ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED: review of a brilliant OLED screen

The Vivobook has been a mainstay for ASUS over the years. Its range of professional laptops has been at the forefront of new technologies while offering excellent value for money across its range. The brand itself has paved the way for many different technologies and continues to improve its product offering with exciting releases. The ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED was announced earlier this year and is expected to hit our stores this month.

I received the review unit for a few weeks and was impressed with what it provided as a creative tool.

ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED Build and design

In terms of design, this year's Vivobook lineup doesn't feature a dramatic design overhaul. It has a relatively unchanged design from previous models, with only a few splashes of change here and there. That said, the design isn't bad and didn't need an overhaul to begin with. So why change what is not necessary?

Out of the box, you might not notice it at first, but the chassis of the ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED is made primarily from aluminum. Looking closer and doing a little more research, we see that the body is covered in anthracite to prevent it from getting fingerprints. This gives it its beautiful matte finish and, depending on how the light hits the device, it can have a smooth or rough appearance. I can appreciate the level of detail in this regard while still maintaining a minimalist finish overall.

Three colors are available in the range. These are Cool Silver, Tech Black and Aqua Celadon. However, the first two, silver and black, will be available in most countries, including South Africa.

As for ports, there are quite a few. This is an important aspect for any creator, providing the luxury of not having to choose between using only specific peripherals. The list includes:

• USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A

• USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A

• USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C display support / power supply

• Thunderbolt™ 4 supports display/power delivery.

• HDMI 2.1 FRL

• 3.5mm combo audio jack

• RJ45 Gigabit Ethernet

• DC-in

• Micro SD Express 7.1 card reader

I like the addition of the microSD card reader, which has been missing from a range of laptops in recent years. Additionally, there are a sufficient number of USB Type-A and Type-C ports for comfortable use of older and newer devices. I didn't like the placement of the ports on the right side of the device, as they extend too far forward, especially with the placement of the HDMI port. This meant that the HDMI cable could sometimes interfere with mouse movements, forcing me to pull the cable back to avoid hitting it more often.

The keyboard is backlit, chiclet type, with a travel of 1.4 mm. It's a pretty nifty keyboard and I liked the feel of it, while being well spaced. The touchpad is also quite large, making it easy to use. However, being slightly off-center, I often noticed a few involuntary movements and clicks with my left hand while typing. The touchpad also uses ASUS dial-pad software. While it's handy enough for creating a few app shortcuts and more, it has a pretty steep learning curve.

Finally, with a weight of 2.3KG, it is not the lightest. But that's not what ASUS is going for with the ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED, because its real potential lies in its display.

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Screen and display

Without a doubt, the best feature of the ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED is in its name – its OLED display. There is not much justice that can be done in the images online showing this. You have to experience it to understand it. I was quite surprised after turning the device on the first time and noticing the bold, vibrant shine.

In terms of specifications, it is a 16-inch OLED display with an aspect ratio of 16:10 and a response time of 0.2ms. It also offers a maximum brightness of 600 nits in HDR, a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and Pantone certification. Additionally, it features a glossy finish while reducing harmful blue light by up to 70%, is TÜV Rheinland certified, has an SGS Eye Care display, and in terms of design, features a 90% screen-to-body ratio. .

There is one aspect of the specifications that needs a little more explanation. The device has a 4K resolution screen. It also has a refresh rate of up to 120Hz. However, to achieve the maximum refresh rate, you can only use it with a resolution of 3.2K (3200x2000px). In 4K mode, the maximum frequency is 60 Hz. Additionally, the maximum brightness also suffers a slight drop (50 nits) when using the 120 Hz refresh rate.

If you're interested in more details on the ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED OLED panel, there are several comparisons online that detail it. That said, it is the best performing display in the majority of screen tests, which makes it truly exceptional. And according to ASUS marketing, the OLED panel is also the “world’s first 16” 3.2K 120Hz OLED laptop.” The device has an impressive 4K OLED panel, regardless of the marketing campaigns. And, there is still room for improvement for future generations of the Vivobook.

All things considered, it's a wonderfully glorious experience to sit in front of the 4K OLED display. It's quite brilliant with its color reproduction and overall brightness, and you can enjoy watching movies or creating content all day as a result.

Specifications

Unlike the ROG line, which launched last week with the 13th generation Intel Core processors, the Vivobook line sports the older 12th generation processors. However, this is not bad, as it will keep the price a few hundred Rand low compared to the new generation units.

In more detail, the ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED is equipped with a 2.3 GHz Intel® Core™ i7-12650H processor. In addition, the latter is supported by the NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX™ 3060 Laptop GPU of 6 GB GDDR6 and 16 GB DDR5. The RAM is expandable up to 32 GB in total.

Additionally, it has a 1TB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD as a base storage option, along with a 1080p FHD camera (with private shutter) and a 4-speed Li-ion battery. 90Wh cells. In terms of connectivity, it has Wi-Fi 6E (802.11ax) (dual band) as well as Bluetooth® 5.

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Performance and battery

In terms of overall performance, the underlying hardware is powerful enough to handle any task you can throw at it. Standard load testing and multitasking were also a breeze overall, with no noticeable stutters or glitches.

The ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED is excellent for all things visual. I've been working on some graphics tweaks, and it's much easier to spot a few extra misplaced pixels than on my daily ride. Additionally, it also supports AAA games at near maximum settings, with 3.2K resolution at 120Hz, which is a huge bonus. You get the best of both worlds here, a solid professional and creator laptop, with the luxury of being able to relax and play a few games while you're at it.

That being said, a few anomalies were noted when trying to fully utilize the GPU. While testing the benchmarks, we noticed a drop in FPS on occasion, as well as a few glitches in the mix. What's interesting is that this also showed up in real-world testing playing a few AAA games at maximum settings, as well as a video render or two. Given the relative age of the device, having only been released this month, it's understandable to have some driver issues. What was noted was the DPC latency ultimately linked to the NVIDIA drivers. It's also interesting that we noticed this issue on the GeForce RTX 3060 laptop GPU, which has been around for a while. A few tweaks and firmware updates and I'm sure the issues will be resolved.

Additionally, the overall experience is always positive. Lag doesn't really affect your work or gaming and is only really detected using monitoring tools.

With its 90Wh battery, it should hold up to scrutiny between charges. That being said, it is important to take into account the impact of the 16″ 4K OLED panel at maximum brightness. Under normal charging conditions, during endurance tests at maximum brightness, the average duration is approximately six to seven hours. Reducing the brightness to half its maximum adds an extra hour to battery life, and three more hours at around 150 nits of brightness. You can tinker with a few settings and manage to get 10 hours of battery life if necessary. However, you won't be able to take full advantage of its magnificent OLED screen.

Conclusion

The ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED is a solid laptop for content creators and professionals. Once you stand in front of its 16-inch 4K OLED screen, you'll be instantly hooked. He's brilliant. The specs may not be the latest and greatest, but it gets the job done while still allowing you the luxury of playing a few games.

With a recommended retail price starting from 34,999 euros, the ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED is not so badly placed. There's a lot to like about the unit and with a few firmware updates could easily iron out some of the glitches. It was an overall positive experience and we highly recommend it.