This laptop has an excellent chassis, but tech journalists must nitpick and so I will - starting with the lack of an IR camera. My shoulders survived a long commute with the S 13 in tow, so I decided to bring it on an eight-mile hike in the Dolomites of South Tyrol - again, the laptop spared my exhausted body, never making its presence felt. Sliding the Zenbook into the tablet pocket of my backpack didn’t feel like it added additional weight. Those qualities made it the perfect laptop for me to take on a long-overdue trip to Germany. Where most other options give you one or the other, this magnesium-aluminium alloy notebook is staggeringly lightweight yet surprisingly sturdy. The Zenbook S 13 solves the portability versus durability conundrum. Apple got props for adding two unique hues to the new Air, but Asus has always offered sophisticated colour options, and I find those on the Zenbook S 13 OLED to be more eye-catching. Let’s just go with “Navy.” Not a fan? The Zenbook is also offered in Aqua Celedon (pastel metallic mint), Refined White, and Vestige Beige (rose gold). Asus calls it Ponder Blue, but no amount of careful thinking will clarify that name to me. This is a pretty little thing, too - particularly in the dark blue hue. I should also note that the Zenbook was petite enough for me to use on a cramped Lufthansa flight, made more uncomfortable by the fully reclined individual sitting in front of me. For context, the Zenbook weighs considerably less than the XPS 13 (1 kg) and MacBook Air (1 kg). That behavioural shift is largely due to the Zenbook S13 OLED’s diminutive size (11.7 x 8.3 x 0.6) and 1 kg weight - carrying this notebook from room to room required no effort and Windows booted up with immediacy when the system awoke. Luckily, the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED just about fit on my lap. However, with the Zenbook S 13 OLED, my subconscious stopped yearning for the immediacy of a more mobile device - I could grab this lightweight wafer, pry the screen open, and quickly search for something online or write a quick Slack message to a coworker.ġ0 hours of suffocation. Grabbing a smartphone to quickly check emails or watch a short video is less of a burden, and as a result, my larger rectangular sandwich lies dormant until it’s time for some serious work. Over the years, my reliance on my laptop has waned. Asus also sells a convertible model powered by Intel 12th Gen CPUs. Our review unit, equipped with a Ryzen 7 6700U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD should cost $AU2,199. Asus says the Zenbook S 13 OLED should start around $AU1,498 when it becomes available (which was supposed to be in June). This is one difficult laptop to find at the time of writing.
Lacks facial recognition, Average 720p webcam, Runs warm, Only USB-C Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED price and configurations Slim, ultra-lightweight design Good performance (but not the fastest) Long battery life Gorgeous 2.8K OLED display Lovely colour options CONS
The Zenbook S 13 OLED is pretty damn close to the perfect notebook - so close that if I were in the market for a laptop today, this one would be it.
It is lighter and sleeker than those rivals, its AMD engine provides excellent performance, and despite having a stunning 2.8K OLED display, the Zenbook lasts a full day on a charge. This 13-inch laptop is, in most ways, every bit as capable as the XPS, MacBooks, and Yogas of the industry, lacking only the household name. It’s also why the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED won’t get the attention it deserves. It’s just that finding the right device in a crowded field can be a dizzying task for everyday consumers. Hold on now, no reason to start sharpening pitchforks–I’m all for having options, something the laptop industry has in spades. Years of reviewing laptops and I still eavesdrop on Best Buy employees telling customers to either buy very obscure Windows laptops or to “just go with the MacBook and Surface.” Part of the problem is competition.