Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED Review: Affordable, quieter, and long lasting thanks to Lunar Lake

The compact Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED does benefit with an Intel Lunar Lake option in some areas. Although the multi-core performance drops significantly compared to the AMD variant, the overall performance is still perfectly adequate for most everyday tasks.

The big advantage is lower power limits, which is particularly noticeable due to the much quieter fans that only get loud when the CPU & GPU are under maximum load. Otherwise, the Intel model remains consistently quieter than its AMD counterpart.

Along with the Lunar Lake upgrade, the Vivobook S 14 OLED Intel also brings additional features such as Thunderbolt 4, the extended AI functions from Microsoft (Copilot+) and a modern Wi-Fi 7 module.

There are plenty of ports, the input devices are comfortable, and the battery run times have been improved once again. Clocking 17 hours in the Wi-Fi test at 150 nits and just under 11 hours at full brightness, the compact Vivobook S 14 OLED performs excellently, although this is also a benefit of the low screen resolution.

This brings us to a point of criticism of the Vivobook, because the basic version uses an OLED panel with a resolution of 1,920 x 1,200. The picture is subjectively very good and vivid, and accurate color profiles are also available.

However, the panel is also very reflective (no touchscreen) and the refresh rate is limited to just 60 Hz. PWM flickering is also present, but at least Asus offers a software solution to mitigate the problem.

Another point of criticism is the non-expandable RAM, but this is on Intel as the RAM is integrated directly onto the Lunar Lake package.

With an RRP of €1,099 or $1,000, the new Vivobook S 14 OLED Intel version is convincing, nevertheless. It is not only €300 cheaper than the AMD variant but also offers a better overall package as a portable everyday companion thanks to its lower emissions.

The Vivobook S 14 OLED test device with the Core Ultra 5 226V, 16 GB RAM, and 512 GB SSD can be ordered directly from Asus for €1,099. A model with the Core Ultra 7 258V, 32 GB RAM, and 1 TB SSD is currently available from Amazon for $999.99.

We already tested the Vivobook S 14 OLED featuring the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 extensively a few months ago. Now Asus is launching another model with a Lunar Lake processor from Intel.

Our configuration is the base model for an RRP of €1,099, which gets you the Core Ultra 5 226V, 16 GB RAM, a 512 GB SSD and a 60 Hz FHD OLED panel. The configuration with the Core Ultra 7 258V, 32 GB RAM, a 1 TB SSD and a 120 Hz 3K OLED panel will set you back by an RRP of €1,499. The availability of both variants is currently limited.

The Lunar Lake Vivobook S 14 OLED's chassis does not differ from the already tested AMD model. The Intel version is available in either Black or Mist Blue colors, depending on the processor option.

The quality of the chassis is perfectly acceptable, and the keyboard offers a very comfortable travel of 1.7 mm. As with the AMD model, the RAM cannot be upgraded as it is part of the Intel chip. However, the M.2 2280 SSD can be easily replaced.

The two USB-C ports on the Intel Vivobook support Thunderbolt 4 and the Wi-Fi module (Intel BE201) also supports Wi-Fi 7. As a Copilot+ PC, the Vivobook now supports advanced AI functions such as live subtitles and Windows Studio Effects for the 1080p webcam, although the webcam quality itself remains average.

By now, the AMD version should also have received the necessary software updates for Copilot+ functionality.

The packaging consists mainly of cardboard and recyclable materials. The manufacturer does not provide any further details on the use of recycled materials in the device itself or the CO2 footprint during production.

Asus offers various fan profiles that can also be synchronized with Windows energy profiles. For the following benchmarks and measurements, we used the Performance mode that is coupled with the Windows Best Performance profile.

Our test device is equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor belonging to the Lunar Lake generation. This offers four fast performance cores and four efficiency cores. The number of cores is therefore significantly lower than with the old Meteor Lake CPUs and as the focus here is more on efficiency, the maximum TDP is also significantly lower.

Under multi-core load, the processor initially consumes between 36-39 W and then settles at a stable 35 W after around 40 seconds. The performance is therefore also very stable overall. However, multi-core performance is not particularly good, as competitors with AMD chips and the old Meteor Lake CPUs are significantly faster.

The Core Ultra 5 226V performs better in the single-core tests and the cumulative CPU performance is perfectly adequate for many everyday applications. However, an AMD Zen 5 processor with comparably low power limits would still be faster in the multi-core tests.

The performance remains consistent in battery mode. Further CPU benchmarks are available here. 

In everyday use, the Vivobook S 14 OLED is a very responsive computer and there were no problems with system stability during our test. The benchmark results are often in the lower mid-range; the Intel Vivobook performs better in the browser tests, however.