It’s an exciting time to be in tech and for consumers to be in the market for laptops with a new era of design, performance and capabilities hitting the market thanks to AI and the Copilot+ PC generation. The Zenbook S 16 is our new-era highlight today.

ASUS was early out of the blocks here and their AMD Ryzen AI powered Zenbook S 16 is a classic example of design meeting performance and style driving demand.

Zenbook S 16 Design

You’d be hard pressed to fault the physical appearance of the ASUS Zenbook S 16 – it’s slimeline profile immediately exudes a lightweight sense and the etched chrome/silver subtle logo across the cover doesn’t should ASUS to anyone but those deep in the know.

There’s a tiny little ASUS Zenbook wording on the top corner of the cover which again – isn’t so overt that it feels overdone.

Without opening the device you’re drawn to the “Ceraluminum” coating of the cover which is a fusion of Aluminium and Ceramic materials to create the look of particles with the feeling of a matte coating. It’s really quite nice.

And of course it’s lightweight. This thing is 1.5gb and has a thickness of just 1.1cm.

On the inside is a large Trackpad – impossible to fit anything bigger I’d suggest, and above the keyboard you might think is a speaker grill. Spoiler – that’s not a speaker, those are on the underside edges and do a decent job.

But the grill you see above the keyboard is made up of 3522 CNC Machined cooling vents. It’s like a Sara Lee ad from the 80’s with Layer upon Layer upon Layer of small CNC’d circles overlapping to give a really quite impressive effect. Props to the design team for that.

Hardware

Under the hood is the new AMD Ryzen AI 9 (HX370) Processor which also joins Radeon Graphics and includes an NPU capable of 50 Trillion Operations Per Second (TOPS) and that’s tops!

ASUS has also packed in just the right amount of ports on the Zenbook S 16.

On the right side is a USB-A port and full size SD Card slot.

Left side has a 3.5mm Audio jack, Two USB-C ports and a full-size HDMI port.

Perfection.

Under the hood the sound is Harman/kardon powered sound with Dolby Atmos.

All of that is to say this is a Windows Laptop that packs some of the best of what’s out there right now. And it would want to right – for $3,499.

Best of all, the 3K resolution, 16 inch TOUCH SCREEN OLED display is utterly class leading.

Performance

My personal measure of how a Laptop stacks up is the test of video editing. I don’t make Feature Films. I cut some podcasts and simple reviews every week. But the process of editing isn’t what grinds my gears, it’s the export time. I’m a clip, cut crop and trim then export kinda guy. I don’t render here, export there, I do it all in one:)

So when I see a one hour video take well under 20 minutes to render and export, I’m happy. I had a couple that were 12 minutes.

This isn’t studio editing desktop levels, by any measure, but it was impressive to me and proved this could be my day to day road going workhorse.

Geekbench spat out these numbers:

For me, looking at comparative tests, that puts this into Intel Core i7 Territory which is where I’d always want my laptop to be given my work. But I know there are better, and will be better.

I don’t think the Zenbook S 16 is made to be benchmarked.

I think this device is for professionals with a need for portability, performance, and battery life.

And as with all this new era generation PC’s that’s a standout.

ASUS claims 22 hours on the Zenbook S 16.

I pushed brightness up, turned off all power saving and ran this thing into the ground after a morning of work. I started the “test” at 77% and 10 hours later chewed through 66% of that. Broadly speaking at that rate we’re looking at a 15 hour battery life. SUPER IMPRESSIVE given i’m at full brightness and chewing data on Wifi non stop live streaming.

On a regular day my broad calculations show I’d easily hit 18 hours, probably 20. I like a brighter screen ok:)

This leap forward in battery life from one generation to another (a year ago we were looking at 13 hours battery life on a premium Windows PC) of around 65% is just wild, nothing short of impressive.

You will not be disappointed in any way by the viewing experience of the ASUS Zenbook S 16 – the OLED screen is a cracker. Bright, and detailed thanks to the 3K resolution. And of course, it’s a touchscreen!

Using the ASUS Zenbook S 16 day to day

Using a lot of MacBook laptops there’s a familiarity and consistency to them – from machine to machine, you know what the keyboard feels like, and the same goes for the trackpad. Windows PCs are entirely different with brand to brand variations that take some time to adjust to.

It took me a week to become used to the trackpad on the Zenbook S 16. It’s huge, and the haptic press is very different to what I’m used to. That said, I quickly moved to tap not click, and used click when doing a full two handed use of the trackpad and keyboard.

The keyboard is very nice to touch, a soft short throw on the keys, and great spacing of them.

For a device that’s packing so much power the cooling that’s enabled by those CNC vent holes is impressive. I don’t think I’ve heard a fan spinning once.

As for sound – It’s low, this isn’t a device to pump the volume on a video to get the room vibing – this is good for enjoying a video on your own at the desk, but not amazing for say watching a Netflix show in your Hotel room unless you’re sitting it on your literal lap in bed.

Most impressive for sure is the weight and portability of the ASUS Zenbook S 16 – it’s remarkable, and a real selling point.

The TL/DR of the Zenbook S 16

This is a sensational device.

Battery life is impressive.

Performance is fantastic

Design suits the price tag.

What’s not to love? Well the price is up there, and when you’re shelling out $3,499 you’re opening yourself to a much bigger market, many more competitors, so they need to impress. The design, the OLED screen and battery life should get them over the line.

Where to buy the ASUS Zenbook S 16

ASUS sells the Zenbook S 16 direct, and it’s also available now at Harvey Norman and online at Officeworks