Photo: The Citizen/Cheryl Kahla/ASUS
Asus’ range of Vivobook devices come in so many different configurations – from an 11-inch model to foldable 2-in-1 devices, to actual creative editing workhorses.
It is the very definition of steady eddy machines. Don’t get me wrong; I truly enjoy the insane’o gaming monsters and their place is firmly rooted in my dreams.
The Vivobooks, however, are lightweight and the affordable price points make them really attractive to ordinary Joe’s.
Let me explain what it’s like to live with.
It only weighs 1.70kg, so it’s very easy to take with you everywhere. It’s really compact and still manages to impress with its polished corners and brushed edges.
The model we received was the M1505, and it was paired with the AMD Ryzen (Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7) which performed smoothly for an APU (Accelerated Processing Unit).
Performance-wise, it managed smoothly during browsing and while using low-level apps; however, gaming was surprising on low settings but more on that later.
One great thing ASUS has done over the last few iterations was to integrate OLED screens across the entire line-up.
This makes any ASUS laptop a worthwhile investment. The mostly plastic construction manages to still feel premium and nice to the touch.
The keyboard – while sacrificing key travel due to the thinness – still had a nice feel to the touch and the aptest word to describe it was tight.
The camera, while nothing to write home about, had a privacy shade that you can toggle physically which was a nice addition.
The trackpad was fairly big and I mistouched it while gaming quite regularly it seems it could not tell the difference between my wrist and my fingers.
I understand the need for a large trackpad but everybody should just get an external mouse anyway as even the clickiness was not as satisfying as other brands.
Updates come through on the MYASUS app and it’s relatively smooth and pain-free.
On to my favourite segment: gaming.
This is an APU so bear in mind it will not perform as well as having a dedicated GPU.
That said, I managed to play all of my favourite games, including Rocket League, Rally 2019, Valorant, and CSGO.
They all looked fantastic thanks to the gorgeous monitor, as long as it’s plugged into the power outlet it was jitter-free.
One big caveat is that you would most likely turn all of the settings on low to achieve the best performance; and even on 1080p, this APU managed to surprise me as I was not expecting it to be this smooth.
The low settings do not end up being a deal breaker.
RELATED: ASUS Vivobook 13 Slate OLED: An ultra-bright ultraportable laptop
The one big takeaway here is the OLED screen which turns a rather boring experience into something enjoyable.
The wide variety means you can get one that not only fits your pocket but your exact needs so it’s two thumbs up for ordinary joes everywhere.
I’ll still take these over a MacBook Air, which it technically competes against.
The Ryzen 7 16 GB RAM laptop will cost you R16 999, while the Ryzen 5 8GB option with OLED display goes for R12 999.
The Vivobook 15 OLED is available from selected stores and the ASUS eShop.
RELATED: ROG Strix Scar 18: A gamer’s dream come true… but it’s hella expensive
Cheryl Kahla and I host The Citizen’s weekly Tech Check With Kahla and Kruger podcast series where we discuss the latest gadgets, and tech news, and talk to industry experts about a variety of fascinating things.
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This week, we talked to Marce Bester from ASUS about the brand-new ROG Strix Scar 18, one of the best gadgets we ever reviewed.
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