Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
Nederlands
Polski
Português
Русский
Türkçe
Svenska
Chinese
MagyarVAIO FE14 laptop review: Avoid the Core i5-1235U and get the Core i7-1255U
Unlike the higher-end Vaio SX series, the super-thin Vaio Z series, or the tablet Vaio A series, the Vaio FE series is a budget to midrange option for a wider market appeal. The FE series currently comes in 14.1-inch FE14 and 15.6-inch FE15 models to choose from.
Our model in review in the FE14 equipped with the latest Intel 12th gen Core i5-1235U CPU. The rest of the system is fairly typical for its $700 USD price range including the 1080p IPS display, integrated Iris Xe graphics, and 16 GB of RAM. A higher-end configuration is available with the faster Core i7-1255U.
Competitors in this space include other budget to midrange 14-inch laptops like the Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1, Dell Inspiron 14 7420, Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14, or the Asus VivoBook S14.
More Vaio reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 82 % | 07/2022 | VAIO FE 14.1 VWNC51429-SL i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.6 kg | 19.8 mm | 14.10" | 1920x1080 | |
| 87.2 % | 11/2021 | VAIO SX14 VJS144X0111K i7-1195G7, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.1 kg | 17.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 78 % | 07/2022 | Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 i5-1235U, Iris Xe G7 80EUs | 1.6 kg | 20.3 mm | 14.10" | 1920x1080 | |
| 83.7 % | 06/2022 | Dell Inspiron 14 7420 2-in-1 i7-1255U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.6 kg | 17.86 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | |
| 79.2 % | 06/2022 | Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14ITL6 82H700CCGE Celeron 6305, UHD Graphics Xe G4 48EUs | 1.4 kg | 19.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | |
| 81.5 % | 12/2021 | Acer Swift 1 SF114-34-P6U1 Pentium N6000, UHD Graphics (Jasper Lake 32 EU) | 1.3 kg | 14.95 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 |
Case — Down-to-Earth Looks
Unlike the sleek and shiny SX12, the FE14 is a more traditional budget design that's on a similar visual level to a Lenovo IdeaPad or Asus Vivobook. In terms of chassis rigidity, however, our test unit would exhibit more warping and creaking than we would like even for an inexpensive model. Twisting the corners of the base would result in audible creaking and applying pressure on the palm rests or keyboard center would visibly warp the surface. The competing HP Pavilion 14 feels more strongly designed in comparison.
The FE14 is large and heavy when compared to pricier flagship 14-inch laptops like the Vaio SX14 or Asus Zenbook 14 series, but it is otherwise pretty standard when compared to other budget laptops like the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14 or Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1. We do wish it could be lighter though as the 1.6 kg weight is as heavy as many 15.6-inch Ultrabooks.
Connectivity — No Thunderbolt Support
There is a healthy selection of integrated ports including 3x USB-A and even a gigabit RJ-45 port. However, it's baffling that the manufacturer continues to integrate a proprietary AC adapter barrel port when most other Ultrabooks of this size have already made the full transition to USB-C charging. We would have preferred two USB-C ports instead of one USB-C and one AC adapter barrel port.
Thunderbolt is not supported. USB-C charging and DisplayPort over USB-C, however, are both supported.
SD Card Reader
The integrated SD reader is slow at just 17 MB/s. Transferring 1 GB of pictures from our UHS-II card to desktop takes almost a full minute. Additionally, SD cards must be inserted upside-down and two-thirds of the card protrudes from the edge even when fully inserted which makes it unsafe to transport without first removing the card.
| SD Card Reader | |
| average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 (AV Pro V60) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7420 2-in-1 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14ITL6 82H700CCGE (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| VAIO FE 14.1 VWNC51429-SL (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14ITL6 82H700CCGE (AV Pro SD microSD 128 GB V60) | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7420 2-in-1 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 (AV Pro V60) | |
| VAIO FE 14.1 VWNC51429-SL (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Communication
The Intel AX201 comes standard for Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 connectivity. We experienced consistent transfer rates when paired to our Asus test router. Wi-Fi 6E is not supported.
| Networking | |
| iperf3 transmit AX12 | |
| VAIO SX14 VJS144X0111K | |
| Acer Swift 1 SF114-34-P6U1 | |
| iperf3 receive AX12 | |
| Acer Swift 1 SF114-34-P6U1 | |
| VAIO SX14 VJS144X0111K | |
| iperf3 receive AXE11000 | |
| VAIO FE 14.1 VWNC51429-SL | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| iperf3 transmit AXE11000 | |
| VAIO FE 14.1 VWNC51429-SL | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
Webcam
The system integrates a 2 MP webcam instead of the more typical 1 MP for a sharper picture. Color, however, is poor and overly purple in our tests.
A physical shutter is present for camera privacy. IR is not available and so Windows Hello is not supported.
Maintenance
The bottom panel is secured by 15 Philips screws. While the screws themselves are easy to remove, the panel is actually very difficult as one of its corners can easily become stuck to the RJ-45 port. It's a poor design that makes simple upgrades like RAM or storage much harder than it should be.
Accessories and Warranty
There are no extras in the box other than the AC adapter and paperwork. A standard one-year limited warranty applies if purchased in the US.
Input Devices — Surprisingly Comfortable
Keyboard
We find the typing experience to be excellent as the keys have a sharp, uniform feedback that's stronger than on most other budget to midrange Ultrabooks like the Lenovo IdeaPad or Asus VivoBook series. The downside is that clatter is louder and higher-pitched as a direct result of having keys that aren't as spongy.
Touchpad
The touchpad is small at just 9.5 x 5 cm compared to 11.5 x 8 cm on the Dell Inspiron 14 7420 2-in-1. Usable surface area for cursor control is even smaller since the top left corner is reserved for the fingerprint reader. Gliding properties are otherwise reliable even if it's slightly stickier than we would like.
The FE14 is one of the few 14-inch laptops to still utilize dedicated mouse buttons which are responsible for the small size of the touchpad. Feedback is clicky and satisfying for easier drag-and-drop actions compared to most other touchpads with no dedicated mouse buttons. Even so, scrolling and multi-touch inputs feel cramped.
Display — Decent On A Budget
Our Vaio FE14 utilizes a similar IPS panel from Chi Mei as found on the Latitude 14 5420 or Lenovo ThinkBook 14 (N140HCA-EAD vs. N140HCA-EAC). This is a budget panel due to its narrow 69 percent sRGB color space and average response times. Meanwhile, both contrast and brightness are decent relative to other budget to midrange Ultrabooks. Overall picture quality is a step down from what you get on the pricier VAIO SX14, but it's still very good for the price.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Center on Battery: 278.1 cd/m²
Contrast: 1030:1 (Black: 0.27 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 4.01 | 0.55-29.43 Ø5.1, calibrated: 3.12
ΔE Greyscale 3.5 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
47.2% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
68.6% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
45.7% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.23
| VAIO FE 14.1 VWNC51429-SL Chi Mei N140HCA-EAD, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.10 | VAIO SX14 VJS144X0111K Sharp LQ140M1JW55, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 BOE CQ NV140FHM-N48, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.10 | Dell Inspiron 14 7420 2-in-1 BOE NV14N42, IPS, 1920x1200, 14.00 | Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14ITL6 82H700CCGE AU Optronics B140HAN04.E, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | Acer Swift 1 SF114-34-P6U1 Chi Mei N140HCA-EAC, IPS, 1920x1080, 14.00 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | 44% | -9% | -16% | -20% | -9% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 45.7 | 66.8 46% | 41.4 -9% | 38.6 -16% | 36.6 -20% | 41.4 -9% |
| sRGB Coverage | 68.6 | 97.7 42% | 61.8 -10% | 56.2 -18% | 54.7 -20% | 61.8 -10% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 47.2 | 67.9 44% | 42.8 -9% | 39.9 -15% | 37.8 -20% | 42.9 -9% |
| Response Times | -59% | -10% | 25% | -13% | 15% | |
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 34.8 ? | 54 ? -55% | 36.4 ? -5% | 27.2 ? 22% | 44 ? -26% | 29 ? 17% |
| Response Time Black / White * | 28.4 ? | 46.4 ? -63% | 32.4 ? -14% | 20.8 ? 27% | 28 ? 1% | 20 ? 30% |
| PWM Frequency | 25250 ? | 25000 ? -1% | ||||
| Screen | 35% | -16% | -23% | -15% | -3% | |
| Brightness middle | 278.1 | 373.4 34% | 213.9 -23% | 269.4 -3% | 368 32% | 295 6% |
| Brightness | 256 | 376 47% | 208 -19% | 260 2% | 332 30% | 265 4% |
| Brightness Distribution | 87 | 88 1% | 82 -6% | 89 2% | 83 -5% | 85 -2% |
| Black Level * | 0.27 | 0.23 15% | 0.21 22% | 0.41 -52% | 0.47 -74% | 0.31 -15% |
| Contrast | 1030 | 1623 58% | 1019 -1% | 657 -36% | 783 -24% | 952 -8% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 4.01 | 2.99 25% | 6.97 -74% | 6.53 -63% | 6.14 -53% | 5.43 -35% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 18.76 | 5.29 72% | 18.69 -0% | 19.76 -5% | 17.76 5% | 9.51 49% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 3.12 | 0.49 84% | 2 36% | 3.13 -0% | ||
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 3.5 | 4.3 -23% | 6.2 -77% | 5.4 -54% | 4.44 -27% | 4.19 -20% |
| Gamma | 2.23 99% | 2.02 109% | 2.16 102% | 2.05 107% | 2.73 81% | 2.11 104% |
| CCT | 7247 90% | 6537 99% | 8084 80% | 6007 108% | 5979 109% | 7084 92% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | 7% /
23% | -12% /
-14% | -5% /
-15% | -16% /
-15% | 1% /
-0% |
* ... smaller is better
Color temperature is slightly too cool at ~7200 leading to higher average DeltaE values. Once properly calibrated, average grayscale and color deltaE values can be as low as 1.7 and 3.12, respectively. Blue and magenta colors are significantly more inaccurate than the other tested colors as shown by our CalMAN measurements below.
Display Response Times
| ↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
|---|---|---|
| 28.4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 16.4 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 12 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows relatively slow response rates in our tests and may be too slow for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 71 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.9 ms). | ||
| ↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
| 34.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 17.6 ms rise |  |
| ↘ 17.2 ms fall | ||
| The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.25 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 40 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is similar to the average of all tested devices (34.6 ms). | ||
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
| Screen flickering / PWM detected | 25250 Hz | ≤ 24 % brightness setting |  |
The display backlight flickers at 25250 Hz (Likely utilizing PWM) Flickering detected at a brightness setting of 24 % and below. There should be no flickering or PWM above this brightness setting. The frequency of 25250 Hz is quite high, so most users sensitive to PWM should not notice any flickering. In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 19019 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. | |||
Outdoor visibility is limited as the display isn't bright enough to overcome most natural lighting. Images would wash out almost completely on a bright or sunny day. The matte overlay helps to reduce glare for a better viewing experience when under shade.
Performance — Core i5-1235U Configuration
Testing Conditions
We set our unit to Performance via Windows prior to running any benchmarks below. There does not appear to be any pre-installed Vaio-specific command center software.
Processor
Overall CPU performance is very close to the previous generation Core i5-1135G7. In fact, multi-thread results are nearly equal to the LG Gram 14T90P while being just 10 percent ahead in single-thread benchmarks. Users may want to consider upgrading to the Core i7-1255U configuration which can offer roughly 60 percent faster multi-thread performance over the Core i5-1235U based on our experience with the Dell Inspiron 14 7420 2-in-1. Otherwise, the i5-1235U can be considered disappointing as it doesn't offer very much over 11th gen Tiger Lake-U.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.4: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.4: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
System Performance
PCMark 10 results are slightly behind the more expensive VAIO SX14 but otherwise similar to the Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1. Interestingly, CrossMark results are closer to the Dell Inspiron 14 7420 2-in-1 and its Core i7-1255U CPU rather than the aforementioned Gateway.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
| PCMark 10 Score | 4878 points | |
Help | ||
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon reveals acute DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs on our homepage or when playing back 4K video at 60 FPS. Consequently, we recorded 16 dropped frames during our minute-long video test when it should be 0.
| DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
| VAIO FE 14.1 VWNC51429-SL | |
| Gateway Ultra Slim 14.1 GWTC51427 | |
| Acer Swift 1 SF114-34-P6U1 | |
| Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14ITL6 82H700CCGE | |
| VAIO SX14 VJS144X0111K | |
| Dell Inspiron 14 7420 2-in-1 | |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices — No Secondary Bays
Our unit includes a budget-midrange 1 TB PCIe3 x4 NVMe SSD from Netac offering sequential read and write rates of about 2000 MB/s and 1100 MB/s, respectively. Pricier drives like the Samsung PM981a tend to have faster transfer rates approaching 3000 MB/s. When considering the target audience of the FE14, however, the Netac is more than sufficient in terms of speed.
* ... smaller is better