Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip assessment: A stable mid-range laptop computer made for germaphobes

November 13, 2022

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In a barrage of laptops launched this yr, Asus’ Vivobook S 14 Flip manages to face out with an reasonably priced price ticket, stable efficiency, and an honest construct high quality. Whereas this wallet-friendly pocket book could idiot you into pondering that cheap could imply low cost, Asus managed to pack in some large punches with the Vivobook S 14 Flip – supplied you’re in a position to stay with a few of this pocket book’s shortcomings as a way to preserve prices at bay.

Coming in at slightly below $700, we have been impressed with the laptop computer’s stable convertible kind issue that helps pen enter and contact, a nifty and hidden quantity pad that’s constructed into the touchpad, stable battery life, and dependable efficiency with its AMD Ryzen 5000 sequence cellular processor.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: Specs

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip front view

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Asus presents a number of configurations of the Vivobook S 14 Flip. Our AMD-build is one in all two Ryzen-powered configurations obtainable for this pocket book, and our assessment unit ships with a Ryzen 5 5600H processor, 8GB of reminiscence, and 512GB of storage.

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Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip specs
Show dimension	14-inch touchscreen, pen-enabled
Decision	1920 x 1200 WUXWGA 16:10 facet ratio
Processor	AMD Ryzen 5 5600H (as reviewed)
Graphics	Built-in Radeon graphics
Storage	512GB M.2 NVMe solid-state drive
Reminiscence	8GB DDR4
Dimensions	12.33 inches x 8.96 inches x 0.74 inches
Weight	3.31 kilos
Working system	Home windows 11
Battery	50Whr

For Intel followers, Asus additionally presents a extra premium model of the Flip with extra premium specs, together with a twelfth Gen Intel Core i7 H-series processor, 14-inch 2.8K show with 90Hz refresh fee, OLED display screen that’s able to displaying 100% of the DCI-P3 coloration house, brighter 600-nit show, and Pantone Validated display screen. The Intel configuration is much like what’s obtainable on our assessment unit of the non-convertible Asus Vivobook S14X.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: Design

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip lid

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Regardless of occupying a extra funds place in Asus’ laptop computer universe, the Vivobook S14 Flip takes loads of inspiration from the marginally extra premium non-convertible Vivobook S14X. Just like the extra premium Intel-powered Vivobook S14X, design options like a metallic lid with an embossed badge, racing stripe detailing on the Enter key, a barely recessed keyboard deck, and aspect venting particulars which are paying homage to a sports activities automobile all make a return on the Flip.

These acquainted components aren’t totally all unhealthy – the metallic lid helps add a premium really feel, particularly on a convertible with a 360-degree hinge, and the keys on the non-convertible mannequin have been respectable. In contrast to the S14X, the Flip doesn’t have the evident firehose crimson Esc key, and that alone could also be cause sufficient to select this mannequin over its non-convertible stablemate.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip tent mode

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

The place the 2 Vivobook fashions start to deviate is construct high quality. Whereas the S14X is usually cloaked in metallic, the Flip makes use of plastic for a lot of its construct save for the laptop computer lid. Which means you’re getting a bit extra flexing on the keyboard deck and the detachable backside cowl can be plastic. There’s a little bit of flexing in case you’re typing laborious, particularly close to the middle of the keyboard.

Nonetheless, most individuals will not be as fussy concerning the particulars – the flexing doesn’t detract from the sturdiness or the usability of the laptop computer, and most of the people received’t be attempting to twist their laptops into Gumby, so it shouldn’t be an issue. For a $700 laptop computer, the slight flexing is excusable right here, however I additionally want that Asus had opted to make use of a metallic backside cowl to assist counter some torsion forces which are current in case you’re grabbing the Flip from one nook of the chassis.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip rubber bumpers

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

One other grievance is that to assist compensate for the marginally recessed place of the keyboard deck and to ship safety to the display screen when the Flip is closed, Asus added two rubber bumpers on the hinge on the keyboard deck. Whereas these items present show safety and assist to cushion the affect on the glass display screen if weight or power was positioned on the lid of the laptop computer when the Flip is closed, they cheapen the aesthetic of the pocket book, and the rubber materials attracts unpleasant lint and mud.

Apart from these small gripes, the Vivobook S 14 Flip advantages from a really muted {and professional} aesthetic, with its darkish matte blue hue. Faculty college students seeking to choose up the Flip received’t really feel misplaced in the event that they land an expert internship or land an workplace job post-graduation.

The minimalist aesthetic makes this laptop computer seem extra premium than it really is, with easy surfaces and straight traces, a matte end, and polished accents on the hinge cowl. The Vivobook’s angular traces, darker blue hue, racing-like accents make this laptop computer look masculine with out being saddled with a number of the garish thrives which are extra generally discovered on gaming notebooks.

And at slightly below three-quarters of an inch thick, the Flip is slim and lightweight sufficient to be the proper research companion throughout the faculty day, particularly when coupled with the pocket book’s all-day battery life.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip Right ports

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

The number of ports on the Flip is beneficiant, particularly for a convertible. You’ll discover two USB-A ports, a single USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, a combo audio jack, HDMI port, and a barrel charging port. Given which you can already cost the laptop computer with the USB-C port, the 90W barrel charging port and twin USB-A ports seem to be wasted house on the pocket book. As an alternative, I’d prefer to see Asus add one or two further USB-C ports to this mannequin – the Vivobook S14X has two USB-C ports along with two USB-A ports, for reference.

For wi-fi connections, you’ll have entry to Wi-Fi 6 – the Wi-Fi 6E customary isn’t current right here, however that’s not an enormous deal given the mid-range demographics that Asus is focusing on with Flip – and Bluetooth 5.2 on this pocket book.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip left ports

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Many of the laptop computer’s followers and energetic vents are situated on the left aspect of the pocket book. Usually, fan noise is not extraordinarily loud, but when the Vivobook is beneath stress, you may undoubtedly hear the blades spinning – at ear stage in regular laptop computer use, our noise meter picked up 45dBA. For comparability, that sound stage is about the identical loudness as a suburban space at evening.

My drawback isn’t the loudness of the fan, however that at occasions, the fan was consistently engaged even when nothing is occurring on the system, whereas the laptop computer will be extraordinarily quiet throughout different intervals.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip vents

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

That is far completely different from my expertise with extra trendy notebooks the place the followers would solely interact if the system have been beneath heavy load. Apple’s M1-powered MacBook Professional, for instance, operates in silence, even when beneath heavy stress.

Nearer to the vent, fan noise reached near 65dBA, which is the equal of the loudness of a traditional dialog. A vacuum cleaner is about 70-75dBA.

That mentioned, the followers do the job, and the warmth may be very properly managed.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: Keyboard, trackpad, and quantity pad

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip numeric pad on trackpad

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Essentially the most notable – and distinctive – enter characteristic on the Flip is its second display screen, which is constructed into the touchpad space. This second display screen is a intelligent option to deliver a quantity pad right into a compact sub-15-inch laptop computer. Usually, solely laptops with display screen sizes above 15 or 17 inches include a devoted quantity pad, and this characteristic makes it straightforward for these working in Excel spreadsheets to enter numbers whereas retaining the Flip’s compact 14-inch show kind issue.

A capacitive contact calculator button on the higher proper aspect of the touchpad permits the quantity pad. Tapping and holding on that button prompts the quantity pad, which is able to activate with backlighting. Right here, you’ll see the numbers and a few fundamental calculator buttons for addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and %, in addition to a backspace, enter, and equal signal.

As somebody who solely sometimes works on lengthy Excel spreadsheets, I actually appreciated Asus’ reimagining of the quantity pad with this second display screen. It’s helpful on the uncommon event that I would like it, and the design signifies that the keyboard nonetheless is compact and stays centered with the laptop computer’s show for ergonomic use.

After I do use the quantity pad, it’s as responsive as tapping on any capacitive touchscreen. The large caveat right here is that those that ceaselessly depend on a numeric pad for enter received’t have the ability to take action blindly – there aren’t any raised keys right here to really feel round. Should you’re an accountant, bookkeeper, or an Excel wizard, investing in a laptop computer with a devoted quantity pad would be the wiser, extra ergonomic possibility.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip keyboard, side view

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Given how pleasant the quantity pad is on this laptop computer, Asus’ cost-cutting measures to maintain the sub-$700 beginning value on the Vivobook S 14 Flip turns into extra obviously obvious. Whereas the touchpad floor is easy, it seems like plastic as a substitute of glass – having a extra premium floor for the numeric pad would have elevated the expertise a contact – and urgent down laborious on the touchpad actually reveals the creasing and flexing within the plastic construct. Whereas the whole lot works as they need to – the cursor tracks easily, and I didn’t expertise any jumpiness there – these trivial particulars develop into extra annoying in case you go for a higher-end configuration of the Flip. Our Ryzen 5 assessment unit is available in at $690 however upgrading to the Ryzen 7 5800H mannequin with 1TB of RAM brings you over $1,100. That’s MacBook Air territory, and Apple’s laptops have a way more stable unibody aluminum development. At that value, the Flip will even compete with the $1,000 Asus Vivobook S14X, which comes with an OLED show and no flexing.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip keyboard

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

The keyboard on the Flip is spacious, with ample spacing between keys and a big key cap. Whereas the keyboard delivers respectable key journey, typing on the Flip isn’t probably the most comfy expertise. Whereas key journey is usually wonderful at 1.4mm, I discovered that in typing, the keys backside out too shortly and abruptly. It is a bit uncommon for a keyboard with this quantity of key journey, because the scenario is extra frequent on keyboard with 1.1mm or much less of journey. This results in fatigue when engaged on longer paperwork, and maybe if Asus had turned up the actuation power, it might assist enhance the typing expertise.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip function keys

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Whereas the keyboard expertise might use a bit extra finessing, I appreciated Asus’ perform keys. For a client laptop computer, devoted keys to mute the microphone, take a screenshot, and toggling the digicam make this laptop computer extra consumer pleasant.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: Show, webcam, and audio system

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip display

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

One other apparent cost-cutting measure with the Vivobook S14 Flip is its show. Whereas we respect the 14-inch laptop computer’s barely taller display screen facet ratio – it’s 16:10 in comparison with the standard 16:9 on most funds notebooks – for productiveness duties, colours weren’t as correct as another opponents within the sub-$1,000 value level. We discovered that the display screen coated 64% of the sRGB coloration house, 48% of the P3 coloration house, and 49% of the broad Adobe sRGB coloration house. Coupled with a excessive delta E common rating of three.68, the show on this Vivobook shouldn’t be very coloration correct and will not be good for manufacturing workflows.

Datacolor screen analysis

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

For informal computing customers, the display screen panel will work superb except you’re engaged on photograph or video content material. Shade accuracy received’t be a problem in any respect for many customers who’re coping with Phrase paperwork, internet shopping, or media consumption.

The display screen, nevertheless, advantages from notably good uniform brightness throughout the panel, which means you will not get any uneven vibrant spots. The distinction was additionally wonderful, in response to our Datacolor Spyder X Elite benchmark. The general show ranking in response to this check was a 4 out of 5.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip outdoors under sunlight

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

And at 310 nits, the display screen is barely brighter than the 300-nit common on most slim-and-light laptops within the class. The display screen may be very usable indoors, but it surely shortly will get washed out beneath vibrant mild. Glare and reflection are additionally current with this display screen. The slim bezels and edge-to-edge glass on the display screen provides this a contemporary aesthetic in keeping with its rivals.

Should you’re utilizing the Vivobook inside at evening, the display screen will get all the way down to about 11.9 nits of brightness.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip Datacolor Spyder X Elite screen analysis

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

The show helps contact, which is good contemplating that the laptop computer will be remodeled right into a pill, and pen enter. A pen shouldn’t be included within the bundle and can have to be bought individually.

I discovered the 16:10 facet ratio nice for productiveness, with a barely taller display screen that is extra fitted to multitasking and studying. You’ll discover some letterboxing in case you’re watching 16:9 movies full display screen. In pill mode, when the Flip is held in portrait orientation, the bigger show and facet ratio make the Flip really feel extra unwieldy in comparison with extra “sq.” screens used on the Floor Professional 8 or the Apple iPad Professional. The iPad Professional, for reference, has a 4:3 facet ratio show, whereas Microsoft’s pill employs a 3:2 display screen.

For multimedia consumption, the bottom-firing audio system carried out decently. Quantity ranges have been adequately excessive, able to filling a complete room with background music, and there was sufficient definition within the mids and highs. Should you’re in search of an immersive leisure expertise, you’ll need to deliver your individual headphones provided that the Flip’s bass division is sorely missing.

And despite the fact that the show will not be a excessive level for the Flip, I appreciated that the laptop computer comes with a greater than common webcam full with its personal hardware-based privateness shutter. The 1080p webcam is healthier than what you’ll get on extra budget-oriented methods, and Asus employs some A.I. methods to assist with noise discount and sharpening to provide you higher particulars and picture high quality even in harsher ambient lighting circumstances. A slider on the very high edge can be utilized to slip over the privateness shutter. As soon as the shutter is engaged, you’ll discover a crimson dot over the lens of webcam for peace of thoughts in case you’re nonetheless on a name or the digicam has been remotely activated. Asus’ A.I. magic additionally works with the dual-microphone setup, which helps scale back background noise throughout your video calls.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip privacy shutter over webcam

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

The Vivobook S14 Flip lacks an IR digicam, so there received’t be any Home windows Good day facial recognition used for password-less logins. As an alternative, biometric safety is dealt with solely by the fingerprint sensor, which is positioned – like on the Vivobook S14 X – awkwardly on a key simply left of the Delete key on the Operate row of the keyboard. Not solely is that this key place a bit awkward – I’d a lot fairly see it on the precise fringe of the row, like what Apple did on current generations of the MacBook Professional – but it surely makes accessing the sensor tough when the Flip is used as a pill. Some producers compensate for the convertible kind issue by inserting the fingerprint sensor on one of many laptop computer’s aspect edges, making it simpler to entry in both mode. The sensor, nevertheless, is quick, correct, and responsive.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: Asus innovation

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip hinge

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Apart from the nifty on-demand numeric pad, Asus additionally coated the Flip with an antibacterial coating. Dubbed the Antibacterial Guard know-how, the silver-ion coating is discovered all through the laptop computer’s surfaces, together with on the keyboard and touchpad. Asus claims that in a interval of 24 hours, the Antibacterial Guard can inhibit micro organism by 99%.

“To make sure the effectiveness of the therapy, unbiased labs examined Antibacterial Guard in response to the strict ISO 22196 customary check protocol,” the corporate mentioned. “It is a technique designed to quantitatively check the power of plastics and non-porous surfaces to inhibit the expansion of micro organism over a 24-hour interval of contact. The check makes use of bacterial cultures that embody Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus, that are broadly used as business check targets. The outcomes confirmed that this particular therapy efficiently lowered the variety of micro organism by greater than 99% over the period of the check.”

Asus expects to increase its Antibacterial Guard coating to 88% of its laptops, together with future fashions within the Vivobook and Zenbook traces. The coating will ship no less than three years of safety in regular utilization, the corporate claimed, and it’s proof against cleansing merchandise, alcohol wipes, and soapy water.

It ought to be famous that the Antibacterial Guard is supposed to guard towards the unfold of micro organism, and never viruses, so the safety received’t be helpful towards the flu virus, for instance.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: Efficiency

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Our assessment configuration of the Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip ships with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H processor, built-in Radeon graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of solid-state storage alongside a 14-inch WUXGA IPS show. Asus additionally presents a greater configuration that ships with double the storage and reminiscence alongside a greater Ryzen 7 5800H processor, however that mannequin is available in at a $410 premium.

In productiveness assessments, our entry-level configuration of the Vivobook S 14 Flip carried out properly, regardless of coming with a extra mid-range Ryzen cellular processor. Our testing revealed that the Ryzen processor’s artificial benchmark outcomes held up with real-world testing in productiveness duties, exhibiting that the Ryzen 5 can maintain its personal.

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Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: PCMark 10 benchmark

The Geekbench 5 scores of 1,204 and 5,120 factors for single-core and multi-core efficiency, respectively, is inside vary of Intel’s U-series twelfth Gen Core i7 processors, but it surely wasn’t as robust because the extra performance-packed H-series silicon that was discovered on our extra premium Vivobook S14X OLED laptop computer. Equally, the Cinebench R23 benchmarks of 1,385 and eight,852 for single-core and multi-core efficiency, respectively, aren’t practically as excessive because the H-series Intel configuration, however the Ryzen 5 edges out the U-series.

In real-world testing, the Ryzen 5 by no means stumbled in any of the productiveness duties we threw at it, from juggling a number of Phrase, Excel, and PowerPoint paperwork to opening a number of browsers with a number of browser tabs.

My greatest grievance within the productiveness division is Asus’ bundling of McAfee. Pop-up containers reminding you to activate the antivirus software program detracted from an in any other case stable software program expertise. Asus additionally included a number of of its personal customizations on the Vivobook, which helps tailor the expertise of the Flip. These tweaks will be discovered within the myAsus title, which additionally capabilities as a coupon ebook with reductions to different paid software program packages, making the expertise really feel a bit cluttered.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip top view of keyboard

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Faculty college students, residence customers, and even budget-oriented executives received’t discover any sluggishness with this laptop computer for many duties, together with film and video streaming, convention calling, music listening, and extra.

Gaming is one other story. Even for informal gaming, Flip’s anemic GPU efficiency makes it a poor system for something however probably the most informal video games. With its 3DMark Time Spy rating of 836, you undoubtedly will need to restrict this laptop computer’s duties to productiveness capabilities.

One other cost-cutting measure that was employed on the Vivobook S14 Flip by Asus is using a slower solid-state drive. The SSD inside this pocket book is among the slower ones that we’ve seen, but it surely nonetheless will get the job finished. Except you’re transferring extraordinarily massive recordsdata, you actually received’t discover the anemic speeds in day-to-day operations.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip CrystalDiskMark benchmark results

(Picture credit score: Caleb Hunt)

Utilizing our CrystalDiskMark benchmarking instrument, the SSD achieved a peak learn velocity of two,234 MB/s and a peak write velocity of 1,161 MB/s. That is considerably slower, for comparability, towards Asus’ premium ZenBook Professional 14 Duo, with its peak learn velocity of 6,915 MB/s and peak write velocity of 5,214 MB/s.

Which means the ZenBook’s drive is 3 times quicker at studying and practically 4.5 occasions quicker at writing than the Flip!

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip SSD benchmark.

(Picture credit score: Chuong Nguyen)

Common learn and write speeds hovered round 1,124 MB/s and 737.35 MB/s, respectively.

In our video encoding check utilizing the Handbrake software program, the Vivobook was in a position to full encoding our 12-minute, 14-second 4K video file in 11 minutes and 57 seconds.

With a concentrate on productiveness, battery life is a vibrant spot for the Vivobook S 14 Flip. We acquired anyplace between 9 hours and quarter-hour of battery life to 10 hours and half-hour of battery life on a single cost with its 50Whr battery, matching the outcomes of our artificial battery benchmark for productiveness.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: The competitors

The 2021 HP Envy x360 15.

(Picture credit score: Home windows Central)

Within the mid-range section, there’s loads of competitors for Asus’ Vivobook S14 Flip. HP’s Envy x360 is a wonderful contender on this house. On sale for simply $599, the Ryzen 5 5625U configuration of the Envy x360 has a decrease beginning value however does with simply half the storage capability as our Flip assessment unit. HP additionally presents an Intel Core i5-1235U configuration that begins at simply $649.

Lenovo’s IdeaPad 3 sequence can be value aggressive. A Ryzen 3 5425U configuration of this pocket book with the identical RAM and storage begins at $524 however doesn’t have a convertible display screen. The IdeaPad Flex 5 with a 16-inch show and AMD processor is now on sale beginning at $539 via Lenovo.

On the higher-end configuration, the Vivobook S 14 Flip additionally competes towards Apple’s newest MacBook Air. The M1 mannequin begins at $999, with the M2 processor coming in at a $200 premium. Although Apple’s laptop computer doesn’t run Home windows, it advantages from Apple’s tight {hardware} and software program integration, leading to robust efficiency, lengthy battery life, and integration with that firm’s cell phones.

Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: Must you purchase it?

You can purchase this if …

You depend on a laptop computer solely for productiveness duties.
You sometimes want entry to a devoted numeric pad for getting into numbers.
You want a Home windows 11 laptop computer with lengthy battery life.
You need a thin-and-light pocket book for work, journey, or faculty.

You should not purchase this if …

You need a gaming laptop computer, even for simply informal gaming.
You are a inventive skilled in search of a color-accurate show.
You need stable all-metal construct high quality

Whereas it is simple to knock the Vivobook S 14 Flip for its shortcomings, Asus’ valiant efforts at retaining this pocket book to a beginning value of lower than $700 also needs to be acknowledged. If the Vivobook prices $1,500, then it would be a distinct story. As an alternative, for an reasonably priced pocket book, you are still getting a specs sheet that reads like a premium pocket book, together with an honest quantity of reminiscence, copious 512GB of solid-state storage, and a touchscreen convertible show all in a thin-and-light bundle with stable battery efficiency.

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Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip assessment: A stable mid-range laptop computer made for germaphobes

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