus could have done better, but I should not complain because it is not easy to have an excellent keyboard in such a slim chassis. The laptop has a chiclet style configuration with a good distance between the keys and decent travel. It is also backlit with three levels of light control, and it becomes very brilliant at night. There is also a dedicated co -pilot key. It is a great dactylography experience but nothing exceptional.
The keyboard does not have many trips, but is always quite pleasant to use
The touchpad on the laptop is fast, smooth and supports multi-touch gestures. Click on the comments are also good. Asus has also included dashboard on the touchpad that allow you to easily adjust the volume brightness and search for a video. Again, it would have been more pleasant if Asus also included the function of the touch keyboard on the touchpad.
The Oled Zenbook S 14 speakers have also proven to be quite good. I am very rarely impressed by the speakers on Windows laptops, and the configuration with four speakers (although in the face of the decline) managed to pour out. The speakers are noisy and without cracking, and there are also decent bass. It still has nothing to do with the speakers of Dell XPS 13 or a MacBook Air / Pro, but it’s close.
Finally, the webcam situation is not the best and I think the Apple MacBook always has a higher edge. The quality is good in daylight, but things become agitated in small light situations. You get a Windows Hello support thanks to the IR sensor included, but this sometimes does not work if the lighting conditions are not favorable.
ASUS ZenBook S 14 OLED software (UX5406S): Useful applications included
- OS – Windows 11 Home / Pro
- Applications – Myasus, Screenxpert
Our examination unit came preinstalled with Windows 11 Home and the usual office suite. There is also the slightly useful co -pilot chatbot, which I only used around 5 times in two weeks. In addition to the Windows suite of software, you get certain AI features such as live legends and studio effects.
The Myasus application allows you to manage all kinds of laptop features
Asus also included Storycube, which is essentially an organizer who operates the AI to group and sort the media, facilitate the search for photos or videos, and create or modify highlights. There is also the Myasus application to manage laptop settings and modify the power profiles and the Screenxpert application to customize multi-window use.
It should also be noted that as it is a laptop based on Intel, you will have no problem with the management of the application. Everything will simply work well together.
Asus ZenBook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Performance: Ideal for work and light games
- CPU – Intel Core Ultra 7 258V
- RAM – up to 32 GB LPDDR5X
- Storage – up to 1 to m.2 nvme
- GPU – Intel Arc
Speaking of everything that works well together, Intel Core Ultra 200v chipsets use a SOC design, which means that RAM is integrated into the package. The advantage here is that it communicates better with the CPU, the NPU and the GPU. However, there is no way to upgrade the RAM. The Core Ultra 7 258V Core Chipset on the Zenbook S 14 is associated with the new GPU XE 2, which can now play certain games and the new NPU 4, which is supposed to offer up to 47 summits for the functionality of the AI.
The laptop also offers a new Intel Arc GPU
Although the overall performance between the basic tasks are excellent, the chipset did not do better than the Snapdragon X Elite chipset or even the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX processor in the CPU markers.
| Reference | Asus Zenbook S 14 | Dell XPS 13 9345 | Asus Tuf Gaming A14 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Geekbench 6 single | 2,520 | 2,795 | 2,775 |
| Geekbench 6 Multi | 10,688 | 14,478 | 14,765 |
| Geekbench ai quantified score | 3,678 | 22,200 | 12,742 (GPU) |
| PCMARK 10 | 6 836 | N / A | 8,165 |
| 3DMARK CPU profile | 5 161 | 8,459 | N / A |
| 3dmark night raid | 34 727 | 25,732 | 59,649 (GPU) |
| Nomad light in 3dmark steel | 3 243 | 1 931 | N / A |
However, execution in balanced or complete performance mode will not notice any discrepancy. The draw is well managed and the heat is minimal to nonexistent in normal use. Fans only took place in full explosion during the games or when performing benchmarks. The laptop has become warm in these scenarios, including the area above the keyboard. You can also activate the full performance mode when executing the battery.
Speaking of play, the Intel Arc Improved GPU left me impressed. I was able to play at Forza Horizon 4, Expeditions: A Mudrunner Game and some other similar titles with decent image frequencies (45-55 IPS). Regarding integrated GPU performance, the Intel chipset does much better than Snapdragon Soc of Qualcomm.
Connectivity options on the laptop are also solid. There is Bluetooth 5.4 and Wi-Fi 7, which both worked without any problem.
Asus ZenBook S 14 OLED (UX5406S) Battery: Continue
- Capacity – 72Wh
- Load – 65W
For a laptop running an Intel chip, battery performance is equal with what Apple provides with its M chips M or even the new Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors. It is not yet there, but I was easily managed to manage a full day of 10 to 12 hours on the ZenBook S 14. This included the execution of chrome with several tabs, office applications for Whatsapp and Slack, Outlook Mail, some YouTube and a lot of edition.
The ZenBook S 14 OLED weighs approximately 1.2 kg
The new Intel Core Ultra Lunar Lake Sips battery, and Asus also provided a large 72Wh cell to offer long hours of use. The load is also fast thanks to the 65 W fast charger, and 20 to 100% of the costs take approximately 50 minutes.
Verdict Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED (UX5406S)
I have not been so impressed by a Windows Ultrabook for a long time. A slim and light and compact laptop that checks most boxes is a rarity, but it could be one thing in the past with the new Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED. The new design is catchy, you get enough performance for work as well as for light games, and the battery life is actually ultra for an ultrabook. The price is not too bad either, see how other specific ultrabooks in the same way of Dell, HP, Samsung or Microsoft cost the same thing.
If you are looking for a light, compact and powerful ultrabook with excellent autonomy, the Asus Zenbook S 14 is a good choice and is worth the money. You will not be disappointed.
