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Vivobook

ASUS Introduce AMD Ryzen 7000 series laptops

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ASUS, today announced the expansion of its consumer notebook lineup with AMD Ryzen 7000 Series for the Indian market. The new range of laptops includes the flagship ZenBook 14 OLED along with the VivoBook Series and the latest VivoBook Go Lineup. The pricing of the new ZenBook 14 OLED starts from INR 89,990, the VivoBook Go 14 from INR 42,990, the VivoBook Go 15 OLED from INR 50,990, and VivoBook 15X OLED at INR 66,990.

ASUS has also introduced the VivoBook Classic family with VivoBook 14/15 OLED and VivoBook 16 models starting from INR 55,990. The ZenBook 14 OLED is powered by the latest AMD Ryzen 7030 series of processors with high 28W performance and up to 8 cores. The VivoBook Go lineup is powered by AMD’s new Ryzen 7020 series of processors.

Commenting on the launch, Arnold Su, Business Head, Consumer and Gaming PC, System Business Group, ASUS India, said “With the aim & vision to tap the number 1 position in the Consumer Notebook segment in India in 2023, we are focused on introducing the latest tech innovations across categories. Over the past few years, the PC industry has seen exponential growth in India. Today, we have announced the launch of our iconic lineup of laptops bringing unparalleled performance, portability, and value to the budget notebook market of India by introducing Zenbook 14 OLED, VivoBook Go Series, and VivoBook classic family revamped with the new AMD Ryzen 7000 series.

ZenBook 14 OLED (UM3402)

The new ZenBook 14 OLED (UM3402) comes with an all-metal design, military-grade US MIL-STD 810H durability and a thickness of 16.9mm, the device weighs only 1.39 kgs. For storage, this laptop can go up to 1 TB SSD along with a RAM of 16 GB. A large 75WHr battery coupled with its efficient processor and a 65W fast charger, will provide power all day long. The ZenBook 14 OLED sports a multitude of ports with 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type-C) allowing for charging and display output from either of the two ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 2 port, a 3.5mm audio jack, an HDMI 2.1 and a Micro SD card reader.

This power packed laptop will be available in Black colour and starts from INR 89,990 and will also be available in an IPS display option with 2.5K resolution, 400 nits of brightness and 100% sRGB coverage.

VivoBook Go 14

The VivoBook Go 14 comes with a powerful AMD Ryzen 7020 series processor. The device weighs just 1.38 kg and is as thin as 17.9 mm, making it highly portable. With up to 16 GB RAM and 512GB of PCIe Gen 3 SSD storage, the consumer is supplied with ample space for their on-the-go lifestyle. The hinge will rotate all the way to 180°for a flat profile and versatile usage. The large 42WHr battery with a 45W DC fast-charging will support all-day usage. The touchpad hosts complete number key functionality with virtual NumberPad 2.0. This device comes with Wi-Fi 6E protocol support for fast wireless connectivity. Aided with the AI Noise canceling technology, the calls will be clearer than ever.

This laptop will be in Mixed Black, Cool Silver, and Grey Green colour choices, and prices start at INR 42,990 with the highest model available at INR 56,990.

VivoBook Go 15/Go 15 OLED

The 15” variants in the VivoBook Go series can be divided into the VivoBook Go 15 and the VivoBook Go 15 OLED. Apart from the display difference, both the 15” laptops are powered with AMD processors with up to Ryzen 5 7520U. They both have the memory of 16GB LPDDR5 RAM and a capacity of 512GB PCIe Gen 3 SSD. With a durability that meets military standard US MIL-STD 810H, this 17.9mm laptop weighs only 1.6 kg, for easy portability.

Both laptops have 180° hinges for usage at versatile angles. The 15.6″ Full HD with 1920 x 1080 resolution have only the display to differentiate them, with one being OLED while the other comes with an IPS anti-glare display. The battery choice of 50WHr or 42WHr, is supported with 65W or 45W charging respectively. ASUS has provided connectivity points with a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-C), along with a USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB 2.0, HDMI 1.4 and a 3.5mm combo audio. For wireless connectivity, the device has Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5 available to the consumer.

The price of the 15” OLED starts from INR 50,990 and goes up to INR 64,990.

ASUS Vivobook 14 OLED/15 OLED/16 (M1405/M1505/M1605)

The Vivobook Classic series comes with 512 GB storage. For connectivity, the series comes inbuilt with WiFi 6E for its 720p HD webcam. ASUS has provided its customers with 45W fast charging. This 19.9mm thin laptop series has a MIL-STD 810 military-grade durability, weighing just 1.6/1.7/1.88 kg respectively, and a fingerprint scanner for that extra security.

VivoBook 15X OLED

The new VivoBook 15X OLED is a stylish laptop with a US MIL-STD 810H standard durability and will be launched on the 14th of March. It is equipped with a powerful AMD Ryzen 7000 series processor. This device has a memory of 16 GB RAM and a storage of up to 1TB.

The display of 15.6” Full HD OLED, with a resolution of 1920 x 1080, is certified HDR TrueBlack 600, Pantone, with a contrast of 1000000:1 for color rich display. It features a backlit keyboard and a fingerprint scanner for security tailored to the user. The battery power of 50WHr is accompanied with a 65W charger for power on the go. This device will be offered in Indie Black and Cool Silver, with a price tag that starts from INR 66,990, and the higher end model at INR 74,990.

ASUS Vivobook S 14 Flip (TN3402)

The ASUS Vivobook S 14 Flip is a versatile 2-in-1 laptop with a 360° hinge for working with ease in any orientation. Equipped with the latest AMD Ryzen 5 7530U CPU and up to 16GB DDR4 RAM (3200MHz), which can be upgraded to 24GB, this laptop works seamlessly with heavy needs. Its 512GB PCIe Gen 3 SSD storage. This laptop offers an optional fingerprint scanner for added security.

Review: Asus Vivobook K15

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Price: From ₹46,990

Asus Vivobook laptops have been value-for-money offerings, and the K15 takes this a notch higher by bringing an OLED screen to affordable levels. As Asus says, the K15 is designed with Gen Z users in mind.

The Vivobook K15 features a polycarbonate and aluminium alloy chassis that appears tough for a budget-friendly laptop. The device is thin and light for a 15-inch laptop, about 18 mm thick and weighing 1.8 kg. The laptop is available in Indie Black, Transparent Silver, and Hearty Gold colours. The touchpad includes a fingerprint scanner for Windows Hello login, and it proved quite responsive. The keypad offers good feedback and is quite comfortable for long-form typing with 1.4 mm key travel. I found the compromise in arrow keys a little frustrating at the start, but then it became less of an annoyance after a few days of use. The keyboard offers three levels of backlight and the Enter key has a neon green backlight. The touchpad felt somewhat lagging. The device offers a full suite of I/O ports including three USB-A, one USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, two USB 2.0 Type-A, one HDMI and a MicroSD card reader along with a 3.5mm headphone jack. It provides up to Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) dual-band and Bluetooth 5.0.

Coming to the main USP of the laptop, the Vivobook K15 features a 5.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) OLED display that provides 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut, ideal for videos. The display proved to be vibrant with true blacks and rich saturation. The panel is certified by TUV Rheinland for low blue light and flicker-free operation to reduce eye fatigue. The display has been validated by Pantone and comes pre-calibrated by Asus. However, we felt the factory calibration had over-saturated the warm tones, making it even more strenuous to look at for a long time. So, we attempted a hardware calibration using the i1 Display Studio device to DCI-P3 and found the pre-calibrated setting to be off by a wide margin. If you are into photography or colour-critical use, we would not recommend this display in its native calibration setting. We hope Asus would take care of this in future since the buyers of this laptop are not likely to have a colorimeter lying around to calibrate their displays.

The K15 is available in various configurations. The options in processor include 11th Generation Intel Core i3, i5 and i7, while Asus also offers up to 16GB DDR4 RAM, up to 512GB of SSD and up to 1TB of HDD. We received the i5 variant with 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD and the review is based on this configuration. The laptop features Intel UHD or Intel Iris Xe graphics. We used the K15 for photo editing and multimedia other than the regular light tasks, and the device handled all these without any problems. The laptops are equipped with an upgraded 8 mm heat pipe and a new fan to dissipate heat more efficiently. We did not feel any uncomfortable heating while using the device, and the fan ensured near-silent operation.

The K15 uses a 42 Wh battery, which lasted for about 5 to 6 hours in our use. The charger tops up the battery in about an hour. The MyAsus app lets you customise power, performance, audio and other parameters according to your use.

The Harman Kardon certified audio system provides good sound output for video calls and presentations, though this is not the best we have experienced. The camera also provided image quality of the expected levels. The laptops come with Windows 10 pre-installed but are eligible for a free Windows 11 upgrade.

RATING

★★★★

WE’RE IMPRESSED Lightweight, full-sized keyboard, good response, excellent display

WE’D IMPROVE Display calibration, Touchpad response

THE LAST WORD The Asus Vivobook K15 is a competent value-for-money laptop that exceeds the usually expected specs by a wide margin.

Asus launches 3 new Vivobook laptops

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Asus has launched a trinity of new VivoBook laptops at an event today. These include the VivoBook 14 X403, VivoBook 14 X409 and VivoBook 15 X509.

VivoBook 14 X403 (From Rs.54,990) is equipped with a 14″ FHD (1920×1080) display having 16:9 aspect ratio and 87% screen-to-body ratio with 4.1mm thin bezels on the side. It runs on the 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U processor paired with 8GB LPDDR3 RAM and 512GB PCIe Gen3 SSD storage. Integrated Intel HD 620 GPU handles the graphics while dual stereo speakers provide sound output. Coming in Silver Black, inside is a 4 cell 72Whr battery that the company claims to provide atleast 24 hours battery life. It has undergone MIL-STD-810G testing with the build perfectly capable of handling rough usage.

VivoBook 14 X409 (From Rs.32,990) packs a 14″ FHD (1920×1080) LED display with 77.5% screen-to-body ratio. There are two variants with the base model powered by 8th Gen Intel i3-7020U while the other uses an 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U processor. Both come with a fingerprint sensor, 2-cell 32Whr battery, upto 12GB RAM, upto 512GB PCIe SSD or 1TB HDD, choice of Intel HD 620 or discrete Nvidia Geforce MX230 GPU. Transparent Silver and Slate Grey are the two available colour variants.

Finally, VivoBook X509 (From Rs.30,990) bears a 15.6″ (1920×1080) FHD LED display with 82% screen-to-body ratio. It comes in 3 variants with the base model using 8th Gen Intel Core i3-7020U, the mid version an 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8265U and the high end version an 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8565U processor. The rest is identical to the X409 with a 2-cell 32Whr battery, upto 12GB RAM, upto 512GB PCIe SSD or 1TB HDD, choice of Intel HD 620 or discrete Nvidia Geforce MX230 GPU.

Click here for some pictures of the models.