The 16-inch Asus Vivobook Pro 16X is readily available with possibly Intel or AMD processors, and is aimed at creators.
Picture: Asus
The Vivobook Pro 16X belongs to a new secure of Asus notebook brand names — which include ProArt, Studiobook and Zenbook Pro models — that are intended for ‘creators’. The latter sector encompasses hobbyists by to experts.
The Vivobook Pro 16X has a 16-inch OLED display screen that is effectively suited to resourceful work, meeting Pantone Validated conventional and supporting a hundred% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. The fourteen-inch and 16-inch models are also the first to achieve the new VESA DisplayHDR Genuine Black 600 certification.
My review unit features an AMD Ryzen 5000 Sequence processor, but the Vivobook Pro 16X OLED is also readily available with an Intel Core i7 CPU, alongside with discrete Nvidia graphics throughout the board. My review unit’s specification charges £1,799 (inc. VAT) in the British isles (~$two,417) official US pricing is not nonetheless verified in depth, but is predicted to start at $one,399.
You may will need strong shoulders to carry this notebook close to as it weighs one.95kg (4.3lbs) the 120W charger is a relatively substantial brick, as well. A carry scenario will will need to accommodate the laptop’s bulky dimensions — 360.5mm wide by 259mm deep by eighteen.9mm thick (fourteen.19in. x 10.20in. x .74in.) — furthermore the charger and any other accoutrements.
The aluminium chassis is good, with very little flex apparent in possibly lid or foundation. There is not a large amount of fashion on see right here, while. A striped emblem on the lid, on what appears to be like like a stuck-on label, joins a larger sized Vivobook label. On my slate-gray review device this branding appears to be like a very little odd, and might glance even odder on the sliver variant. The lid also collects fingerprints, so make confident your fingers usually are not greasy when you carry it.
The Vivobook Pro 16X weighs a significant one.95kg (4.3lbs) and is readily available in black or silver.
Picture: Asus
Open up the notebook and you will see a several extra unique design things. The Esc important is vibrant orange, almost daring you to skip it, even while it is in its common leading-left area. The QWERTY keys and independent quantity pad are black, though the columns of keys flanking the QWERTY keys are gray. This would make them less difficult than common to identify in some lights disorders, although with a window to your left, the much-left keys just glance black.
The angled stripes on the lid are recurring on the Enter important, in white in opposition to the key’s gray. This would make the Enter important uncomplicated to obtain, and served me stay clear of tapping absent at the ‘4’ on the quantity pad. The angled stripes make an visual appearance on the prolonged hinge.
The keys have a light-weight contact and are nicely sized. Contact-typing was comfortable and fast. There is a fingerprint sensor built into the energy button, which sits at the leading right of the keyboard.
The keyboard, which consists of a independent quantity pad, takes advantage of unique colour coding. The substantial touchpad incorporates Asus’s DialPad, which controls display screen brightness and speaker quantity, and various features in Adobe applications.
Picture: Sandra Vogel / ZDNet
The touchpad is enormous, as it should really be given the display screen sizing. It works effectively, and gesture controls current no difficulties. The touchpad also incorporates Asus’s DialPad, which is fired up by swiping diagonally from the higher right corner of the touchpad (a little circle indicates where by the swipe should really start).
The DialPad appears on the touchpad as a little good circle inside of a larger sized dotted circle, and its default motion is managing display screen brightness and speaker quantity. When you tap the inner circle on the touchpad, a duplicate appears on-display screen. You sweep round between the inner and outer circles to toggle between process brightness and process quantity, tap to ensure your variety, and then sweep left and right between the inner and outer circles to adjust quantity or display screen brightness.
The DialPad is slightly fiddly to get to grips with, but Asus has set a large amount of exertion into it. If you use Adobe applications, this sort of as After Effects, Photoshop, Premiere Pro and Lightroom Basic, you can control elements of those applications with it. Much more generic settings can be manufactured in the provided ProArt Creator Hub application, which can be utilised to add features which include vertical scrolling, application switching, and switching between virtual desktops.
The Vivobook Pro 16X won’t have a contact display screen, and if it did some of the features the DialPad handles arguably could be extra conveniently accomplished. On the other hand, tie-ins with certain applications enables a diploma of personalisation that some creators could possibly obtain beneficial. As a user interface experiment, the DialPad undoubtedly justifies time to mattress in.
The 16-inch OLED display screen is a delight to use. With a 16:10 component ratio and 4K (three,840 x two,four hundred pixels, 283ppi) resolution, it is substantial and sharp ample for creatives to use with simplicity. The Pantone Validated compliance, VESA DisplayHDR Genuine Black 600 certification and a hundred% DCI-P3 coverage will please those intrigued in the visible arts — and though the display screen is reflective, it is not extremely so.
It’s a shame Asus could not have manufactured the display screen bezels a shade scaled-down, but at the very least there is certainly space on the leading edge for a webcam with sliding privateness deal with, though the bottom bezel isn’t specifically enormous. Asus promises a display screen to physique ratio of 86%, although we calculated it at 79.5%.
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The display screen has 550 nits peak brightness, which could possibly not be ample if you will need to work outside in vibrant daylight. It’s high-quality for use indoors in usual (not as well vibrant) business lights, while.
The stereo speakers output from the underside of the notebook through grilles that are slightly raised from the surface as they are on the upward curve of the front of the foundation. Seem quality is acceptable, but leading quantity is nowhere in the vicinity of loud ample, which is a shame.
My review device ran Windows 10 House (upgradable to Windows 11 in due study course) on an AMD Ryzen nine 5900HX processor with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics. It had 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, and there is certainly also a built-in MicroSD card reader.
On the right edge, the MicroSD card reader is joined by a USB-A port, a whole-sizing HDMI connector, a USB-C port and a three.5mm combo audio jack, furthermore a round-pin energy connector. The left edge has two extra USB-A ports. If you want Thunderbolt aid, you will will need to glance at the Intel variation of this notebook.
Powering a substantial OELD display screen from a battery is a problem, but some resourceful people will will need to use the Vivobook Pro 16X absent from a mains energy resource. Thankfully, the laptop’s 96WHr battery does a very good position. On one particular regular take a look at, I labored for a few hrs with a blend of mainstream workloads — online video and audio streaming, social feeds and document editing. The battery depleted to seventy two% from a whole demand, suggesting total battery everyday living of close to 11 hrs.
Admittedly this notebook is intended for a stiffer problem than my conventional workload blend, but I would even now be confident of all-day battery everyday living and then some.
Picture: Asus
Conclusions
The Asus Vivobook Pro 16X could possibly benefit from extra consideration to the hardware design, but it is solidly built and there is certainly a large amount to like under the surface. Battery everyday living is terrific, the OLED display screen is fantastic, and the keyboard is comfortable to use. The latter’s colour scheme might be unconventional, but that won’t detract from its usability.
The DialPad has potential, although some might obtain it a bit fiddly to get on with, and it is a shame the speakers are fairly underpowered. The rate is significant, but content material creators might obtain it effectively well worth the outlay.
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