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ASUS VivoBook S15 Notebook Review



Recently, laptops with two video cards - built-in and discrete - have become not something that would be normal, but they are actively pushing “traditional” models. And one of the characteristic representatives was the ASUS VivoBook S15 with a discrete Nvidia GeForce 940MX video card (modification S510UQ).

Specifications


Operating system :

Processor :

RAM : up to 16 GB
Display : 15.6 inches

Video : Intel UHD Graphics 620 and Nvidia GeForce GTX 940MX with 2 GB of memory
Drive :

Wireless :
Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2x2)
Bluetooth 4.1
Connectors :
1 x HDMI
1 x USB 3.0
1 x headset jack (headphone + microphone)
1 x Type C USB3.0 (USB3.1 GEN1)
2 x USB 2.0
Sound : SonicMaster stereo
Webcam : VGA
Battery : 42 Wh, accelerated charging function
Dimensions : 361 x 243 x 18 mm (W x H x T)
Weight : 1.5 - 1.7 kg

CPU-Z






Appearance


The design of the VivoBook S15 (S510UQ) is very similar to the VivoBook Pro 15 (N580VD), but it’s still not twins: the S15 is smaller, thinner and lighter. The aluminum cover is fully coated with brushed metal:





The bottom of the case is almost smooth, there are only slots for stereo speakers.



At the same time, rounding off the bath on three sides makes the laptop visually thinner, and it is more convenient to hold it in your hand when folded:





The lid is rather thick, inspires confidence in terms of stiffness in bending and torsion.



On the right side there is a 2-in-1 audio connector, USB 3.0 Type C, HDMI, USB 3.0 connectors and a power connector.



And on the left side there are two USB 2.0 and an SD card reader.



The keyboard panel is flat, with a pronounced depression under the keys. The keyboard itself is membrane, with a white backlight and a key stroke of 1.4 mm.







The touchpad is not too large, medium size; it is also slightly recessed into the hull.



Another option is a laptop with a fingerprint sensor located in the upper right corner of the touchpad.



Supply and exhaust ventilation grilles are hidden behind the hinge cover.



The display diagonal of the VivoBook S15 is 15.6 inches, but the dimensions of the notebook itself are typical of 14-inch models. It's all about the NanoEdge - the narrow side of the display, their width is slightly less than 8 mm. This gives a gain in the display diagonal of about 1 inch.



As you can see, the display itself is matte, which is good. Above is the "eye" of the camera, an LED indicator and two microphones.



And on the sides above the display are two rubber bumpers, so that the frame does not rub against the keyboard panel.



Display


VivoBook S15 is of two modifications - with a display on the TN-matrix and a resolution of 1368x768, and with a display on the IPS-matrix with a resolution of 1920x1080. I had the second option, with a viewing angle of 178 degrees and a 45% NTSC gamut - enough for 95% of tasks.



Performance


VivoBook S15 can deliver as many as five different processors, for every taste and wallet:


In my case, it was i7 7500U, running at up to 2.7 GHz, and with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM (maybe up to 16 GB).


In addition to the integrated Intel HD Graphics video card, the laptop is armed with a discrete Nvidia GeForce 940MX with 2 GB of DDR4 memory.



Manufacturer VivoBook S15 is positioned as a laptop, although formally it can be attributed to ultrabooks - a diagonal in the range from 11 to 17 inches, thickness up to 20 mm, low weight, used SSD-drive and processor with reduced power consumption. But thanks to the development of the component base, our understanding of ultrabooks has also changed, and today the VivoBook S15 is perceived rather as a light and compact laptop . In addition to the SSD-drive for operating systems and applications for which the download speed is critical, there was enough space for installing HDD to store other data. And here, the VivoBook S15 also features a wide variety of possible configurations:


In my sample were 128 GB SSDs and 1 TB hard drive.



The drive is connected via SATA 3 interface through connector M.2. Here are the results of benchmark read and write speed with SSD:


In general, the search for the desired hardware configuration can turn into a fascinating quest :)

Benchmarks


















The battery of the VivoBook S15 is 42 W * h, this lasts for about 3.5 hours of work in the “office-home” mode: web surfing, typing, simple photo editing, casual games, video calling in the messenger, until the charge drops to 20 %. But note that this is the result for one of five possible processors; It is logical to assume that other configurations will work longer (and some, perhaps less). And in any case, the fast recharging feature is very useful - up to 60% in 50 minutes.



Conclusion


ASUS VivoBook S15 (S510UQ) is a classic working laptop for everyday tasks. It is not as compact as modern ultrabooks, but on the whole it is small and light enough to be comfortable to carry with you everywhere. In characteristic form factor for 14-inch devices, the designers accommodated a 15.6-inch display. And this seems to me an important point. How do we usually choose our gadgets? First of all, in terms of screen size and physical size. Someone, perhaps, wants a bigger screen, but a laptop or a smartphone turns out to be too big, you don’t climb into your bag, you don’t grab it with your hand. Therefore, many people choose devices more compact and with smaller screens. Moreover, one can even observe stratification by segments: devices of certain form factors are often chosen by users of certain categories and with characteristic patterns of preferences. And laptops like the VivoBooks S15 can change our approach: the device is compact, and thanks to the narrow frames it has a screen characteristic of the former, larger and heavier machines. And the more such devices will appear, the more noticeable the shifts will be in usage scenarios: if earlier the 15-inch laptop was not very convenient to carry around with you, now with the same screen the device has become smaller, thinner and lighter, which means to wear it much easier and more widely used.

The discrete Nvidia GeForce 940MX video card hints not so much on the gaming capabilities of the laptop (although you can play well on it), as on the comfortable use of graphic editors. However, the discrete will be useful to those who are engaged in teaching neural networks by work or by the dictates of the soul: the features of video card architectures allow them to do this much faster than central processors. And on the hard drive, standing in addition to the SSD, you can pour a good training data set.

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/410641/

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