This is my detailed review of the AMD-powered Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED M5406UA series.
I’ve been using this laptop for the last few months and I’m late with this article, so late that in fact Asus has a newer generation announced in the meantime, the Vivobook S 14 M5406WA based on the updated AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 hardware platform.
Nonetheless, even if the new hardware is faster in sustained loads, it’s also a fair bit more expensive than this M5406UA model tested here, which in this part of the world sells for around 800-900 EUR depending on configuration, and will like get even more affordable as the new model is rolled in.
That buys you a versatile 14-inch portable laptop, with a unique-looking all-black design, good inputs and IO, and powerful multi-purpose AMD Hawk Point Ryzen hardware. That’s especially notable as this Vivobook is a higher-power implementation with better cooling than you’d normally get on a portable chassis, such as the AMD-based Asus Zenbook 14 discussed a few weeks ago.
Specs as reviewed – Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED M5406 laptop
Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED review, M5406UA series, 2024 model
Screen 14 inch, OLED, 16:10 aspect ratio, non-touch, glossy,
Processor AMD Hawk Point, Ryzen 9 8945HS , 8C/16T, up to 5.3 GHz
Video AMD Radeon 780m, 12 CU, up to 2.7 GHz
Memory 16 GB LPDDR5x-7500 (soldered), up to 32 GB
Storage 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD (Micron 2400) – single M.2 2280 slot
Connectivity Wireless 6E (Mediatek MT7922) 2×2, Bluetooth 5.3
Ports left:2x USB-C connectors, one with USB 4.0, 1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS, micro SD card reader, mic/headphone
Battery 75 Wh, 90W USB-C charger
Size 311 mm or 12.28” (w) x 222 mm or 8.74” (d) x from 13.9 mm or 0.55” (h)
Weight 2.75 lbs (1.26 kg) + .49 (1.1 lbs) for the USB-C charger and cables, EU version
Extras clamshell format with 180-degree hinge, dual-fan dual-radiator cooling,
Asus offers this laptop in several configurations over the various markets, with Ryzen 9 and Ryzen 7 processors, 8 to 32 GB of RAM, and several SSD options.
Design, build quality – new chassis and improved ergonomics While the Vivobook S 14 is a practice a mid-tier model positioned underneath the Zenbook 14 chassis, in real life, you can hardly tell the differences in construction and overall feel between the two, even when having them side by side.
They’re both all-metal and about the same size and weight, with a slightly heavier body for the Vivobook, due to its more advanced cooling. Because of the differences in cooling, the IO and exhaust radiators are also placed differently on the two, with rear places radiators on the Vivobooks that leave the side entirely reserved for ports.
Here are some side by side pictures of the Vivobook S 14 and the Zenbook 14, both 2024 models.
And, despite having the cooling on the back edge, this design still allows for a display able to lean back to 180 degrees. Which Asus could not implement in their new Zephyrus G14 and G16 models…
There are some particularities in how the two chassis are made though, with smaller standard hinges on the Vivobook and Ergolift hinges on the Zenbook.
The branding elements are also more visible on the Vivobook, while the Zenbook design is cleaner and more subtle.
Plus, the margins of the Vivobook are sharper and quite taxing on the wrists, while the 2024 Zenbook chassis is a much friendlier design.
But overall, both are nice looking and ergonomic designs, with the Vivobook, in particular, impressive in this color option and its price segment. Of course, this being a black laptop, it will smudge easily, so will require constant attention to keep looking alright.
On side note, the mid-2024 S 14 UM5406WA update is no longer offered in this Jade Black version, instead, it comes in Cool Silver and Neutral Black. I can’t tell what’s the exact difference between those black variants.
Anyway, for the IO, plenty of ports are lined on the sides, including USB-A and USB-C connectors with USB 4.0, a full HDMI 2.1, a micro SD card reader, and an audio jack. There’s no lock, and both USB-Cs are on the left, which means you can plug in and charge the laptop on that side.
Keyboard, touchpad on the Vivobook S 14 M5406 The keyboard on this series feels and looks much like a standard Asus thin-and-light keyboard available over the last years, which means it’s a solid typer with good feedback.
A particularity of this Vivobook model is the black keys with a slightly rougher finish than on the Zenbook. The typing experience is very much similar between the two.
However, there’s also RGB backlighting on this keyboard, which is a novelty for the lineup. The LEDs are uniform and fairly bright, but some light creeps out from underneath some keys. The lighting is also activated with a swipe over the touchpad when it times out.
The touchpad is glass and fairly spacious, and larger than on the latest Zenbooks. That’s not a complaint, it’s just an observation. And this design leaves enough room towards the front of the laptop, which means ghost touches from your clothes don’t happen as often when using this on the lap.
As far as usability goes, this touchpad worked smoothly and accurately during my time with the laptop. The actual clicks in the corners are a bit stiff, but still fine. However, the surface rattles a bit with firmer taps.
For biometrics, there’s no finger sensor in the power button with this Vivobook S generation, but there’s an IR webcam with Windows Hello support.
14-inch 120Hz OLED display The same screen is implemented on both 2024 Zenbooks and Vivobooks, a current-gen OLED panel. On the Vivobook, it comes in a non-touch implementation, while on the Zenbooks it’s available as either touch or non-touch.
The non-touch is a littler sharper due to the lack of grain caused by the digitizer layer on the touch models. That’s especially noticeable on solid white backgrounds when browsing and editing documents.
That aside, this is a sharp panel with nearly 3K pixel resolution, beautiful colors, and deep blacks and contrast. It’s only averagely bright at about 400-nits sustained, which combined with the glossy finishing, might not be quite enough for certain bright spaces or outdoor use.
Furthermore, this sort of OLED panel offers nearly instantaneous response times and 120Hz refresh rate, thus being a solid choice for gaming, especially paired with the AMD Hawk Point hardware implemented here (and even more so on the newer AMD Strix Point Ryzen AI 9 configurations with Radeon 880M graphics).
Anyway, here’s what we got in our tests, with an X-Rite i1 Display Pro sensor :
Panel HardwareID: Samsung SDC419D (ATNA40CU09-0);
Coverage: 100% sRGB, 94.5% Adobe RGB, 100% DCI-P3;
Type: 10-bit with HDR500, 120 Hz;
Measured gamma: 2.21;
Max brightness in the middle of the screen: 405.23 cd/m2 on power;
Min brightness in the middle of the screen: <5 cd/m2 on power;
Contrast at max brightness: 1:1;
White point: 6500 K;
Black on max brightness: 0 cd/m2;
PWM: Yes, to be discussed.
The panel came well-calibrated out of the box and turned up uniformly in color and luminosity. Plus, since this is an OLED panel, you don’t have to concern yourself with light bleeding or blooming. If interested, this article goes indepth over the OLED panel technology available in laptops .
You do have to account for flickering on OLED notebooks, and even that is less of an issue on Asus devices if you’re using the flicker-free OLED Screen dimming option available in the myAsus app instead of lowering the brightness with the regular controls available in Windows.
Hardware and performance – AMD Hawk Point Ryzen 9 processor, Radeon 780M iGPU Our test model is a top-specced configuration of the 2024 Asus Vivobook S 14, code name M5406UA, with an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor and AMD Radeon 780M integrated graphics, 16 GB of LPDDR5x-7500 memory, and a middling 1TB gen4 SSD.
Disclaimer: This is a retail unit offered by Asus for review. I tested it with the software available as of mid-July 2024 (BIOS 306, MyAsus 4.0.16.0 app). This is a mature software package, as the laptop has been available in stores for a few months now.
Spec-wise, this series is based on AMD’s Ryzen 8000 Hawk Point hardware platform, with Ryzen HS processors and Radeon integrated graphics.
Our configuration is an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor, a design with 8 Cores and 16 Threads. It runs at plenty of power here, at up to 54W sustained, which is more than you’d normally get in a compact and lightweight computer
An AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS processor option is also available on the more affordable configurations of this series, while the mid-2024 update called Vivobook S 14 M5606WA is built on a Ryzen AI 9 HX 365 platform with Radeon 880M graphics.
Back to our unit, Graphics are handled here by the integrated AMD Radeon 780M chip, which is still a capable performer for an iGPU, especially when provided with the power offered in this design.
Our configuration also comes with 16GB of LPDDR5-7500 memory.
For storage, Asus opted for a mid-level PCIe gen4 WD PC SN560 SSD drive here, which is right for regular use, but will struggle somewhat with sustained transfers.
The SSD is the only upgradeable component here. To get inside you need to remove the back panel, which is held in place by a couple of Torx screws. They’re of different sizes, so It’s highly important to put them back in their right place.
Inside you’ll find the motherboard with the thermal module, the battery, speakers, and the SSD and WiFi slots. Everything is packed up nicely, with no space left unused.
As far as the software goes, this Vivobook gets the standard MyAsus app which allows control over the power profiles, battery and screen settings, updates, etc.
There are four performance/thermal profiles to choose from:
Full Speed – allows the hardware to run at ~54W sustained, with the fan ramping up to ~48 dB;
Performance – allows the hardware to run at ~45W sustained, with the fan ramping up to ~45 dB;
Balanced/Standard – limits the hardware at ~35W in sustained loads, with the fan ramping up to ~35 dB;
Whisper – limits the CPU at ~17W to favor fan noise of sub 30 dB.
I’d recommend keeping the laptop on Standard in most cases and only opting for Whisper mode for very light use. The Performance and Full Speed profiles offer faster processing capabilities in sustained loads, but are also much noisier. We’ll discuss the noise profiles further down, in the next section of the review.
We’ll get to that in a bit, but first, here’s what to expect in terms of speeds and temperatures with daily chores such as streaming video, editing text, or browsing the web.
Productivity Performance and Benchmarks – AMD Ryzen 9 Hawk Point, Radeon graphics On to more demanding loads, we start by testing the CPU’s performance in the Cinebench R15 loop test.
On Full Speed mode, the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS processor peaks at 65W of power for a few seconds, and then stabilizes at 54W, with high temperatures in the mid-90s C and fan levels of 48 dBA. While 54W sustained is impressive for a portable 14-inch chassis, it sure comes with high temperatures and loud fans.
On Performance, the fans spin a tad quieter at 45 dBA, and the power stabilizes around 45W, with still very high temperatures in the 90s C.
On Standard, the system limits the fan to around 35 dBA and the power gradually stabilizes at 35W, with temperatures in the mid-80s C, and still high scores of around 2200 points, about 85-90% of what the system scores on the other profiles. Overall, this is a very versatile profile and faster than you’d normally get on other ultraportable designs, despite running quietly.
There is even a quieter Whisper mode in which case the fans rarely go over 30 dBA, but this limits the processor to around 17W, with a notable impact over the performance, that’s only about 60% of the Full-Speed mode.
Finally, our sample performed very well on battery, stabilizing at 45W of power on Performance mode. That’s on par with the plugged-in Performance profile.
All these are illustrated in the graph below.
To put these in perspective, here’s how this Ryzen 9 8945HS implementation fares against other hardware platforms available in current and past-generation thin and light laptops .
This is faster than Core Ultra 7 155H or Core i9-13900H platforms, close to Core Ultra 9 185H implementations, but slower than the new Strix Point Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 hardware. The Ryzen AI 9 365 comes in between this Ryzen 9 and the new Ryzen 9 370, but we haven’t yet tested it.
We then went ahead and further verified our findings with the more taxing Cinebench R23 loop test and in Blender. We measured similar behavior, power limits, fan noise and temperatures.
We then ran the 3DMark CPU profile test.
Finally, we ran our combined CPU+GPU stress tests on this notebook, on the Performance profile. 3DMark stress runs the same test for 20 times in a loop and looks for performance variation and degradation over time. This unit easily passed the test, which means the performance is not impacted in longer-duration sustained loads, as the heat builds up.
Benchmarks results and performance summary With that out of the way, let’s get to some benchmarks. We ran our standard set of tests with the laptop on Performance mode and the screen set at its default 2.8K resolution.
Here’s what we got.
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 7514, 16 – 7536, 8 – 6329, 4 – 3649, 2 – 1904, 1 – 969;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 8247 (Graphics – 8846, Physics – 27669, Combined – 3222);3DMark 13 – Night Raid: 30251 (Graphics – 36324, CPU – 15534);3DMark 13 – Steel Nomad Light: 2694.3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 3206 (Graphics – 2864, CPU – 9976).
Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 1776;Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Medium: 5375;
PCMark 10: 7590 (Essentials – 11110, Productivity – 10855, Digital Content Creation – 9842);GeekBench 6.2.2 64-bit: Multi-core: 12200, Single-Core: 2573;CineBench R15 (best run): CPU 2670 cb, CPU Single Core 286 cb;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 6266 cb, CPU Single Core 703 cb;CineBench R23: CPU 16208 pts (best run), CPU 16094 pts (10 min loop test), CPU Single Core 1811 pts (best run);CineBench 2024: GPU – pts, CPU 864 pts (best single run), CPU 897 (10 min run), CPU Single Core 104 pts;x265 HD Benchmark 64-bit: 23.20 s.
And here are some work-related benchmarks, on the same Performance profile:
Blender 3.4.1 – BMW Car scene- CPU Compute: 2m 35s ;Blender 3.4.1 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 5m 51s;Blender 3.6.5 – BMW Car scene- CPU Compute: 2m 40s ;Blender 3.6.5 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 5m 55s;
PugetBench – DaVinci Resolve: 453;PugetBench – Adobe Photoshop (25.5): -;PugetBench – Adobe Premiere (24.2.1): -;
SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 41.28;SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 37.46;SPECviewperf 2020 – Creo: 59.73;SPECviewperf 2020 – Energy: 22.95;SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 127.81;SPECviewperf 2020 – Medical: 25.00;SPECviewperf 2020 – SNX: 140.75;SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 65.97;V-Ray Benchmark: CPU – 11277, CUDA – 270.
This Vivovook is an excellent performer for its class of portable and lightweight laptops.
Compared to the Zenbook 14 running on a similar Ryzen 7 8840HS platform, but at lower power, this is about 15-20% faster in CPU and GPU loads. Furthermore, the AMD hardware is faster in CPU loads and onyl a tad behind in GPU loads when pitched against Intel Meteor Lake Core Ultra 7 and Ultra 9 processors with Arc iGPUs.
At the same time, the newer Ryzen AI models should come close to this AMD implementation in CPU loads, but outscore it by a fair bit in GPU loads, based on our experience with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 365 configuration of the Zenbook S 16.
Full Speed mode, louder at 48 dBA Asus also offers a higher profile on their Vivobooks, Full Speed, which allows for higher sustained power, with louder fans (up to 48 dBA) and higher internal temperatures.
Here are some benchmark results for this Full Speed mode:
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 7739, 16 – 7785, 8 – 6686, 4 – 3784, 2 – 1998, 1 – 1001;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 8198 (Graphics – 9016, Physics – 28173, Combined – 2988);3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 3266 (Graphics – 2915, CPU – 10346);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 1724;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 6266 cb, CPU Single Core 696 cb;Blender 3.6.5 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 5m 43s.
There are some minor gains in CPU performance, and little to no gains on the GPU side. Using this mode hardly makes any sense here.
Standard and Whisper modes, much quieter at 30-35 dBA On the other hand, you might be interested in a quieter experience when running sustained loads..
Here are some benchmark results for the Standard mode, in which case the fans won’t go over 35 dBA:
3DMark 13 –CPU profile: max – 7481, 16 – 7405, 8 – 6265, 4 – 3625, 2 – 1935, 1 – 982;3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 8040 (Graphics – 8610, Physics – 26210, Combined – 3171);3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 3185 (Graphics – 2844, CPU – 9957);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 1720;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 6021 cb, CPU Single Core 699 cb;Blender 3.6.5 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 6m 14s.SPECviewperf 2020 – 3DSMax: 39.36;SPECviewperf 2020 – Catia: 35.94;SPECviewperf 2020 – Creo: 57.01;SPECviewperf 2020 – Maya: 122.45;SPECviewperf 2020 – SW: 63.29.
You’re losing 5-20% of the processing power with this more power-limited profile, with a more notable impact in sustained CPU chores. At the same time, make sure you’re aware that even these scores are still higher than you’d get on most other portable designs of the last years. So this Standard mode is highly versatile for demanding loads on this Vivobook S 14.
There’s also the even quieter Whisper mode, in which case the fan won’t go over 30 dBA, but the CPU is power capped at around 17W in this mode, and even with the efficient platform, this doesn’t really make much sense for intensive loads. Nonetheless, here are some results:
3DMark 13 – Fire Strike: 5083 (Graphics – 5605, Physics – 17924, Combined – 1834);3DMark 13 – Time Spy: 2291 (Graphics – 2062, CPU – 6196);Uniengine Superposition – 1080p Extreme: 1206;CineBench R20 (best run): CPU 3895 cb, CPU Single Core 702 cb;Blender 3.6.5 – Classroom scene – CPU Compute: 10m 06s.
Gaming Performance We also ran a couple of DX11, DX12, and Vulkan games on the Performance profile of this Ryzen 7 8840HS + Radeon 780M configuration, at FHD+ resolution, with Low/Lowest graphics settings. I threw in a few other platforms for comparison.
Low settings Vivobook S 14 2024, Swift Go 14 2024, Zenbook 14 2024, Zenbook 14 2024, Zenbook 14X 2023 ,Lenovo Yoga Slim 6 2023,
Dota 2 84 fps (55 fps – 1% low)
78 fps (48 fps – 1% low)
76 fps (44 fps – 1% low)
81 fps (58 fps – 1% low)
74 fps (55 fps – 1% low)
72 fps (41 fps – 1% low)
Far Cry 6 51 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
43 fps (32 fps – 1% low)
46 fps (34 fps – 1% low)
43 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
–
39 fps (29 fps – 1% low)
Horizon Forbidden West 45 fps (35 fps – 1% low)
40 fps (32 fps – 1% low)
35 fps (26 fps – 1% low)
–
–
–
Shadow of Tomb Raider 68 fps (54 fps – 1% low)
64 fps (50 fps – 1% low)
65 fps (48 fps – 1% low)
54 fps (3o fps – 1% low)
43 fps (28 fps – 1% low)
59 fps (34 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 58 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
52 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
45 fps (33 fps – 1% low)
44 fps (26 fps – 1% low)
32 fps (23 fps – 1% low)
41 fps (24 fps – 1% low)
Doom, Dota 2, Witcher 3 – recorded with MSI Afterburner in game mode;
Tomb Raider – recorded with the included Benchmark utilities.
Most games are playable here with these settings, including newer titles. But nonetheless, you can only expect so much from a portable laptop with integrated graphics today.
The Ryzen AI version isn’t going to perform much faster, because the Ryzen AI 365 CPU only bundles the mid-level Radeon 880M iGPU, and not the top performer variant Radeon 890M implemented in the Ryzen AI 370 processor (which is not available on this Vivobook series).
And btw, here’s what to expect if you plan on running games on the quieter modes.
Vivobook S 14 2024 – Full Speed – 54W, Performance – 45W, Standard – 35W, Whisper – 17W, FHD+ 1200p, <30 dBA
Far Cry 6 53 fps (40 fps – 1% low)
51 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
49 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
31 fps (18 fps – 1% low)
Horizon Forbidden West 48 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
46 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
44 fps (36 fps – 1% low)
28 fps (21 fps – 1% low)
Shadow of Tomb Raider 70 fps (55 fps – 1% low)
68 fps (54 fps – 1% low)
66 fps (52 fps – 1% low)
41 fps (31 fps – 1% low)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt 60 fps (43 fps – 1% low)
58 fps (42 fps – 1% low)
53 fps (38 fps – 1% low)
33 fps (22 fps – 1% low)
With that out of the way, let’s go through some CPU/GPU logs.
First, Full Speed mode. In only tested this mode with the laptop placed on a stand, in order to favor better airflow into the cooling system.
The hardware stabilizes at 54W of power, which is high enough to allow the Radeon 780M GPU to work almost at its full potential.
As far as noise and temperatures go, the fan still spins at 48 dBA with games, and the CPU stabilizes at temperatures in the high-70s C. That’s way better than in the Cinebench CPU tests.
Switching to Performance mode, the platform stabilizes at around 45W of power, with slightly quieter fans at 45 dBA. With the laptop flat on the desk, the internals stabilize at temperatures in the high 70s, while with the laptop on a stand they drop to very low 70s. Significant difference! The differences in framerates are minimal between modes, as shown above.
The Standard profile limits the processor’s power to around 35W, with much quieter fans at ~35 dBA. That’s still enough for solid performance, with the framerates on this Standard mode coming in within 10% of Full Speed mode. Thus, this Standard mode is ideal for gaming and demanding loads on this laptop.
Temperatures once more vary by about 6-8 degrees between keeping the laptop flat on the desk or raised on a stand.
Then there’s Whisper mode, but this is not meant for gaming, as it caps the CPU power and the framerates drop significantly. Sure, thermals and noise levels are both very low, but that doesn’t justify the performance difference.
One final aspect worth mentioning is that this AMD Vivobook performs excellently on battery power, on Performance mode, pretty much on par with the same profile with the laptop plugged in. It’s not going to run for very long with games, though, a little over an hour on Best Performance and about 2 hours on Best Efficiency (Windows 11 power modes).
Noise, Heat, Connectivity, speakers, and others Asus went with a dual-fan dual-radiator dual-heatpipe thermal module here.
This is more complex than on the current Zenbook 14 models and even more advanced than on the Zenbook 14X. As a whole, it’s a solid match for the hardware in most combined loads, on all profiles, although the CPU tends to run hot in sustained CPU tasks on Performance/Full Speed. But mixed-load behavior is excellent.
As far as the noise levels go, expect 48 dbA on Full Speed, 45 dBA on Performance, 35 dBA on Standard, and sub 30 dBA on Whisper mode.
With daily use, the fans keeps mostly idle on all profiles and only become active with heavier multitasking, especially on Performance with the laptop plugged in. I haven’t noticed coil winning or electronic noises on this unit.
As for external temperatures, the chassis keeps cool with light use.
*Daily Use – streaming Netflix in EDGE for 30 minutes, Whisper Mode, fans at 0 dB
With demanding loads, this laptop runs acceptably warm on Performance mode, with a hotspot of 45+ C in the top side of the chassis, around the hardware. This hotspot is a little warmer in Performance mode than in Standard mode, but the areas that you’ll actually come in touch with stay around 35C and under 40C in the middle of the chassis in both cases, with the laptop flat on the desk. The hotspot on the back of the laptop is hot indeed, at 55+ Celsius.
*Gaming – Performance mode – playing Witcher for 30 minutes, fans at ~45 dB
For connectivity, there’s the latest-gen Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 through a Mediatek module on this laptop. This performed fine during my time with the laptop, but there were reports of inconsistent behavior with these MediaTek chips in the past.
Audio is handled by a set of stereo speakers that fire through grills positioned on the side of the chassis. They sound alright for this class, with decent volumes and quality. The speakers are a little different than the ones on the Zenbook 14 models, and overall sound a bit tinnier.
Finally, there’s an FHD camera placed at the top of the screen, flanked by microphones. The image quality is fine in good lighting, and still usable in bad light. There’s also IR functionality with Windows Hello support offered here, as well as a physical privacy cover. On top of these, an ALS sensor is also part of the camera ensemble.
Battery life – excellent runtimes with Hawk Point There’s a 75 Wh battery inside this 2024 Asus Vivobook S 14, properly sized for its segment, and identical to the battery in the Zenbook 14 models. So no corners were cut here between models.
Here’s what we got in our battery life tests, with the screen’s brightness set at around 120 nits (~50 brightness) and at its default 120Hz refresh rate. I’ve also set the Windows 11 power modes on Best Power Efficiency.
6 W (~12 h of use) – idle, Standard Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;8 W (~7 h of use) – text editing in Google Drive, Standard Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;7 W (~8 h of use) – 1080p fullscreen video on Youtube in Edge, Standard Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;7 W (~8 h of use) – Netflix fullscreen in Edge, Standard Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;10 W (~6-7 h of use) – browsing in Edge, Standard Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON;38 W (~2 h of use) – Gaming – Dota 2, Standard Mode, screen at 50%, Wi-Fi ON.
These are excellent runtimes, thanks to the efficiency of the AMD Hawk Point hardware platform and that big battery. They’re also mostly on par with what we measured on the AMD Zenbook and the Intel Zenbook and the Snapdragon Vivobook. So efficiency is quite close between all these platforms.
As a side note, the screen doesn’t automatically switch from 120Hz refresh on battery power, but you can do this manually if looking to push the runtimes a little further.
The laptop ships with a 90W USB-C charger, higher capacity, and larger in size than what you’d get with most other portable laptops. It’s a dual-piece design with long cables and a USB-C plug. A full charge takes less than 2 hours.
Price and availability- Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED At the time of this article, the Asus Vivobook S 14 M5406 is listed in some stores.
This configuration reviewed here, Jade Black and with the Ryzen 9 / 16 GB RAM / 1 TB SSD configuration and the 2.8K OLED display, is available here in Europe for around 900-1000 EUR, with occasional sales.
I can’t find this model in the US, but over there the updated Vivobook S 14 UM5406WA version is available, with the Ryzen AI 9 HX 365 processor, 24 GB of RAM, 512 GB of storage, for $1199 MSRP on BestBuy, Asus’s website and other stores.
What you do get in North America is a competitively priced version of the Intel-based Vivobook S 14 S5406MA configuration, with an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD for $899 MSRP.
Other configurations should be available as well over the different regions.
Follow this link for updated prices and configurations in your area .
Final thoughts- Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED review This Vivobook S 14 OLED series has evolved over the years into a highly versatile portable laptop for all-purpose use, but at the same time a device that won’t break the bank for you, normally selling for around 1000 EUR/USD or less.
Although this is supposedly a lower-tier laptop than the Zenbook 14, it actually offers faster hardware, better cooling, and improved IO, while most of its other aspects are similar to the Zenbooks, with perhaps the exception of certain design lines and ergonomic particularities that are still a little better implemented on the Zenbooks. But even those aren’t necessarily enough to sway you to a Zenbook, as they’re fine details such as more muted branding elements, friendlier edges that are not as sharp, and speakers that sound a little tinnier here.
Overall, though, most people should be satisfied with one of these Vivobooks. There’s little not to like here.
Now, as far as the choice in hardware specs goes, you can get these with Intel Meteor Lake, AMD Hawk Point, or AMD Strix Point hardware. The latter is the newer and most powerful platform, BUT, looks like there’s no top-tier Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 configuration on this lineup. Hence, a Ryzen AI 9 HX 365 is not going to be notably faster than a Ryzen 9 8945HS or a Core Ultra 9 185H.
With that in mind, as well as the fact that the Strix Point Ryzen AI model is a fair bit more expensive than the others, the true value of this series is more in the “older” configurations launched a few months ago, the Vivobook S 15 M540AMA tested here, with AMD hardware, and Vivobook S 14 S5406MA with Intel.
That’s about it for my review of the 2024 Asus Vivobook S 14 OLED M5406 series. Looking forward to your thoughts, feedback, and questions in the comments section down below.
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Review by: Andrei Girbea
Andrei Girbea is a Writer and Editor-in-Chief here at Ultrabookreview.com . I write about mobile technology, laptops and computers in general. I've been doing it for more than 15 years now. I'm a techie with a Bachelor's in Computer Engineering. I mostly write reviews and thorough guides here on the site, with some occasional columns and first-impression articles.
Gabriel Nix
August 31, 2024 at 10:21 am
What would be your pick between this Vivobook S14 R7 8840 model 850$ and ZenBook 14 with same CPU & specs for ~1000$??
Andrei Girbea
September 2, 2024 at 6:21 pm
the zenbook is a little nicer build and has a slighter firmer keyboard, while the Vivobook is more powerful. For general use, I'd lean towards the Zenbook if that price difference is acceptable.
Gabriel Nix
September 3, 2024 at 4:11 am
Thank you. I bought Zenbook UM3406. Let's see how the experience is..
Andrei Girbea
September 3, 2024 at 11:12 am
let us know your feedback after you use it for a while
Glen H
November 9, 2024 at 7:56 am
Hi Andrei, Thanks for the great reviews. My use case is travelling with general office work and some photo editing. I can get the Vivobook s 14 above with the 8945HS and 32gb for 980 euro, the Zenbook with 8840HS an 16gb for 1080 euro or Vivobook S 14 with the same specs as the Zenbook for 860 euro. As an outlier there is the Zenbook with 185H and 32gb for 1350 euro but I think it represents poor value compared to the choices. I am thinking Vivobook with 8945, as 32gb is always helpful and I like the better cooling system.
I respect your opinion as you have spent good time behind these screens, which would you choose? I only ask as your recommendation above for the Zenbook had me wondering.
I am in Australia and just want to say really respect your factual analysis of the laptops with a little less hype than some reviewers. When comparing models it helps to use the same reviewer to compare like with like, you seem to review most and play no favourites. Appreciated!
Andrei Girbea
November 16, 2024 at 3:02 pm
Hi. Sry for the late reply. The Vivobook S 14 is quite a good laptop imo and looks like notably more affordable for you. I've included some side by side pictures in the article.
Sure, the Zenbook is a little more refined in terms of materials/build, but the Vivobook gets better cooling and arguably better performance, as a result of that cooling module and the fact that the hardware can run at higher power. So I'd give the Vivobook a chance, probably that 32 GB model for a little under 1K.
Glen
November 17, 2024 at 9:00 am
Thanks Andrei, I have tried the Vivobook for 48 hours now and a pleasant upgrade from a Lenova. It is all the good and bad points mentioned in your article, a perfect summary by you. The 32Gb version sold out due to my hesitancy, the 16gb was the same price as the Acer Swift Go but with bigger batter and better cooling. Thanks for the great and detailed reviews! A must read for those looking at laptops