ASUS Vivobook S16 (S3607VA) Review — premium looks, everyday performance
ASUS Vivobook S16 (S3607VA)
The ASUS Vivobook S16 is an easy recommendation if what you're looking for is a rather basic laptop with decent CPU performance and enough battery life for your daily computing, but you want it in a more premium design.
What's Good?
- Sleek, minimalist design
- Decently portable for a 16-incher
- Sufficient performance for daily computing, and a bit more
- Full workday worth of battery life
What's Not?
- No support for any Copilot+ features
- Lackluster display hinders color-sensitive work
The ASUS Vivobook S16 (S3607VA) features a 13th Gen Intel Core processor. Now, if that’s enough to push you away, then this isn’t the laptop for you. But if you’re fine with a processor that isn’t on the very bleeding edge, the ASUS Vivobook S16 is a nice laptop that promises decent battery life in a well-built lightweight design. Let’s now go over what’s good, and what’s not about this laptop.
Table of Contents
ASUS Vivobook S16 — What’s Good?
Sleek, minimalist design
The understated Matte Gray finish of the ASUS Vivobook S16 looks way more premium than you would expect at this price point. ASUS also decided to clad this laptop in aluminum for the lid and bottom cover, although some cost savings were achieved by making the keyboard deck plastic. Still, I would say ASUS did a good job with the finishing, as it’s nigh indistinguishable from the metal panels.
Decently portable for a 16-incher
As compared to the more premium ASUS Vivobook S series we have tested, the ASUS Vivobook S16 (S3607) we have here is slightly heftier, but it’s still a relatively portable laptop for its size. Being 17.9mm at its thickest point with narrow bezels around the screen, the ASUS Vivobook S16 still slips easily into any bag, including the ASUS Vigour Backpack we reviewed recently.
Sufficient performance for daily computing, and a bit more
Intel’s 13th Gen “Raptor Lake” processors may sound dated, but it’s practically the same chip as the “latest” Intel Core 5 210H. This architecture is enjoying a really long lifespan, for better or worse. The Intel Core i5-13420H packs eight cores, 12 threads and some decent integrated graphics with 48 execution units. When paired with 16GB RAM and 1TB of storage, the ASUS Vivobook S16 has plenty sufficient grunt for your daily workloads, even for light content creation. There’s also no worries of compatibility issues that might plague similarly priced Snapdragon-based laptops.
Full workday worth of battery life
In our usual PCMark Modern Office test, the ASUS Vivobook S16 lasts a good 10 hours. While it’s a far cry from what the Snapdragon X series or even the latest AMD and Intel processors, I would say that the large 70WHr battery somewhat balances out the lackluster efficiency of the 13th Gen Intel Core processor, resulting in a decent showing in terms of battery life.
ASUS Vivobook S16 — What’s Not?
No support for any Copilot+ features
While Microsoft’s AI features that are exclusive to Copilot+ PC are still relatively limited — despite being over a year old by now — the ASUS Vivobook S16 will never get to see them due to the Intel Core i5-13420H lacking an NPU. While I would say that it probably isn’t the end of the world to not have AI features in Paint or even Recall, Microsoft might surprise us with truly useful tools down the line that you will find yourself missing out on if you decide to get the ASUS Vivobook S16 now. If you’re worried about that, perhaps something like the ASUS Vivobook 14 (M1407KA) is a better fit for you? On the bright side, there’s still Microsoft Copilot, with a dedicated, non-reprogrammable shortcut key, for better or worse.
Lackluster display hinders color-sensitive work
While the H-series processor, 16GB RAM and large 16-inch screen might encourage you to pick the ASUS Vivobook S16 out with you to do some light content creation, unfortunately the display itself limits the laptop’s potential. 45% NTSC roughly translates to around 65% sRGB, which means that you’re missing a huge chunk of the colors that you are supposed to see. The bare minimum for any form of visual content creation would be 100% sRGB, and unfortunately the ASUS Vivobook S16 falls short of that. You can however bring it out for text-based creativity, as the keyboard is quite comfortable to type on, and the humongous trackpad offers plenty of space to navigate with.
ASUS Vivobook S16 (S3607VA) Specifications
| Processor | Intel Core i5-13420H, 8C/12T (4P+4E) @ up to 4.6GHz 12MB L3 cache 45W TDP Intel 7 |
| Memory | 16GB DDR5-5200, quad-channel 8GB DDR5 on-board, 1x8GB DDR5-5600 SO-DIMM |
| Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics, 48EU @ up to 1.4GHz |
| Storage | 1TB Micron 2500 (M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe SSD, NVMe 1.4) |
| Display | 16-inch FHD+ (1920 x 1200) 144Hz CSOT MNG007QX2-2 IPS display 300 nits max brightness, 45% NTSC gamut 89% screen-to-body ratio |
| Connectivity | WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.3 (Realtek RTL8852BE) 2 x USB-C (USB 3.0, 5Gbps) with display-out, USB-PD 2 x USB-A (USB 3.0, 5Gbps) 1 x HDMI 1.4 1 x 3.5mm combo audio jack |
| Audio | Stereo speaker system Dirac, Audio Booster Built-in array microphone Two-way AI Noise Canceling |
| Power | 70WHr 4-cell Li-ion battery 65W USB-C power adapter |
| Dimensions | 357.0 x 250.6 x 15.9 mm |
| Weight | 1.7kg |
| Included Accessories | Backpack |
ASUS Vivobook S16 — should you get this?
The ASUS Vivobook S16 is an easy recommendation if what you’re looking for is a rather basic laptop with decent CPU performance and enough battery life for your daily computing, but you want it in a more premium design. For RM3,199, the ASUS Vivobook S16 gives you just that with its sleek aluminum build. The ASUS Vivobook S16 slots in as somewhat of a middle-child — it might be perfect for those who want a simple laptop in a premium design, but will not satisfy for those who are looking for cutting-edge performance or efficiency.
On that note, if what you’re looking for is cutting-edge performance, ASUS will probably point you towards the Intel Core Ultra 200-powered ASUS Vivobook S14 (S3407CA). Or if it’s battery life you’re looking for, the upcoming Snapdragon X-powered ASUS Vivobook S models or the Lunar Lake-based Vivobook S14 (S5406SA) might be of interest to you. Now, don’t ask me why there isn’t an Arrow Lake-powered ASUS Vivobook S16. That’s a question I really don’t have the answer for.
Help support us!
If you are interested in the ASUS Vivobook S16 (S3607VA) we would really appreciate if you purchase it via the links below. These affiliate links won’t cost you any extra, but it will be a great help to keep our lights on here at HelloExpress.
- ASUS Vivobook S16 (Lazada): https://s.lazada.com.my/s.JpNaN
- ASUS Vivobook S16 (Shopee): https://s.shopee.com.my/50NOV4SFBQ
