When the PC industry made a big splash with AI-supported laptops earlier this summer at Computex, two processor series with powerful built-in AI chips were in the spotlight: Qualcomm Snapdragon X and AMD Ryzen AI 300. Both are powerful enough to support Microsoft Copilot Plus and the new AI features included in Windows.
Soon after, I received offers to test Snapdragon laptops from various manufacturers. They are impressive in many ways, but there are still some compatibility issues with Snapdragon X, which is based on Arm architecture. Therefore, I am particularly curious about the new Asus Zenbook S 16, the first Ryzen AI 300 laptop in the test lab.
This is a sleek and well-built device, with a slim chassis that gives a solid impression but weighs only 1.5 kg. For a 16-inch model with a glossy touchscreen, that’s quite good. The sharp edges around the device make it less comfortable to carry, but with such a low weight, it’s hard to complain.
The keyboard and touchpad are top-notch, with the touchpad being especially large and featuring built-in swipe controls for brightness, volume, and media. If there’s anything to criticize, it’s that the keys have a somewhat low travel height and Asus has opted out of including a numeric keypad, even though it should fit.
AI Hardware, but Delayed System
The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor is an x86 processor with full Windows compatibility and boasts up to 50 TOPS (trillion operations per second) in NPU performance. This exceeds both Snapdragon X and Intel Core Ultra, meeting Microsoft’s requirement of 40 TOPS with a good margin.
Is this the Copilot Plus PC with x86 architecture that I have been waiting for? No, it is not. It simply does not have Copilot Plus yet. Microsoft’s promised AI features are absent.
The Co-creator feature in Paint is missing, as is image generation in the Photos app. Even Windows Studio Effects, which enhance the webcam, are not activated, despite being available on many other computers in a simpler form. The webcam itself is well-regarded and can also be used for facial login.
Some AI Features Present
The Copilot Plus feature available here is Live Captions. You can translate all speech that passes through the computer—from YouTube videos to Teams meetings—into about forty languages including major ones like English, Chinese, German, Spanish… and apparently Danish? But not Swedish. The Copilot app is available and accessed via a key on the keyboard. It requires an internet connection and has the same functionality as in the Edge browser, but it is more convenient to access.
It is expected that full Copilot Plus functionality will become available for the Zenbook S 16 in due course. However, it is disappointing that it is not available from the start. Whether this delay is due to Microsoft dragging its feet or AMD’s or Asus’s responsibility is unclear.
AI noise cancellation and one of the promised “Asus AI” apps, the photo and media organizer Storycube, are present, while two other AI apps showcased on Asus’s website for the laptop are still inaccessible. They may become available eventually.
Performance Beyond AI
A powerful NPU is not wasted; it benefits other programs such as Photoshop and Audacity plugins, depending on the filters and functions used. Programs utilizing the NPU are advancing, but it will take time before they become mainstream. Thus, it would have been nice to have Microsoft’s suite from the start.
Traditional CPU performance also plays a crucial role. For now, it remains the most important factor. The Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 is competitive, featuring four high-performance Zen 5 cores and eight compact, lower-clocked Zen 5c cores. This configuration provides substantial performance for demanding tasks and energy-efficient multitasking. It outperforms both the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and Snapdragon X Elite but is not as energy-efficient as the Qualcomm processor, though it is still good for an x86 processor.
With 32 GB of fast DDR5 memory, a speedy 1 TB SSD, and built-in Radeon graphics from the Ryzen chip, you can handle most tasks, including gaming with acceptable results if you lower the screen resolution to 1080p. As the name suggests, the laptop features a 16-inch high-quality OLED panel with a resolution of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels. Its glossy surface reflects some light, but in the right lighting conditions, it is a pleasure to view.
Fast Screen, Fast Connectivity
The display supports the DCI-P3 color gamut with high Pantone-validated color accuracy, and you can select sRGB and Display P3 modes. Brightness reaches up to 600 cd/m², and the screen is VESA Display HDR True Black 600 certified. With a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 0.2 millisecond response time, the display offers a sense of immediate responsiveness.
This responsiveness is also reflected in the internet connection, thanks to fast response times and high speeds with WiFi 7. The WiFi 6 connection I tested also performed well and stably. With dual USB 4 ports with built-in DisplayPort, along with a separate HDMI, connecting an external monitor is straightforward. Although there are no Thunderbolt 4 ports due to it being an AMD laptop, this just means that external PCI Express is not supported. But who uses that?
You can also connect a charging adapter to any of the USB-C ports. The 65-watt charger included is one of the smallest I’ve seen for a laptop, even smaller than a mobile charger. So, it’s a minimal extra burden to carry it for recharging the battery or use it as a perfect travel adapter for both the laptop, phone, and other devices.
Good Battery Life for the Form Factor
A large display with high brightness, high resolution, and high frequency can drain the battery. However, the new Ryzen processors are supposed to be power-efficient with their 4-nanometer technology and relatively low TDP, and the laptop’s battery capacity is high at 78 Wh. So, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the Zenbook S 16 in terms of battery life.
I got between 5 and 8 hours during a typical day of mixed use, more than I had hoped for. During a light usage scenario with word processing (writing this review) and occasional browsing and emailing at low brightness, the battery lasted almost 16 hours. I didn’t even lower the refresh rate from 120 to 60 Hz, which would add about an hour of battery life. However, this adjustment has to be done manually as there is no dynamic frequency mode.
So no, it’s not as power-efficient and cool-running, nor as easy to cool passively as the Snapdragon X laptops I’ve tested. In return, it offers a bit more CPU and NPU power, and above all, much better graphics performance. If you want to stay in the safe x86 world, it’s a good option and gives Intel something to think about.
Specifications
- Product Name: Zenbook S 16 OLED UMN6506WA-PURE9G
- Tested: August 2024
- Manufacturer: Asus
- Processor: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, 12 cores up to 5.1 GHz
- NPU: XDNA-2 NPU, 50 TOPS
- Graphics: AMD Radeon 890M
- Memory: 32 GB LPDDR5X
- Storage: 1 TB SSD, SD card slot
- Display: 16-inch glossy OLED, 2880×1800 pixels, 120 Hz
- Webcam: 1080p with IR
- Connections: 2 USB-C 4 with DisplayPort, 1 USB-C 3 Gen 1, HDMI, headset
- Wireless: WiFi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
- Other: Backlit keyboard, facial recognition, 2-year warranty
- Noise Level: 0–37 dBA
- Battery: 78 Wh, 2 hours 30 minutes (high load, full brightness, 120 Hz) to approximately 19 hours (low load, low brightness, 60 Hz)
- Dimensions: 35.4 x 24.3 x 1.3 cm
- Weight: 1.5 kg
