Asus Vivobook S14 Review: A Smart All-Rounder for Work, Study & Light Creativity

In a crowded mid-range laptop market, Asus continues to sharpen its edge with the Vivobook series, delivering premium touches without a premium price. Priced around Rs 79,990, the Asus Vivobook S14 (S3407VA) targets young professionals, college students, and hybrid workers who want a stylish, lightweight Windows laptop with solid specs for productivity and light creative workloads. With a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB DDR5 RAM, a WUXGA display, and military-grade durability, this Vivobook aims to be your reliable everyday machine. But how does it hold up in real-world use? Let’s break it down.

Design

Despite its plastic build, the Vivobook S14 looks and feels premium. It weighs just 1.4 kg and measures 1.59 cm in thickness, making it ideal for anyone frequently on the move. The Cool Silver finish adds a sophisticated touch, while the slim chassis and minimalist branding give it a MacBook-inspired silhouette. It even passes US MIL-STD 810H military-grade tests, which means it can handle occasional bumps or travel wear and tear. The chiclet backlit keyboard includes a dedicated Copilot AI key, future-proofing it for Windows 11’s growing AI capabilities. The typing experience is pleasant, with good key travel and spacing. The precision touchpad is accurate, supports multi-touch gestures, and integrates a smooth palm rejection surface. All this makes the Asus laptop a solid travel companion that feels comfortable in a backpack, looks stylish in a meeting, and survives life’s little knocks.

Display and sound

The 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) IPS-level panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio offers more vertical screen space, which is a subtle but appreciated upgrade for web browsing, editing documents, or coding. It’s TÜV Rheinland-certified, has an anti-glare finish, and maintains 300 nits of brightness, which is sufficient for indoor environments but can feel dim outdoors. Colour coverage is limited to 45% NTSC, making it less than ideal for professional photo or video work. Streaming content looks crisp, but creative professionals working with colour grading may find it lacking.

Sound-wise, the built-in stereo speakers are good for calls and casual listening, though they lack bass and spatial depth. Overall, the Vivobook S14 offers a dependable display for office apps, online classes, and binge-watching, but it’s not exactly ideal for high-end visual content creation.

Performance

Powered by the Intel Core i7-13620H, a 10-core, 16-thread processor with up to 4.9 GHz boost, the Vivobook S14 performs excellently for multitasking. With 16GB DDR5 RAM (expandable up to 24GB) and a 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD, everyday tasks — from Office apps and browsing to light editing in Canva or Photoshop — are a breeze. Boot times are near-instant, and apps launch quickly. The Intel UHD Graphics integrated GPU limits gaming and creative software performance. Don’t expect this machine to handle 4K video editing very well. But for spreadsheets, video calls, and casual creative work, it’s more than capable.

Functionality

Despite being slim, Asus has loaded the Vivobook S14 with all the right ports. It comes with two USB 3.2 Type-C ports, two USB 3.2 Type-A ports, an HDMI port, and a 3.5mm jack. This means you can plug in a second monitor, charge via USB-C, and connect legacy peripherals without needing adapters. The FHD webcam with Windows Hello IR facial recognition and a privacy shutter is a major win for professionals and privacy-conscious users, as it offers excellent clarity levels. Software like MyAsus, ScreenXpert, and GlideX helps optimise performance, enable screen sharing between devices, and fine-tune battery and fan profiles. All these thoughtful additions elevate this laptop’s convenience.

Battery Life

The 70Wh 4-cell battery performs decently. Expect around 7 to 8 hours of mixed-use battery life, including light productivity, video streaming, and web browsing. More demanding tasks like continuous Zoom calls or photo editing can bring it down to 5 to 6 hours. It ships with a 65W USB-C charger, and fast charging gets you from 0 to 60% in under an hour, which is great for those quick top-ups between meetings or classes. In short, one full charge gets you through most workdays, and fast charging reduces power anxiety.