One of the laptops that exist in the whole Vivobook line-up from ASUS is the ASUS Vivobook S14 OLED – well, the OLED part being the new addition to the S series of course. Generally, S Series comes with a little bit more powerful specification to drive things well in the productivity department and it’s been true so far. But when you have the ASUS Vivobook 15X which does the same thing for a fraction, why do you even want to get the S14? Here’s our review on the ASUS Vivobook S14 OLED K3402Z.
ASUS Vivobook S14 OLED K3402Z Review
Look and Feel
The ASUS Vivobook S14 K3402Z has a similar design as the Vivobook 15X with a nice grey-black tone which looks pretty understated. But the construction of the Vivobook S14 is a step higher. In the past, we have checked out many S Series and one thing it’s known for is the all-metal build which this laptop comes with – so, in a long run its pretty durable.
There are some hidden elements to make the laptop cool and different – but unfortunately the colour of the laptop doesn’t do enough justice. But otherwise, you will notice the bright escape key which does look pretty cool and some design choices on the keyboard. As for the rest of the laptop, it feels nice and does have some weight to it.
OLED Display Treatment
Just like every other ASUS laptop, the Vivobook S14 K3402Z is no different in the display department. It comes equipped with a 14” 2.8K OLED Display in a 16:10 aspect ratio. At this point we have repeated many times that the OLED display has good colour production, true blacks and better response time. And once again, you don’t have to spend too much to experience a good display – as it has been made as a standard to all their devices across the line-up.
I do love the addition of a physical camera Privacy shutter.
Specification and Performance
As for the specification, the ASUS Vivobook S14 K3402Z comes equipped with the following:
- Intel Core i5-12500H Processor
- 4GB DDR4 On-board and 4GB DDR4 SO-DIMM
- 512GB PCIe NVMe Gen4 SSD
Interestingly, ASUS took a different approach with the Vivobook. The immediate thing we noticed is how it uses a DDR4 RAM instead of DDR5 RAM and for a 12th Generation Intel powered laptop, it sure is surprising. As it turns out, Intel isn’t going all DDR5 just yet and has left a breathing space for DDR4.
While this may seem like an odd choice, it in fact is the right way to go – because not only the laptop has an extra slot to upgrade, DDR4 RAMs are a whole lot more affordable and users would have little to no issues in acquiring one. But you still get the best parts of 12th Gen Intel experience – such as the snappy response, Thunderbolt 4 support and more.
In terms of performance, since it’s paired with DDR4, you do see a bit of a hold back in the performance as to the other laptops we have reviewed so far – but it does outperform the AMD Ryzen 5 5600H we saw with the Vivobook 15X OLED by a good few points in Cinebench R23.
For the most part, this laptop, too, falls in the same realm as the Vivobook 15X as it is a very productivity-oriented laptop. In fact, ASUS has only brought in one configuration for the Malaysian Market, making it easier for consumer to choose what they want. You can check out the benchmark below.
I/O and Power
The choice of ports on this laptop is pretty neat, impressive even. On one side, we do have a slow speed USB 2.0 which is alright as you can use that to connect your mouse or keyboard. On the other side, you have a much faster USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A port, followed by 2x Thunderbolt 4 port which doubles as Power Delivery ports and finally 1 HDMI 2.0b and 1x 3.5mm Combo Jack.
What I do love about this laptop is the USB-C based charging which I appreciate as I can gladly use a different PD that’s capable of charging the laptop while I am on the move.
Conclusion
Honestly, when we were reviewing both the laptop at the same time – we were conflicted because both has some good pros to it but personally, we could see most people would side towards the Vivobook 15X. In that case, who in the world is this ASUS Vivobook S14 OLED K3402Z is even for?
At RM 3,999 – this ASUS Vivobook S14 K3402Z is pretty steep but I’d say this laptop is more of those who are inclined to get a simple 14” laptop that does the essentials with an Intel flavour. Also, it is the premium Vivobook around, a step away from the Zenbooks.
12th Gen processor does come with some interesting inclusion, and it also drives up the cost, and despite that – ASUS has managed to cut some corners and still keep it well below the RM 4000 mark by a hair. We do recommend the ASUS Vivobook 15X OLED more but if you need a smaller laptop and that intel goodness, I don’t see a reason not to get this – unless price is your main concern.
