Josh Goldman/CNET
Few PC makers do enjoyable, gadgety options on their laptops fairly like Asus. For instance, for a while now Asus has added additional shows to fashions such because the ROG Zephyrus G14, with its elective 1,215-mini LED array on the highest diagonal half its lid for displaying GIFs or images, or the Zephyrus Duo 15, with its tilting 14-inch touchscreen that sits between the keyboard and principal 15.6-inch show. Those are gaming laptops, however you may additionally discover twin screens on productiveness laptops such because the VivoBook S15 S532, which has the second-gen ScreenPad, a touchpad that controls your cursor however can also be a 5.6-inch touchscreen. The S15 is in any other case only a straight-up good 15-inch laptop computer and should you’d slightly have it with a daily precision touchpad, get the VivoBook S15 S533 for $100 much less.
LikeBoth the S15 S532 and S533 are a wonderful worth for his or her efficiency, design and optionsWi-Fi 6 provides you some wi-fi futureproofing
Don’t LikePin-style charger as a substitute of USB-CS532 wants a mouse to take advantage of the ScreenPad
I’m a sucker for gadgety options, although, so the S15 S532 and its ScreenPad 2.0 touchpad appeals to me, even when it is not probably the most helpful on a regular basis. The pad does double responsibility as each a secondary show and touchpad and it’s a must to swap between these modes with both a three-finger faucet or a faucet on an icon within the pad’s lower-left nook. When used as a touchscreen, you may management Spotify, flip the pad right into a full calculator or measurement converter or examine the climate. It comes preloaded with 15 apps and there is a handful extra you may set up, too. They can be opened on the ScreenPad after which despatched to the primary show should you want a bigger view.
Josh Goldman/CNET
Three of the preinstalled apps are to be used with Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint and basically offer you touch-friendly entry to widespread enhancing instruments for every. There’s a Quick Key app, too, that allows you to create onscreen hotkeys for the system. Although the ScreenPad works effectively and could be useful, to take advantage of the characteristic you want to use the S15 S532 with a mouse. Otherwise, you may doubtless spend extra time bouncing backwards and forwards between the ScreenPad’s modes than you’d save with the shortcut apps. If you just like the design, however do not suppose your day-to-day actions would profit from the small built-in touchscreen, you may get the VivoBook S15 with a daily precision touchpad as an alternative because the S15 S533. The ScreenPad is the main distinction between the 2. That and the S532 has an IR digicam for signing into Windows with facial recognition whereas the S533 has a fingerprint reader within the touchpad. Both the S15 S532 and S533 (pictured) have a cushty backlit keyboard, however Asus outlined the S533’s Enter key edge in a brilliant shade.
Josh Goldman/CNET
There are additionally a few much less noticeable variations. The pricier S532 has Asus’ ErgoLift hinges, which increase the rear of the laptop computer up for a extra comfy typing angle. The S532 additionally has slimmer bezels across the show, which provides this model a smaller total footprint. It’s slight however should you’re making an attempt to squeeze this right into a smaller bag for journey, the S532 will provide you with a contact extra leeway.
Both fashions I examined had the identical full-HD matte shows. They look good and have satisfactory brightness, and since they’ve a matte end, you do not have to fret a lot about reflections, even outside. That stated, pictures and movies do not pop like shows with an antiglare shiny coating. Though they’re organized in another way between the fashions, they every have a USB-C and USB-A 3.1 ports, two USB-A 2.0 ports, an HDMI output and a microSD card.
Josh Goldman/CNET
Asus VivoBook S15
Asus VivoBook S15 S532FA-DH55
Asus VivoBook S15 S533FA-DS51
Price as reviewed
$800
$700
Display measurement/decision
15.6-inch 1,920×1,080 show
15.6-inch 1,920×1,080 show
CPU
1.6GHz Intel Core i5-10210U
1.6GHz Intel Core i5-10210U
Memory
8GB DDR4 RAM 2.67GHz
8GB DDR4 RAM 2.67GHz
Graphics
128MB Intel UHD Graphics
128MB Intel UHD Graphics
Storage
512GB SSD
512GB SSD
Networking
802.11ax (2×2) Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
802.11ax (2×2) Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
Operating system
Windows 10 Home 64-bit model 1903
Windows 10 Home 64-bit model 1903
The VivoBook S15 is configured for on a regular basis productiveness and leisure, making it a wonderful selection for work-from-home workplace and college stuff like phrase processing, spreadsheets, internet apps and easy graphics duties. The Intel built-in graphics chip can deal with some fundamental informal gaming, however you may be disillusioned if you’d like greater than that. Both the S532 and S533 I examined had the identical configuration so we solely ran our benchmark checks on the S532 and you may see on the finish of this assessment the way it stacks up towards laptops at and above its class. In quick, it carried out as anticipated and, once more, delivers greater than sufficient energy for issues like streaming music whereas getting your schoolwork accomplished or creating noncomplex slide displays.
Asus’ slim, fashionable VivoBook S15 delivers greater than an even bigger display screen
See all images
The solely letdown was the battery life on the S532 mannequin. While our streaming video take a look at ran for a good 8 hours, 20 minutes on the VivoBook S15 S533, the 532 managed solely 5 hours, 15 minutes. The ScreenPad seemingly eats into your battery time, however you may modify its brightness and swap on a battery-saver setting for the pad that ought to assist some. And whereas the S15 prices rapidly with its small pin-style adapter, the laptop computer would not assist charging over its USB-C port, which might simplify charging on the go. Whether you are into the novelty of getting a secondary touchscreen or not, Asus has put collectively a wonderful light-weight 15.6-inch laptop computer with the VivoBook S15 that is total a wonderful worth. Geekbench 4 (multicore)
Lenovo Yoga C940 (15-inch)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (Intel)
Lenovo Yoga C740 (15-inch)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Cinebench R15 CPU (multicore)
Lenovo Yoga C940 (15-inch)
Lenovo Yoga C740 (15-inch)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (Intel)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency
Streaming video playback battery drain take a look at
Lenovo Yoga C740 (15-inch)
Lenovo Yoga C940 (15-inch)
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (Intel)
Note:
Longer bars point out higher efficiency (in minutes)
System configurations
Asus VivoBook S15 S532FA
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-10210U; 8GB DDR4 RAM 2.67GHz; 128MB Intel UHD Graphics; 512GB SSD
Lenovo Yoga C740 (15-inch)
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.8Ghz Intel Core i7-10510U; 12GB DDR4 RAM 2.67GHz; 128MB Intel UHD Graphics; 512GB SSD + 32GB Optane
Lenovo Yoga C940 (15-inch)
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 2.6GHz Intel Core i7-9750H; 16GB DDR4 RAM 2,667MHz; 4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 with Max-Q design; 512GB SSD
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 (Intel)
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro (64-bit); 1.3GHz Intel Core i7-1065G7; 16GB DDR4 RAM 4.27GHz; 128MB Intel Iris Plus Graphics; 256GB SSD
Dell Inspiron 14 5000
Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-bit); 1.6GHz Intel Core i5-10210U; 8GB DDR4 RAM 2.67GHz; 128MB Intel UHD Graphics; 256GB SSD