Asus is well-known for the high-end gaming laptops that it markets under its ROG (Republic Of Gamers) brand but, of course, it’s not just gamers who need high-end graphics performance from their laptops. Many professional users need strong graphics for tasks such as video editing or 3D graphics and animation work, so Asus has also added a number of ‘Pro’ models to its Zenbook range of business laptops.
You’ve got plenty of choice, with Zenbook Pro models offering a variety of different screen sizes, but the latest addition to the range is the compact Zenbook Pro 14 OLED – which, as the name suggests, boasts a state-of-the-art 14.5-inch OLED display that is suitable for professional-level graphics and video work.
Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED
The ZenBook Pro 14 OLED packs a lot of power into a slimline design, although its modest battery life means that it will be most at home in an office with a mains power supply close at hand. The OLED display is also impressive, but it’s expensive and perhaps seems more like a luxury than a must-have feature.
Pros
- Striking ‘3K’ OLED display
- Pro-level performance
- Slimline design
- Rugged casing for travelling
Cons
- OLED display is expensive
- Fans can be noisy
- Modest battery life
Price and options
Processor: Intel Core 15-13500H/i7-13700H/i9-13900H
Graphics: nVidia GeForce RTX 4060/4070 (8GB VRAM)
Memory: 32GB DDR5 (max 48GB)
Storage: 512GB – 2TB SSD
The ZenBook Pro 14 OLED hadn’t officially gone on sale at the time of this review, but will be available from Amazon and other third-party retailers towards the end of June. Customers in the US get the widest range of options, with a choice of 13th generation Intel i5, i7 or i9 processors. But, in the UK, the only processor option is the top-of-the-range i9-13900H that we review here. Both regions do offer a choice of graphics cards, though, allowing you to opt for either nVidia GeForce RTX 4060 or 4070 Laptop GPUs.
As mentioned, our review unit included an i9 processor, along with an RTX 4070 GPU with 8GB of video memory. Prices for that model start at $2499.99/£2499.99 with 16GB memory and 1TB solid-state storage, although our review unit also doubled up with 32GB memory and 2TB storage for $2999.99/£2999.99. However, Asus’ reliance on third-party retailers does mean that prices online may vary considerably, so it’s worth shopping around to find the best price.
Design
- Dimensions: 17.9 x 321.8 x 223.3mm
- Weight: 1.6kg – 1.8kg
- Ports: 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x TB4, 1x USB-C, USB-A (3.2), 3.5mm audio In/Out, SD card
- Wireless: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3
The ZenBook Pro 14 OLED looks almost stridently conventional, simply consisting of a rectangular black clamshell design that measures 17.9mm thick, 321.8mm wide and 223.3mm deep. Asus states that it should weigh 1.65kg, although our own scales put the weight closer to 1.8kg – but that’s still not bad given the high-end hardware built into the slimline case.
It’s sturdy too, with Asus boasting that it meets the US military MIL-STD-810 standard for rugged design, and tough Gorilla Glass to protect that eye-catching (and expensive) OLED display. It’ll certainly be rugged enough to cope with life on the road, although we do have some doubts about the spindle-like power connector, which protrudes at a right-angle from the side of the laptop and looks like an accident waiting to happen.
That sturdy design ensures that the keyboard feels firm and responsive, and Asus has come up with an interesting dual-mode trackpad as well. You can simply use it as a conventional trackpad, but you can also activate a small circular ‘dialpad’ in the top-left corner of the trackpad. This provides context-sensitive controls that can vary from one app to another. While using a web browser the dialpad can increase or decrease the magnification setting, or cycle through a series of open tabs. But, in design apps like Adobe Photoshop, the dialpad can be used to select different editing tools, or to adjust the size or style of a brush. We did find this a little fiddly to use, but it’s a handy option for professional users who spend a lot of time working with a few key apps.
Connectivity is good too, with one Thunderbolt 4 port and one USB-C (3.2), both of which provide video output for an external display. There’s also one HDMI 2.1 port, one USB-A (3.2), an SD card slot for photographers, and a 3.5mm connector for audio input/output. Wireless connectivity is right up to date, with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. There’s no Ethernet, though, which some professional users might need for an office network, although it is possible to purchase an Ethernet adaptor for use with the laptop’s USB-C port.
- Display: 14.5-inch OLED, 2800 x 1800 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh
- Colour standards: 100% DCI-P3, 133% sRGB, Pantone Validated
- Webcam: 1920 x 1080
- Audio: stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos
The design of the ZenBook Pro 14 OLED may be not particularly eye-catching at first glance, but that changes as soon as you turn on the 14.5” OLED display. The image quality is strikingly bright and colourful, offering 400nits brightness by default, but rising to 550nits for content that supports HDR. The 120Hz refresh rate also ensures smooth graphics and animation, and should help to reduce eye strain for people who spend their entire working day staring at the screen.
The display supports 133% of the sRGB colour standard for graphics and design work, and 100% of the DCI-P3 standard used for professional video-editing work, so it’ll be suitable for a wide range of creative users in fields such as design, photography and the broadcast industry. Our only real concern is that the use of OLED technology seems a little like overkill for a relatively small 14.5-inch screen – especially for professional users who will probably have the Zenbook hooked up to a larger external display much of the time.
There’s a 1080p webcam that provides a bright and clear image for video calls, and the Zenbook’s stereo speakers are more than loud enough for playing some music or listening to some rough edits at work.
Performance and battery
- 14-core i9-13900H processor (six performance/eight efficiency cores)
- Clock speed: 2.6GHz (with Turboboost upto 5.4GHz)
- Graphics: integrated Iris Xe, and discrete nVidia GeForce RTX 4060/4070
- Power: 200W adaptor, with 76Wh Li-ion battery
Asus has done well to squeeze high-end performance into the Zenbook’s slimline design, and while it can’t match the sheer graphical horsepower of Asus’ larger and heavier gaming rigs, it will certainly meet the needs of professionals in fields such as graphics, design and video editing who need a mobile workstation that can leave the office from time to time.
The i9 processor recorded a score of 2,700 for single-core performance when running the GeekBench 6 test suite, and 14,000 for multi-core performance, with those scores matching any Intel-based gaming rig that I’ve tested recently. Asus’ AMD-powered Zephyrus Duo 16 nudges slightly ahead on 15,850 for multi-core performance, but is considerably bigger, heavier and more expensive.
The Zephyrus also boasts an RTX 4090 graphics card, which scores an impressive 200fps in the demanding Unigine Valley test of 3D performance. The Zenbook’s RTX 4070 can’t match that performance, but its 120fps in Valley still provides strong performance for 3D graphics and animation work.
It’s no slouch when it comes to gaming either, effortlessly hitting 110fps when running Rise Of The Tomb Raider at full 2880 x 1800 resolution on the game’s highest graphics settings. And, given that the ZenBook Pro 14 OLED is considerably less expensive than many comparable gaming laptops, it provides good value for professional users who have to justify the cost to their accounts deparment.
Battery life isn’t in the same league, but if you don’t mind switching to the Zenbook’s integrated Iris Xe graphics and lowering the OLED display to 50% brightness, then you’ll get five hours and fifteen minutes of streaming video when you’re on the move. And, if you’re not using wi-fi all day long, you should be able to stretch that closer to six hours. That should help you to get some work done when you’re travelling – but you’ll need to stay close to a mains power adaptor if you want to use the full power of the nVidia graphics card.
Our only minor complaint here is that the Zenbook is fairly loud when the nVidia GPU is in full flow. The MyAsus app that’s provided with the Zenbook does allow you to adjust the ‘fan profile’ to allow either more or less fan noise, depending on the situation. But, of course, lowering the noise of the fans may also reduce graphics performance, so that’s something you may have to learn to live with.
Verdict
Some people may consider the OLED display to be an expensive luxury, rather than an absolutely essential feature, but there’s no doubt that the ZenBook Pro 14 OLED provides strong performance for professional users working in fields such as graphics, design and video editing. Asus has also done a good job squeezing all that performance into a slimline, lightweight design, with a competitive price –