ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED with Ryzen AI 9 HX Review: The AI-Enhanced Laptop for Everyday Use

I've spent a lot of time with ASUS laptops, from the Zenbook 14's sleek Intel Core Ultra power (review) to the Snapdragon X Elite-backed Vivobook S 15 (review). Now, AMD enters the spotlight with the Vivobook S 14 OLED, featuring the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370.

With expectations high and AI integration becoming the norm, it's time to see if this machine can truly keep up.

PROS

• Vibrant OLED display with excellent color accuracy.
• Powerful Ryzen AI 9 HX processor for smooth multitasking
• Lightweight and portable design.
• Long battery life with fast charging
• Decent gaming performance

CONS

• Brightness levels aren’t ideal for outdoor visibility
• The build feels slightly flimsy, particularly near the touchpad.
• Audio quality lacks depth and sounds underwhelming
• The webcam struggles to maintain clarity

Design and Build: Lightweight Yet Stylish

The first thing you'll notice about the Vivobook S 14 OLED is its sleek aesthetic. Cool Silver suits the minimalist look, and it has the added benefit of being less prone to visible fingerprints compared to darker finishes such as the Neutral Black colorway. The lid is metal, but the base is plastic, and while it looks premium, the build quality could be sturdier. There's a bit of flex, particularly around the touchpad, and the screen has a slight wobble when moved.

However, the 1.3 kg weight makes it easy to carry around, and it remains compact with a 14-inch display and a height of 1.59 cm. It's not the slimmest in its category, but it holds up well. The 180-degree hinge allows you to lay the screen flat, which is a nice touch, though not essential for everyone. On the whole, it's a comfortable and lightweight device to bring along for work or travel.

In terms of ports, the Vivobook S 14 OLED includes a USB 4 Gen 3 and USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, an HDMI 2.1 port, a microSD card slot, and a headphone jack.

OLED Display: Vivid, But Brightness Is a Concern

The 3K OLED display is one of the laptop's standout features. With a 120Hz refresh rate and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, colors are vibrant and accurate, making it excellent for watching movies or doing creative work. The contrast is sharp, and the panel is Pantone validated, which is a boon for design professionals.

That said, the 400-nit brightness doesn't quite measure up to expectations in outdoor environments. Indoors, it's perfectly fine, but if you're planning to work outside, the lower brightness could be a hindrance, especially under direct sunlight. Also, the glossy panel can reflect light in bright environments.

Another quick tip: The display is set at 60Hz by default. Changing it to 120Hz in the settings will give you a much smoother experience.

Performance: Powerful Multitasking and AI Capabilities (With a Side of Gaming)

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED is powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, a chip designed to handle both demanding tasks and AI-driven workloads with ease. With its 12 cores and 24 threads, this laptop excels in multitasking, making it ideal for professionals who juggle multiple apps, tabs, and processes simultaneously.

Whether you're running several Chrome tabs, editing documents, or even working on light content creation tasks, the Vivobook S 14 delivers smooth, consistent performance.

One of the standout features of the Ryzen AI chip is its ability to enhance AI-specific tasks. With AMD XDNA NPU providing up to 50 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second), the laptop is equipped to handle tasks like AI-based photo editing, voice recognition, and even real-time video enhancements. This places it in a unique position for users who might leverage AI capabilities for creative or productivity purposes.

The Vivobook S 14 also handles basic tasks with ease, from everyday web browsing and streaming to more demanding applications. The 24GB LPDDR5X RAM ensures you won't experience slowdowns, even with numerous applications running in the background.

This Thing Can Game

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED may not be a dedicated gaming laptop, but its integrated Radeon 890M graphics deliver impressive performance for casual gaming. I tested Minecraft and Control to see how well it handles a variety of titles.

In Minecraft, the laptop performs smoothly, even at higher settings, with no noticeable lag. Whether you're building large structures or exploring complex worlds, the gameplay feels fluid, making it ideal for casual gaming sessions.

Control is a far more demanding AAA title. Running it at native resolution with medium settings and ray tracing (RT) off resulted in an average of 15 FPS-not exactly smooth. Lowering the graphics to low settings improved performance to around 25 FPS. However, the biggest boost came when I dropped the resolution to 1920x1200, making the game much more responsive, with an average of 45 FPS. Although there were some stutters during action-heavy scenes, the overall experience remained playable. The laptop did heat up, but using a controller kept it from being an issue during gameplay.

This performance highlights just how far integrated graphics have come. Previously, you would have needed a dedicated gaming rig or a high-end laptop to run games like Control at playable frame rates, but now integrated solutions can get the job done.

This evolution means that consumers who want to enjoy gaming no longer need to splurge on expensive, gaming-specific hardware. For many users, especially those who play less graphically demanding titles or are willing to tweak settings, laptops like the Vivobook S 14 offer a capable middle ground.

Personally, I find this trend exciting. It democratizes gaming and brings more versatility to everyday laptops. Sure, gamers will still gravitate toward dedicated GPUs for the best possible performance, but for the vast majority of users, integrated graphics are becoming "good enough."

Software and AI: The Future of Laptops

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED falls under the new Copilot+ category of Windows PCs, designed to harness the power of AI for an enhanced user experience. It offers features like Live Captions and Windows Studio Effects, which include automatic framing, eye contact correction, and background blur effects (both standard and portrait).

However, it doesn't yet include some of the newer, more anticipated features like Cocreator. For those unfamiliar, Cocreator is an AI-driven tool within Microsoft Paint that helps improve your drawings. Here's how it works:

• Text Prompt: You provide a description of what you want to create, like "a cat playing with a ball of yarn."
• Sketch: You start with a rough outline on the canvas.
• AI Generation: The AI then generates a detailed version of your artwork based on your description and sketch.
• Refinement: You can tweak the result further, adding more detail or modifying the AI's output.

The highly anticipated, but controversial, Recall feature, which helps retrieve past content or files, is expected to launch in October through an OTA update.

Aside from the Copilot+ AI features, ASUS includes its own suite of tools, such as ScreenXpert 3.0, which makes multitasking easier by letting you organize multiple windows more efficiently. Another useful addition is ASUS StoryCube, ideal for content creators who need to manage a large volume of files and media. Finally, MyASUS brings system management under one roof, offering tools for battery optimization, diagnostics, and hardware control.

Keyboard and Touchpad: Functional and Intuitive

ASUS has consistently produced good keyboards, and the Vivobook S 14 OLED follows suit. The backlit chiclet keyboard offers good spacing and travel, though the arrow keys are small and can be awkward to use.

It also features a one-zone RGB backlight, which can be customized through the settings. There's also the Copilot button situated beside the arrow keys, so you can always summon the AI assistant whenever you want.

The touchpad is another strong point. It's large for a 14-inch laptop, measuring about 13 x 8.5 cm, and the swipe gestures for adjusting volume and brightness on the touchpad are a thoughtful touch. However, the click areas can feel a bit rattly, which might take away from the otherwise smooth experience.

Webcam and Audio: A Mixed Bag

The FHD IR 2MP webcam performs well in bright lighting, making it a solid choice for video calls on platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams. It comes with a built-in privacy shutter, which is a nice touch for privacy-conscious users. However, image quality can suffer in less ideal lighting, with details appearing soft and colors looking somewhat washed out.

The webcam also supports Windows Hello for quick, secure logins, though it can occasionally struggle outdoors. With the AiSense camera and AI-powered noise-canceling microphone, video conferencing is enhanced, making it suitable for remote work or online meetings.

As for audio, the downward-firing speakers offer decent volume but sound flat, with minimal bass. While adequate for casual media consumption, you'll get a better experience using headphones or external speakers.

Battery: Strong Longevity with Quick Recharge

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED delivers strong battery life, easily lasting through a full workday for most users. According to the Pure Battery Analytics benchmark, it runs for about 8 hours and 20 minutes, with an adjusted average of around 9 hours. Even with a 1080p monitor connected, it managed about 3 hours on just 28% of the battery, which is impressive.

Charging is quick too. The laptop fully charges in 2 hours and 35 minutes, even during heavy use. For moderate tasks, it takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes, and if it's off, it charges completely in under 2 hours and 12 minutes.

With a charge rate of 38% per hour and a discharge rate of 12% per hour, it ensures you won't be stuck waiting long between charges. Plus, the compact 90W charger is easy to carry, making it a convenient choice for those on the go.

Price

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED is available in two versions: the model with the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS processor costs ₹89,990, and the version with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor is priced at ₹124,990. The laptop comes in Cool Silver and Neutral Black colors.

Should You Buy the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED?

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED impresses with its sleek design, powerful processor, and vibrant OLED display. It's a lightweight, portable laptop with strong performance for multitasking and AI-driven tasks, ideal for professionals and casual users alike.

However, its build quality could be sturdier, and the screen's brightness falls short for outdoor use. While not designed for gaming, it handles casual titles well. Overall, it offers excellent battery life and fast charging, making it a solid choice for productivity and everyday tasks.