After having our grubby mitts on the new ASUS Vivobook S 15, their first Copilot+ PC, we’ve come to appreciate it more as we dove deeper. While our critiques still stand, hoping they get improved in the future, we still acknowledge the features before us. Especially the ones that came right out of the box.
As their first Copilot+ PC, it did come with some AI-centric features worth tinkering with. If you’ve been dabbling with creative pursuits, or are besties with your friendly neighborhood chatbot, you’ll feel right at home once you power it on. On paper, the specs make for a very reliable device for everyday tasks, after-work recreation, and some casual gaming on the side. It comes in quite the sturdy, yet lightweight chassis that gives off a no-nonsense vibe–but doesn’t forget to add a bit of flair. The simplicity works in the new Vivobooks’ favor, and in a way, belies its true capabilities.
Off the bat, let’s talk about AI assistance. Copilot+ is a new feature introduced in the slew of new devices across several big brands, and in the case of ASUS, it’s a highlight for the Vivobook S 15. With a dedicated Copilot+ key for easy access, you literally have a treasure trove of knowledge at the push of a button–or at your fingertips. Wordplay aside, you know what we mean.
In our case, we out it through a variety of tests–some of which were rather nonsensical, but we wanted to see the scope of its capabilities. From food recipes, to creating full-blown Youtube scripts, to asking for dating advice–we ran the gauntlet. Save for one particular moment in our full review where it basically shut us up and stonewalled us, every other situation was met with smooth compliance and detailed responses.
Live Captions are another highlight. It supposedly helps substantially in deciphering your co-workers’ mumbling during those ever-so-wonderful Microsoft Teams meetings, but we found more enjoyment in switching them on while watching Youtube.
The best positioning is arguably at the bottom of the screen, as it doesn’t obstruct anything else, and you can click on everything else without hassle. It took a while to fire up at first, but after a couple of software updates, it had no trouble giving adequate subtitles. While it does deliver that errant word or two if the dialogue goes too fast, or is delivered in a certain accent, it’s never too egregious. Context matters, after all.
Once you fire up the dedicated Paint app, you’ll also be greeted by Cocreator. You’ll need to sign in to make use of it, but once you do, it’s off to the races. The more artistically inclined will either see this as an absolute boon to their craft, or something to disregard.
We find it hard to see it being used for anything in-between–unless you’re a meme curator. It does provide a well-drawn out image that mirrors your AI prompt and whatever scribble you have on canvas, though. It’s something nice to tinker with, and it does produce some very interesting results if you wrack your brain for the most outlandish prompts.’
Speaking of photos, you also get a nice way to store them via ASUS Storycube. It requires you to either log in to OneDrive, or your Google Account to access it. You won’t find much use for it if you have your own dedicated cloud storage, and it can be a bit complicated to tinker with at first. Still, it’s a nice addition to the variety of apps you’ll have access to.
Going into some of the meat and potatoes, let’s talk about the 3K 120Hz OLED display. With a 2880 x 1620 resolution and 89% screen-to-body ratio, it was definitely one of the things we enjoyed in our earlier review. Lots of screen real estate, lots to enjoy when it came to binge watching the new aespa music videos. Because those videos are flashy as all hell. In addition, having Harman Kardon-quality audio wasn’t bad either.
ASUS Adaptive Dimming comes in when you’ve been watching for longer periods of time. We’re not entirely sure if there’s a way to completely disable it, but then again why would you? After watching a whole string of videos and playing a couple of hours of Zenless Zone Zero, we didn’t feel the need to take a break–even though we know we should.
Recreation aside, the one concern we really had was regarding Capcut. Being one of the most ubiquitous and easy-to-use video editing software. it most definitely should be accessible on the Vivobook S 15. Sure, we could use Microsoft Clipchamp, or any other app that doesn’t require a dedicated GPU, but that’s beside the point.
Capcut is available on mobile phones, and just as easy to tinker with on lesser gadgets. Not having it on a higher0end device like the new Vivobook is a horribly missed opportunity, as one would likely opt for another laptop that can run it–which there are many. Photo and video editing are part and parcel in a variety of workplaces nowadays. Unlike before, one is expected to have a bit of savviness for both. One can absolutely perform such on other apps, but the convenience of Capcut in its base, unpaid version just blows everyone else out of the water. That being said, we’re glad GIMP works without a hitch. At least our photos are safe.
Again, we’re hoping this is either an isolated problem with our review unit, or simply something that can be rectified with a quick update. Hopefully, it has nothing to do with ASUS powering their new line of laptops with the new Snapdragon X Elite X1E 78 100 Processor.
Speaking of power, let’s talk a bit about hardware before we wrap things up. The 70WHr battery guarantees 18 hours of life for the laptop. We haven’t gotten a chance to completely drain the beast to 0%–as we actually used it as a daily remote workhorse, but we’ve never found the need to bring along its dedicated charging brick. Don’t let the estimated time in the settings fool you, though. It changes in real time, depending on your usage–namely the apps in the background, and browser activity. If it says 6 or 7 hours left, you can expect double of that when you actually use it.
We’ve already talked in length about the chassis and I/O ports, but we appreciated the variety even more once we brought along a separate keyboard, a mouse, and an extra smartphone to upload photos of Sydney Sweeney. Having two of each USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A and USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C port provided just enough for our daily connectivity. The HDMI 2.1 port didn’t see much use, but it was nice to have. As for the Micro SD card reader, we would’ve definitely used it if we had a camera. Having more is better than realizing you needed more in the first place.
The ASUS Vivobook S 15 is a beautiful conundrum. It comes clad in that premium ASUS hardware, lovely-yet-simple aesthetic, and overall reliability you’ve come to know and love about the brand. You can’t deny their reputation as one of the top producers of quality devices. Having Copilot+ be their flagship feature is great–and more so, understandable. The addition of other AI-centric features makes perfect sense, given the “story arc” we’re entering in 2024. They all tie up together nicely. It’s a sensible choice.
Still, we’re holding on to the possibility of Capcut being the aforementioned isolated problem, or fixable with a simple rework. You can tell that we harp on about quite a bit here, but we do feel that having it run smoothly on this new Vivobook would make our overall experience that more complete.
The laptop alone is reliable enough. Specs-wise, it can mow through anything you throw at it, if you consider its purpose. it’s neither for gaming nor for GPU-heavy creative tasks. It’s a workhorse, and it gets the job done with a bit more pizzazz than usual.
The ASUS Vivobook S 15 and priced at PHP 84,995.00 including Lifetime Microsoft Home & Student 2021, a 1-Year Basic Subscription to Microsoft 365, and an ASUS 4A Quality and Service Warranty. It’s also part of the brand’s Cool for School promo, until August 15.
For more information, check out the official website and official ASUS social media pages.