Asus Vivobook 16X Specs
Value: £549
CPU: Intel Core i3-1220p
GPU: Intel UHD graphics
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 512GB SSD
Show: 16-inch (1920 x 1200) IPS
Measurement: 14.1 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches
Weight: 4.1 kilos
It was just a few years in the past that I might scoff on the concept of a “household laptop computer.” Now, I’m wanting on the Asus Vivobook 16X with optimism that it might be an important primary system for fogeys and kids alike.
Give it some thought. What do you search for in a laptop computer for everybody at residence? It’s truly fairly easy: a low worth, sufficient horsepower for the essential wants of everybody in your home, a good show and ergonomics, and a sturdy sufficient design to resist even the stickiest of fingers.
And out of doors of the Huawei MateBook D16, I consider that the Vivobook 16X might be the following nice laptop computer your mother and father will take pleasure in.
Asus Vivobook 16X worth and configurations
So, I’ve obtained some dangerous information for the U.S. The one 16-inch laptop computer you’re getting is a Vivobook 16X Professional, which is a strong system for certain. However at $1,700, it’s definitely not the household laptop computer we’re searching for.
The Vivobook 16X we examined right here (the X1603 mannequin) is extensively accessible within the U.Ok. Listed here are the configurations and costs:
These costs are fairly good for what you get, so we’re off to a very good begin. In actual fact, that base mannequin is £200 lower than the Huawei MateBook D 16, and the equally specced mid-range is £50 much less.
Asus Vivobook 16X design
“Easy” is how I’d describe this design and to be trustworthy, that’s all you want from a laptop computer like this. No flash. No pomp and circumstance. Only a protected laptop computer with a refined, utilitarian design with the extra good thing about what Asus is asking an antibacterial guard.
Going into the nitty gritty, it’s a decently transportable type issue, given the actual fact it’s a 16-inch laptop computer. At 14.1 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches and a weight of 4.1 kilos, that’s barely greater and heavier than the MateBook D 16 (14 x 9.8 x 0.7 inches, 3.7 kilos), however the Dell Inspiron 16 provides a little bit of heft (14 x 9.7 x 0.7 inches, 4.4 kilos), however don’t overlook these are dimensions you’d anticipate from 15-inch laptops, so the truth that Asus has crammed that greater panel makes it a greater package deal than you suppose.
In real-world use, the plastic shell does have a little bit of flex to it, however doesn’t have that telltale creakiness you’d get from cheaper plastic supplies. However let’s get additional into that antibacterial guard, as I believe that is the very factor that makes it a satisfying household system.
This can be a particular silver-ion coating utilized to probably the most often touched elements of the laptop computer floor, together with the keyboard, the touchpad, and the palm relaxation space. Promising a 99% bacterial-inhibiting impact, that’s fairly good on paper for a laptop computer that’s set to have a number of customers in a family.
Nevertheless it goes additional than that into an apparently tactile matte really feel as you caress these surfaces together with your arms. It’s virtually metallic in sensation, despite the fact that it’s plastic, and when you come on the Vivobook 16X with greasy fingers, it’s straightforward to wipe off. So certain, whereas it might not have that premium aluminum shell, to me, it is a solidly-built laptop computer that can stand the check of time (and grubby arms).
Asus Vivobook 16X ports
The Asus Vivobook 16X has sufficient ports for informal productiveness, although they do all favor one facet. On the left, you’ll discover a single USB 2.0 Kind-A port.
Flip over to the proper and there are USB 3.2 Gen 1 Kind-A ports, HDMI 2.0, a USB-C 3.2 port, 3.5 mm audio jack, and the DC charging port.
I might have cherished to see an SD card slot, to assist anybody get pictures off their digicam with ease, however it is a stable choice that gives versatility of use. If you’re searching for extra ports, try the greatest docking stations and greatest USB-C hubs.
Asus Vivobook 16X show
Because the title offers away, you’re getting a 16-inch show — particularly, a 1920 x 1200-pixel decision LED backlit IPS panel with a 16:10 side ratio (nice for productiveness). Asus additionally claims a 178-degree large viewing angle and a 300-nit peak brightness.
Additionally, because the 15-inch laptop-esque dimensions recommend, the screen-to-body ratio must be excessive, which Asus nails with 86%. Whereas I don’t have the particular devices to check the brightness and coloration, I may give you my impressions after a ton of hands-on time and, I have to be trustworthy, it’s high-quality. Nothing spectacular, however high-quality.
Sharpness is crisp sufficient, but it surely’s the colour that can pleasantly shock you — bringing a satisfying vividness to my Andor binge-watching expertise. It additionally let do some mild picture modifying with confidence in its accuracy.
And when you get a late night time urge to get stuff carried out, the panel has been TÜV Rheinland licensed for its low blue mild and flicker-free expertise. However there’s a little little bit of backlight bloom across the edges.
Whereas that is all splendid for working indoors away from the solar, when you begin to introduce some pure mild, it turns into exhausting to see the exercise on-screen. The matte coating over the show does assist just a little, however the brightness simply isn’t there to fight engaged on this laptop computer subsequent to a window on a vibrant day, or exterior in direct daylight.
Asus Vivobook 16X keyboard and touchpad
Asus has taken full benefit of the extra area with a full dimension ErgoSense keyboard — providing a 19.5-millimeter key pitch, subtly dished keys, 1.4mm of journey, and a full numeric keypad, too. Alongside this, the touchpad affords an elevated peak over the MateBook D 16 at 5.2 x 3.5 inches with help for multitouch gestures.
All good on paper, however there’s only a sponginess to the entire expertise that I’m not fairly a fan of for longer periods of use. It’s virtually as if the necessity to present a cushioning impression for each keystroke is just a little too smooth, which removes that satisfying click on and makes you’re feeling you could press tougher. That results in larger fatigue over the course of time (it’s at this level the place I’ve gone again to my Logitech MX Mechanical).
Conversely, whereas the touchpad is clean and does encourage a pleasant gliding motion throughout Home windows, the press feels just a little too shallow, which can generate some unintended interactions. Put merely, utilizing this for getting stuff carried out is ok, but it surely might be higher.
When put by means of its 10FastFingers.com paces, I hit round 76 phrases per minute, which is on the decrease finish of what I usually get and emphasizes how these switches don’t essentially lend themselves to writing Warfare and Peace in a single sitting.
On condition that this must be a productivity-friendly laptop computer for the entire household, it is a little bit of a stumbling level for the Vivobook 16X. It’s not a deal breaker, however one thing price noting. The keyboard does nonetheless, provide even backlighting which is useful when typing in a darkened atmosphere.
Asus Vivobook 16X audio
The Vivobook 16X’s audio system are nothing to put in writing residence about, however they do provide a stable informal listening expertise with first rate definition and a pleasant readability for binge watching or conferencing.
At larger volumes, they do distort barely, as seen when the 808 bass rips by means of the subtleties of Mac Miller’s “2009,” which is essentially unsurprising on a laptop computer of this worth. However chances are high, this isn’t an enormous shocker to you, so plan accordingly with wired or wi-fi headphones.
Asus Vivobook 16X efficiency and graphics
Underneath the hood, this baseline Asus Vivobook 16X packs an Intel Core i3-1220p CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. The top outcomes are precisely what you’d anticipate: nearly sufficient for easy duties, however a slouch in relation to any extra strenuous duties or multitasking.
This comes all the way down to the truth that the p-tier processors lean extra closely on effectivity cores — this one has solely two efficiency cores with eight effectivity cores. The top result’s high-quality for all of the informal use circumstances of a household laptop computer: working a couple of Google Chrome tabs with some 1080p movies on YouTube and a Twitch stream, alongside having Microsoft Phrase open to sort this and Spotify taking part in music within the background didn’t produce any lag in any respect.
Nevertheless it does begin to decelerate once you attempt to do something extra. Adobe Photoshop is a little bit of an albatross across the neck of the i3-1220p, with RAW picture modifying creating moments of stuttering and slowdown, whereas gaming generally is a flat-out mess exterior of informal stuff like Solitaire. Two Level Hospital at low settings places the Intel UHD built-in graphics below overwhelming stress and runs at 15-20 frames per second.
Placing it to the numbers exhibits what I imply, as this hit a Geekbench 5.4 rating of 4,811 and a 3DMark Time Spy benchmark rating of 750. These are far behind the mainstream laptop computer averages (5,824 and 1,379, respectively) and it’s handily defeated by the sooner AMD Ryzen 7 5800U within the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon (6,241 and 1,315). There’s no actual level evaluating this to the Intel Core i7-12700H within the Huawei MateBook D 16, as a result of as you most likely guessed (with a 9,370 Geekbench rating), it breezes previous.
Elsewhere, the Vivobook 16X transcoded a 4K video to 1080p in 12 minutes and 14 seconds on our HandBrake benchmark. It does pip the class common to the submit (12:43), however falls effectively behind the IdeaPad Slim 7 Carbon (8:51).
Nonetheless, I’m not so upset by these outcomes. Certain, these point out a sluggish laptop computer below stress, however don’t overlook we’re speaking a couple of household laptop computer right here. The calls for are totally different — low worth and sufficient energy below the hood to get the fundamentals carried out, which this does ship on whereas being cheaper than its rivals.
Asus Vivobook 16X battery life
As you already know, Laptop computer Magazine has a classy battery life check that mechanically opens up a spread of internet sites to get what we consider is a good consequence throughout the board to guage laptops by. We could not run that testing at the moment, so all I can do is provide you with my impressions on what the stamina is like.
The effectivity cores do a good quantity of the legwork to assist hold it going, however that 50Wh battery on board is simply not massive sufficient for extended utilization — lasting from after I began my work at 9 a.m. (together with a number of Chrome tabs, some mild Photoshop work, and a YouTube-filled lunch break), and managed to get by means of to about 1 p.m. That signifies a lifetime of roughly 4 hours when you use this as supposed, which is clearly not the longest battery life we’ve ever seen in a laptop computer.
Would I like a much bigger energy cell? In fact. You possibly can have an excellent environment friendly chip powering the system, but it surely must be backed up by a cumbersome battery, which this doesn’t have. It will have been a lot better to have just a little extra belief within the longevity with extra watts and higher energy effectivity.
For “household laptop computer” makes use of (selecting it up whereas on the couch with Bake Off taking part in within the background), the charging brick has a generously lengthy cable to plug into retailers throughout the room.
Asus Vivobook 16X webcam
The 720p webcam with a built-in privateness shutter is strictly what you anticipate. It’s a potato, and with out IR for Home windows Hiya help, it’s not precisely a helpful potato.
With a mushy high quality and an amazing fuzziness when positioned below tough lighting circumstances, it’s not a reasonably image. The privateness shutter does add just a little extra confidence in your privateness, however I like to recommend trying out our greatest exterior webcams for a digicam you gained’t be embarrassed to make use of for the likes of informal streaming.
Asus Vivobook 16X warmth
We are able to’t provide you with precise temperatures throughout totally different areas of the Vivobook 16X, as I don’t have that expertise to run correct lab checks. However in real-world use I can affirm that it doesn’t get overly sizzling — warming up solely to temperatures which are greater than snug in your lap.
The proprietary IceCool thermal tech retains the underside barely lukewarm and whereas the most well liked space across the left facet exhaust vent heats up below stress, fan noise is saved to a minimal hum throughout extra strenuous moments of multitasking.
Asus Vivobook 16X software program & guarantee
Asus has actually cleaned up its act lately in relation to proprietary software program and bloatware. Certain, there may be the MyAsus app that gives details about your laptop computer and guarantee particulars, alongside choices to tweak your {hardware} settings. However that’s it!
This retains the laptop computer good and clear so that you can add no matter antivirus apps or extra software program you need. As for {hardware} help itself, the VivoBook 16X comes with a one-year restricted guarantee. You possibly can see how Asus fares basically on this entrance in our Tech Help Showdown.
Backside line
The Asus Vivobook 16X is a perfect laptop computer for the entire household — packing simply sufficient efficiency for the essential wants of a family with a huge display for primary productiveness and binge-watching enjoyment.
For something past that, you’re going to have a foul time. The twelfth Gen Intel Core i3 in right here is sluggish for something past the usual productiveness, the battery life is moderately weak, and the general typing/clicking expertise doesn’t actually have that tactile satisfaction for lengthy periods of utilization.
However when you set your expectations accordingly, and strategy it with the intent of searching for a home-based laptop computer for fogeys and children alike, it is a stable system with worth for cash at its coronary heart. Although when you can spring the additional £150, that Intel i5 mannequin appears to be like mighty tempting.
