Tech giant Asus just decided to OLED-ify their Vivobook range of laptops. The K15 series become their first Vivobook laptop to feature AN OLED display that to at an affordable price point starting from Rs. 46,000 and goes up to Rs. 82,000 depending upon the processor you want in your device.
The model I have is Vivobook K15 OLED with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor and it is priced at Rs. 68,990 in India. As I said earlier, its OLED display is one of its best features but along with that, it is a perfect all-rounder for work as well as play. Is Vivobook K15 OLED worth your money? Let us find out.
Asus Vivobook K15 OLED Specs
- Processor – Intel Core i3-1115G4/ Intel Core i5-1135G7/ Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor and AMD Ryzen 5-5500U options
- Display – 15.6-inch Full-HD (1920×1080 pixels), 600 nits peak brightness, 85 per cent screen-to-body ratio
- RAM – Up to 16GB LPDDR4x RAM
- Storage – Up to 512GB SSD
- Webcam – HD Camera
- Keyboard – Backlit keyboard
- Connectivity ports – 2 x USB Type-A, 3.5mm audio jack, 1 x USB-C, 2x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI 1.4, and 1 microSD card reader
- Operating system – Windows 10 Home
- Audio – Harman Kardon speakers
- Battery – 42Wh
- Dimensions and weight – 359x235x17.9mm and 1.8 kilograms
- Colors – Indie Black, Transparent Silver, and Hearty Gold
- Other features – Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax, Bluetooth 5.0, Windows Hello fingerprint authentication
Asus Vivobook K15 OLED review: Display
Now since I have already mentioned how the display of K15 is its highlight, let’s talk about this in detail. The Vivobook K15 OLED panel is bright and can hit up to 600 nits of brightness along while delivering 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, which is way more than its competitor laptops.
To put things in perspective, the best of the laptop that comes in this price segment can achieve 62.5 DCI-P3 color gamut. Since it’s an OLED panel gives delivers better contrast ratios than any LCD panel. The colors on my screen were richer, brighter, and vivid. Texts look sharp and the images displayed are crisp and crystal clear. All this makes me believe the company’s claim about the Vivobook K15 OLED, that it comes with a cinema-grade industry-standard display panel. The display is one of the best in recent times and there is no doubt about this fact.
In today’s age, when we are working on our laptops for at least 8 or more hours in a day, our eyes need to be protected from strain as much as possible. And my Vivobook K15 OLED does that well because it comes with a TUV Rheinland certification for reduced blue light. Whether I was reading something or writing articles, blue light did not cause any discomfort to my eyes or my sleep quality.
The display of the device has an 84% screen-to-body ratio and supports 178-degree viewing angles, so I can say that almost everything is good about it. Now, why did I still say almost? This is because the display of the Vivobook K15 OLED has thick bezels around it, which gives the device a slightly outdated look. In looks, it lags behind the modern-day stylish and sleek laptops. Also, the device doesn’t come with a touchscreen, but then you can’t ever get everything you want in one place, right?
During my review, I used the device to watch movies, YouTube videos, and play games and at the end of it, I can confidently say that the display quality is one of the best I have ever witnessed in a laptop that costs within 50,000 Rs. The display is going to be the biggest reason, that I have for recommending this device to anyone because this makes it worth your money.
The Vivobook K15 OLED comes with Harman Kardon speakers, and offers decent sounds but for a true multimedia experience, we would recommend you plug in headphones or connect it to your existing entertainment setup.
Asus Vivobook K15 OLED review: Design, keypad, trackpad
Now, moving on to talk about the design of the Vivobook K15 OLED, there is nothing extraordinary in the design department. It looks like any other Asus laptop that is made of aluminum alloy and has a decent plastic build. Although it doesn’t have a good palm rest area it is durable enough for everyday needs. One of the best parts about its design is its lid, which is easy to open and close with one hand. The 15.6-inch screen size and weight of 1.8kgs make it a not-so-easy carry-around device.
It comes with a full-size backlit keyboard with a 1.4mm key travel which made my typing experience seamless. I faced no issues while typing long articles and using the device in low-light areas too as its backlit keyboard doesn’t strain my eyes. Like other Vivobooks, this one too comes with a green accent around the ENTER key to highlight it among others keys.
The touchpad is ok though not the best, but the fingerprint scanner built-in works quickly to unlock the laptop anytime I wanted. The laptop comes in 3 different color variants- Indie Black, Transparent Silver, and Hearty Gold and luckily, I got my favorite silver color model to review. I must say I loved its look as I have always been keen on buying silver laptops for my personal use.
Asus VivoBook K15 OLED Performance Review
In the performance department, Vivobook K15 OLED is not exactly as powerful as Asus’ ROG gaming machines different but it manages to hold the ground well enough. The Vivobook series is meant for day-to-day tasks but it is a beast when it comes to handling multitasking and some casual gaming.
It is powered by an all-new 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor and Iris Xe graphics which make it a laptop designed for students or professionals who don’t have to engage in heavy tasks like rendering 4K videos. Don’t get me wrong, it can export premiere pro projects but it will be painfully slow.
There are several modes including Work mode, Performance mode, and Whisper Mode for silent operations with power saving. I usually operated in balanced mode with several Chrome tabs running and Microsoft office running simultaneously and few others running in the background.
VivoBook K15 OLED review: Battery and camera
Vivobook K15 OLED has an HD webcam that has a decent picture quality for your video calls in daylight. It has a 42Wh Li-ion three-cell battery that made the laptop last for about 4 hours, which is not a very good figure. Moreover, it doesn’t even come with fast charging support. If your usage is mixed between various modes, you might get an extra hour of battery runtime.
VivoBook K15 OLED review verdict: Should you buy it?
Editor’s rating: 3.5 / 5
If we consider the pricing, then Vivobook K15 OLED is a smart buy as you get a laptop that is perfect to maintain a balance between work and play, with a very amazing display quality at a price of around Rs. 46,990 (for i3 8GB RAM and 256Gb storage) . If you need an even better multitasking option, you can go for a higher RAM variant which is the one I have reviewed (i.e., 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 with 16GB RAM and 1TB storage) which costs around Rs. 68,990. Vivobook K15 OLED is a perfect choice for those who need a laptop for work use along with an average amount of multimedia consumption.
Pros:
- Good screen for content consumption
- Good looking design
- Reasonably priced
Cons:
- Not so impressive speakers
- Average battery life
