Not too long ago, I found myself captivated by the Asus Zenbook 14X OLED, revelling in its compact size, superb build, and stellar all-around performance. I didn’t think I needed another ultraportable laptop, but Asus essentially said, “Hold my beer fam!” and introduced the new Zenbook S 13 OLED. As the name suggests, this one is 13.3 inches and, according to Asus, is the world’s slimmest OLED ultraportable laptop. From the moment I unboxed it, I sensed this one was truly something special. Just to confirm I wasn’t losing my marbles, I handed it to my wife, and her immediate “ooohs” and “aaaahs” affirmed that this isn’t your run-of-the-mill laptop.
With prices starting at $2,099, the Zenbook S 13 OLED is an engineering marvel, boasting a chassis that’s only 1cm at its thickest point while still accommodating a 13th Gen Intel Evo processor and a stunning 13.3-inch 2.8K OLED HDR NanoEdge display. The petite chassis doesn’t compromise on ports or battery life, making it capable of enduring a full day of work and then some. However, this isn’t the laptop for gaming, lacking a discrete GPU like its larger sibling, the Zenbook 14. But if you already have a powerful gaming rig and need a companion device for video editing in bed or binge-watching on a transatlantic flight, stick around.
Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED Review
Let’s start with the remarkable size and weight of the S 13. The chassis, crafted from recycled metal alloys, combines rigidity and durability while weighing only a kilogram. It’s incredibly light and easy to carry around. For the first time, I actually contemplated using a laptop sleeve instead of a whole backpack for this portable powerhouse.
As mentioned, the chassis is only 1cm thick, and that’s towards the back—the front is even slimmer. Despite its diminutive dimensions, the S 13 OLED meets rigorous US Military Grade MIL-STD 810H standard tests, including drop, shock, extreme temperature, and vibration. Rest assured, this laptop will survive more than a few knocks on your daily commute.
There’s ample room for 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, facilitating super-fast data speeds and power delivery for charging. Chargers with a power rating of 65W and above can juice up the S 13 OLED, allowing you to plug it into a compatible monitor that charges while displaying your content. Other ports include a USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1 for 4K 120Hz video output, and an audio jack.
The lid of the laptop features a special Plasma Ceramic aluminum, giving it a unique texture with increased wear resistance, corrosion protection, hardness, and thermal management. This lid ensures you’ll never get smudgy fingerprints, providing the S 13 OLED with a premium look and feel that few other laptops can match. Moreover, the same parts can be recycled for use in other laptops at the end of its life.
Open the lid to reveal the 13.3-inch, 2.8K OLED HDR NanoEdge display, making this small laptop feel larger than life. There are minimal bezels on the sides, with the top being slightly larger to accommodate the Full HD IR camera supporting Windows Hello sign-on. The entire display is supported by a solid ErgoHinge, elevating the laptop slightly to enhance airflow.
The display boasts a 2880 x 1800 resolution in a 16:10 aspect ratio, pixel-sharp with excellent viewing angles. It gets impressively bright at 550 nits (though being OLED, that’s like a 10% window, not the whole screen at once) with a 60Hz refresh rate and 0.2ms response time. Color accuracy is spot on, with 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, making it perfect for color-sensitive work.
The display is also VESA CERTIFIED Display HDR True Black 500 — true black because only OLED panels can achieve that — so you can bet HDR content looks extra crispy. Colors are vibrant, vivid and pop in every piece of content that you view on this display. It’s also emits 70% less harmful blue light earning it a TÜV Rheinland-certification for being easy on the eyes — literally!
While the slow refresh rate might be a downer in late 2023, it’s crucial to remember that this isn’t a gaming laptop, so there’s no need for a higher refresh rate draining the battery life. However, if you manage to run games other than Candy Crush on this laptop, they will look stunning, thanks to OLED’s unique qualities. The infinite contrast delivers perfect inky blacks, making colors and scenes pop with vibrance and sizzle. Watching HDR content has been a joy, and I genuinely wished for a GPU to play the Dead Space Remake on this gorgeous display.
Beneath the display is the keyboard deck with black keycaps contrasting nicely with the grey metal chassis. The keys are wide and offer an excellent typing feel and offer some intelligent white lighting that adjusts to the ambient lighting; sorry, no RGB here. The touchpad is generous, putting many larger gaming laptops to shame. The S 13 OLED features Harmon Kardon-tuned speakers that deliver warm, clean sound—certainly helpful in a pinch, but as always, headphones will be essential. The S 13 OLED supports Dolby Atmos audio, so with compatible headphones or speakers, you’ll enjoy great sound.
Now, let’s delve into the internals of this ultraportable. It boasts a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1355U Processor with 10 cores and 12 threads, coupled with built-in Iris Xe Graphics. This is paired with 16GB LPDDR5 memory and a 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD. While this combination won’t deliver award-winning performance, it’s more than sufficient for most tasks. I was able to handle light editing, extensive writing, streaming, and multitasking without any hiccups or slowdowns.
The best aspect of these component choices is their power efficiency. A full charge on the S 13 OLED will easily provide anywhere between 11 and 13 hours of use, depending on your activities. I’ve never reviewed a laptop that can genuinely claim to be an all-day work machine like the S 13 OLED. Trust me; battery anxiety isn’t a thing with the S 13 OLED.
There’s really nothing like being able to kick back in the lounge and edit a couple of YouTube shorts in CapCut, type out two or three reviews while streaming YouTube videos and not worry about the laptop dying after just an hour. And not to mention the lightweight of the laptop being so much easier to carry on my laps for extended periods of time. This is as close to a MacBook Air user experience as a Windows laptop can get.
Verdict
I’ve often dismissed the term “ultraportable” in the past, considering it mere hype. However, the new Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED has convinced me otherwise. Even without a fancy NVIDIA GPU, preventing me from playing Assassin’s Creed Mirage on my train ride to work, I genuinely adore this little powerhouse. It’s been a joy to sit back and relax in my lounge, effortlessly work for hours without worrying about running out of power.
Truly, if I could change one thing, I would opt for an all-AMD configuration, as proven by formidable laptops like the Asus TUF A16 Advantage Edition. This way, we’d get some gaming prowess as well as power efficiency for on-the-road tasks. Nevertheless, this is a fantastic laptop that I highly recommend to anyone. It is after all, wife approved!
The Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED was kindly loaned to PowerUp Gaming by Asus Australia for the purpose of this review.
