Asus Zenbook S 16 laptop review - The first Copilot+ laptop with AMD Zen 5 inside a 1.3-cm-thick case

Asus' new Zenbook S 16 is a slim and high-quality 16-inch laptop which, in addition, is one of the first devices to be fitted with the new Zen 5 mobile processors from AMD. Thanks to its improved NPU, it also supports the new Copilot+ AI features which were previously reserved for the new Snapdragon devices only. 

Our test sample of the Zenbook S 16 is the faster of the two available models and it is equipped with the new AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 alongside its integrated Radeon 890M, 32 GB RAM (LPDDR5x-7500) and a 1-TB SSD. The introductory price for this laptop is US$1,699.99 for the model including the Ryzen AI 9 365, Radeon 880M, 24 GB RAM and a 1-TB SSD. Both models feature the same 120-Hz OLED display (2,880 x 1,800 pixels).

For detailed information, benchmarks and efficiency measurements of the new Zen 5 mobile processors, we recommend taking a look at our analysis articles, in which we have compared the new components with the competition from Intel, Apple and Qualcomm at different power levels:

• AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 analysis
• AMD Radeon 890M Graphics analysis

Please note: We have recently updated our rating system and the results of version 8 are not comparable with the results of version 7. More information is available here.

Asus' new Zenbook S 16 relies on a CNC-milled cerium aluminum case—at least this is the marketing terminology used by the manufacturer. This is a ceramic material that is supposed to be particularly durable and, at the same time, enables the laptop's thin design. Our test device features the colorway Scandinavian White, which is a very light gray. You can optionally also go for the darker Zumaia Gray color. The Zenbook S 16 makes a very high-quality and elegant impression which is further emphasized by the fine contours of the Pro Art logo on the lid. The laptop's surfaces are smooth and seem pretty resistant to dirt and fingerprint marks—but once you do start to collect fingerprint marks on its case, they aren't the easiest to clean off.

When comparing its size to both versions of the Galaxy Book4 Pro/Edge 16 (12.5/12.3 mm), the Zenbook S 16 (11-13 mm) clearly takes the lead. Furthermore, none of these devices are very heavy, with each of the three weighing around 1.5 kg. In turn, all of the other comparison devices are much thicker and noticeably heavier. The compact 65-watt power supply only adds 190 grams to the scale including its cable.

It isn't a surprise that modern devices are fitted with USB-C ports (in this case the 4.0 standard). However, that such a slim case is also equipped with a regular USB-A connection is a true rarity—not to mention how extremely practical this feature is during everyday use. If we were granted one wish, we would have liked a second USB-C port on the right-hand side, which would allow you to charge the device from both sides.

There is a full-featured SD card reader on the right side of the device whereby upon insertion, cards protrude ever so slightly from the opening. Its performance is impressive, as in combination with our reference card (Angelbird AV Pro V60), we noted a maximum transfer rate of over 250 MB/s and when copying image files, we still measured over 150 MB/s.

In total, the 1080p webcam's picture quality is only average. Of course, users also have access to the advanced Studio Effects from Windows. Moreover, an IR module is installed for facial recognition via Windows Hello.

The Zenbook S 16's product page doesn't provide any information on CO₂ emissions during production or the proportion of recyclable materials used. Its packaging consists primarily of cardboard, but there are also some plastic elements. Asus itself hasn't provided any repair guides. When compared with the rest of the class, this laptop's power consumption is comparatively low and we didn't note any conspicuous features when it came to its consumption when idling or in standby mode. 

At 15 x 9.9 cm, the clickpad is very large and worked perfectly during our test. Its surface is nice and smooth and its mechanical clicks are muffled and quiet, resulting in a high-quality feel. In addition to the usual gestures, the pad supports further gestures along its edges (e.g. adjusting the brightness via the right edge). Although it works, Huawei still has an advantage in this aspect with its vibration motors' grid effect.

Two configurations of the Zenbook S 16 are available: The Ryzen AI 9 365 (10 cores) with the Radeon 880M, 24 GB RAM (LPDDR5x-7500) and a 1-TB SSD as well as the faster Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 (12 cores) with 32 GB RAM and a 2-TB SSD. The RAM is soldered on and can't be upgraded.

Asus offers various different energy profiles that can be selected via the MyAsus software. We carried out the following benchmarks and measurements in standard mode, in which the laptop's power levels are 33/28 watts. The two supposedly faster profiles performance and full performance allow for a consumption of a maximum of 33 watts and therefore resulted in minimal advantages during the CPU tests and in continuous load—but the GPU's performance was even weaker using these modes. The device also got excessively loud (45.8 dB(A) vs. 36.8 dB(A) in standard mode and 28.9 dB(A) in whisper mode).

In terms of single-core performance, we noted an improvement of 10-19 % compared to the Ryzen 7 8840HS in the HP Envy depending on the test—and the Meteor Lake competition, including the fastest Core Ultra 9 chips, was also beaten. It also outperformed the new Snapdragon X1E-X78-100 but the X1E-80-100 with its dual-core boost of 4.0 GHz came ahead.

A detailed efficiency analysis can be found in our separate CPU article but even so, we would like to take a brief look at its efficiency within the comparison group. It quickly became clear during the Cinebench R23 test that the Intel models' performance is a lot worse than that of the new Zen 5 processor—but only in the multi-core tests. In the single-core tests, Intel and AMD performed similarly well. We used Cinebench 2024 to compare it with the Snapdragon chips. As we just saw, the X1E-80-100 inside the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge 16 delivers slightly weaker performance, but this has a positive effect on its efficiency, resulting in a lead over the Ryzen chip. Inside the Asus Vivobook S 15, on the other hand, its performance is a little better, but its efficiency is noticeably worse. Even so, the ARM chips from Qualcomm were a lot more efficient during the single-core tests.

As already mentioned multiple times, this is only a comparison with its direct competitors. For a much more extensive comparison and to see additional efficiency measurements, please refer to our Zen 5 CPU analysis.

The CPU's performance remains practically constant under continuous load, which can also be said for its battery operation. Further CPU benchmarks are listed here.

The new Zenbook S 16 did excellently during the synthetic benchmarks and only had to admit defeat to the new Snapdragon CPUs in the browser tests. In general, the Zenbook is a super reactive system during everyday use, but we still had some driver issues during our test. For example, our version of LatencyMon didn't work and the game F1 24 repeatedly led to a blue screen. However, as this is the case on all three of our test devices with Zen 5, we can assume that a driver problem is the root cause of this, which will surely be dealt with by the manufacturer. We are already in contact with AMD regarding this issue.