Asus Zenbook 14 OLED evaluation: An economical laptop computer with fantastic battery life

The vacation shopping season is constantly an exceptional time to purchase a brand-new Windows laptop computer, however buyers aiming to invest in 2023 appear specifically ruined for option. The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402 attempts to stand apart from the pack with an AMD processor and OLED display screen. It primarily prospers, though its CPU and GPU efficiency fall behind some options. Continue reading to read more.

Trying to find more choices? Take a look at PCWorld’s roundup of the very best laptop computers today.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Specs and functions

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402 is powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, which seems like a lot, however purchaser beware: this is a rebadge of the older Zen 3 architecture, not the Zen 3+ or Zen 4 architecture discovered in more costly AMD-powered devices.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7730U
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5
• Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon Graphics (incorporated)
• Show: 14-inch 2880 × 1800 OLED touchscreen
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Web cam: 1080p
• Connection: 1x HDMI, 2x USB-C 3.2, 1x USB-A, 1x 3.5 mm audio, 1x MicroSD card reader
• Networking: WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
• Biometrics: Fingerprint reader
• Battery capability: 75 watt-hours
• Measurements: 12.35 x 8.69 x 0.67 inches
• Weight: 3.06 pounds
• MSRP: $869.99

Asus sent me the full-fat variation of the Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402, which sets the Ryzen 7 7730U with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB strong state drive for $869.99. An entry-level design with AMD’s Ryzen 5 7530U, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB strong state drive is readily available for $699.99. I anticipate that design to considerably lag the efficiency of the variation I evaluated, however the more economical setup maintains the OLED touchscreen.

IDG/ Matthew Smith

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Design and develop quality

IDG/ Matthew Smith

Asus’ Zenbook laptop computers, which when stood apart thanks to their fancy “concentric circle” style, returned to essentials in the last few years. That’s a bit frustrating. The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402 does not look bad, however it does not look terrific, either. It’s simply another black laptop computer with a subtle metal radiance when the light strikes it simply.

Whether the style is appealing is subjective, however it results in more concrete issues. The laptop computer’s absence of texture makes it hard to determine the laptop computer by touch and most likely to slip out of your hands. Asus consists of a big rubber foot along the bottom-front edge of the chassis, a minimum of, which supplies a grip when getting the laptop computer from the front.

The ho-hum style is a pity, since the Zenbook 14 has an edge over its peers in develop quality. The chassis utilizes thick metal throughout the outside to intensify rigidness, and it works. Show flex is very little and the laptop computer feels rock-solid when managed from a corner or edge. Many options from Acer, Dell, and HP suffer more display screen wobble, and those that utilize a plastic chassis typically enable noticeable flex when held by one corner.

The Asus’ size is almost similar to options like the Lenovo ThinkBook Gen 6, Acer Swift 14, Dell Inspiron 14, and HP Pavilion Plus 14. All of these laptop computers utilize thin screen bezels on 3 sides to accomplish a slim, svelte profile comparable to older 13-inch laptop computers. Weight is a comparable story, though the Zenbook 14’s 3.06 pounds of heft does position it towards the lighter end of the spectrum of sub-$1,000 laptop computers. It’s simple to suit a knapsack or messenger bag, and you’re not likely to see its existence when stowed.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Keyboard, trackpad

My hands instantly discovered a comfy circulation throughout the Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402’s keyboard. While some secrets (such as Tab and Backspace) might be bigger, the alphanumeric secrets are simple to discover and have excellent spacing in between them. There’s a lot of area along the palm rest, too, that makes the keyboard comfy to utilize for hours at a stretch.

Secret travel is not as excellent. There’s healthy essential travel and a common sense of crucial activation, however the bottoming action feels unclear. It works, however it’s not crisp, and it’s one element of the laptop computer that does not feel as premium as it could.

Asus’ touchpad is common for a low-cost Windows laptop computer. It determines practically precisely 5 inches throughout and approximately 3 inches deep. That’s adequate area to utilize most multi-touch gestures conveniently, though the depth felt a bit restricting while scrolling.

The touchpad serves double-duty as a numpad, a function the Zenbook 14 show lots of Asus laptop computers. A long press of the numpad icon on the touchpad triggers a backlight which shows numpad secrets. 14-inch laptop computers aren’t physically big enough to consist of a numpad, so this function is a benefit over Asus’ rivals, however it’s not an alternative to a genuine touchpad.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Display, audio

IDG/ Matthew Smith

Asus fasted to embrace OLED panels when they ended up being more commonly offered in 2021, and the Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402 is no exception. It has a 14-inch OLED touchscreen with a resolution of 2880 × 1800 and HDR assistance.

It’s a terrific screen that punches well above the Zenbook 14’s modest price. OLED’s successfully boundless contrast ratio offers deep, encouraging shadows that draw your eye into the screen. That’s coupled with first-class color efficiency and a broad, dynamic color range.

The screen looks terrific on the Windows desktop, and in daily performance apps like Word, however truly sticks out in home entertainment like Netflix or your preferred PC video game. Material developers will likewise discover a lot to like in the display screen’s color range, which attains 100 percent of DCI-P3 and 94 percent of AdobeRGB. It’s appropriate for a wide array of amateur and expert material production.

Sharpness is another perk. The display screen’s resolution of 2880 × 1800 exercises to approximately 243 pixels per inch. That’s more than a MacBook Air 13 and considerably outshines rivals that stick to 1080p or 1200p resolution (which pack in approximately 160ppi). Little font styles are simple to check out and high-definition video looks crisp.

Brightness is the only noteworthy disadvantage. The Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402 attained an optimum SDR brightness of 357 nits. That’s enough for comfy usage in the majority of circumstances, however the display screen’s shiny surface enables substantial glare. The display screen is tough to see in a brilliant space or outdoors on a bright day.

HDR is supported and carries out fairly well for a budget plan laptop computer. I determined an optimal continual brightness of 549 nits in HDR, which is a substantial enhancement over SDR and enough to offer some sense of included information in HDR videos and HDR video games. It might be much better, however keep in mind: this is a sub-$1,000 laptop computer. I’ve evaluated $1,000 screens with less remarkable HDR.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

Asus stuffs a 1080p web cam in the Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402’s leading bezel. It accomplishes a crisp image with excellent color recreation, yet likewise enables a lot of sound into the image. The outcome is functional for video conferencing however can appear rough and hectic.

I was even less amazed by the microphone. It taped my voice with appropriate volume however had a hollow, compressed quality. I likewise discovered the microphone’s sound rejection lowered the volume of my voice when I slanted my head too far from the center of the display screen.

You’ll discover a finger print reader developed into the power button. It’s a hassle-free and fast option to typing in a password or PIN however, like a lot of finger print readers, it’s undependable if your finger is somewhat damp or filthy. Cheeteo fans need not use.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Connectivity

IDG/ Matthew Smith

USB-C offers the bulk of the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402’s connection through a set of ports on the laptop computer’s best flank. Both assistance USB Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate mode, indicating both can be utilized to charge the laptop computer or link to an external screen. The laptop computer ships with a USB-C power brick to charge the laptop computer through these ports.

The Zenbook 14 likewise had an HDMI 2.1 port, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 2 port, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a microSD card reader. It’s a sensible series of connection, though I would have liked to see another USB-A port. Ethernet is missing out on, however this is normal for numerous laptop computers offered in 2023– and Asus offers a USB-A to RJ45 (Ethernet) adapter in package.

Wireless connection consists of the most recent Wi-Fi requirement, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3. Assistance for both is boilerplate for a modern-day laptop computer at any cost point, however it’s great to see Asus does not cut corners here. Wi-FI efficiency was strong in my screening without any unforeseen dropouts.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Performance

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402 I evaluated had AMD’s Ryzen 7 7730U processor, an eight-core, 16-thread processor with an optimum Turbo Boost speed of 4.5 GHz. It’s coupled with 16GB of memory, a 512GB strong state drive, and incorporated AMD Radeon Graphics with 8 Compute Units.

These specs set the phase for a face-off in between AMD and Intel. The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED, which I evaluated a number of months prior, shares lots of requirements with the Zenbook 14 UM3402 however rather gears up Intel’s Core i5-13500H. The 2 are likewise priced, too (the 14X OLED has an MSRP of $799, while the 14 UM3402 is $869.99).

IDG/ Matthew Smith

PCMark 10, a holistic system criteria, kips down a decent rating of 5,812. That quickly outmatches the Zenbook 14X OLED with an Intel Core i5-13500H, which just scored 5,089. There’s a crucial caution. The 14X OLED just has 8GB of memory, and this does appear to hurt its rating in this standard. The Zenbook 14 does extremely well here, however it’s unclear if AMD’s Ryzen 7 7730U is worthy of the credit.

IDG/ Matthew Smith

Cinebench R20, a greatly multithreaded CPU criteria, once again puts the Zenbook 14 OLED mid-pack with a rating of 4,289. This time, nevertheless, the Intel-powered alternative squeezes ahead with a rating of 4,724. I discovered this a bit unexpected, as Intel’s Core i5-13500H has simply 12 physical cores– 4 less than AMD’s rival.

IDG/ Matthew Smith

It’s a comparable story in Handbrake, where the Ryzen 7 7730U kips down a reasonably dull efficiency. It needed over 31 minutes to transcode a 1080p motion picture from.mp4 to.mkv utilizing the H. 264 codec, which is almost 2 minutes longer than the Intel-powered option. The AMD-powered Zenbook likewise lands rather except other little laptop computers though, to be reasonable, the Lenovo Slim Pro 9, Samsung Galaxy Book3 Pro 360, and HP Dragonfly Pro are more costly.

The CPU standards reveal the Ryzen 7 7730U is a capable processor, however does fall a bit except Intel’s Core i5-13500H. It likewise tends to underperform the Intel Core i7-1360P. This does not sink the Zenbook 14’s forturnes, as this level of efficiency is sufficient for a sub-$1,000 laptop computer.

Why is this the case? It’s since the Ryzen 7 7730U is constructed on AMD’s older Zen 3 architecture, not the Zen 3+ or Zen 4 architecture discovered in more current AMD chips. Do not get me incorrect: the Zenbook 14 OLED feels plenty quick while searching the web or operating in Microsoft Office. Consumers hoping to snag exceptional CPU efficiency on a spending plan ought to think about an option.

IDG/ Matthew Smith

The Zenbook 14 falls brief in graphics efficiency, too. That may appear odd provided the buzz behind AMD’s incorporated Radeon graphics however, when again, the information matter. The Ryzen 7 7730U counts on AMD’s Vega GPU architecture, which is now a couple generations out of date. It likewise has simply 8 Compute Units, 4 less than the 12 Compute Units discovered in top-shelf Ryzen mobile processors.

Real-world video games battle, too. Shadow of the Tomb Raider was unplayable at 1080p settings, as it accomplished approximately simply 15 frames per second (FPS) even with information set to Low. Minimizing the resolution to 720p enhanced efficiency to a barely-passable 31 FPS however, even then, the video game took prolonged detours listed below 30 FPS.

Simply put, the Zenbook 14’s graphics efficiency is bad, and it makes the laptop computer a bad option for PC players.

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UM3402 integrates a power-sipping Ryzen 7 7730U processor with a remarkably big 75 watt-hour battery. That seems like a dish for strong battery life– and it is.

IDG/ Matthew Smith

I saw an outstanding 15 hours and 20 minutes of endurance in PC World’s basic battery test, which loops a 4K file of the brief movie Tears of SteelThat’s nearly 5 hours longer than the Asus Zenbook 14X OLED with an Intel Core i5-13500H processor!

This is a light-load test, and I would typically anticipate real-world battery life to be a bit much shorter (10 to 12 hours of basic Microsoft Office performance and web surfing is reasonable). Still, as the chart reveals, the Zenbook 14 plainly outlives lots of rivals.

The Zenbook 14 OLED’s mobility is even more improved by its small 65-watt USB-C power battery charger, which determines simply 2.25 inches large and an inch thick. It’s simple to toss in a bag and, if you do forget it, the laptop computer can be charged by a wide array of USB-C power adapters.

Asus Zenbook 14 OLED: Should you purchase it?

Asus Zenbook 14 UM3402 is a strong entry into the sub-$1,000 laptop computer arena. It feels more long lasting than lots of rivals, loads a beautiful 14-inch OLED touchscreen, and attains over 15 hours of battery life. These benefits are obstructed by average CPU and GPU efficiency, uninteresting style, and an average touchpad. Whether it’s for you depends upon your top priorities. Those looking for battery life and a lovely display screen ought to definitely snag it, while consumers concentrated on efficiency needs to pass it by.

Author: Matthew S. Smith