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Jan 27, 2024

ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED Review

Have you ever held a product in your hand and wondered just how in the world a

Have you ever held a product in your hand and wondered just how in the world a brand managed to make it? Well, the ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED was one of those products for me. This incredibly thin notebook feels like it came through a wormhole from the future. A future where we have advanced so far in tech that thin and light notebooks perform the same as bulky powerhouses and somehow pack all the fancy tech you need at the same time.

Right from the moment I got my hands on the ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED, I kinda felt like I was in for something new. Even the packaging came in biodegradable cardboard that is so green, it felt rough. You know when something has been recycled to the moon and back that it is literally the most natural source of material you can find, that's the box. From the cardboard handle to the flimsy and light compartment box. This is ASUS at its peak of green and I love it.

The notebook itself is in a league of its own too. It weighs under 1 kg and is under 11mm thick. Now to put that into perspective. My iPhone is 7mm. My Switch is 13mm. So this notebook is thinner than my Nintendo Switch OLED and 3mm thicker than my phone. The 1 kg is also impressive but frightening at the same time. One day during my review I took it out to a meeting with me and naturally picked up my backpack and almost had a heart attack thinking someone stole the device out of my bag. I am so used to lugging around my MacBook Pro that this 1Kg device is almost like it isn't even there.

The ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED is made from metal. The metal covers the entire unit including the bottom, too shell and inner area by the keyboard, It is cold to the touch and helps give it a sturdy feel. Even the lid has very little wobble to it and I could open up the device with one hand without the bottom lifting off the ground with it. The same can be said for typing which resulted in no wobble at all.

On the top of the notebook, there's the ASUS Zenbook logo etched into the metal. There's also a bit of text. On the bottom, there are two tiny vents for ventilation and two large rubber strips for grip. In terms of the ports, on the left, you’ll find two USB C ports with Thunderbolt 4 support. There's also an HDMI 2.1 port. On the right, there's a USB 3.2 port and audio jack combo.

Inside, there's the OLED panel which is simply superb. It is a 2.8K 60Hz, 16:10 OLED with 550 nits of peak brightness. As OLED panels go, this is just as pretty. Given this 13-inch display and the 2.8K resolution, the PPI here is incredible and everything looked crisp and vibrant. The display supports Dolby Vision and HDR. ASUS has also included a range of colour presets on the device which tweaks the accuracy to suit all sorts of creative needs. This means it can go from native to SRGB and DCI-P3 with a simple toggle.

I was happy with the panel. It gets bright enough to work in somewhat bright areas. The 550 nits isn't enough to carry the display outside in the sun but it does a good enough job in brightly-lit rooms. The panel can also bend all the way back onto its lid. No matter what angle I had the notebook at, the panel was also clear. No issues with viewing angles here at all.

ASUS has also packed some pretty decent speakers into this ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED. Likely the best I have heard on the market from this tier of notebooks. It doesn't beat Apple's supernatural MacBook Pro speakers but there's definitely some fancy tech in here. The sound packed some decent punch and even at the max volume, the sound was impressive. It even makes listening to music pleasant. Again, this will never replace a headset and there's almost no bass here but these speakers are noteworthy simply because of the size of this notebook.

Other features on the ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED include a half-sized keyboard with white LED backlighting. There's also a webcam with Windows Hello support and a large trackpad. The keyboard is nice to type on and the slight angle of the base which is formed thanks to the lid acting as the feet, helped with wrist rest. The backlighting also got bright enough to see what was going on all the time.

The webcam is okay. The Windows Hello support works well in all environments and the IR also makes it possible to function in the dark. The quality of the webcam, on the other hand, wasn't as great. It is a 720p camera and the lens is a bit blurry. It doesn't handle the dark areas very well either. But it will do. There are some cool features such as head tracking and noise cancellation on the microphone which will make all Zoom Meeting people jump for joy.

The trackpad is also great. It is large enough to perform gestures and I didn't feel like it got in the way. Clicking was also satisfying too which really helps get around.

Given the tiny size of this notebook you would think ASUS had to skimp on the performance to build such a thin and light device. However, that isn't the case. The ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED packs a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1355U which is a pretty capable CPU. It also comes with 16GB of RAM upgradable to 32GB. There isn't a dedicated GPU here and instead, the notebook makes use of Intel's Xe chip.

The performance tests on the notebook showed that while the 1355U isn't the world's most powerful CPU, it gets the job done. On paper, the scores below aren't top-tier but you won't even notice any issues here. The combination of the CPU and the SSD and the wafer-thin design makes this notebook a dream to work on. I had almost no lagging even with dozens of internet tabs open while watching videos too. You’ll easily be able to edit your photos and even a few videos here.

Cinebench R23

Geekbench

The Intel Xe GPU will also help carry the odd game here and there. You’ll easily be able to get away with some light gaming. However, given my current obsession with Diablo 4, I wanted to test if the CPU runs the game. Diablo 4 has a special graphics mode for low-end GPUs called Low FX Mode and I have to say, this notebook did a fairly stable job running the game.

I had to crank everything down to the lowest possible setting and enable Low FX mode but I managed to play the game at around 30FPS with at 1080p. Sure, the visuals are a bit of an eyesore but hey, you’re playing Diablo 4 on this crazy thin notebook and that is an achievement on its own.

The battery in the ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED is a 63Wh cell and it performs as expected. I got between max 6 hours of internet browsing and daily work. I could get it to last longer but would have to compromise on performance and display brightness at the same time.

Overall, the ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED is definitely one of the more impressive lightweight notebooks I have used. ASUS has taken this lightweight definition to a whole new level here and the performance on offer is sometimes unworldly. It is not the most powerful device around but you have to compare apples with apples and this on-the-go notebook is outstanding.

The ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED is now available from R28,999. Find out more here.

Summary

The ASUS Zenbook S13 OLED packs an unworldly amount of features and power for a device only 11mm thin and 1 kg in weight. It is a marvel of technology and definitely a new contender for the Windows MacBook replacement.

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