Asus Zenbook S 16 (2024) Evaluate: A Effectively-Balanced Home windows Laptop computer

Asus’ huge push to reinvent its laptop computer tech has lastly come to fruition, and the Zenbook S 16 makes the corporate a critical contender within the midrange laptop computer area and past.

It’s maybe finest to start out with probably the most seen improve: the chassis. Fairly than counting on the everyday design of metallic or plastic, Asus has invented a brand new materials referred to as Ceraluminum, which it says is the results of 4 years of labor to mix aluminum and a sort of ceramic into a brand new compound.

The small print are complicated and never completely clear, however primarily it bonds the 2 supplies into one thing that, in principle, is stronger, lighter, and extra proof against put on and corrosion. Ceraluminum is used solely on the higher lid of the brand new Zenbook S, however you’ll discover it instantly. It seems like plastic however has the rigidity of metallic, and it’s simple to see how skinny and lightweight it permits the display and lid to be.

The laptop computer is accessible in two colours: Zumaia grey and Scandinavian white. I obtained the latter, which is extra of a silvery gentle grey, whereas the Zumaia possibility could be very darkish.

{Photograph}: Christopher Null

The 16-inch show gives ample room for a spacious keyboard, although there isn’t any numeric keypad, leaving plenty of lifeless area on both aspect. The half-height arrow keys are offset, positioned beneath the Shift button, making them extra handy to entry than these on many different laptops that cram them in amongst every part else. I did discover the keyboard motion to be a bit mushy, nonetheless. The keyboard backlighting is extraordinarily shiny, and admittedly too intense at full energy. Lastly, the massive touchpad contains Sensible Gesture help, which helps three-finger and four-finger shortcuts the consumer can customise. When you get the hold of them, they’ll actually pace up your work.

Below the hood, Asus has outfitted the Zenbook S 16 with the brand new AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 CPU (paired with a Radeon 880M GPU), 24 GB of RAM, and a 1-terabyte solid-state drive. The touchscreen’s decision is a strong 2,880 x 1,800 pixels. Growth ports are all side-mounted and embody two USB-C connectors supporting USB4 (one is required for charging), a USB-A port, HDMI output (full-size), and a full-size SD card reader.

{Photograph}: Christopher Null