ASUS launched the ZenBook S 16 globally a few months ago, pitching it as a premium ultrabook powered by AMD’s cutting-edge Ryzen AI 300 series processors.
Designed to rival Apple’s M series-powered MacBooks, the ZenBook S16 aims to combine strong performance with exceptional battery life – two features for which MacBooks are perhaps best known.
Now, a few months after the global announcement, ASUS finally brought the ZenBook S16 to India with a price tag of Rs 1,49,990.
It has an attractive design, 3K OLED display and AI features. Over the past few weeks we’ve had the chance to try it out. So here’s a review to see if this laptop is worth its grand price.
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Design and performance
ASUS didn’t skimp on it by packing next-generation hardware into the ZenBook S16. The notebook feels carefully crafted to provide a premium experience.
Its chassis is primarily metal, but ASUS has added a unique touch to the top lid. The lid blends aluminum with ceramic, a combination ASUS calls Ceraluminum. This is evident in the shiny stripes of aluminum on the surface of the lid, while the rest is ceramic.
ASUS launches the ZenBook S 16 with the US MIL-STD 810H military-grade standard. We couldn’t test that claim and I wouldn’t recommend users to test it either. However, it’s good to know that some unexpected interruptions may occur with your laptop.
As expected at this price, the build quality is excellent. It is available in a beautiful Zumaiya Gray color which looks classy and professional. In keeping with the minimalist design, there’s no big logo – just a simple ASUS ZenBook engraving on the top-left corner.
The solid construction means there’s no noticeable flex while typing, and you can easily open the laptop’s lid with one hand (a small but appreciated design element). Despite being a 16-inch laptop, it is portable, weighing only 1.5 kg.
Apart from the keyboard and trackpad, the deck has a long mesh vent for airflow that almost looks like a speaker grill. There is another vent on the bottom of the laptop.
On the inside, there’s a single M.2 slot occupied by a 1TB SSD, so users don’t have any options for expandable storage, and it also lacks a traditional RAM module (more on that later). .
ASUS’ compact design philosophy also extends to the charger, which is much smaller than typical bulky adapters.
On the front is a 16-inch OLED display, which ASUS calls Lumina. This panel offers 3K resolution (2880 x 1800) and up to 500 nits of peak brightness, making it brighter than most laptops with LCD screens and higher PPI density.
Thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate and 0.2ms response time, the display is smooth and responsive. Finally, it offers 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and up to 1.07 billion colors.
The vivid visuals make it ideal for both work and entertainment. From light gaming to movies, viewing on the ZenBook S16’s display has been amazing.
Due to its high brightness, visibility is not an issue in areas with brightly lit environments. Touchscreen support is a welcome addition, which is responsive and enhances usability.
DCI-P3 helps improve the experience of watching high-resolution videos as it provides greater color depth and deeper blacks that pair well with OLED displays.
Ports and Audio
In its slim form factor, ASUS packs the ZenBook S16 with a good variety of ports. It includes a single USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, two USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C (display/power delivery support), an HDMI 2.1, an SD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
The bottom-firing speakers are powered by Harman Kardon that support Smart Amp technology. I was pleasantly surprised by how loud these speakers were.
There was no distortion in the audio even at maximum volume. While the bass is somewhat lacking, the overall audio quality comes close to the MacBook Pro’s speakers, which are still a gold standard in this department.
keyboard and trackpad
It didn’t take me long to get used to typing on this keyboard as it had ample distance between each key and good key travel. It lacks a numberpad but the trade-off is worthwhile.
ASUS has included a dedicated CoPilot key for quick access to the CoPilot AI assistant. Just below the keyboard, you’ll find the large trackpad that’s responsive and supports multitouch.
Display
The ASUS ZenBook S 16 is equipped with AMD’s all-new Strix Point processor.
It has features Ryzen AI9HX370 The CPU, which is paired with Radeon 890M graphics, 32GB LPDDR5X RAM, and a 1TB PCIe Gen 4 SSD.
This AMD chip competes directly with Intel’s Core Ultra 9 185H and offers up to 50 TOPs of AI processing power.
Any PC over 40TOPs is considered AI-ready, meaning the ZenBook S 16 can run AI tasks like Copilot locally. To remind, CoPilot is an AI tool that is a combination of a search app, an AI assistant, and more.
While the AI capabilities seem impressive, they currently have limited real-world applications, and they are still working on expanding its functionality.
However, few apps currently take advantage of this. First-party apps like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote integrate CoPilot into the app itself.
Third-party platforms like Slack, Zoom, Jira, and others also use AI to summarize responses, add effects to video calls, etc. Users can also use it for CoCreator as well as AI-powered background removal and noise suppression for a better video call experience.
At this price, the ZenBook S16 competes with the ZenBook S13 OLED (Intel Core Ultra 7 155U) and the VivoBook S15 OLED (Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite).
In 3D Mark Time Spy, Vulkan, OpenCL and PC Mark 10, ASUS’s new flagship ZenBook S16 managed to outperform these two models.
The Snapdragon So, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 can clearly flex its muscles in CPU-intensive tasks. However, in benchmarks on the GPU side, the ZenBook S 16’s Radeon 890M gives it a clear edge.
So, in real-world usage, you are getting a capable notebook that can easily handle some moderately intensive tasks like multi-tasking and video editing.
In our gaming tests, gta v The native 3K resolution and managed a steady 50 fps on high settings, however, reducing the resolution to 1080p increased performance above 60 fps. valiant An average of 165 fps at 1080p and 150 fps at 3K at high settings, with drops down to 120 fps, offered smooth gameplay.
The 120Hz display also helped ensure a smooth gaming experience. The keyboard of the ZenBook S16 got quite warm after gaming for a while, so it’s not designed for long gaming sessions.
As capable as the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is in both light gaming and synthetic benchmarks, it has its limitations.
One of the notable issues I have is the lack of SoDIMM memory support. In other words, RAM cannot be expanded or replaced by the user.
Hopefully, AMD will change this in the future, as it sets a worrying precedent that leaves users to the will of chip brands that can charge a premium for higher RAM options (like Apple, basically).
But if you can look beyond that, the ZenBook S16 strikes an impressive balance of performance and efficiency, making it perfect for productivity and everyday use.
Battery
All of these benchmark figures are standard for this budget and are in line with the new breed of CPUs being released now. But the ZenBook S16 is a little special because it only has a 28W TDP. This is about half of what the Vivobook S 15 OLED and Zenbook S 13 OLED draw (50W). So not only are you getting impressive performance, but it’s also more power efficient.
In the PC Mark 10 battery (video) test at 80% brightness, the ZenBook S16 lasted a full 16 hours and 27 minutes, which is more than 2 hours longer than its nearest competitor, the VivoBook S15 OLED (14 hours more). 14 minutes). This level of stamina is nothing short of spectacular.
decision
The ZenBook S16 is a high-performance laptop that balances attractive design, strong performance, and exceptional battery life. Although it is priced at Rs 1,49,990, it justifies the cost with its premium build quality, impressive display and strong overall package. For those wanting a Windows alternative to Apple’s MacBook Pro, the ZenBook S16 is a worthy contender.
While the change in RAM modules may seem disappointing to people like me, ASUS offers 32GB of LPDDR5X RAM, which is more than enough for most productivity tasks, creative workflows, and light gaming. If you prioritize portability, capable performance, and good battery life in a premium laptop, the ZenBook S16 is one of the best choices in its category.
Editor’s Rating: 8.5/10
Pros,
- premium build quality
- impressive battery life
- great performance
- Gorgeous 3K 120Hz OLED display with touch support
Shortcoming:
- quite expensive
