The latest in the ASUS AI focused Copilot PC’s was unveiled earlier this month at IFA, with the Zenbook S14 running the newly announced Intel Core Ultra processor (Series 2) to bring exceptional style and performance for the ultimate in AI experiences.
The Zenbook S14 is on-sale today in Australia today, starting from $3,399, and brings with it a 14” 3K OLED display with a smart touchpad for enhanced productivity, battery life up to 27 hours and the new Ceralumium finish for a refined look.
The S14 is an Intel Evo Edition laptop, using the new Core Ultra processor (Series 2) which brings long battery life, along with AI focused improvements to Video Calling, Gaming, Video editing, Multi-tasking with AI software and more. The processor is paired with 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB M.2 Gen 4 SSD and Intel ARC Graphics.
I’ve been using the Zenbook S14 for a little over a week and here’s how it went.
The Zenbook S14 looks much like its larger sibling, the Zenbook S16 which Trevor checked out last month. The lid looks great in the Zumia Grey colourway with the ASUS monogram logo etched into the Ceraluminum coating which brings the strength, durability and feel of ceramic to the adaptability of aluminium, with the rest of the body using a unique all-metal body design.
The overall effect is a thin and light laptop which weighs just 1.2kg and is just 1.1cm thin, which can be easily carried, moved around the house or office, or more importantly, just thrown into a laptop bag – or the convenient, and luxe, slip case that comes in the box – to take with you wherever you go. It has a MIL-spec (US MIL-STD 810H) rating, so it can survive a trip almost anywhere.
There’s plenty of connectivity options on the Zenbook S14, with WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for wireless, and dual USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, audio jack and a HDMI 2.1 port on the let, with a USB Type-A port on the right.
Opening the Zenbook S14 you’re greeted by that large 14” 3K resolution OLED display which has minimal bezels around the sides, and only a slightly larger one at the top to accommodate the Windows Hello compatible webcam.
There’s a spacious Backlit Chiclet keyboard with Copilot key on the lower deck, with the Ergosense touchpad below which has been re-designed to match the 16:10 aspect ratio display which makes it a more intuitive interface when interacting with the display.
The keyboard is easy to type on with slightly dished keycaps making it easy to find and rest your fingertips when touchtyping and just 1.1mm travel for faster activation.
Above the keyboard you get a sleek looking grille which I was disappointed to learn isn’t to cover speakers, though I was more impressed it’s used for the cooling system.
ASUS has done a fair bit with cooling on the Zenbook S14, including graphite sheets, as well as slimmer fans to move air through the vapour chamber to this CNC milled panel. The air is drawn through the base, which has small rubber feet to lift it for airflow – as well as stop it from sliding around on a desk.
The 3K ASUS Lumina OLED touch display is in a 16:10 aspect ratio, which defines the shape of the laptop. The bright and colourful display is complemented by some great quality audio on-board making for a pretty nice movie watching experience.
The 3K ASUS Lumina OLED panel is, as usual, stunning. It’s bright and easy to read even with backlighting, and it offers vibrant colours with the deep blacks you only get from an OLED. It is of course Pantone Validated with HDR True Black certification and it’s Dolby Vision certified. The 120Hz display is always welcome, with the smooth scrolling and great visuals in movies.
The touch display is useful as always, as is the stylus support with ASUS including the ASUS Pen 2.0 in the box.
The Stylus has functional buttons to mimic mouse click and erase, and a button on top. There’s 4096 levels of pressure sensitivity, with options to change nibs to 2H, H, HB or B. The pen lasts up to 140 hours on just a 30 minute charge, so it’s an accessory you don’t have to worry about, it just works.
I’d love to see a dock for the ASUS Pen 2.0 in the laptop itself, but it’s pretty packed inside that chassis.
On the audio side, the Zenbook S14 includes four speakers – two tweeters and two woofers – in its super-slim chassis with Dolby ATMOS support.
The speakers are mounted on the sides and fire down to reflect of the surface the laptop is sitting on. It’s a pretty decent sound with some impressive low end. You can get spatial audio thanks to the ATMOS support on supported headphones.
The Zenbook S14 is powered by the new Intel Core Ultra 7 processor (Series 2) with Intel ARC integrated graphics, with 32GB DDR5 RAM and 1TB M.2 Gen 4 SSD.
The overall performance of the Zenbook S14 with the new Intel Core Ultra 7 processor (series 2) is great. The improved cooling system has the system staying pretty silent for the most part until you put it under intense load.
For office work, photoshop and playing music and videos, the Zenbook S14 is great. The only thing the system struggles with is gaming, and that’s more to do with the Intel ARC integrated GPU.
Games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Fortnite struggled, producing around 13-30fps – though I managed a 3rd place in Fortnite which is far better than my average, so bonus points there.
As usual I ran it through 3DMark and here’s how it went
There’s a decently sized 72WHr 4-cell Li-ion battery inside, with a slim 65W USB Type-C charger included in the box.
The new range of Intel Core Ultra processors (Series 2) has brought some fantastic life to the Zenbook S14, with ASUS promising up to 27 hours of battery life.
In real usage – I’m absolutely impressed with the battery life on the Zenbook S14. It would happily work all day with me doing office work – with some YouTube and general web surfing, and still be ready to go at night to relax on the couch.
I got through two full days of work, though I was glued to the battery meter for the last hour or two.
The 65W charger included is pretty standard for their range. It’s almost cute in size, but has some decent charging speeds. You can get to just over 50% charge in just under 45 minutes, but it takes a full two hours to hit the 100% full mark.
You get Windows 11 Home running on the Zenbook S14, which of course comes with Windows Defender to protect you online.
There’s a range of pre-installed apps, or offers included on the laptop from the likes of Microsoft who really want you to try out all their software, as well as utilities from Intel.
ASUS of course include their myASUS software which gives you access to all the warranty information, diagnostics and support, as well as a place to check out community offerings, or app deals.
The software load I had on the Zenbook S14 was minimal – but it always pays to check what’s installed on your new laptop.
Of course a big part of the new Copilot+ PC range is the AI capabilities of the new processors. The Intel Core Ultra Processor (Series 2) offers 47 Trillion Operations Per Second (TOPS), for all-local AI processing, which is compatible with a range of software vendors.
Microsoft are pushing their AI chops with the Copilot AI assistant, as well as integrations in Office365 and even MSPaint.
The one glaring issue with the Copilot+ PC range is that we are still waiting for the experience to go live on many models. The Zenbook S14 will receive it’s Copilot + PC experience through a free update starting late November 2024. Until that rolls out, there are some AI features you can check out.
The Copilot AI is easily accessible thanks to the Copilot button on the keyboard. It’s easy to just ask Copilot to do something, or even help you plan stuff out. It can take some of the load out of planning tasks, generate images and writing prompts and lots more.
Microsoft has still not sorted out the payments for their AI Image Creator in Paint. I haven’t been able to accrue credit to use here, and seems to underline the lack of Copilot+ functionality which is coming in November.
You can also have a go at ASUS’ AI StoryCube app. It’s a ‘digital asset management’ app, which effectively organises your photos from local storage or connected devices, as well as cloud services including Google Photos, iCloud and OneDrive.
The AI can parse your library and group faces of your family, friends etc. making it easy to find them.
It’s a good app with an easy to use interface, and the grouping works – I just need a faster way to import all the content from other services.
The ASUS Zenbook S14 is an absolute cracker of a small footprint laptop. It’s gorgeous ceraluminum finish makes for a sleek looking unit, and the outstanding battery life, gorgeous OLED display and the coming AI options are an attractive proposition.
There’s not a lot to not love about the Zenbook S14 unless you’re a gamer, or you’re looking for more budget options, but for anyone wanting an ultra-slim and light laptop, this is a fantastic laptop that will serve you well.
The Zenbook S14 is available from today. You can check out the ASUS Zenbook S14 over on the ASUS E-shop, or through JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and Officeworks.
Daniel has been talking about, learning about and using tech since he was able to toggle switches and push buttons. If it flashes, turns on or off or connects he wants to use it, talk about it and learn more about it. Like this article? Buy me a coffee!
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