- By Vikas Yadav
- Tue, 20 Aug 2024 09:49 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Asus Vivobook S15 Copilot+ PC Review: Artificial Intelligence has been the buzz maker in the gadgets world in recent times. This craze ignited after the explosive rise of ChatGPT, which is being carried upward by Microsoft in Windows with Copilot. In the PC world, the Copilot+ PCs are an attempt in this direction. But do they excel against a typical Windows machine? Asus shipped us their first Vivobook S15 OLED Copilot+ PC (S5507) to check out.
In this review, I will share details about my two-week experience with the Snapdragon X Elite-powered S15 from head to toe while addressing the AI USPs. Firstly, Copilot+ PCs aim to compete in the thin-and-light segment against the Apple MacBook Air (at least this is what Microsoft suggests) in segments like performance and battery life. So, is the Snapdragon and AI mix a killer choice? Let's find out.
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Except for the skinny chassis, the S15 Copilot+ PC looks pretty similar to other premium Vivobooks. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
Design and Build:
Straight out of the package, the Vivobook S15 feels sturdy with its metallic outer shell. It is MIL-STD 810H certified for durability. The lid houses the new minimal Vivobook logo, and the machine is feathery at 1.42kg compared to other Windows counterparts. These numbers also make the laptop super portable and thin at 14.7mm, which can easily rest in your backpack.
You get a wide range of ports (I only craved a full-size SD card slot here) on the side and thermal vents on the rear. On the inside, the hinge can stretch up to 180 degrees with a single hand to let users rest their eyes on the ErgoSense single-zone RGB keyboard and ErgoSense touchpad. Moving the head up exposes an OLED display with minimum bezels, the perfect recipe for visual ecstasy.
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Display:
This Copilot+ PC houses a glossy 15.6-inch 3K ASUS Lumina OLED 120Hz screen with 0.2ms response rate and 600nits HDR peak brightness. It gets VESA DisplayHDR True Black 600 certification, 100 per cent DCI-P3 colour gamut and Pantone validation. While the reflections can be an issue outdoors, the maximum brightness ensures the screen is legible even in daylight.
In day-to-day operations, the display feels like a supremely colourful slate. The narrow bezels (89 per cent screen-to-body ratio) add to the drooling while watching web shows and movies. It can produce a large spectrum of 1.07 billion colours. Considering the competition, I think ASUS has navigated the 'incredible' in the display segment. Complementing the multimedia experience is the 350 per cent sound booster with Smart Amplifier.
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The laptop gets Harman Kardon-certified speakers with Dolby Atmos. But they are a far cry from the MacBooks with a six-speaker unit. Hence, I suggest you use an external sound system. Speaking of high-quality videos, I noticed minor jitters while playing 4K HDR videos. Moreover, colours appear faded in the default preset once you toggle HDR mode for the display. I assume this can be fixed via an update.
Performance:
The laptop runs on a Snapdragon X Elite processor with Adreno graphics and Qualcomm Hexagon NPU capable of 45 Trillion Operations Per Second (TOPS). It sports 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 SSD. Straight to business, it feels snappy across day-to-day business workflows and software programs. Navigating office apps, using Chrome (consistently switching across 50+ tabs), and running benchmarks was breezy.
All this is possible while the fans remain supremely silent and the thermals remain in control. Unlike the S16 which breached 85 degrees during my recent test, this machine managed to sail at around 50-60. Multi-tasking between apps with light gaming can be a casual getaway on this device. Hardcore gamers aside, the laptops pack enough power to satisfy business and general users. Here are the benchmark scores for your reference.
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While the response from the keyboard is favourable while typing, the tiny arrow keys do get frustrating once in a while. I also craved a darker shade for keycaps for better backlight visibility. On the other hand, I have zero complaints about the trackpad. It works like a charm and delivers a premium experience. Finally, let's not forget that this is a Copilot+ PC. So, how is the AI on this one?
Software and AI
The Vivobook S15 runs on Windows 11 Home and packs a diverse range of AI features, including Live Captions and support for Cocreator and more fancy tech. However, the future of the top feature - 'Recall' remains in limbo on AI PCs. The laptop ships with Copilot AI chat assistant and offers Live Captions, Automatic Super Resolution in games, Cocreator in Paint and Windows Studio Effects.
Image created with prompt 'generate an image of Taj Mahal as if it was built one year ago' and adjusted to 16:9 layout. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
To begin with, you get a dedicated Copilot key to summon the AI chat. I visited the assistant to generate images, summarise long texts and simplify technical papers, which you can do on most Windows 11 machines. Live Captions and Windows Studio Effects can be a worthy addition for frequent video call participants (don't count me in there) and caption nerds. But I still ended up with Tactiq for transcribing calls and my phone for better picture quality.
I also used the image creator in Paint but couldn't discover a worthy use case in my daily routine (maybe due to the lack of the 360-degree hinge to activate my drawing antennas in touchscreen mode). In my use case, I tried these sparkling AI features on the first day and moved to my conventional alternatives. But this may not be the case if you use these features from day one and frequently participate in video calls via PC (unlike me) or use the other exclusive AI features.
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Demo of Cocreator in Paint. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
I believe the AI fever is yet to peak on these Copilot+ PCs before they turn into true USPs (similar to AI on Samsung and Google phones) of these machines one day. With all the performance niggles around app compatibility and the premium you pay for the AI features, I would still crave an Intel Ultra for a top-notch notebook at a lower price, search for SaaS-based AI alternatives and let Qualcomm rest inside my phone for now.
Battery:
ASUS claims a battery life of 18+ hours from the 70WHr cell, which can recharge at 90W via the USB-C port. In my real-life testing, I was about to churn out 12 hours of backup from the Copilot+ PC. Charging from 0 to 99 per cent took about two hours and 30 minutes. The battery did not clock 100 even after three hours.
Vivobook S15 Copilot+ PC Charger. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
Beyond this minor issue, the screen on time delivered by this Windows machine was insane (considering prolonged sleep hours in between). I was testing benchmarking apps and games, running YouTube at 4K and watching movies with Wi-Fi connected at all times. The Vivobook S15's backup can give tough competition to Apple's slim-trim MacBooks.
Connectivity:
The laptop gets two USB 4 Type-C, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, HDMI 2.1 (TDMS), a microSD reader and a headphone jack. The USB 4 ports can output a 4K display and offer up to 40GB/s data transfer speeds. Beyond the ports, it gets Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for seamless internet connectivity and device pairing.
ASUS Vivobook S15 Snapdragon X Elite connectivity ports. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
I had no issues with connectivity on this device. The 1080p FHD 3DNR FHD IR webcam with a privacy shutter is decent in quality. It also supports Windows Hello-based login.
ASUS Vivobook S 15 OLED (S5507) Copilot+ PC: Should You Buy?
Sporting a Cool Sliver look, the Vivobook S 15 OLED (S5507) is available for Rs 1,24,990. The pricing of the machine is its strong point compared to the competition in the Copilot+ PCs segment. This Vivoboook is for people who prioritise battery life and snappy performance in day-to-day tasks. However, a fingerprint reader, a full-size microSD card slot and a 360-degree hinge could have made it even better for business users and content creators.
ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED Copilot+ PC is available for Rs 1,24,990. (Image:Vikas Yadav/JE)
As for AI, the features (which still feel 'nice-to-have' and not a solid pro of this machine) and rough app optimisation prove these Copilot PCs are early footsteps into something disruptive in the Windows laptop space, which Apple tried with its 'M' chipsets. To play it safe, you must wait to see how the Copilot+ PC experiments pan out on these premium machines.