Hey everyone, I finally got some time with the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED with the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H, and this is what I have to say about it. It’s a powerful little beast. It has a super clean, minimal look that blends in with a work setup, but under the hood this thing works. With 16GB RAM and a 1TB SSD, it handles everything I threw at it without breaking a problem. And the OLED screen just makes the enhances everything. And the RGB keyboard also puts a nice touch to it. I don’t think it’s made for gamers or creative power users necessarily, but for students, office folks, or anyone who needs a fast, light, and long-lasting laptop—it’s worth a look.

TL;DR:

• Intel Core Ultra 9 185H = fast and efficient

• Battery lasts all day (10–12 hrs easy)

• OLED screen is super sharp and vibrant

• Lightweight, premium feel (~2.87 lbs)

• RGB keyboard adds flavor

• Downsides: 60Hz screen, RAM not upgradable, glossy display

• Overall: great for school, work, and media — not built for heavy gaming or editing

Quick Specs

• Display: 14" 1920×1200 OLED, 16:10, 600 nits, 100% DCI-P3, 60Hz

• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (16-core hybrid, up to 5.1GHz)

• Graphics: Intel Arc integrated GPU

• RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X (soldered, dual-channel)

• Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 SSD

• Battery: 75Wh, fast charging (~50% in 30–35 min)

• Ports: 2× USB-C (Thunderbolt 4), 2× USB-A, HDMI 2.1, microSD, headphone jack

• Weight: ~2.87 lbs (1.3kg)

• Other: RGB backlit keyboard, IR webcam w/ shutter, Wi-Fi 7, Windows 11

Performance & Usage
This thing flies through normal tasks. I was running 15+ Chrome tabs, Spotify, some video playback, and it didn’t stutter once. Windows boots in like 8 seconds. The Ultra 9 chip is super responsive and keeps things moving smooth. I wouldn’t use this for Blender or Unreal Engine, but for everyday use, it’s honestly overkill. It also handles light creative work like Canva, Photoshop, or DaVinci Resolve just fine.

Intel Arc graphics is decent too. I messed around with some 1080p footage editing and it handled it better than expected. Some casual games like Valorant or Minecraft will run okay on low settings, but again, this isn’t a gaming machine. What’s cool is that AI stuff like video call enhancements and background blur run smoother than usual. It’s not life-changing, but it works.

Thermals & Fan Noise
Runs cool and quiet 90% of the time. Even when I was doing video calls and browsing with stuff running in the background, it stayed quiet. During heavier loads, the fan kicks in, but it’s not annoying or high-pitched. Definitely fine for classrooms, meetings, or libraries. It does warm up underneath after a while, so I wouldn’t use it on a blanket or pillow.

Battery Life
Battery life is solid. I was getting 10–12 hours on a full charge doing regular work (web, docs, music, YouTube). OLED helps here — if you use dark mode, it sips even less. Under heavy tasks like editing or long Zoom sessions, it drops to around 5–6 hours, but that’s still decent. The 65W USB-C charger is clutch — got to 50% in about 30 minutes.

Display & Build
The OLED screen is the real MVP here. It’s 16:10 and 1200p, so you get extra vertical space for scrolling and work. Colors pop, blacks are deep, and it’s super crisp for movies or editing. Brightness hits around 600 nits, so it’s usable even in sunlight, but the glossy finish does reflect a bit.

Build is sleek and lowkey. It feels solid and has a metallic finish on the lid. Doesn’t scream gamer. Keyboard deck is sturdy, hinge feels premium, and the typing experience is satisfying. The RGB keyboard is a fun touch — you can set the color or turn it off if you want to keep it simple. Trackpad is big and smooth. Webcam is 1080p and has a physical shutter + face unlock, which is nice.

Comparisons

• ZenBook Q415: Similar look and feel, but the Vivobook has better specs (Ultra 9 vs Ultra 5, 16GB vs 8GB) and RGB keyboard. ZenBook wins slightly on price.

• HP Envy x360 14: Better 2-in-1 versatility, but the OLED on this Vivobook is brighter and battery life is longer.

• MacBook Air M2 (13/15): Better battery life and silent fanless design, but pricier and doesn’t have OLED.

• Lenovo Yoga 7i: A bit bulkier, slightly better build feel, but battery life isn’t as long and no RGB flair.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Lightweight and ultra portable

• Beautiful OLED display (vibrant, color-accurate)

• Long battery life (10–12 hours real use)

• RGB keyboard + solid typing experience

• Strong day-to-day performance

• Quiet fans and cool temps

• Great port selection (2× TB4, HDMI, microSD)

• Fast charging via USB-C

• IR webcam + privacy shutter

Cons:

• 60Hz refresh rate

• Glossy display = fingerprint magnet

• RAM is soldered (no upgrades)

• Not a gaming or high-end creative laptop

• Only microSD slot (not full SD)

• Design might be too minimal for some

Tips for Buyers

• Debloat: US CTT Debloat, it will help a lot reducing CPU usage and unnecessary bloatware

• Set screen to 60% brightness + dark mode for max battery

• Uninstall MyASUS + McAfee out the box

• Customize RGB keyboard to match your vibe

• Turn on Battery Health Mode if plugged in a lot

• Use Balanced or Silent mode unless you're doing heavy tasks

• External SSD is optional, but 1TB should be plenty for most users

Overall
The ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED (S5406MA-AS96) is a clean, efficient, and surprisingly powerful laptop that doesn’t scream for attention — it just gets the job done. With strong internals, a gorgeous OLED display, great battery life, and some bonus flair with that RGB keyboard, perfect fit for school, work, and daily use. It’s not built to replace a gaming rig or video-editing workstation, but for 90% of users out there, this laptop is more than enough.

Buy the ASUS Vivobook S 14 OLED On Amazon.

(Heads up: This post has affiliate links. If you buy through them, I will get a small commission — doesn’t cost you extra. Helps support the time I put into testing and writing these reviews, so I appreciate it :)

I bought this laptop six months ago and thought I'd share my experience. It's been a great laptop for going back to school and I think it'll be reliable for a long time. As well as real-life usage, I'll go into some the details that took some Googling to find as well.

Spoiler alert: Don't buy the Intel version!

First thing's first... Specs for my model # M5402RA-AS71-CA:

Processor: AMD 6800H 8-core/16-thread 3.2 GHz w/ 4.7GHz max boost (45W TDP)

Memory: 16GB DDR5-4800 MHz (Two 8GB SODIMMs: One soldered, one not soldered)

SSD: 1TB PCIe Gen 4x4 (WD SN735 SDBPNHH-1T00-1002)

Graphics: Integrated Radeon 680M 2GB (RDNA2)

Monitor: 14.5" 2880x1800 OLED (16:10 ratio, 120Hz refresh rate, 600nits brightness, gloss finish)

Dimensions: 12.69" x 9.09" x 0.70", 3.59 lbs

Battery: 70Wh

Charger: 90W (USB-C)

Ports: 1x USB2.0 Type-A, 1x USB3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x USB3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm Audio

Details not reported by Asus:

- Windows reports RAM is upgradeable to 64GB (Asus only reports 16GB).

- The SSD reports as Gen4x4 but basically runs at Gen 3 speeds with improved power consumption.

- The integrated Radeon 680M is comparable to an Nvidia 1060 Mobile but with much better power consumption.

The good:

- Intel Evo battery life without a slow U-rated Intel processor.

- Powerful, yet efficient 8-core processor (no such thing as efficiency cores in an AMD chip).

- Best-in-class integrated GPU.

- USB-C PD charging makes it easy to use something besides the factory charger.

- Very good keyboard.

- Beautiful screen.

- None of that RGB crap, only a static white backlight.

- USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports.

The bad:

- Having all my ports, except for the USB 2.0 on the right side (including charging) where my mouse goes is slightly annoying.

- Crappy, mushy touchpad buttons.

- Overkill screen specs that affect battery life.

- No Ethernet port but I guess the kids these days just use a dongle if they need it.

- No DisplayPort but I guess the kids these days just use a dongle if they need it.

- No traditional s3 sleep, only s0 "modern standby". I had to switch to hibernation because it turned itself on in my backpack to do updates and overheated. This is common with modern Win10/11 laptops.

- Battery is internal and not easily replaceable.

- Too much Chinglish in the Asus vendor apps, which takes over driver updates and certain settings.

Thoughts on daily use:

- The 70Wh battery is totally acceptable with AMD components. I can easily do 6 hours of school usage and I only charge it to 80% (systems administration, not graphics design or machine learning). I bought a 100W GaN brick off of Amazon to use instead of the factory charger for portable use.

- I'll need to upgrade my RAM next semester as my school has gone BYOD and we run multiple simultaneous VMs in this systems administration course. At least I can upgrade one of the DIMMs.

- The monitor, while nice, is overkill. The OLED display looks beautiful but I've had to stick a matte screen protector on it to be able to use it at low brightness settings, due to the glossy finish. This laptop can't do 120Hz gaming, so the refresh rate and high resolution are just unnecessary battery drains.

- This thing consistently surprises me for gaming. Forza Horizon 5 runs at 60 fps. E-sports titles are no problem. Not every game runs well and it's disappointed me with a few of my favourite titles but it will do for casual gaming. Fan noise is very good.

- The USB 2.0 slot is useful for a wireless mouse dongle and is the only slot on the left side.

- For some weird reason it sometimes takes 2-3 presses of the power button to turn on.

- I had to re-install the fingerprint reader drivers once.

- The webcam, which has a privacy shutter and "on" light, and built-in array microphone are adequate for meetings.

Overall:

I'd highly recommend this unit for portable productivity. The AMD processor is amazing for a laptop with this kind of battery life and I see this easily being a 10-year laptop. The cores are all full-speed cores as opposed to Intel's mix of performance and efficiency cores. The RDNA2 integrated graphics will keep this system fast and responsive far longer than any Intel HD or Iris iGPU. Battery life is very good for something this powerful and it is built very well. Its port selection is adequate and any shortcomings can be handled with universal USB-C dongles.

The Zen 3+ processor architecture promises to add support the USB4 standard through BIOS updates, which will add support for Thunderbolt 3 devices and speeds. I haven't been able to determine whether this laptop will support this yet, but if so, would be a huge bonus.

This is a great choice for a highly portable laptop that will serve you well for years to come. It is not a gaming laptop and is not the thinnest, lightest unit on the market. However, I think it is a perfect balance of price, usability and performance.

I intend on using my laptop for at least 5 years and therefore I need something that can last. I've seen many posts about vivobook hinges breaking after a while but couldn't find anything related to this particular model so I'm a bit skeptical regarding durability.

I'm also considering an Ideapad Pro 5 with the Intel Core Ultra 7 255H which is around the same price point if not cheaper, so I'd be willing to buy that instead if it has better build quality.