ASUS Vivobook 15 (x1502) Review: Performance on a budget

Announced earlier this year, the Vivobook 15 (X1502) is now on-sale in Australia and we’re getting to take it for a spin. 

As a member of the more budget focused line, the Vivobook still packs a punch for the $1,299 price tag. 

The laptop comes with a large 15.6” IPS-level display and is powered by up to a 13th gen Intel Core i5, 16GB of RAM, 1TB M.2 SSD – all powered by 42 WHr 3-cel Li-ion battery. 

With a focus on delivering great value, the Vivobook series never fails to impress when it comes to design and the Vivobook 15 is no different with a familiar ASUS design offering a comfortable keyboard, plenty of connections for peripherals and a spacious trackpad to help get work done on the move. 

I got to use the Vivobook 15 for a couple of weeks now and here’s how it went. 

Hardware

Design

The plastic/polycarbonate body of the Vivobook 15 has a warm feel to it, a factor you don’t often think about with all-metal laptops until winter comes along. 

The 16:9 aspect ratio display defines the shape and size of the laptop, giving you plenty of room on the lower deck for a full-sized keyboard with a numeric keypad on the left for data entry. 

The keyboard is, like all ASUS keyboards, lovely to type on with 1.4mm travel – though the keypad feels a bit cramped and tacked on at the end. ASUS does list backlighting as optional, and there’s no sign of it on here, so just something to note if you prefer a backlit keyboard. The trackpad is smooth and nice to use with support for multi-touch gestures.

While it weighs 1.7kg, the Vivobook 15 feels quite lightweight and I held it in one hand quite easily while walking around on a video call. Moving around with it isn’t too much of a worry with a Mil-Spec (MIL-STD810H) military-grade rating to protect against drops, spills and more. 

The body also includes plenty of connections on the Vivobook 15, though concentrated mainly on the right side with dual USB A ports, USB Type-C (USB 3.2 gen1), HDMI 1.4, audio combo jack and DC charging port and a single USB-A port on the left hand side. 

There’s plenty of vents underneath for cooling, with rubberised feet to keep the base off the desk to encourage airflow. ASUS has used upgraded heat pipes and a new 87-blade IceBlades fan that accelerates heat transfer even when you’re making it really work. 

I appreciate some of the flourishes of the Vivobook like the slightly raised panel on the lid, with the hatched filigree next to it, which is also carried onto the keyboard deck on the enter key. It’s not quite the funky orange highlights we saw on the Vivobook S series – but I dig it. 

Display and Audio

A big 15.6” display in 16:9 aspect ratio  and stereo sound is a great start for any laptop to watch some movies or just work through the day. 

It’s the display where we we see some of the cost-saving in their Vivobook line-up. There’s a decently thick bezel around the display, though it does house a Windows Hello compatible webcam with privacy shutter above the display. While the panel is IPS-level, and offers excellent viewing angles, it’s certainly no OLED in terms of colours popping and the deep blacks we know and love, but it’s bright and works well in most conditions. 

There’s an anti-glare matte finish on the display, which works well in brightly lit areas to reduce reflections – and as it’s not a touch screen it also avoids fingerprints. 

The lower refresh rate of 60Hz maximum is also in line with the LED panel, and the Intel Iris X^e integrated GPU certainly doesn’t offer great gaming performance to warrant higher refresh rates. 

There’s dual downward firing speakers on either side of the lower deck offering stereo sound. There’s DTS Audio processing which delivers distortion-free sound, and decent quality bass – though there’s no DTS audio software, just the Dirac Audio manager, which is quite good offering an EQ to tune the sound.

The audio quality is pretty decent, though has a fairly tinny sound when amped up to higher volumes. The effect through headphones is a larger improvement, so the lesson here is to get some great headphones – but the speakers will do in a pinch.

Performance and Connectivity

The Vivobook x1502 is powered by a range of options up to a 13th Gen Intel Core i5 processor with Intel Iris X^e integrated GPU. There’s up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM, as well as up to a 512GB Gen3 M.2 SSD to keep things fairl;y snappy. 

Overall, the performance is pretty darned good for a last-gen CPU, with older RAM and SSD, however the 16GB of RAM and SSD makes all the difference here. Switching apps and loading browser tabs is fast and snappy, as is loading and rendering in apps like Photoshop/Premiere.

Games though aren’t fantastic, with it struggling to load, let alone play Cyberpunk 

Battery and Charging

There’s a decent 42WHr 3-cell Li-Ion battery inside the Vivobook 1502, with a 45W AC adapter included in the box. 

There’s a good business day worth of battery life in the battery, though it’s getting pretty close by the end. You can choose to wipe out the battery with a couple of games on low-res settings to really eat it up.

That’s when you need a good charger and the 45W included in the box is fairly decent. It uses a barrel style connector, though you can also plug in a USB-C charger – however it wouldn’t even recognise my 100W PD charger as a ‘fast’ charger, constantly popping up a slow charger warning. 

Charging speeds are decent, with the first 5-15 minutes getting the fastest results before it begins plateauing, taking a full 90 minutes to recharge from 0% to full.

Software

Running Windows 11 Home 24H2, the latest version of Windows 11, the Vivobook x1502V includes support for security and feature updates until September 2026. 

There is of course a range of pre-installed apps, the usual Microsoft Office 365 and Xbox trials, as well as an Adobe offer for access to a selection of Creative Cloud apps for a limited time. You also get our old friend Mcafee which comes with a 30-day trial – and will throw up pop ups as it approaches the end. 

ASUS load up their apps, including GlideX, their cross-device screen-sharing solution, as well as their MyASUS software which helps ‘maintain your system, update your software, optimise your PC’s performance, and contact ASUS for after-sales service and support’. 

Despite not being a fan of pre-installed apps, I am a big fan of the MyASUS software. It’s simple, easy to use and supports the whole laptop. 

As a whole, the software load is fairly light and a few minutes to uninstall any apps you don’t need is all you need.

Final Thoughts

The key words here are value and performance, which the Vivobook 15 (X1502) has in spades. 

You can start the system pricing off as low as $999, however the $1,299 model configured for the review is a very solid offering with great performance for students, as well as office work. 

The build quality is good, and comes with MIL-Spec rating so it can keep up with your busy life. The display is bright and easy to read and the performance is snappy and works well for all your day-to-day work. 

The audio and battery life could be improved, however it does last a day and you can plug it in if needed.

Overall, this is a good laptop to check out if you’re on a budget, but still want to stretch your dollar to get the best performance. 

The Vivobook 15 is available in Australia now from $999 from major participating retailers, both in-store and online. You can head over to the landing page on the ASUS webpage to check it out further.