Who are Co-Pilot+ PC's really for? ( Asus Vivobook 14 Review )
You might think the Asus VivoBook 14 looks like a typical laptop, and if you thought that, that would be a mistake. This one uses a different kind of tech because there's something very different about it.
And when it comes to buying a new laptop for school or work, you probably don't want to spend more than you need to. You may need a computer that can handle daily tasks, but, ideally, is better than you need it to be. Well, if that sounds like you, you will like this VivoBook for several reasons. But is this particular type of laptop the right choice for you? Let's find out.
Design & Build
This VivoBook's design is understated; it's not flashy but rugged, and Asus has designed it to meet U.S. military-grade MIL-STD-810H standards for shock, vibration, altitude, and high & low temperatures. So that makes it London bus proof, which is good. The weight of the 14-inch model is just 1.49 kg, and the 16" model is 1.88 kg. It's reasonably thin and has a raised rubber strip across the back. This creates clearance for the built-in fan, heat vents and dual Dolby-certified stereo speakers towards the front. One of the features that Asus is very proud of is the micro-hinge design, which allows the laptop to open up 180 degrees. There's a bit of resistance here, too.
The keyboard design is super comfortable to use, and the keys do have backlighting for when you're typing at night, and they have a nice bit of travel to them. Overall, it's a satisfying keyboard. The Trackpad has a nice and large surface; your left and right mouse buttons are recognised on the lower section of the pad, and smart gestures are also recognised here. For example, you can use 3 3-finger upwards swipe to open all background apps. A Jedi 2-finger swipe right or left to go forward or back.
Display & AI Features
When you pop the lid. One of the first things you notice is this interesting camera array across the top. We'll come back to that. But first, let's talk about this display. It's a 16:10, 1920x1200, IPS 60Hz panel with 300 units of peak brightness. Even though it won't impress pro gamers out there. For a work laptop, the display specs here are quite reasonable for the price point. But what you're really paying for here is this Laptop's superpower, & that bit of tech that makes this Laptop different. This version of the Asus VivoBook is an Ai powerhouse, and they actually officially call it an Asus Copilot+ PC. The NPU can perform 45 trillion operations per second. ( This is referred to as the TOPS ) NPU handles the AI processing. What would this mean for you if you were to get one of these CoPilot+ PCs?
Well, you could make use of the Windows AI tools like live captions, recall is a feature that allows you to quickly find and revisit previously viewed local content on your PC using an interactive timeline, co-creator which works with MS Paint and can allow you to create Ai art, which you could use for presentation purposes for example. Also, Image restyle, which is fun & click to do. Which basically is an Ai tool similar to Google's circle to search, that can assist you with anything on your screen. It could be great for research. Asus also has some of their own AI tricks up their sleeves with a smart organisation tool that can help manage all your media, making your laptop ultimately more efficient.
Performance & Hardware
And this brings me very nicely to one of the strongest attributes of this Laptop, Its performance & efficiency. This VivoBook is running on a Qualcomm SnapDragon X processor. 2.97GHz clock speed, 8 cores, 8 Threads. The graphics are handled by its integrated Qualcomm® Adreno™ GPU.
This is backed up with 16GB LPDDR5X (8448 MHz), up to 1TB SSD. Simply put, reading, writing, loading speeds, and multitasking will be fast here. And in terms of graphics, you're already aware of this. This isn't a gaming PC. It's more of a productivity machine. With that said, the Adreno GPU can handle some light gaming. I benchmarked this on the 3DMark software ___ test, and it performed better than expected.
Connectivity & Battery Life
What might impress you even more is the power efficiency you get here. This Laptop can run continuously for up to 16 hours on a single charge. And that's thanks to how energy efficient the Snapdragon chipset is combined with the VivoBooks large 50Wh battery.
And it charges super fast, too. Using the provided __ USB C charger you can get the VivoBook 14 from zero to 100% battery in just 30 minutes. There are 2 USB C ports. Both support charging and up to 40Gbps transfer speeds and can be used as display ports. You get a full-size HDMI out, 2 USB A 3.2 up to 5Gbps, and an analogue audio jack. So there's a good bit of I/O here, and if you need a bigger screen or even a couple of additional screens, you have a lot of options here.
Audio & Extras
Here are a few more features that you need to know. The built-in Dolby Atmos speakers are decent. I don't know if you get the feeling of overhead speakers in the room. But you do get nice clarity and stereo separation. The audio is great for conference calls, and AI noise algorithms are built into it. So, this uses the onboard mics to isolate and separate your voice from the ambient noise in your environment. Here's how that sounds. Asus also has some nice adaptive dimming and lock algorithms, which can save a lot of power, auto-detect when you're not in front of the laptop, and lock the screen intelligently for improved privacy.
It can do this better than most due to the interesting camera array I mentioned earlier. So, there are several sensors here. And you can use these to use Microsoft's Face login feature, which is super secure and can save you time & the headache of typing in or trying to remember your password. If you've ever locked yourself out of an account, you'll know why I love this feature so much. And I also really like the built-in privacy slider. You don't want to be that guy who forgot to log out of the Zoom call and left the camera on. This might not prevent that, but it might help.
Final Verdict
So who is the VivoBook 14 for? Here is what I think. If you are studying or working in an office. This laptop has all the tools you would need to be productive on the go and has impressive power efficiency. When you're stationary, the I/O can allow you to connect bigger monitors and processors, and combined with the impressive 16GB of RAM, it will slice through your regular productivity apps.
And it's perfect for you, especially if you are interested in the advantages that AI can offer because that's really what Co-Pilot PCs are designed to help you do. Level up your productivity game…the intelligent way. And, of course, you can do a bit of gaming on it, too, if you are lucky enough to have some downtime.
So let me know, would you consider switching to an AI-powered ASUS Vivobook from a traditional laptop? Let me know in the comments!
