Whoever travels a lot, you know, has a double problem with the laptop: he needs a light weight computer but often cannot give up good performance or a good monitor. When we have to choose a laptop therefore we always look for the best compromise possible. ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED, which we present in this review can be for many of us that compromise that we have always sought. A lightweight and easily portable laptop with decent computing power and an excellent quality OLED screen at the same time. In short, this laptop could really become our ideal travel companionit doesn’t matter if we go to work or go on a trip.
The ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED review
If we go to see the technical specifications of ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED we are not exactly facing a monster of power. However, the numbers must be seen in perspective. The laptop has a small volume; therefore, you have to optimize the internal components and keep the power low because they are there difficulty cooling. The structure in aluminum helps disperse heatbut in so little space it is more difficult to circulate the air of the fans. Plus, having components that they consume less allows to extend the life of the batteries.
The hardware specifications
| Operating system | Windows 11 Home |
| Processor | Intel® Core™ i5-1240P a 1.7 GHz |
| Video Card | Intel® Iris Xe |
| Display | 14 pollici, 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED 16:10 HDR VESA True Black 600 certified with Pantone validation |
| Memory | 8 GB (not expandable) |
| Disco | 512 GB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 Performance SSD |
| I / O ports | 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A 2x Thunderbolt ™ 4 display / charging support 1x HDMI 2.0b 1 x Jack Audio da 3,5 mm combo Micro SD reader |
| Webcam | 720p HD camera |
| Net | Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2 + Bluetooth 5 |
| Weight | 1.39 kg |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 31.36 x 22.06 x 1.69 cm |
Source: ASUS website
ASUS has clearly thought about a laptop that is convenient to carry, for a person who uses it for a long time and does office work. Indeed, the 2.8K OLED screen with an ultra-thin bezel allows you to read complex documents without straining your eyes. The CPU capacity is not excellent (it is an i5, even if of the twelfth generation), but it still allows you to get more than just running office automation software such as Word and Excel.
It lacks a dedicated graphics card, so games and applications that make heavy use of graphics or 3D will suffer a little. Nonetheless, games not particularly expensive, like Minecraft, we managed to get them to go without problems.
Otherwise, the equipment is fairly standard. However, we are a little sorry for the memory limited to 8 GB.
Aesthetics and material
The laptop has a great design. The satin exterior is pleasant to the touch, although perhaps a little too smooth. In fact, sometimes, you are a little afraid that it will get out of hand. The anodized aluminum casing is very solid as are the opening hinges. The hinges, in particular, definitely give the impression of wanting to last a long time.
The backlit keyboard is pleasant to use and the keys have a stroke of 1.4 mm. If you like to “feel” the key under your finger you will not be disappointed. Unfortunately, on some keys we also noticed a minimum of lateral play, but nothing unusual.
Ergonomics
On this aspect, unfortunately, we will have to disappoint you. Yes why we have not found even one.
The keyboard, practically standard, has an optimal size and is easy to get used to. The key for switching on and fingerprint recognition (top right) is the only one added to the standard and does not cause any kind of annoyance.
The touchpad is perhaps the part that satisfied us the most: wide and very precise. This is one of the few laptops for which we have not felt the need to use the mouse. More, the touchpad incorporates a virtual numeric keypad thatinevitably, it did not find a place on the keyboard surface.
Just press the top right corner with a minimum of decision to activate or deactivate the function. With the upper left corner, on the other hand, you can adjust the intensity of the light. These aspects are also well calibrated; in fact, in all our tests we have never had to activate the numeric keypad without wanting to.
The vent for the fans is located on the left side, but they never made enough noise to disturb us.
The connectors are all placed away from the user with respect to the profile so you do not risk accidentally bumping into them with the mouse. The USB connector of the mouse, which sometimes poses this problem, is the only one located on the left side. The HDMI connector may be at risk, but it is located practically on the corner.
Battery life
As expected, the components that are not particularly expensive from an energy point of view allow to obtain good battery life. Although, in all honesty, we expected something more. During our tests, with a mixed use web / mail / multimedia with standard energy settings we observed an autonomy of just under six hours. Not bad, compared to other laptops in the same range, but in our opinion a little more could be done.
The ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED review at a glance
The ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED we have seen in this review is a laptop that offers an excellent compromise between ease of movement and calculation ability. IS light and handybut with a sufficiently large screen that you can do office work without hurting your eyes. At the same time, the OLED screen, the 512 GB disk and a 12th generation CPU (despite being an i5) allow us to enjoy a respectable PC. Absolutely recommended for those who are constantly on the move but it needs something to do more challenging things than just use Office. It can be a good choice for home, if you do not need high performance, thanks to the overall low cost.
PRO
- Lightweight and easy to handle
- Excellent ergonomics
- Monitor OLED
VERSUS
- Integrated graphics card
- Non-expandable memory