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Writer's pictureChristopher Chuah

ASUS Zenbook S 16 Review: The First Ultrathin 16-inch AI Laptop!

ASUS has unveiled their brand new addition to their Zenbook series, the ASUS Zenbook S 16. This laptop is ASUS’s first ultrathin 16-inch AI PC laptop! In this review article, we’re going to take a deeper look into this incredible laptop that is sure to help improve your overall laptop experience.



Pros

Cons

Incredible Screen Display

Poor display when working outside under bright light

Amazing AI features

Glossy Display Screen

Decent Battery Size



ASUS Zenbook S 16 (UM5606)

RM 7,999


Design


The ASUS Zenbook S 16 comes in a sleek and ultrathin design, and is complemented by its 1.1cm length which would allow you to be able to easily place it in your bags without taking too much space. Asides from that, the laptop is also lightweight, only weighing a total of 1.5kg, which makes it really easy to carry.



The material that was used to build the lid of the laptop is a combination of ceramic and aluminium, which is referred to as “ceraluminium”. This helps enhance the durability of the laptop while also making it incredibly smooth. Furthermore, in terms of the cover’s design, it has a unique design which features lines while also having the Asus Zenbook logo at the bottom right of the cover.



The Zenbook S 16 comes in two different colours, both of which are inspired by nature. The version that I am reviewing sports the “Scandinavian White” colour scheme, giving it a bright and enchanting appearance. The laptop also comes in “Zumaia Gray” for a darker appearance. Overall, I enjoy both the sleek and ultrathin design of the ASUS Zenbook S 16.


Display


The ASUS Zenbook S 16 is a 16-inch laptop that comes with a 16:10 aspect ratio which ensures that you’ll be able to get more screen real estate in comparison to those with a 16:9 aspect ratio. Asides from that, the laptop also ensures that you’ll be able to enjoy immersive visual experiences as it features a Lumina OLED display with NanoEdge with 3K resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate! Besides that, it is also built in with Dolby Vision technology for both higher contrast and more vivid colours.


Furthermore, the laptop display also supports touch screen and it also comes with a stylus which will allow you to be able to easily access through your screen without needing a mouse.



Furthermore, the laptop also comes with a 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut, and this will highly benefit those working on content creation as it would help enhance your videos by making them more visually appealing as it helps increase both the colour saturation and vibrancy in them. In fact, the laptop is Pantone® Validated which confirms the vibrant colours featured in the laptop.


Additionally, you won’t have to worry about prolonged usage, as the laptop comes with TÜV Rheinland Eye Care certification for Low Blue Light. However, the laptop only offers a 550 nits peak brightness, which is rather average and it also means that the display of the screen while outside under the bright light would not be as vibrant. Furthermore, this accompanied with its glossy display which results in unwanted reflections to appear on the screen.


Audio


The ASUS Zenbook S 16 provides a total of six speakers, all of which utilise Dolby Atmos technology, in order to create accurate sounds that helps to increase the immersion for those listening in. Furthermore, to prove its accuracy, the laptop’s audio has been certified by Harman Kardon®.



Connectivity


When it comes to its connectivity, the ASUS Zenbook S 16 offers varied options for ports. The left side comes with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and a SD Card reader. Meanwhile, the right side of the laptop comes with a pair of USB4 Type-C which can be used for charging, an audio jack and a HDMI 2.1 port. I feel like the variety of ports that was offered is rather decent, providing flexibility when carrying out tasks.


▲USB4 Type-C, audio jack and a HDMI 2.1 port


▲USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A and a SD Card reader


Performance


Powering this incredible laptop is the AMD Ryzen™ AI 9 HX 370 processor with a total of 12 cores internally up to 5.1GHz. This ensures that the device will be able to carry out high-intensive tasks without dealing with any issues such as lag. Additionally, it also comes with up to 32 GB LPDDR5x RAM installed while also providing up to 1 TB PCIe SSD Gen 4 for storage space.



Furthermore, I also decided to test the overall system performance for the ASUS Zenbook S 16 by using several benchmark tests. The first that I used, to measure the laptop’s performance for modern office work, I used the PCMark 10 benchmark in order to determine this. The score showed that the laptop scored an impressive score of 7278.



In addition to this, I also decided to use the Cinebench 2024 benchmark test to also measure the system performance of the laptop. In terms of its score, the laptop managed to get a 111 for its Single-core and a 916 for its Multi-core.




The ASUS Zenbook S 16 managed to get impressive scores in various 3DMark benchmark tests, which proves the laptop’s overall performance, which would allow you to be able to carry out your daily tasks without any issues whatsoever. The below table shows the scores that the laptop obtained:


Benchmark Test

Score

Sky Diver

25143

Steel Nomad Light

3026

Time Spy

3461

Night Raid

27912

Fire Strike Extreme

4161

In the SkyDiver benchmark test, which is used in order to determine the performance of both the GPU and CPU of the laptop, it managed to obtain a score of 25143.



The Steel Nomad Light benchmark is used in order to measure the GPU performance using a non-ray traced game-like workload, and the laptop scored a reasonable 3026 points.



Next up was the Time Spy score which is used to determine if the laptop would be able to handle high-intensive or high-graphic games. With its score of 3461, it shows that it would be able to run them, though it might not be at the highest graphic settings.



Following that, I used the Night Raid benchmark test to measure the performance of PCs with integrated graphics Always Connected PCs. The laptop managed to get an impressive score of 27912.



To end it off, the Fire Strike Extreme benchmark test is a DirectX 11 benchmark used for Gaming PCs. The laptop managed to obtain a score of 4161.



Furthermore, the ASUS Zenbook S 16 is equipped with the AMD Radeon 890M graphics, which ensures that you will still be able to enjoy a smooth gaming experience on this laptop. Thus, several game tests were also conducted to determine how well the laptop would be able to run games. The games that were selected for the test were Dota 2 and Ghostrunner 2.


Dota 2:


While playing through a game of Dota 2, the game was able to run at a consistent rate of around 110fps. Besides that, the overall gameplay felt really smooth even when the settings were set to high. When playing through the game, I was able to see my enemies and the surroundings with clarity.




Ghostrunner 2:


Meanwhile in Ghostrunner 2, the game is able to run at a consistent frame rate of 60fps. While the game is mainly set in a dark setting, the game appears to be very clear to me, and I am able to spot the enemies without dealing with much hassle.



Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about your laptop overheating even during prolonged usage, as it features an Ultra-slim vapour chamber and dual fans which not only helps to cool your laptop down, but it ensures that it will do so in a relatively quiet manner of under under-25 dB.


AI Software


With the latest AI processors powering this device, the ASUS Zenbook S 16 comes with several AI features including Copilot, which will allow you to be able to find answers and inspirations with a single click of a button, almost as if you have a personal AI assistant by your side.


Besides that, you’ll also be able to use the latest Amuse 2.0.0 app as it was optimised for AMD hardware such as this laptop device. For those who have an interest in creating AI art, then look no further than this new software as it also comes with an AMD powered AMD XDNA Super Resolution solution to help speed up the output stage of your images.




Battery Life


Additionally, the ASUS Zenbook S 16 ensures that you’ll be able to last an entire day of working as it features a 78 Whr battery. It also comes with Fast Charging technology to ensure that the laptop will be able to charge back to full, allowing you to be able to resume your tasks! Furthermore, the laptop charger is also small, similar to that of a normal smartphone charger, this ensures greater portability when carrying it around, and it will also take up less space in your bags.



I decided to test out the battery performance by watching YouTube videos. After watching videos for a total of 40 minutes, the battery had only gone down by only 6%, which showcases how efficient it is.




Verdict



In conclusion, the ASUS Zenbook S 16 is not just some ordinary laptop that you can use for work. With the many advanced features and AI features that come with it, you’ll be able to carry out your tasks much easier while also being able to enjoy gaming. At only RM 7,999, I can assure you that with its stunning displays and features, this laptop is definitely worth every single penny.

















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