Asus Vivobook 15 OLED (2023) Review: An able mate for work and fun

Looking to boost your productivity without breaking the bank? Look no further than the 2023 Asus Vivobook 15 OLED laptop. Boasting cutting-edge specs and promising to enhance your workflow both at school and in the office, this laptop has generated significant buzz. But does it live up to the hype? We’ve received a Vivobook 15 OLED for review and will be taking a closer look at its ergonomic design, stunning OLED display, powerful processor, long-lasting battery, lightning-fast charging capabilities, and more. Join us as we dive into the details and help you decide if the Vivobook 15 OLED is the right laptop for you.

Vivobook 15 OLED: Unboxing

The Asus Vivobook 15 OLED comes in a cardboard box that includes-

• Asus Vivobook 15 OLED device
• Adapter
• Charging cable

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Vivobook 15 OLED Review: Design

Asus Vivobook 15 OLED laptop follows a similar design language as its predecessors. It doesn’t look very different from Vivobook 14 or other previous Vivobook models, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to talk about. The Vivobook 15 OLED comes in a single matte indie black colorway that looks sleek and stylish at first glance. The chassis is made of plastic but the build quality feels sturdy when you hold it in your hands. The laptop comes with a MIL-STD 810H standard of durability, which means the laptop can handle some amount of rough handling.

It weighs 1.7 kg which might seem light on paper but in actuality, the laptop did feel bulky when held in hand. It is under 20mm in thickness which is good but the lid catches smudges and fingerprints a lot, so this can be annoying. The lid of Vivobook 15 OLED has a logo that makes it look premium. The screen can go back 180 degrees flat and is convenient for standing presentations or sessions without a projector.

The keyboard deck is pretty simple without any show off while there are 3 levels of backlighting brightness available for seamless use in dark conditions. Although it doesn’t stand out in terms of design, the laptop is well built and works conveniently for everyday use by students, as well as office professionals.

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Vivobook 15 OLED Review: Display

The name of the device Vivobook 15 OLED emphasizes the fact that the OLED display of the laptop is one of its highlights. There is a 15.6-inch OLED panel with Full HD resolution and a 60Hz refresh rate. The display comes with a 0.2s response time and has a 100% DCI-P3 color gamut as well along with SRGB coverage and Pantone validation. The display has bezels and they are not the slimmest, but they are uniform and leave a good screen size for visuals.

The display comes with 500 nits brightness which feels inadequate when the device is used outdoors in the presence of sunlight as the visuals are not clear under direct light. Otherwise, indoors the visuals are crisp, clear, rich in colors, and sharp. The laptop is blue light certified and TUV Rheinland flickers free which sure prevents the extra strain on one’s eyes when working for long hours. The viewing angles are decent and the display offers extremely low brightness levels as well when necessary. For a laptop priced under 70k, Vivobook 15 OLED has one of the best displays in the segment.

Vivobook 15 OLED Review: I/O Ports & Connectivity

When it comes to I/O Ports, Vivobook 15 OLED has an extensive lot of them. The laptop comes with a USB 2.0 port on the left and a USB Type-C port, a USB Type-A port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an HDMI port, and a power output on the right side.

In terms of connectivity, Vivobook 15 offers WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.0 as well. So all in all Vivobook 15 does have sufficient ports, but replacing a Type-A port with another Type-C port would have come in handier.

Vivobook 15 OLED Review: Keyboard, & Trackpad

The Vivobook 15 OLED has a chicklet-style keyboard that comes with 3 levels of brightness for backlighting. This makes the keyboard easy to use in dark conditions. The keys are tactile and large enough for easy typing. The key travel distance and spacing between the keys are decent as well. All in all the typing experience is quite convenient. The Numpad can be activated when needed.

The trackpad is spacious as well but is made of plastic and not glass. This doesn’t hamper the experience as it is still smooth to the touch and highly responsive so you won’t miss the mouse. Navigation using a touchpad is ok, but the build feels a bit flimsy when it is clicked down.

Vivobook 15 OLED Review: Performance & Gaming

Coming to the performance, the Vivobook 15 OLED is powered by AMD Ryzen 7 7730U processor paired with Ultra HD graphics. The model I received had 16GB DDR4 RAM and 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD storage that is expandable up to 2TB. The laptop was smooth and fast while performing most of the tasks whether light or heavy. Even when multiple tabs were running, it never showed any lag or stutter. Various apps ran seamlessly in the background so we can say that multitasking was comfortable with the Vivobook 15 OLED. Various benchmarking tests were performed, here are their results-

• Geekbench 6 (single core)- 2051
• Geekbench 6 (multi-core)- 5129
• Cinebench R23 (single core)- 1485
• Cinebench R23 (multi-core)- 5444

As for gaming, titles like Asphalt 9 worked fine along with working on MS Office and watching YouTube, but the game could be played in medium graphics for a smooth run. For gamers, Vivobook 15 OLED might not be a very good choice as even casual gaming is quite limited on this one. The laptop runs Windows 11 which comes with a host of customization options.

The laptop comes with an antimicrobial guard plus to protect the users from viruses and bacteria along with WiFi 6E for fast wireless connectivity, HD 3DNR webcam with privacy shutter, and a Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021 lifetime subscription included. It comes with AI noise-canceling technology for clearer audio during calls. The webcam quality has not much improved, but then one can’t get everything in a 65k laptop. There is a bio-metric fingerprint scanner as well located within the top right corner of the trackpad, and setting that up was very simple and quick. The speakers are loud to fill a mid-sized room but the audio doesn’t have any bass, character, or depth.

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Vivobook 15 OLED Review: Battery

The Vivobook 15 OLED packs a 50Wh battery under the hood. When fully charged, the battery lasted for about 4 hours. This included 6-8 tabs being opened simultaneously including MS Office tools, Google Chrome, and more. The brightness was kept at about 40%. The battery life is sufficient if you want to work while on a short flight. Battery saver mode can be turned on to give extra 8-10 minutes.

As for charging, the Vivobook 15 OLED doesn’t support USB Type-C charging port so you can’t use any USB-Type C charger to charge it. Otherwise, it supports a 45W charger that comes inside the box and charges the battery in about two hours.

Vivobook 15 OLED Review Verdict: Should you buy it?

The Asus Vivobook 15 OLED is a very good device for everyday use. The laptop comes with all the necessary tools and features and is affordable as well. It has tons of I/O ports, an OLED display, a comfortable keyboard, a fast processor, and more. Although the laptop is not apt for gaming and doesn’t support USB Type-C charging, but then these are small niggles that can be ignored if you want to strike a balance between having an affordable and productive laptop. In conclusion, Vivobook 15 OLED is a reliable device that is expected to give tough competition to all its competitors in the market.