A discrete GPU means the Vivobook Professional 15 gives some strong gaming efficiency, even when that’s not the primary objective of this laptop computer. I examined a couple of video games, resembling Cyberpunk 2077 and Marvel Rivals. As a result of it is a 40-series GPU, you could have entry to border era, which might internet you over 90 frames per second at Extremely settings, as long as you flip off ray tracing and play at 1080p. Alternatively, a lighter recreation like Marvel Rivals feels nice and represents the right kind for the Vivobook Professional 15.
Battery life sadly falls in need of expectations. The mixture of these power-hungry parts and the high-resolution OLED display take a variety of juice to energy. Taking part in a neighborhood video file on loop, it solely lasted 6 hours and 21 minutes earlier than dying. That was with the display at a standardized 100 lux of brightness, and the keyboard backlighting turned off. A heavier load will drain the battery pretty rapidly, so this isn’t the only option for work on the go.
Tread Fastidiously
{Photograph}: Julian chokkattu
The Vivobook Professional 15 prices $1,500, and I’ll be clear: That’s barely too costly in my guide. The OLED show is great, and the efficiency is strong, however when you’re making an attempt to save lots of a buck, there are cheaper laptops that supply comparable efficiency.
Take the Vivobook Professional 16, which launched final yr and likewise had an RTX 4050. Because of some value drops since its launch, you possibly can at the moment purchase it for $1,000. The display decision is decrease—it’s not OLED—but it surely’s a extra fashionable laptop computer due to its 16:10 show. It additionally solely comes with 16 GB of RAM as a substitute of 24 GB. But it surely’s additionally a $500 value distinction. There’s additionally final yr’s Lenovo Yoga Professional 9iwhich incessantly dips to $1,350, additionally comes with the RTX 4050, and is an identical measurement. You don’t get OLED, but it surely features a larger decision IPS touchscreen panel with a quicker 165-Hz refresh charge to make up for it.
Finally, the issue with the Vivobook Professional 16’s worth proposition is the shortage of a brand new GPU onboard. The generational CPU improve this yr probably received’t make an enormous distinction over the prior Intel chip, and because it makes use of the identical graphics card, it’s laborious to make a case for paying this rather more. That’s very true for the reason that RTX 5050 could be a couple of months away. The standard of the OLED nonetheless makes it stand out—if solely it weren’t in an outdated facet ratio.
