Verdict
For £500, the Vivobook 15 has a lot to supply, together with an excellent keyboard, spectacular audio system and high-end construct high quality and design, however the show is poor even for a laptop computer at this value level.
Professionals
- Excessive-quality keyboard
- Good speaker system
- Robust worth
Cons
- Subpar TN show
- No keyboard backlight
- Disappointing battery life
-
Primary TN panelTN provides little color, inferior distinction and dangerous chromatic shift resulting in very slim viewing angles -
Strong designAppears and feels prefer it ought to value rather more than it does, regardless of plastic construct -
High quality keyboard and audio systemThe Vivobook 15 has a superb keyboard and respectable audio system
Introduction
The Asus Vivobook 15 is an effort to ship a fully-functioning full-sized 15.6-inch laptop computer for beneath £500. Now at this value, you would be forgiven for pondering that you must make do with a wretched lump of ugly tat, however the Vivobook 15 offers little manner by way of fashion and construct high quality to laptops costing significantly extra.
For this kind of cash, you don’t count on US MIL-STD-810H military-grade resistance to shock and particle ingress, a 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E radio, or a glance that implies thought of and cautious design somewhat than off-the-shelf white label blandness. However the Asus Vivobook 15 delivers all these issues.
So, is there a fly within the ointment? In line with Asus, the Vivobook is on the market with three forms of show, all 15.6-inch, 1,920 x 1,080, and 60Hz, however in an important manner, certainly one of them isn’t like the opposite two. And that’s the one which got here fitted to my assessment unit. Let’s dive in.
Design and Keyboard
- Appears prefer it ought to value extra
- The keyboard is strong and expansive
- No keyboard backlight
For an inexpensive laptop computer, the Vivobook 15 is admittedly fairly a looker. Sadly, the engaging blue and beige colourways that Asus provides in some markets usually are not UK-bound however the all-silver paint job offers it a contemporary and clear look. Maybe extra importantly, doesn’t present greasy fingerprints. The case is plastic however feels surprisingly strong and the lid doesn’t have an excessive amount of flex in it. It seems to be and feels prefer it ought to value rather more than it does, and you may’t ask for rather more at £500.
A design contact I like is the fake carbon fibre masking on the display screen bezels. It seems to be snazzy and is nice to the contact. The bezels are slender, measuring 8mm on the sides, 12mm on the prime and 16mm on the backside. The show folds again all the way in which to 180°, and the hinge feels exceptionally strong. At 360 x 233 x 18mm and 1.7kg the Vivobook 15 is comparatively mild and compact for a full-sized laptop computer.
Asus hasn’t skimped on the I/O ports with two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1, one USB-A 2.0 and one Sort-C 3.2 Gen 1 port. There’s additionally an HDMI 1.4 video output and a 3.5mm audio jack. The Sort-C port doesn’t help DP Alt Mode video output or energy enter, so you might be caught with a 45W barrel-pin DC charger.
The bodily structure of the ports is lower than excellent, with every little thing aside from the USB-A 2.0 port clustered collectively on the appropriate aspect of the physique.
The keyboard is undoubtedly one of many Vivobook’s strengths. First, it’s impressively strong, and the keys themselves have a properly weighted 1.4mm journey with a optimistic end-stop. The black-on-grey color scheme makes it very legible. And there’s a 75% width numeric keyboard.
The one slight adverse factors are the absence of a backlight – not an enormous shock at this value level – and the half-height arrow keys, however you study to stay with these.
The 105 x 75mm touchpad isn’t the most important you’ll ever discover on a 15.6-inch laptop computer, nevertheless it behaves impeccably, and the click-actions on the nook are completely damped.
Taking the bottom off the Vivobook 15 is a painless operation, and as soon as inside, you may swap out the 2280 PCIe 4 SSD and exchange the 8GB RAM card within the one free slot, the opposite 8GB being soldered to the motherboard. The wi-fi card can be simple to entry, and surprisingly, the MediaTek card helps the 6GHz Wi-Fi 6E wavelength.
Asus makes no lofty claims concerning the environmental impression of the Vivobook 15, however the packaging is fully cardboard with no plastic or styrofoam inserts, making it simpler to recycle.
Show and Sound
- The show is colourless, and viewing angles are very slim
- Color gamut protection is meagre
- Most brightness is nice, however the distinction ratio is low
Asus’ product page for the Vivobook 15 lists three forms of show for the X1504 Vivobook 15, and solely two of them are described as IPS-Stage. Checking the producer code of the panel (BOE NT156FHM-N63) with just a few wholesalers, I found that my machine has a TN somewhat than an IPS show.
Typical traits of TN panels embrace abysmal distinction ratios and severely restricted viewing angles. And so it proved on the Asus Vivobook 15. Until you look straight on the display screen, square-on, you’ll discover quite a lot of chromatic shift. Angle the display screen even just a few levels and the washout is laughable.
Color gamuts are very slim, with simply 52.2% sRGB coated, together with 36.2% DCI-P3 and 36.2% Adobe RGB. With so little color out there, the Delta E accuracy rating was by no means going to be good, and it wasn’t, registering at an extreme 6 in opposition to the sRGB profile in Vivid mode. In Commonplace mode, it’s even worse at 7.1.
Peak brightness got here out at 293nits, which isn’t too dangerous, however due to a really excessive black luminance of 0.97, the distinction ratio is a really low 300:1. In search of a optimistic, no less than the matte end retains reflections at bay.
The stereo audio system usually are not what I’d name loud, however the sound they make is pleasing, with a useful quantity of barely woolly bass and good definition throughout your complete soundscape. There’s completely no distortion in proof, both.
The webcam is a fundamental 720p affair however was brighter and sharper than many others of the same spec I’ve encountered on costlier laptops. The photographs it creates are somewhat colourless, however even permitting for that, I’d nonetheless describe the efficiency nearly as good. It even has a bodily privateness shutter.
There’s no help for Home windows Hell IR facial recognition, neither is there a fingerprint scanner.
Efficiency
- Greater than sufficient energy for basic on a regular basis use
- By no means will get loud or sizzling
- Minimal gaming functionality
The Core i5-1235U processor contained in the Vivobook 15 is a 10-core chip from the Alder Lake twelfth era and has 8 effectivity cores and a couple of efficiency cores, and a TDP of 15W. It’s mixed with Intel’s built-in Xe graphics chip, 16GB of dual-channel DDR4 RAM and a PCIe 3 512GB SSD.
None of these info suggests a excessive degree of efficiency however ought to show enough for day-to-day use, and the excellent news is that the Vivobook 15 can run on a regular basis productiveness and entrainment duties with out indicators of pressure or delay. Working a few dozen Chrome tabs and a video in VLC didn’t trigger any issues, nor did enhancing some sizeable RAW picture recordsdata in GIMP.
The benchmark outcomes underlined that the U-series processors are meant for mild workloads on the go, however they weren’t 1,000,000 miles off the scores returned by the considerably costlier LG Gram SuperSlim, which runs a P-series Raptor Lake processor.
With a 3DMark Time Spy rating of simply 1,181, gaming is restricted to light-weight titles downloaded from the Microsoft Retailer, however that ought to come as no shock.
Due to the low TDP of the processor, there have been no points with thermal throttling, and the fan seldom needed to spin as much as full pace. The noise wasn’t remotely intrusive even when the cooling system ran full-chat.
The SSD inside isn’t going to win any prizes for pace with common sequential learn and write speeds of three,044MB/s and 1,643MB/s, respectively however on condition that the motherboard interfaces are all PCIe 3 spec, that’s not an unduly poor displaying for a finances laptop computer.
Software program
- Anti-virus bloat comes preloaded
- MyAsus app is essentially pointless on an inexpensive laptop computer
Asus bundles the standard bloat on the Vivobook 15, together with McAfee safety which is able to pester you for a subscription that you just don’t want till you chunk the bullet and uninstall it. A couple of Microsoft Retailer apps like Spotify and Instagram additionally come pre-loaded however eradicating them is the work of a second.
The MyAsus app permits you to modify the show color settings, the sound profiles and the way the AI noise-cancelling mics work. You can even alter the fan profiles. Among the user-adjustability is value having on costlier machines which can be meant for extra demanding use, however on an entry-level laptop computer just like the Vivobook 15, they’re somewhat pointless: Adjusting the color profile from Commonplace to Vivid on a show this dangerous is like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic.
Battery Life
- 42Wh isn’t rather a lot for a 15.6-inch laptop computer
- 6 hours 45 within the PC Mark 10 Fashionable Workplace battery take a look at
The Vivobook might have a low-power CPU, nevertheless it additionally has a small 42Wh battery, so the PCMark10 Fashionable Workplace benchmark solely took a modest 6 hours 45 to empty a full cost. In much less demanding use, you could possibly get near the eight-hour mark however don’t rely on it.
Asus claims that the bundled 45W charger can cost a low battery to 60% capability in as little as 49 minutes, which I discovered to be roughly correct, however I’m nonetheless undecided that’s actually quick sufficient to boast about.
Newest offers
Do you have to purchase it?
You’re on a good sub-£600 finances
The worth is correct, and it seems to be and seems like a laptop computer with a value sticker nearer to £1,000 than £500. In case you are after one thing for basic PC duties, net shopping and fundamental productiveness, it’s a good selection as a result of these jobs don’t spotlight the poor show.
You need a respectable trendy show
The awful distinction, chromatic shift and basic absence of color make something vibrant on the display screen a miserable expertise. You’ll by no means get the picture high quality of an OLED panel for £500, however it’s best to count on higher than this.
Remaining Ideas
It’s all concerning the show. If you’ll find the Vivobook 15 with the IPS show possibility, even when the worth is nearer to £600, then it’s an instantaneous and unqualified advice as a result of every little thing else is spectacular for the cash, from the keyboard to the audio system, to the Wi-Fi 6E modem and from the design and construct to the user-upgrade choices. However the easy truth is that the factor you employ probably the most on a laptop computer is the display screen, so it needs to be as much as snuff, and the TN panel on this Vivobook 15 easy isn’t.
The scenario isn’t made any simpler by Asus’ complicated product providing. All informed, there are 5 variations of the Vivobook 15 X1504 available in the UK with both Core i5 or Core i7 processors and ranging in value from £459 (as examined however with the i5-1235U CPU and 8GB of RAM) to £800 for the Core i7 mannequin. Nevertheless, it’s nigh-on unimaginable to find out which is the TN or the IPS show.
After all, low-rent shows and mediocre battery run instances usually are not unusual on the backside finish of the market. The Acer Aspire 5 runs on the identical CPU because the Vivobook and suffers most of the identical issues regardless of costing a few hundred quid extra, whereas Microsoft’s Floor Laptop computer Go 2 doesn’t even supply a Full HD decision. It’s all a little bit of a disgrace as a result of if the Vivobook had a half-decent show, I’d fee it as one of many most interesting finances laptops available on the market.
How we take a look at
Each laptop computer we assessment goes by way of a sequence of uniform checks designed to gauge key issues, together with construct high quality, efficiency, display screen high quality and battery life.
These embrace formal artificial benchmarks and scripted exams, plus a sequence of real-world checks.
We used as our essential laptop computer for no less than per week.
Examined the efficiency through each benchmark exams and real-world use.
We examined the display screen with a colorimeter and real-world use.
We examined the battery with a benchmark take a look at and real-world use.
FAQs
That each one is determined by what show you select. With an IPS show, the Vivobook is among the finest finances 15.6-inch laptops available on the market, however the TN show is a poor various missing color, distinction and with slim viewing angles. Be sure you select the appropriate one.
For a finances pocket book, the Vivobook 15 is each trendy and well-made and may provide you with a few years of dependable service. The Vivobook additionally has MIL-STD 810H US military-grade customary resistance to shock, vibration and particle ingress, and you may improve the SSD and the RAM after buy.
Trusted Opinions take a look at information
PCMark 10
Cinebench R23 multi core
Cinebench R23 single core
Geekbench 5 single core
Geekbench 5 multi core
Geekbench 6 single core
Geekbench 6 multi core
3DMark Time Spy
CrystalDiskMark Learn pace
CrystalDiskMark Write Pace
Brightness (SDR)
Black degree
Distinction ratio
sRGB
Adobe RGB
DCI-P3
PCMark Battery (workplace)
UK RRP
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Display screen Measurement
Storage Capability
Entrance Digital camera
Battery
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Measurement (Dimensions)
Weight
ASIN
Working System
Launch Date
First Reviewed Date
Mannequin Quantity
Decision
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GPU
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Convertible?
