What I like the most about ASUS when it presents laptops is the uniqueness that is presented in each of its products. For a cheap price class, this factor is not too obvious. However, for a price of IDR 8 million and above, many ASUS laptop products have their own characteristics and uniqueness.
An example is the ASUS VivoBook S 14 OLED K3402Z.
This laptop is priced at tens of millions. A fairly common price for a thin ultra-portable laptop. In fact, this laptop has received Intel Evo certification.
What is Intel Evo?
Simply put, this is a new standard created by Intel for a laptop that is thin, light, has good performance and has a long battery life.
If in the past Intel presented Ultrabook as a standard for thin laptops, now Intel presents the name Intel Evo. This title is not just a gimmick. This is because laptops labeled “Intel Evo” must meet certain conditions.
The most common requirements are the use of the new generation Intel Core i5 and i7, the use of an M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD, a minimum of 8GB RAM, a Full HD screen, and a battery that has at least 8 hours of endurance.
With these various conditions, of course not all thin laptops priced at tens of millions and above can meet Intel Evo. Although of course Intel Evo is not a benchmark for whether a laptop is good or not.
So, what about the ASUS VivoBook S 14 OLED K3402Z? Does this laptop simply meet the Intel Evo certification? What are the advantages offered by this laptop?
Especially in the tens of millions, ASUS has many interesting laptop lines. From creators and games through the TUF series.
Because I’m also curious about this laptop, I tried to review the ASUS VivoBook S 14 OLED K3402Z. Not just reviewing, I also made this laptop my main work device for about 3 weeks.
Immediately, see the review of the ASUS VivoBook S 14 OLED K3402Z after the following information on the specifications.
Specifications for ASUS VivoBook S 14 OLED K3402Z
- Screen: 14-inch, OLED, 2.8K (2880 x 1800) OLED 16:10 aspect ratio, 0.2ms response time, 90Hz refresh rate, 600nits HDR peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 1,000,000:1, VESA CERTIFIED Display HDR True Black 600, 1.07 billion colors, PANTONE Validated, Glossy display, 70% less harmful blue light, SGS Eye Care Display, Screen-to-body ratio: 85 ％
- Processors: Intel® Core™ i7-12700H Processor 2.3 GHz (24M Cache, up to 4.7 GHz, 6P+8E cores)
- Graphic Cards: Intel® Iris Xe Graphics
- RAM: 8GB DDR4 on board, 8GB DDR4 SO-DIMMs
- Storage: 512 GB M.2 NVMe™ PCIe® 4.0 SSD
- Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E(802.11ax) (Dual band) 2*2 + Bluetooth 5
- Ports: 1x USB 2.0 Type-A, 1x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x Thunderbolt™ 4 supports display / power delivery, 1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS, 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
- camera: 720p HD camera with private shutter
- Battery: 70WHrs, 3S1P, 3-cell Li-ion
Box Contents
The version that I am reviewing this time is the ASUS VivoBook S 14 OLED K3402Z, the Intel Core i7 variant with 16 GB of RAM support. Therefore, references and benchmarks will refer to this variant.
For this variant, the packaging box tends to be ordinary. There are also not many prints or other accessories in it. Only laptop and 90 Watt charger.
At least that’s for the unit we reviewed. Because this is a borrowed laptop, the contents of the box for retail sales may be different. However, it’s usually not that much different. So not much will be discussed at this point.
Body Design and Keyboard
The interesting thing about the design is actually the concept of a lightweight laptop that is capable of presenting a large screen.
If 2020 is down, tens of millions of laptops rarely have the concept of a big screen with a thin body. With the dimensions it offers, namely 31.64 x 22.45 x 1.89 cm, this laptop seems compact in the hand. Moreover, the weight is also only 1.5 kg.
This concise design combines with a design concept that ASUS calls the Metallic lid. This design is pretty cool with the ASUS VivoBook logo on the body behind the screen which is quite distinctive.
Wrapped in an attractive metal color, this laptop is quite eye-catching when taken out and used in public places, such as cafes for example. But maybe not too flashy for some people.
It’s just that judging by its distinctive design, people already suspect that this is an ASUS laptop that’s pretty cool for its price class.
For the Indonesian market, this laptop comes in two color variants. The first is Neutral Grey, the gray variant that I tested. One more variant is Indie Black, aka black. There is one more variant, namely green, aka Black Green. It’s just that on the official ASUS website, there is no option to buy this variant.
The interesting thing about the design is the appearance of the logo that stands out with a choice of youthful color variants. Of course this will make the user feel cooler when using this laptop anywhere.
This cool body meets presence ports which is quite complete. Call it on the right, pinned 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, 1 HDMI 2.1 TMDS port, and also 1 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack port.
Not to forget, there are 2 Thunderbolt ™ 4 ports that are positioned side by side. These two ports can be used for charging or for external screen needs. In fact, supported screens can reach 4 screens.
I couldn’t try this part of the Thunderbolt™ 4 ports. To use the second screen, I use the HDMI port, considering that most external screens in Indonesia still use the HDMI port.
For this part of the HDMI port, there are few complaints. In my personal opinion, all the ports stacked on the right are less aesthetically pleasing wiring. Especially if 2 Thunderbolt™ 4 ports and an HDMI port are used together.
One port can actually move to the left. In this section, there is only 1 USB 2.0 Type-A port. This port is alone. The presence of this port appears to be only used as a means of installing a USB dongle for mice or other accessory devices.
