Asus Vivobook S14 (Q423) review: A few surprising strengths and one critical flaw

Laptops under $1,000 always require compromises, but there are some areas where you shouldn’t accept subpar performance.

The Asus Vivobook S14 tests this approach by balancing a couple of unexpected strengths with a critical flaw. The Vivobook’s gaming performance exceeded my expectations and it offers impressive battery life, although its overall performance is lacking. Depending on what you use your laptop for, those strengths could be enough to overlook one crucial, subpar test score, but should you overlook it? Maybe not.

I spent several days testing out the Vivobook S14, using it for work, streaming, and gaming. My experience, along with our rigorous lab testing, highlighted where the Vivobook shines and where it falls short. It may not be the best laptop you can buy, but there’s something here.

Asus Vivobook S14: Specs and benchmarks

Asus Vivobook S14: Price and configurations

The Asus Vivobook S14 costs $949 and includes an Intel Core Ultra 5 226V processor, Intel Arc integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 14-inch 1920 x 1200 OLED display. This is the only configuration available at the time of writing.

If you’re looking for something a little cheaper, check out the best budget laptops.

Asus Vivobook S14: Design

When I first laid eyes on the Asus Vivobook S14, it immediately reminded me of the Asus ProArt PX13. I loved the design on the PX13, and the Vivobook S14’s similar look is just as sleek and stylish. It sports a matte black unibody metal chassis that’s polished and minimalistic. The only downside to this design is how well it picks up fingerprints.

My review unit was covered in smudges and fingerprints on the lid and deck within minutes of unpacking it. Of course, it’s easy enough to wipe off fingerprints, but it is a bit frustrating nonetheless.

Inside, the Vivobook S14 features a roomy, snappy keyboard with a complete row of function keys with pre-assigned media functions such as brightness and volume. The only thing I don’t like about this keyboard is the placement of the power button. It is integrated into the keyboard between the Print Screen and Delete keys and looks and feels just like the keys on either side, so it’s easy to hit the power button by mistake.

It’s worth noting that the Vivobook S14, unlike the ProArt PX13, is not a 2-in-1 laptop and does not have a touchscreen. If those are must-have features, you will most likely be better served with one of the best 2-in-1 laptops.

The Vivobook S14 is fairly compact, measuring 12.22 x 8.74 x 0.55 inches. It weighs just 2.87 pounds, making it highly portable. To put that into context, here’s a look at how a few similar laptops compare:

• M3 MacBook Air 13-inch: 11.97 x 8.46 x 0.44 inches, 2.7 pounds
• Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X: 12.8 x 8.8 x 0.51 inches, 2.8 pounds
• Asus Zenbook 14 (Q425M): 12.3 x 8.67 x 0.59 inches, 3 pounds

Asus Vivobook S14: Ports

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The Vivobook S14 has an impressive variety of ports that should be more than enough for the average user, including:

• 2x USB Type-A
• 2x USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4
• 1x HDMI 2.1
• 1x microSD card reader
• 1x 3.5mm headphone jack

Those ports were plenty for me, but if you need more, you can always hook the Vivobook S14 up to one of the best USB Type-C hubs or one of the best laptop docking stations.

Asus Vivobook S14: Battery life

Battery life is one of the Vivobook S14’s greatest strengths. It lasted an impressive 17 hours and 40 minutes in our battery life test. The Asus Zenbook 14 came closest to the Vivobook’s time, but still fell nearly two hours behind with a time of 15 hours and 52 minutes. The M3 Macbook Air and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x were even further behind the Vivobook’s time.

With nearly 18 hours of battery life, the Vivobook S14 can easily get through a full day of work or school without a charger. I was even able to stretch it to two days between charges during my hands-on testing.

Asus Vivobook S14: Display

The Asus Vivobook S14 has a 14-inch 1920 x 1200 OLED display, so I had high expectations for it. It looked good overall during my testing, with strong contrast, vivid colors, and sharp text.

I watched a few episodes of Agatha All Along on Disney Plus on the Vivobook. The show’s rich autumnal tones and vibrant special effects looked fantastic on the Vivbook’s OLED panel. In fact, the only thing I didn’t like was how reflective the display is. Glare and reflections were frustrating distractions while watching visually dark or dimly lit scenes. This is a minor inconvenience, but I would have appreciated a stronger anti-glare layer on the display.

Now, our test scores don’t quite reflect my full visual experience, but before you see them, let me add some context. Our testing relies on software that measures OLED color gamut volume differently than some manufacturers, like Asus, resulting in scores that may be lower than what manufacturers claim.

The Vivobook S14 did score lower than I expected, but so did most of its rivals:

Asus Vivobook S14: Keyboard and touchpad

The Vivobook S14 features a roomy, snappy keyboard I thoroughly enjoyed typing on. The keys are large and well-spaced so I rarely found myself hitting the wrong key by mistake. The keycaps sport thin white legends that add to the Vivobook’s overall minimalistic look.

On the Monkeytype typing test, I scored 102 words per minute with 98% accuracy on the Vivobook S14, which is above average for me. In fact, that’s not far behind my current top score of 105 wpm with 100% accuracy, which I scored on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x.

The touchpad is a decent size, as well, measuring 5.3 x 3.5 inches. It has a smooth, matte finish that picks up fingerprints very easily but without any friction or lag. The touchpad also supports some convenient gestures. For example, if you swipe up or down on the left edge of the touchpad while audio is playing, you can adjust the volume.

Asus Vivobook S14: Audio

I had a good audio experience overall on the Vivobook S14. It has bottom-firing speakers, which I’m generally not a fan of, but they get loud enough to compensate for muffling in most cases. When the Vivobook S14 is on a hard surface like a desk, the bottom-firing speakers are clearer and easier to hear. Still, I would have preferred top-firing or front-firing speakers.

I watched a few episodes of Agatha All Along on Disney Plus and had to turn up the volume to around 70 or 80 to hear everything clearly. That’s louder than I normally need to have the volume, but it still sounded good with clear audio, crisp background noise, and punchy music.

I listened to Burna Boy’s “Alone” on the Vivobook S14, as well, and was impressed by how well the speakers handled the song. It was smooth and well-balanced with crisp percussion, good bass, and slick vocals.

Asus Vivobook S14: Performance and heat

Overall performance is one area where the Vivobook S14 could have scored better. It is powered by one of Intel’s new “Lunar Lake” processors, the Intel Core Ultra 5 226V. Now, at this price, I was really hoping to see an Intel Core Ultra 7 CPU, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt.

The Vivobook S14 kept up fairly well in my hands-on testing. It had no issues with basic tasks like web browsing and word processing. In fact, I didn’t run into any significant slow downs until I tried gaming on the Vivobook. So, if you mainly want to use your laptop for web browsing, streaming, studying, or similar low-power tasks, the Vivobook will probably be just fine. However, it is worth taking a look at how it compares to its rivals.

The Vivobook S14 scored significantly lower than comparable laptops. The MacBook Air M3 and Asus Zenbook 14 both handily crushed the Vivobook while the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X came out on top by a wide margin. So, all of these comparison laptops are more capable than the Vivobook S14 in terms of processing power, particularly the similarly-priced Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X.

The Vivobook S14 peaked at a toasty 102 degrees, which exceeds our 95-degree comfort threshold. It’s worth noting, though, that I only noticed the Vivobook getting noticeably warm along the top edge of the keyboard deck, mainly during resource-intensive tasks like gaming. It stayed fairly cool during low-power tasks like web browsing.

Asus Vivobook S14: Gaming and graphics

The Vivobook S14 is not a gaming laptop by any means, but many mainstream laptops offer surprisingly good gaming performance. The Vivobook S14 happens to fall into that camp with its Intel Arc integrated graphics. It scored higher than I expected on our gaming benchmarks and performed fairly well in my hands-on testing.

The Vivobook S14 averaged 51.4 frames per second on the Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm benchmark at Medium, 1080p, scoring higher than all of its rivals. The MacBook Air M3 was the only one that came close, averaging 41.3 fps.

I noticed similarly decent performance in Death’s Door. This is a fairly lightweight indie title, but it can be more graphically demanding than it looks, especially for laptops running on integrated graphics. The Vivobook S14 handled it well, though, with an average of 60 fps in full resolution (1920 x 1200). Movement and combat were smooth with little to no lag or freezing. While the Vivobook S14 might not be a gaming laptop, it’s more than capable of delivering a good casual gaming experience with titles like Death’s Door.

Asus Vivobook S14: AI features

The Asus Vivobook S14 is a Copilot+ PC, meaning it features a CPU with a neural engine for running on-device AI tasks and has the Microsoft Copilot AI assistant baked into its operating system. There is a dedicated Copilot key for quick access to the Copilot app, like on most new Windows 11 laptops.

The Asus Vivobook S14 supports all of the standard Copilot+ PC features, such as convenient access to the preinstalled Copilot app, generative AI tools like Cocreator and Image Creator, AI-generated live captions, and Windows Studio Effects for customizing webcam video quality. I have found all of these features helpful from time to time, but if you’re not interested in them, you can simply ignore them and use the Vivobook S14 like any other Windows 11 laptop.

Asus Vivobook S14: Webcam

The Vivobook S14 features a FHD webcam with support for Windows Hello facial recognition sign-in. It also has one of my favorite laptop features: a built-in webcam privacy shutter.

Like most laptop webcams, the video quality is underwhelming. My test video is noticeably grainy and dimmer than I’d like, even in a well-lit room. Of course, you can always connect one of the best external webcams for better video quality.

The built-in microphone is fairly good, though. My voice was clear and resonant in my test video and the Vivobook S14 did a good job of blocking out background noise. Overall, the built-in microphone and webcam are plenty good enough for everyday video meetings or Zoom calls.

Asus Vivobook S14: Software and warranty

The Asus Vivobook S14 is covered by Asus’s standard two-year limited warranty, although you can extend it through Asus Premium Care if you want additional coverage.

It comes ready to go with Windows 11 and the standard suite of Microsoft apps such as Microsoft Edge, the Microsoft Store, the Xbox app, and the Copilot app, along with MyAsus, which acts as a hub for monitoring your device, viewing warranty info, and accessing technical assistance.

Bottom line

The Asus Vivobook S14 gets a few things right with surprisingly strong gaming performance and nearly 18 hours of battery life, however its subpar overall performance gives it a major disadvantage against competitors.

Considering its $949 price tag, an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor would have provided better value for your money, which shows in the Vivobook’s low overall performance score compared to similarly priced alternatives, such as the M3 MacBook Air (13-inch) or even the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7X.

However, if you mainly want to use your laptop for low-power everyday tasks like web browsing, streaming, or studying, with some casual gaming on the side, the Vivobook S14 is up to the task. The lengthy battery life also makes it great for students or commuters since it can easily last a full work day. For some, those strengths may be enough to outweigh a lackluster overall performance score, especially if you can find the Vivobook on sale.

If you would like to see how the Asus Vivobook S14 compares to even more rivals, take a look at our guide to the best laptops of the year for some top alternatives.