When I took a look at a different Zenbook, the Asus Zenbook 14 Pro OLED, I found it brought together an attractive slimline design, with a striking OLED display and high-end graphics performance for creative users. That power came at a cost though – not to mention a price – and if you’re not a professional designer, then the Zenbook 15 OLED, might be a better buy instead.
Naturally, it’s not as powerful as the Pro model, as it swaps the high-end Intel processor and discrete nVidia graphics card for an AMD Ryzen with integrated graphics. But, as the name suggests, it does manage to step up to a larger 15.6-inch OLED display, while still offering a slim and lightweight design, and a more competitive price.
Acer/Pocket-lint
Asus Zenbook 15 OLED
The Zenbook’s big, bright and colourful OLED display is a treat for the eyes, and the 1.4kg weight of the Zenbook makes it a great option for travelling too. Its performance is more than adequate for daily tasks, however the OLED display uses a lot of power, and there are many lightweight laptops that provide better battery life.
Pros
- Big, bright and bold OLED display
- Good mid-range performance
- Good connectivity
- Full-size keyboard with numeric keypad
Cons
- Modest battery life
- OLED display makes it expensive
- Uses integrated graphics
- Glossy, reflective screen
Price and options
- Display: 15.6-inch OLED, 2880×1620 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7735U, 8-core @ 2.7GHz (4.8GHz max boost)
- Graphics: Radeon 680M (integrated)
- Memory: 16GB LPDDR5 (max 32GB)
- Storage: 512GB /1TB SSD
I have to take Asus to task for what could best be described as a lack of clarity on its web site. The product page for the Zenbook 15 OLED lists a variety of different upgrade options, including both 1080p and 3K displays, a choice of Windows 11 Home or Pro, and ‘up to 32GB memory and 1TB storage’. However, you can’t buy the Zenbook directly from Asus at the moment, and there seems to be just a single configuration available from its third-party retailers, which is the model I tested.
That model costs £1099.99 (approx. $1100.00) and uses an AMD Ryzen 7 7735U processor, with 2.7GHz clock speed (with a max boost speed of 4.8GHz), running Windows 11 Home.
The Ryzen processor provides integrated Radeon 680M graphics and I was pleased to see that the price of my review unit does include the 3K display option, with 2880×1620 resolution. This review model also provides 16GB memory and 512GB solid-state storage – whereas the model regularly available in the US offers 32GB and 1TB storage for $1299.99.
Design
- Dimensions: 14.9 x 354.8 x 226.6mm
- Weight: 1.4kg
- Ports: 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB 4, 1x USB-C (3.2), 1x USB-A (3.2), 3.5mm audio in/out
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
Although it steps up to a larger 15.6-inch display, the Zenbook 15 OLED manages to provide an admirably slim and lightweight design. It weighs just 1.4kg, which is good going for a laptop of this size – in fact, it even manages to beat Apple’s new 15.3-inch MacBook Air, which tips the scales at just over 1.5kg.
It’s a little thicker than the MacBook Air – 14.9mm to the MacBook’s 11.5mm – but it’s the weight that appeals, and it’s nice to be able to pick up such a large laptop with one hand and carry it around so easily. The Zenbook also feels sturdy enough to cope with life on the road, and the size of the screen means that Asus has been able to squeeze in a full-size keyboard and number pad too.
The Zenbook may be a little thicker than the MacBook Air, but that allows it to provide good connectivity features. This includes HDMI and two USB-C ports, which support video output for an external display, and can be used to charge the laptop as well. There’s also a single USB-A port and a 3.5mm connector for audio input/output, with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connectivity too.
My only complaint here is that the two USB-C ports look identical, despite one supporting USB 3.2, and the other the faster USB4. To save you wondering which is which – if you’ve bought a USB4 dock for the laptop then it’s the back one you need.
- Display: 15.6-inch OLED, 2880×1620 resolution, 16:9 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh
- Colour standards: 100% DCI-P3, 100% sRGB
- Webcam: 1920×1080
- Audio: stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos
The crowning glory of the Zenbook 15 OLED is, of course, its 15.6-inch OLED display. This is impressively bright and colourful, but manages to avoid over-saturation when displaying video and graphics. Asus also states that the display supports 100 per cent of the DCI-P3 colour standard used for professional video-editing, as well as the sRGB standard used for design and graphics work.
Admittedly, the Zenbook 15 OLED isn’t a ‘pro’ model designed for high-end graphics or video work, but it’ll certainly be able to handle some light photo or video-editing, and the OLED display will work a treat for presentations, or just watching streamed video.
The display also provides 120Hz refresh rate, ensuring smooth graphics and video performance that is very easy on the eyes. It’s a shame, though, that the screen has a very glossy, reflective surface, as this can be a bit distracting at times – especially when you’re sitting near a window in bright sunshine.
The stereo speakers work well too. The Dolby Atmos support isn’t particularly effective – the speakers are too small to create convincing spatial sound effects – but the sound quality is more than adequate for listening to some music or watching films and video. There’s also a 1080p webcam, which provides a bright, sharp image, so the Zenbook will work well for video calls and remote working too.
Performance and battery
- Processor: 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 7735U processor
- Clock speed: 2.7GHz (4.75GHz max boost))
- Graphics: integrated Radeon 680M
- Power: 65W adaptor, with 67Whr Li-ion battery
The Zenbook 15 OLED may not have the powerful nVidia graphics provided by its pro counterpart, but AMD’s Ryzen 7 processor is no slouch. Initially, its GeekBench 6 score of 1,992 for single-core performance put it right alongside lightweight Intel-based laptops such as Dell’s i7-powered XPS 13 2-in-1.
However, the Zenbook pulls way ahead on multi-core performance, scoring 9,134 compared to 6,700 for Dell. And its integrated Radeon graphics are almost twice as fast when running the demanding Unigine Valley benchmark for 3D graphics too, with Dell managing just 13.5fps, while the Zenbook reaches 24.5fps.
It’s a similar story when it comes to playing games – the Dell dawdled with 12.7fps when running Rise Of The Tomb Raider at 1920×1080 with high graphics settings. However, the Zenbook beats that score by managing 17fps even at its full 2880×1620 resolution. Lowering the resolution to 1920×1080 allowed the game to run at a playable 32fps.
Battery life does prove to be a little disappointing, though. To be fair, the use of integrated graphics allows the Zenbook 15 OLED to last for seven hours and ten minutes when streaming video via Wi-Fi, and with the brightness set to 50 per cent. That’s two hours longer than the Zenbook 14 Pro OLED, and if you aren’t using wi-fi the whole time you should certainly be able to get a full eight-hour working day out of the laptop.
Even so, that’s still a fairly modest battery life for a laptop that only uses integrated graphics, so the sheer brightness and colour of the OLED display does seem to come at a cost to battery life.
Verdict
If you’re planning to use the Zenbook with an external display much of the time, then you might be able to save some money – and a few hours of battery life – by opting for a laptop that has a more conventional display. But, if you value the sheer eye-catching video and graphics that the OLED display makes possible, then the Zenbook 15 OLED could still be a good investment. Even better, you’ll be able to enjoy that high-quality display anywhere you go, thanks to the Zenbook’s smart, lightweight design.