ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD Review: How Good is ARM on Windows?

The ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED is the one of the recent additions to ASUS’s Vivobook line-up but there’s one thing different this time and that’s the heart of the laptop—the Snapdragon X Elite SoC. Yes, an ARM chip on a Windows laptop. While ARM is not new to Windows laptops, the Snapdragon X Elite is a bit different.

It competes directly with Apple’s M series chipsets. The Snapdragon X Elite promises a perfect combination of both performance and efficiency. It even comes packed with AI capabilities on board, making the ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED one of the few Windows laptops to have the Copilot+ PC certification. 

In this review of the Vivobook S15 OLED, we’ll explore how the Snapdragon X Elite changes the game for Windows laptops and whether it’s worth your investment. Let’s get started.

ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD Review – Performance and Gaming

Let’s start with the elephant in the room—the performance. The ASUS VivoBook S15 OLED comes packed with Qualcomm’s Oryon Snapdragon X Elite chip, an ARM-based processor, not your typical x86 chip. 

This is where things get interesting, and maybe a little frustrating. Because it’s ARM-based, you’re going to run into app compatibility issues. Many apps rely on emulation to work, and not all of them will play nice. 

Some apps, like QuickShare, didn’t work for me at all, which was a bit of a letdown. Even Premiere does not run natively and it’s only emulated. This ARM journey is just starting, so things might get better down the line, but don’t expect a flawless experience just yet.

Here are the specs:

• Qualcomm Oryon Snapdragon X (12C/12T), with a sustained TDP of 45W, and clock speeds up to 3.42 GHz.
• Qualcomm Adreno 311 with 8 GB shared memory.
• 45 TOPS Qualcomm Hexagon NPU.
• RAM: 16 GB soldered LPDDR5X at 8448 MHz.
• 1 TB Micron 2450 SSD in a single M.2 2280 slot.
• Wi-Fi 7 with Qualcomm FastConnect 7800.

Synthetic Benchmarks 

Moving on to benchmarks, the laptop’s performance is solid, though not groundbreaking. On Geekbench 6, the CPU scored 1,745 for single-core and 8,828 for multi-core performance when unplugged. 

Plugged in, these scores improved slightly to 2,451 for single-core and 14,250 for multi-core. The GPU performance, tested via Geekbench 6’s OpenCL and Vulkan benchmarks, gave me a scores of 19,014 and 22,933, respectively, when unplugged, with slight improvements when running plugged—20724 and 23720, respectively.

The 3D Mark benchmarks paint a similar picture. In the Wild Life Extreme test, the device scored 5,947 on battery power and 6,362 plugged in. Solar Bay and Steel Nomad benchmarks showed results of 10,262 and 488 when plugged in, respectively. 

Storage performance was decent, with the 3D Mark Storage Test yielding a score of 1,266, and CrystalMark tests showing 4,989 MB/s sequential read and 3,233 MB/s sequential write speeds. Random read and write speeds were at 274 MB/s and 437 MB/s, respectively.

Gaming

In real-world gaming, the Vivobook S15 OLED performs decently, though it’s not a gaming powerhouse. Also, unfortunately, many of the popular titles do not run on ARM. Here’s a look at how it handled some titles:

• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt—37 FPS on Low preset at 1080p.
• GTA 5—39 FPS on High settings.
• Shadow of the Tomb Raider—38 FPS at 1080p, but bumped up to 42 FPS at 720p.

Gaming on this laptop is a mixed bag. It’s not the best, but it gets the job done. The fans do kick in quite often, but they aren’t obnoxiously loud, so it’s more of a minor inconvenience than a major issue.

When it comes to upgradeability, there’s not much you can do here. The RAM is soldered, so you’re stuck with what you get. However, the SSD can be swapped out if you ever need more storage, but with 1 TB already in there, that should be plenty for most users.

ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD Review – Design and Build

The ASUS Vivobook S15 features an aluminum chassis, making it premium and durable. Despite its sturdy build, it remains lightweight at just 1.42 kg and measures 352.6 x 226.9 x 15.9 mm. The design tapers from top to bottom, giving it a sleek profile. 

The 15.6” display dominates the lid’s real estate and can be opened with one hand. There’s minimal flex in the lid and keyboard as well. The laptop also has a subtle ASUS Vivobook logo on the back. The hinge is sturdy and it can rotate 180 degrees.

When it comes to ports, the Vivobook S15 OLED has you covered. On the left side, there’s an HDMI 2.1 port, 2x Thunderbolt 4 ports, 1x microSD card slot, and a 3.5mm audio combo jack.

On the right, you’ll find 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports with speeds up to 5 Gbps, along with LED indicators for battery and power. 

Flipping the laptop over, you’ll see the dual stereo speakers and air intake vents at the bottom. The exhaust vent is located at the back, just below the display. Additionally, the laptop has a 1080p webcam with a physical shutter for added privacy. However, the IR scanner for Windows Hello (biometric authentication) didn’t work on my unit.

ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD Review - Keyboard and Trackpad

The ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED comes with a full-size keyboard that includes a numpad, so you get a complete setup. The power button is integrated into the keyboard, which could lead to accidental presses—something that’s not ideal. The arrow keys are also on the small side. 

ASUS has replaced the right Control key with a new Copilot key, which is great if you use Copilot often. But if you’re like me and never use it, this change feels unnecessary. I wish ASUS allowed users to remap it back to the Control key.

The keyboard is backlit with RGB lighting, a few animations, and three brightness levels. By default, it’s blue, but I switched to white because it looks cleaner. 

The brightness adjusts automatically based on your surroundings, which is a neat touch. The keyboard overall has a nice feel with good travel (1.5 mm) and key spacing—definitely comfortable to type on.

As for the trackpad, it’s large and very responsive. The clicks feel solid, and it doesn’t sink too deep into the chassis when pressed. There are also some cool gestures built into the trackpad. 

For example, sliding on the far left edge lets you adjust the volume, and the far right edge controls brightness. These gestures are in addition to the standard Windows gestures, so you’ve got plenty of control at your fingertips.

ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD Review – Display

The ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED packs an impressive display that’s a real treat for your eyes. It features a 15.6” 3K OLED screen with a resolution of 2880 x 1620 and a PPI of 212. 

The display is super sharp, and you won’t feel any lack of detail. It’s got a peak brightness of 600 Nits, which is more than enough for indoor use. Outdoors, it feels a little lacking but it gets the job done.

The display also supports a 120 Hz refresh rate, making everything feel smooth. The 16:9 aspect ratio might not be everyone’s favorite, but it works well enough. It’s a glossy screen, so reflections are an issue, especially in a bright environment, but that vibrant color payoff is worth it. 

Speaking of colors, the screen boasts 100% DCI-P3 coverage, ensuring deep, rich colors and pitch-black blacks. You can tweak the color settings in the MyASUS app if needed. 

It’s also flicker-free and HDR-certified, which means HDR content looks amazing. Plus, the low 0.2 ms latency and 120 Hz refresh rate make it great for gaming, too.

Switching between 60 Hz and 120 Hz is an option, but I’d suggest sticking with 120 Hz since the laptop handles it well without compromising battery life. Overall, this display is one of the best you can get on a laptop right now.

ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD Review – Battery Life and Charging

The ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED packs a 70Wh large battery, and it’s definitely a battery beast. ASUS claims up to 18 hours of battery life, but in my experience, it lasted around 10 to 13 hours, which is still solid. The standby drain is practically nonexistent—I was seeing just 1% to 2% drop in battery life in standby mode. 

This laptop easily lasted me 2 to 3 days without needing a charge on weekdays, and if you throw in the weekend, it could stretch to 4 or 5 days. That’s with a decent amount of screen-on time too.

When it comes to charging, it takes about 2 hours to fully juice up using the included 90W adapter. I’m not a fan of this old-school adapter though. I wish ASUS had gone with a more modern setup—a charging brick with a Type-C to Type-C cable would’ve been ideal. But alas, that’s not the case here. 

On the bright side, you can still charge the laptop using another USB-C charger or adapter, although you’ll get a warning. Both USB-C ports support power delivery, too.

ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD Review – Software

The ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED runs on Windows 11, and the software experience is pretty smooth. The wake time is instant—no delays when you open the lid, and it’s ready to go as soon as you start using it. I’ve had no issues with the OS, which is your standard Windows 11 experience, but with a bit more thanks to the MyASUS app.

MyASUS is your one-stop hub for managing your laptop’s settings and performance. You can check out your battery stats, CPU load, memory usage, and even adjust things like color calibration and backlight settings. It also has battery gain modes, fan profiles, sound profiles, and flicker adjustment options. 

MyASUS also includes features like Task First, which lets you prioritize your tasks, Smart Connect for Wi-Fi, and smart gestures for the trackpad. Like I mentioned earlier, you can slide one finger along the left edge of the trackpad to adjust the volume, or along the right edge to adjust the brightness.

Other features include automatic keyboard lighting and auto-dim, plus various lighting effects for customization. 

Unfortunately, I could not try the AI features like infamous Recall feature and others because they are not available yet.

ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD Review – Speakers and Webcam

The speakers on this laptop are decent—nothing to write home about, but they get the job done. They’re bottom-firing, and while they’re loud enough, they’re not the best speakers I’ve heard on a laptop.

As for the webcam, ASUS has stepped up their game here. The 1080p webcam paired with the Snapdragon X Elite’s ISP delivers surprisingly good image quality. I was genuinely impressed with the results—it’s one of the better webcams I’ve seen on a Windows laptop.

Review Verdict: Should You Buy the ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD?

Smartprix Rating: 8.2/10

Performance and Gaming: 7/10

Design and Build: 8.5/10

Keyboard and Trackpad: 8/10

Display: 9/10

Battery Life and Charging: 9.5/10

Software: 8/10

Speakers and Webcam: 7.5/10

The ASUS Vivobook S15 OLED S5507QAD, priced at ₹1,24,990, offers an intriguing mix of features and compromise. The Snapdragon X Elite chipset brings impressive performance and efficiency, but ARM’s app compatibility issues remain a hurdle. It does excel in design, display, and battery life though. For early adopters looking to explore ARM on Windows, it’s a bold step forward.

First reviewed in September 2024.

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