ASUS Vivobook S 15 (S5507) Review

The ASUS Vivobook S 15 (S5507) is one of the first laptops to use the latest Snapdragon X Elite processor. It’s packaged to support AI features with Microsoft Copilot with a very capable NPU to boot.

We managed to snag a unit and put it under review. However, we decided to cover its AI-powered features in a separate article entirely. Readers can expect that from us coming real soon along with an article on what to expect from Snapdragon-powered computers.

Alright then, on to brass tacks as we dive right in!

Design and Construction

The Vivobook comes in the Cool Silver colorway, weighing 1.42 kilograms and is 0.63-inches thin. Nothing too eye-catching, but it still has a relatively nice tapered build with a metal chassis.

When it’s closed, even the rear feels clean. At first glance, you will find the ASUS Vivobook branding on the back panel. Ventilation from the fans below are subtle, with notable absence from fan noise.

It feels nice to hold, albeit it doesn’t feel as light as I would prefer. Moving on, it sports a beautiful OLED panel with what feels like plastic bezels. Further, we inferred that an anti-glare layer is absent from the display making it glossy.

For context, Windows laptops usually have anti-glare film come with their screens. It’s a preference thing, but we appreciate how manufacturers are moving away from it.

In addition, its panel’s hinge allows the display to be totally flattened.

I’m not telling you guys to go overboard and snap this in half, but it can go up to 180-degrees. When we found this, we thought that the display might’ve been a lowkey touchscreen.

On top of the screen, users will also find a camera that has a shutter that you can slide. This is pretty self-explanatory. But if you’re finicky about privacy, you’ll definitely appreciate this small touch.

Anyway, the keyboard felt comfortable to work with. It had responsive, tactile keys with enough depth upon actuation. In other words, keys go clickity-clackity and it’s great. Plus, there’s also a dedicated key for Microsoft Copilot next to the right alt key.

It also has RGB lighting. However, we’ll go into more detail on how to tinker with it in the software segment of the review. For now, all we can say is you won’t get to appreciate it unless you work in the dark often.

On the left side below, you can find a new Snapdragon sticker joining the likes of Intel, AMD, and NVIDIA. Opposite side, you can find another sticker that recognizes the device as a Copilot+ PC with Harman Kardon audio branding.

Overall, the device has an appeal to it. With more Snapdragon-powered laptops incoming, it’s sure to draw a handful of comparisons in due time.

Personally though, I appreciate how clean the laptop is already. I hope they don’t go too overboard to stand out with its future iterations.

Display and Multimedia

The laptop has a glossy 15.6-inch 3K (2880 x 1620) OLED display with an adaptive refresh rate of 120Hz. It has an 89% screen-to-body ratio and 600 nits of HDR peak brightness.

It is still the 16:9 aspect ratio as the previous generation in this line-up but we don’t really mind it. Even so, the display is vivid and stunning all the same.

It offers great color accuracy through vibrant colors and deep blacks with 100% coverage of the DCI-P3 space. I can vouch that users will certainly find that the display boasts crisp details and image quality.

While it doesn’t have the modern 16:10 aspect ratio, I can certainly forgive it. I’ve played a game and went on enough YouTube binges to get to this decision.

The display is complemented with a Harman Kardon tuned speaker. Full disclosure though, it’s alright. It’s clear, but could be louder. It also lacks bass, but this is a subjective take.

However, my listening experience did improve with the use of wireless earbuds. Had to put the Bluetooth to use, right?

Users can also play around with audio under settings. It even has the Dolby Access app if you want to see if the different settings suit you better.

I also have to mention that the Vivobook has a pretty good full HD IR camera. Safe to say, users should find this nice for online meetings or game nights with friends.

I/O and Connectivity

Despite the relative thinness of the laptop, Asus managed to cram quite a few much-needed ports.

On the left side, we have full-sized HDMI 2.1 port, a microSD card reader, and a 3.5mm combo audio jack. There’s also two (2) USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C ports with display and power delivery (PD) support.

On the right side, we have two (2) USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports. The Vivobook offers WiFi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 for connectivity.

As for how the connectivity was, we didn’t really encounter any issues with the laptop. It felt smooth and hassle-free, loading sites and connecting to my earbuds pretty quick.

OS and Software

The ASUS Vivobook S 15 runs on Windows 11, which has minimal bloatware to make for a user-friendly experience.

Notably, the MyASUS app allows users to oversee the status for the device’s battery, CPU load, memory, and storage space.

From here, you can tinker with device settings. Users can play around from fan modes, sound modes, and even the device’s refresh rate. We’ll leave photos of what to expect below.

As for the Exclusives tab, don’t expect too much. This only lets users play around with the RGB lighting on the keyboard.

Choose from a solid color, strobing lights, breathing lights, or rainbow lit keys.

Moving on, I have to give a nod again to the Copilot button that comes with the device. Instead of having to look up ChatGPT, I have an accessible alternative that needs minimal effort.

Fairly enough, I barely use AI in my writing. However, it did prove to be insanely convenient for times where I’m unsure of something and need to fact check.

As mentioned, we’ll cover the other AI integrations in a separate article entirely. So, stay tuned for announcements from our end!

Lastly, and we need to stress this, the Vivobook’s Windows operating system ased on ARM and not the usual x64/x86 architecture (Yes, not the usual Intel or AMD based we’re all used to!)

This means that it’s not built to run most games, as they have been built around the latter. I’ll try to explain more in a bit.

Performance and Benchmarks

Our review unit is powered by the latest Snapdragon X Elite 4nm chip with a 12-core, 12-thread processor that clocks up to 3.4GHz.

As for the integrated GPU, it has a Qualcomm Adreno X1 at the helm. It even has a Hexagon NPU that performs 45 TOPs (Tera Operations per Second).

The laptop packs 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM and 1TB of PCIe 4 NVMe SSD storage. It looks good across the board, right? Well, we have to unpack a couple of things for you.

The good news is that the laptop is certainly primed for productivity with what it offers. However, it doesn’t look too bright for those who would like to do a bit of gaming on the device.

I’m sure readers would give more attention to the latter, so let’s discuss that. The Vivobook suffers from lack of gaming compatibility since most titles nowadays are optimized for x86 processors.

But of course, since the laptop is somewhat of a proof-of concept for Snapdragon-powered Windows terminals, it’s easy to see it as a first generation Windows ARM architecture product.

Notable processors of this kind are Intel’s i3-i9 line or AMD’s Ryzen line. While the newest Snapdragon processor is great, it only supports a handful of games.

Notably, we couldn’t run League of Legends or Valorant, which are two mainstream free-to-play games we downloaded out of convenience. Even an old game like Left 4 Dead 2 kept crashing as soon as the game loaded.

We were only able to play Don’t Starve Together and Zenless Zone Zero. With the power of context, I realized that the laptop could probably handle Hoyoverse-made titles.

Since it’s a Snapdragon processor, it could definitely handle ARM-optimized games. Honkai, Genshin, and Wuthering Waves players rejoice.

Here are our benchmark scores with the device. Disclaimer though, these were taken with the device under performance mode for the best results.

Battery

Battery-wise, the Vivobook can be very versatile as well. Since the device isn’t really heavy on gaming, your time will be put into productive tasks. Assuming that the user doesn’t love editing videos on-the-go, work shouldn’t be power intensive.

Anyway, the device packs a 70WHrs Lithium-ion battery that charges via USB Type-C with a 90W adapter with Power Delivery support. You can full charge this from zero in just under 2 hours.

From experience —- editing photos, writing, and researching gives users 9 hours of activity in balanced mode.

However, it goes down to 4-5 hours with heavier multitasking jobs. This includes gaming or editing with tools like Adobe 13 Premiere Pro under performance mode.

While the device is marketed to offer up to 18 hours of productivity, users need to set it up first. Under settings, you have to set it to ‘Best Power Efficiency’. Even with this, users are slated to get 10-11 hours with a typical workload.

I think users can and will achieve 18 hours of uptime. This is if you have lapses where you leave the device on standby for hours on end.

I believe my point still stands. The laptop’s flexible under this department, and what matters is it doesn’t straight up die quickly. If users want to do more, however, they may have to look into what power options suit their needs.

Pricing and Conclusion

The new ASUS Vivobook S 15 (S5507) is priced at PHP 84,995USD 1,448INR 122,784EUR 1,379CNY 10,548. This includes a lifetime subscription for Microsoft Home & Student 2021 and a basic subscription to Microsoft 365 for a year.

In addition, buyers will also get an ASUS 4A Quality and Service Warranty. Readers can get it at ASUS’ official stores in the Philippines. It’s part of their Cool for School promo as well, running until August 15, 2024.

This Vivobook iteration offers consistent, high-end performance with premium features. However, I must say that users need to look into this device to level their expectations.

It’s certainly built for productivity, geared to benefit students, working professionals, and creative minds the most. But if users are looking to game or do other activities on the laptop, think otherwise.

There are only a handful of Snapdragon-powered laptops right now, so there are some growing pains with program compatibility. If gaming in general took a hit from this development, we’ve yet to see if other fields are affected.

Admittedly, those who are wary budget-wise could definitely look for more affordable, flexible options. Early adopters, on the other hand, who want to take a chance on this developing marvel wouldn’t regret it either.

The ASUS Vivobook S 15 is great for those that want to maximize their productivity with modern digital tools. The minimal design, glossy display, and user-catering features are just great additions to what it already offers.

As one of the first of its kind, it has some things to figure out along the way. Personally, I think that its price could and very well deter buyers. In spite of that, I think it’s a worthy investment.

After all, the value of AI and how it streamlines tasks holds a ton of relevance nowadays.

What we liked:
* Sleek, minimal design
* Smooth, glossy display
* Copilot button
* User-centric programs and features

What we didn’t like:
* 16:9 aspect ratio
* Inability to run most games
* Price

ASUS VivoBook S 15 (S5507) specs:
15.6-inch 3K OLED (2880 x 1620) panel
120Hz adaptive refresh rate, 600 nits (HDR peak brightness)
16:9 aspect ratio, 89% screen-to-body ratio
100% DCI-P3 color gamut, 1,000,000:1, VESA CERTIFIED Display HDR True Black 600
1.07 billion colors, TÜV Rheinland-certified
Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E 78 100 processor @ 3.4GHz
Qualcomm Adreno X1 GPU
Qualcomm Hexagon NPU @ 45 TOPs
16GB RAM LPDDR5X
1TB storage M.2 NVMe? PCIe 4.0 SSD
FHD IR camera
Smart Amp Technology
Built-in speaker and array microphone
Harman Kardon mainstream audio
Dolby Atmos
Windows 11 Home
WiFi 7
Bluetooth 5.4
2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A
2x USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C support display / power delivery
1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS
1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack
Micro SD card reader
70WHrs, 3S1P, 3-cell Li-ion, 90W AC Adapter, Output 20V DC
35.26 x 22.69 x 1.47 ~ 1.59 cm (13.88 x 8.93 x 0.58 ~ 0.63-inches) (dimensions)
1.42 kilograms (weight)
Cool Silver (color)