The Asus VivoBook 17 F712FA only has a weak battery

With the VivoBook 17 F712FA, Asus offers a simple office laptop in the 17.3-inch format that is equipped with a matte silver plastic case. The device turns out fairly compact and has a smaller footprint than many of the competitors. The laptop does not offer a maintenance flap, but thanks to the bottom of the case being easily removable, maintenance and upgrade tasks can be performed without any problems.

The notebook is run by a Core i5-10210U processor (Comet Lake) that offers sufficient computing performance for applications in the office and Internet areas. The CPU is accompanied by 8 GB of working memory (dual-channel mode; 4 GB module + 4 GB onboard), which can be expanded to 12 GB. Thanks to the 512-GB NVMe SSD, there is no lack in storage space.

The laptop offers a USB Type-C port (USB 3.2 Gen 1) that only serves to connect peripherals, since it neither supports DisplayPort-via-USB-C nor power delivery. Asus did not equip the 17.3-incher with an SD storage card reader, and there is only a MicroSD model. However, this belongs to the faster representatives of its kind.

The 17.3-inch display (Full HD, IPS) pleases with a matte surface, good contrast, stable viewing angles, and decent color reproduction, but the maximum brightness and color space space coverage turn out too low. The VivoBook is not an endurance champion, since Asus is stingy with the battery capacity. The built-in 32-Wh battery is sufficient for a WLAN runtime of barely 5.5 hours, which is not a value that is up to the current standards anymore.

Update: Asus informed us that there is a version of the VivoBook 17 with a bigger 47 Wh battery:

The VivoBook 17 F712FA does offer two battery capacity options for customers: 47Wh and 32Wh. We received customers’ feedback for a more cost effective device and do not mind having a smaller battery capacity, hence we provide this model with 32Wh battery option. Meanwhile, the 47Wh is also available for those who require longer battery life. We will start shipping the VivoBook 17 F712FA with 47Wh battery capacity starting from this October and availability may vary by country. This option is currently not available in the U.S. However, an A-cover metal alternative under the name VivoBook S17 S712 with 47Wh battery is now available as an option.    

You can find more information and many benchmark results in our review of the Asus Vivobook 17 F712FA-AU518T.