Asus inaugurates the new Lunar Lake architecture on its Zenbook S14 OLED (or UX5406 for short). The brand’s new ultrabook offers a neat setting to accommodate the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V, offering a Ceraluminum chassis and a 14-inch OLED screen. A configuration that makes this Zenbook S 14 from late 2024 a machine dedicated to mobility in the best conditions.
Technical characteristics
| Nom | ASUS Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | – 31,03 x 21,47 x 1,19-1,29 cm – MIL-STD 810H |
| Weight | – 1,20 kg |
| Processor | – Intel Core Ultra 258V – Intel AI Boost NPU |
| Graphics Processor | – Intel Arc |
| Storage | – 512 Go or 1 To en SSD (M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0) – Slot d’extension (M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0×4) – 16 Go or 32 Go RAM LPDDR5X |
| Screen | – 14.0 inches – 3K definition (2880 x 1800) – OLED – Format 16:10 – 0.2 ms response time – 120Hz refresh rate – Brightness: 400 nits (500 nits maximum brightness) – 100% DCI-P3 color gamut – 1,000,000:1 – VESA and HDR True Black 500 certified display – 1.07 billion colors – PANTONE validated, – Brilliant screen, 70% less harmful blue light – TÜV Rheinland certified – Ecran SGS Eye Care – Optional touch |
| Camera | – Webcam 1080p – IR function for Windows Hello support |
| Operating system | – Windows 11 |
| Keyboard | – Backlit chiclet type – Copilot button |
| Battery | – 72 Whrs – 65W power adapter |
| Connexion | – Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) – Bluetooth 5.4 – 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A – 2x Thunderbolt 4 supporting display/power – 1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS – 1x combo audio jack de 3,5 mm |
| Audio | – Harman-Kardon speakers |
| Colors | – Zumaia Gray – Scandinavian White |
| Prix | – From 1,599 euros |
Price and availability
The Asus Zenbook S14 (UX5406) is officially available in France from 1 599 euros. This price corresponds to the version equipped with the Intel Core Ultra 258V processor, with 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. A version with 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD is also available at 1 699 euros.
Finally, a 1,799 euro model has 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD of storage. As a bonus, we even found a model with a touch screen 1 999 euros.
Discover the Asus Zenbook S14 OLED (32 GB+1 TB)
With its QWERTY keyboard, our test model is a mix of the variants available in France. Indeed, it has 32 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD.
Design
Over the past few generations, the Zenbook has undergone a real change in style and Asus has found an identity on which to rely. The Zenbook S 14 does not surprise and looks a lot like the S 13 OLED that went through the editorial team in the summer of 2023. We were complimentary about it and that remains relevant for this new version. The cover is made of a material Asus calls Ceraluminum, a term to describe an alloy of ceramic and aluminum. The process comes from the world of aerospace and watchmaking, allowing the cover to be more resistant. The ceramic touch is also pleasant and the cover is not very sensitive to fingerprints.
Impeccable manufacturing quality
Once again, Asus does not disappoint and offers impeccable manufacturing quality. The result lives up to expectations and allows you to enjoy a thin (1.19 to 1.29 cm thick) and rather light (1.2 kg) ultraportable for a 14-inch model. The Zenbook S 14 even manages to stand out from the crowd of laptops, while remaining sober and elegant.
The finishes are at the level of the best on the market and the Zenbook S 14 has fairly complete connectivity, considering its format. There is a USB 3.2 Gen 2 type-A port, two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, an HDMI 2.1 output and a 3.5 mm headphone jack. The only notable absence concerns the SD card reader, but this is often reserved for larger 15 or 16 inch models.
Finally, the keyboard ensures comfortable and consistent typing despite the thinness of the machine. Backlighting on three levels is available and Asus accompanies it with a touchpad with a generous surface area. Of very good quality, it ensures efficient gliding with a few gestures specific to the manufacturer and is perfect for daily use.
Screen and Audio
When reading its name, we can easily guess that we are entitled to a 14-inch panel displaying a definition of 2,880 x 1,800 pixels. Asus uses a brilliant OLED panel, capable of offering a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz.
On a daily basis, we can say that this screen is very comfortable. The panel is correctly calibrated and we benefit from the benefits of OLED with almost infinite contrasts and the absence of ghosting. We also appreciate the good brightness which allows outdoor use, but Asus opts for a very shiny panel and does not offer anti-reflection. You therefore have to deal with many reflections, which is not particularly pleasant in bright environments.
Asus delivers an excellent quality panel which does not suffer from any major defects. Just above the screen, there is a 1080p webcam of very average quality, but aided by the AI effects of Windows Studio Effects. The algorithms largely do the job of ensuring the essentials during the videos, but we can still see that the quality is not exceptional.
The audio part, made up of two tweeters and two woofers, is unsurprising. As is often the case with this type of machine, the bass is very recessed and the ultrabook focuses on the treble for a clear and relatively balanced sound.
Performances
The great curiosity of this Zenbook S 14 UX5406 made available to us lies in the bowels of the beast. Asus integrates an Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor, recently announced by Intel and featuring Lunar Lake architecture. A second generation of Core Ultra which promises to make x86 more efficient than ever, emphasizing AI and autonomy. Let’s make no mistake, there is a desire here to play on the grounds of ARM, the rising star in the PC universe which is disrupting historic giants like Intel.
Now that the foundations are laid, we can take a closer look at the Core Ultra 7 258V, a processor with 8 cores – 4 P cores for performance and 4 LP-E cores for energy efficiency – clocked at 2.2 GHz and up to 4.8 GHz. Intel adds a new NPU developing 47 TOPS and a next-generation Intel Arc 140V graphics circuit with 8 Xe-Cores and a maximum frequency of 1.95 GHz. The AI computing capacity is 64 TOPS. The 2024 Zenbook S 14 adds 32 GB of RAM (LPDDR5X RAM) and 512 GB of SSD storage (PCIe Gen4). Note that the thermal envelope is between 17 and 37 W depending on the scenarios.
Intel returns to the race through the front door
The first observation to make is that Intel is making a strong comeback in the race by making strong and bold choices. Its Core Ultra 7 258V shines with its daily efficiency, although it doesn’t really surprise us on the CPU side. Intel made the strong choice to abandon hyperthreading and this necessarily has consequences on the multi-core performance of Core Ultra Series 2, as we can see under Cinebench 2024. Nothing very worrying, but the multi-core score of Core Ultra 7 258V is not really impressive. On the other hand, Intel is in the single-core discussion.
| Cinebench 2024 (single/multi) | 117 / 619 |
|---|---|
| Cinebench R23 (single/multi) | 1 673 / 10 271 |
| Geekbench 6 (single/multi) | 2 552 / 10 780 |
| Geekbench AI (OpenVINO/GPU) | – Single Precision Score : 9 911 – Half Precision Score : 23 291 – Quantized Score : 27 592 |
| Geekbench AI (OpenVINO/NPU) | – Single Precision Score : 3 004 – Half Precision Score : 16 271 – Quantized Score : 24 102 |
| 3DMark Steel Nomad Light | 3 276 |
| 3DMark Time Spy Score | 4 105 |
This choice from Intel is a winner in our opinion and allows you to benefit from a Core Ultra 7 258V that is sufficiently efficient to perform all tasks, without wanting to do too much. In this Zenbook S 14, the chip focuses above all on energy efficiency and this is what we ask for first on an ultraportable. We will also see in the section dedicated to autonomy that Intel has succeeded in its bet.
For even more performance, we will monitor the new Intel platform in machines dedicated to creation or gaming. And since we’re talking about gaming, we also have things to say about the graphics part of the Core Ultra 7 258V.
Solid graphics services
The new generation of Intel Arc confirms its promises by offering more than interesting performance. This is verified in the benchmarks, but also in games at 1080p (low/low XeSS settings):
- Cyberpunk 2077 : 43 i/s
- Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart : 56 i/s
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider : 72 i/s
Obviously, the Asus Zenbook S 14 is not a gaming machine and the results are only there to demonstrate the good behavior of the iGPU.
Finally, the SSD offers speeds of 5 GB/s read and 2.9 GB/s write. Its performance is average and is sufficient for the majority of uses. We did not notice any noticeable slowdown during file transfers.
Autonomy
Asus integrates a 72 Wh battery into its Zenbook S 14 and provides a compact (around 165 g) 65 W power supply. The machine is compatible with the Power Delivery standard and offers autonomy of up to 27 hours. Indeed, Intel has very big ambitions in terms of autonomy and wants to respond to PCs equipped with Snapdragon X Elite.
I forgot to charge my laptop, so what?
No need to prolong the suspense, there is reason to be impressed by the endurance of the Zenbook S14. The Asus ultrabook exceeds twenty hours of use and does not need to be recharged every evening before leaving. We began to taste such performance with ARM machines, whether from Apple (“M” chips) or Windows PCs equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite.
It’s a real revolution to see such performance from Intel and we can only appreciate the efforts made on the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor. Asus’ adjustments are noteworthy and the Zenbook S 14 is clearly one of the most durable laptops on the market.
With the levels reached by the competition, we can also say that the blue giant no longer really had a choice… but we do not want to shy away from our pleasure at seeing that there is a match at the end of the year 2024 between three big names for Windows machines (Intel, AMD and Qualcomm).
Source: www.journaldugeek.com
