Asus Zenbook 14X OLED assessment: every thing you may need

Asus Zenbook 14X OLED

MSRP $1,000.00

“The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED is finest judged by its spectacular OLED show and engaging pricing.”

Professionals

• Engaging worth

• Stable construct high quality

• Excellent productiveness efficiency

• Spectacular OLED show

• Glorious keyboard and touchpad

Cons

• Not as sturdy a price with a discrete GPU

• Inventive efficiency is not nice

• Battery life is simply common

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is definitely the most effective worth laptop computer you should buy. For $700, it’s the entire bundle.

The Zenbook 14X OLED, although, takes it one step additional. It swaps out AMD for Intel, provides a sooner refresh charge show, and pumps up the efficiency. And whereas it’s not fairly as a lot of a deal, the Zenbook 14X stays top-of-the-line laptops you should buy, particularly for those who’re searching for a barely extra premium possibility.

Specs and configurations

Asus has three configurations obtainable for the Zenbook 14X OLED. The entry-level mannequin is $800 for a Core i5-13500H CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, Intel Iris Xe graphics, and a 14.5-inch 2.8K OLED show. My assessment unit prices $1,000 and comes with a Core i7-13700H and 16GB of RAM. The high-end mannequin is $1,500 for a Core i9-13900H, 32GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050. The Zenbook 14X OLED is most attractively priced at its two lower-end configurations.

It’s well-equipped at $1,500 and nonetheless aggressive, however it doesn’t stand out fairly as strongly. In comparison with the Zenbook 14 OLED, the bottom mannequin is $100 extra, however it has twice the cupboard space and it’s round $130 dearer with an upgraded CPU. That makes it roughly as nice a price. One other strong competitor is the Acer Swift Go 14 at across the identical $1,000 worth level and configuration, however its OLED show had inaccurate colours that held again its assessment ranking.

One other wonderful design for the cash

I really feel like I’m repeating myself assessment after assessment, however so many Home windows laptops have adopted related minimalist designs. They’re engaging, for probably the most half, however few stand out. The Zenbook 14X OLED matches that pattern, with easy taper traces alongside the aspect and a strong Inkwell Gray colour that appears so much like black. Asus did add some aptitude with geometric traces within the lid, however as soon as once more, this can be a laptop computer that blends in with the group. There’s a Sandstone Beige mannequin that has a ceramic matte end with a plasma “ceramization” (sure, that’s not misspelled) coating that’s extra protecting and resists fingerprints. I haven’t seen that mannequin in particular person, although, so I can’t converse to variations in look.

The all-aluminum construct is top quality, with no bending, flexing, or twisting within the keyboard deck or backside chassis, and simply the slightest bit within the lid. It’s not fairly as strong as rather more costly laptops just like the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8, however the construct high quality is excellent for the cash.

Because of small show bezels on prime and across the sides, the Zenbook 14X OLED within reason sized. It’s simply 0.67 inches thick and weighs 3.44 kilos, which is getting a tad heavy for a 14-inch laptop computer. The Zenbook 14 OLED is roughly the identical width and depth, and is equally skinny, however it’s lighter at 3.06 kilos.

You’ll additionally just like the Zenbook’s keyboard, which has snappy switches with loads of journey and a light-weight bottoming motion. The keycaps are properly sized, and there’s loads of key spacing. It’s not the most effective keyboard I’ve used — HP’s Spectre keyboards and Apple’s Magic Keyboard earn that title — however it’s greater than adequate for typing lengthy periods with out experiencing fatigue. The touchpad is giant and cozy, and my solely criticism is that the buttons give off a barely sharp and loud sound.

Asus has included its NumberPad 2.0 embedded LED numeric keypad within the touchpad, which is nice for anybody who enters plenty of numbers. The touchpad additionally has a hydrophobic and fingerprint-resistant coating to make the floor simpler to scrub and to extend resistance to put on.

Lastly, the webcam runs at 1080p, which is turning into the brand new commonplace. There’s expertise inbuilt to additional enhance the picture, and the Zenbook 14X OLED guarantees a terrific videoconferencing expertise. There’s an infrared digital camera for Home windows 11 Hi there facial recognition, making logins a breeze.

Higher efficiency, however battery life suffers

The Zenbook 14X OLED joins plenty of 14-inch laptops that use 45-watt Thirteenth-gen Intel CPUs matched with built-in Intel Iris Xe graphics. It’s a mixture that provides quick productiveness efficiency and respectable speeds in artistic duties which are CPU-dependent. However many artistic apps use the GPU to hurry up efficiency, and these laptops aren’t good matches.

You should purchase the Zenbook 14X OLED with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, however even that received’t make a lot of a dent in functions like Adobe’s Premiere Professional.

Nonetheless, for those who’re primarily involved about demanding productiveness workflows, then the Zenbook 14X OLED is a robust performer. Its efficiency in our CPU-intensive benchmarks, in addition to the PCMark 10 Full suite, is roughly the identical as different laptops with the Core i7-13700H in our assessment unit, and it’s so much sooner than the Zenbook 14 OLED with its 15-watt AMD processor.

Given the slim worth distinction between the 2, you’ll be a lot happier with the Zenbook 14X OLED with regards to sheer efficiency.

Battery life is the place the Zenbook 14 OLED has the benefit, thanks each to the CPU’s decrease energy ranking and AMD’s common effectivity. In comparison with different equally outfitted laptops, although, the Zenbook 14X OLED was extra aggressive. Notice that it wouldn’t full our video-looping battery check, one thing I’ve been seeing with just a few different laptops.

However in our web-browsing check and the PCMark 10 Purposes battery benchmark, the Zenbook X14 OLED carried out round common, which usually interprets into lower than a full day of battery life. The Apple MacBook Air M2 is the standout laptop computer right here, with considerably higher battery life that may final right into a second day’s work. The Zenbook 14 OLED was additionally considerably longer-lasting than our different comparability laptops.

An excellent higher OLED show

Asus has led the pack by not solely implementing OLED prior to plenty of producers, but additionally in inserting OLED shows in very reasonably priced laptops. You’ll discover few in the identical worth vary that may match the show high quality, which is beautiful out of the field with tons of colour and inky blacks. Asus even incorporates numerous strategies to assist keep away from OLED’s one potential pitfall, burn-in, together with particular display savers and pixel shifting. The Zenbook 14X OLED’s show was a terrific instance of the expertise in response to my colorimeter, with large colours at 100% of sRGB, 98% of AdobeRGB, and 99% of DCI-P3. That’s common for OLED and far wider than the common IPS show’s 95% of sRGB and 75% of AdobeRGB. Shade accuracy was additionally nice at a DeltaE of 1.04 (lower than 1.0 is taken into account wonderful).

My colorimeter wouldn’t return outcomes for the distinction ratio, which I’ve seen with a number of latest OLED shows. However with excellent black ranges, you’re assured to have extraordinarily excessive distinction equal to different OLED shows and Mini-LED panels. The one benefit over the Zenbook 14 OLED, which carried out equally, is the ZenBook 14X OLED’s 120Hz refresh charge. The Zenbook 14 OLED tops out at 90Hz.

Total, it’s a wonderful show that may please productiveness customers, creators, and media customers alike. Audio high quality was simply OK, with two downward-firing audio system offering sufficient quantity and high quality for common computing wants. In the event you’re streaming an motion film or listening to music, you’ll need a good pair of headphones.

One other nice laptop computer that’s additionally a terrific worth

There’s a pure comparability between the Zenbook 14 OLED and the Zenbook 14X OLED, with each representing nice values, notably of their entry-level configurations. Which is a greater worth comes right down to how a lot you worth additional storage and a sooner CPU. Then, it’s important to stability larger efficiency towards longer battery life.

It’s a troublesome name. I went backwards and forwards on the best way to charge the Zenbook 14X OLED. Sure, it’s extra highly effective than the Zenbook 14 OLED, however it additionally will get much less battery life. And it’s barely dearer. Ultimately, I believe it’s a barely lesser worth, so whereas I extremely suggest it, I don’t assume it deserves fairly as excessive a rating.

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