Deal | "Open-Box Excellent" Asus Zenbook S 16 with Ryzen AI 9 365 APU and 120 Hz OLED panel is now enjoying 41% price cut

The Asus Zenbook S 16 (UM5606) was one of the first laptops to feature the AMD Strix Point APUs. Thanks to the power efficiency and performance, reviewers like Dave2D were quite enthusiastic about the device. However, despite the many qualities of the Zenbook S 16, the $1,399 MSRP makes the laptop a tough sell for many buyers. We noted this observation in our review.

Thankfully, Best Buy is now selling “Open-Box” units of the Asus Zenbook S 16 (UM5606) at pretty hefty discounts. For instance, you can get the Asus Zenbook S 16 with a Ryzen AI 9 365 APU, 24 GB of memory, and 1 TB of storage for as little as $723.99 in “Open-Box Fair” condition. The laptop is also available in “Excellent” condition for just $821.99. This unit should be identical to a brand-new piece which retails for $1,399.99, making it an easy choice for folks who want to save some serious cash (linked at the end).

The Asus Zenbook S 16 combines a lightweight and thin “Ceraluminum” chassis with a 16-inch 120 Hz OLED display, the Ryzen AI 9 365 APU, and a respectable 78 Wh battery. The result is a machine that is easy to carry around, plenty fast, and lasts a good while on a single charge.

During our testing, the 16-inch 1800p OLED display impressed us with its full DCI-P3 coverage, smooth 120 Hz refresh rate, and just under 400 nits of max brightness. So, the panel is suitable for both watching movies, playing games, and content creation.

Talking about playing games, the 10-core Ryzen AI 9 365 and the Radeon 880M iGPU is a pretty powerful combination for light gaming. We tested games like Atomic Heart and Assassin’s Creed Mirage and the Zenbook S 16 managed more than 40 FPS at 1080p/low. Older AAA games and indie titles will run even better. Moreover, this performance translates quite well to non-gaming workloads where the Zenbook S 16 proved to be a snappy customer.

That said, the Zenbook S 16 does run a bit hotter than we’d have liked when pushed hard. This is undoubtedly due to the 13 mm thin chassis. So, if you want a laptop that runs cool under all circumstances, look elsewhere.

Despite the thin casing and fast performance, the 78 Wh battery and the efficiency of the Ryzen AI 9 365 allowed the Zenbook S 16 to last more than 12 hours in our WLAN test.

In the end, the Asus Zenbook S 16 OLED laptop is more than the sum of its parts. As such, the “Open-Box” unit for $822 is a stellar value considering the overall package on offer.

Buy the Asus Zenbook S 16 (UM5606) in “Open-Box Excellent” condition for $821.99