Asus Vivobook 16 2023 review: Your Ultimate Student Laptop On A Budget

In the realm of budget-friendly laptops, few can rival the consistent reliability of Asus’s Vivobook series. The 2023 iteration, Vivobook 16 (M1605), stands as no exception. In this comprehensive review, we will delve into why the Asus Vivobook 16 (2023) emerges as an outstanding laptop that offers great value at an affordable price.

Design and Construction: A Familiar Yet Sturdy Foundation

The Vivobook 16 maintains the classic Vivobook design while introducing subtle enhancements. Crafted primarily from plastic, it exhibits a sense of durability. The lid, sporting a metallic finish, adds a touch of sophistication. An intriguing feature is the 180-degree ErgoLift hinge, permitting the laptop to lay flat on a desk, promoting seamless collaboration in workspace settings.

In terms of build quality, it aligns with the standards set by most affordable consumer laptops. However, it’s essential to note that the screen and keyboard exhibit a degree of flex. Remarkably, for a 16-inch laptop, the Vivobook maintains a featherlight weight of just 1.88 kg and measures a mere 19.99 mm in thickness. The screen’s minimal bezels on both sides enhance the viewing experience, although the lower chin boasts a slightly larger bezel.

Keyboard and Trackpad: Spacious and Backlit for Convenience

The Vivobook boasts a chiclet-style keyboard that offers ample key spacing, making typing a comfortable affair. Notably, it features three levels of backlighting, ensuring you can type proficiently even in dimly lit environments. Moreover, the 1.4mm key travel adds to the typing comfort.

For those who frequently use numeric keys, the keyboard includes a numeric keypad, a thoughtful addition that enhances productivity. The roomy trackpad, smooth to the touch, facilitates effortless navigation. Furthermore, the integrated fingerprint reader provides a secure and convenient means of biometric unlocking.

Connectivity: An Array of Options for Versatile Usage

The Vivobook 16 excels in terms of connectivity, boasting a comprehensive selection of ports. These include two full-sized USB ports (USB 3.2 Gen 1 and USB 2.0), a USB 3.2 Gen 1 (Type-C) port, an HDMI 1.4 port, a 3.5mm combo headphone jack, and a DC power jack. This abundance of ports ensures compatibility with a wide range of peripherals and devices.

On the wireless front, the Asus Vivobook 16 (2023) offers Bluetooth 5.3 and Wi-Fi 6E capabilities. To facilitate video calls, it comes equipped with a 720p HD webcam featuring a physical privacy cover, ensuring your peace of mind in today’s privacy-conscious world.

Display: A Generous Canvas with Room for Improvement

Asus equips the new Vivobook with a 16-inch WUXGA IPS display boasting a resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. The display’s maximum brightness reaches 300 nits and features an anti-glare coating to enhance outdoor visibility. However, it falls short of providing adequate brightness for extended outdoor use. While the color reproduction on the screen is commendable, it lacks the deep contrast typically associated with OLED displays.

On a positive note, the screen offers excellent viewing angles, while the 16:10 aspect ratio contributes to a comfortable viewing experience. Users who prefer working in dimly lit conditions will appreciate the Vivobook’s ability to dim the brightness impressively. Despite the higher resolution, the IPS screen falls slightly short when compared to the Full HD OLED displays often associated with the Vivobook lineup.

Performance: Empowered by AMD’s Capable Hardware

In the realm of performance, Asus has taken the AMD route for the new Vivobook 16. It packs an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U processor, complemented by integrated Radeon graphics. The laptop offers 8GB of DDR4 RAM and a 512GB NVMe PCIe 3.0 M.2 SSD.

The Vivobook 16 navigates daily tasks with ease, comfortably handling multitasking scenarios involving applications like MS Word and Chrome, even when juggling up to 10 open tabs simultaneously. In a Cinebench R23 benchmark, the CPU impressively achieved a multi-core score of 7571 points and a single-core score of 1601 points. Further demonstrating its capabilities, the laptop endured a 10-minute Cinebench R23 stress test, recording a single-core score of 1431 points and a multi-core score of 6812 points.

Overall, the Vivobook 16 (2023) proves itself as an excellent multitasker, effortlessly managing daily productivity tasks and even accommodating photo editing demands.

Battery Life: Adequate but Not Exceptional

Equipped with a 42Wh battery and 45W charging support, the Vivobook 16 (M1605) offers decent, albeit not exceptional, battery life. Under typical web browsing conditions, it provides just under eight hours of usage, while YouTube video playback extends slightly beyond six hours.

For daily productivity tasks involving Chrome and MS Word, the Vivobook sustains operation for approximately six and a half hours on a single charge. Charging the battery from 0 to 100 percent requires slightly over two hours.

Verdict: A Reliable Companion for Everyday Needs

The Asus Vivobook 16 (2023) ticks all the essential boxes for a daily-use laptop. It excels in areas such as battery life, audio quality, port variety, and webcam utility. The build quality, although robust for the most part, does exhibit some keyboard and screen flex. However, the comfortable typing experience provided by the keyboard compensates for this minor drawback.

In essence, the Vivobook 16 (2023) embodies reliability, a trait consistently associated with the Asus brand. The only notable limitation is its unsuitability for gaming purposes.

Nonetheless, for the everyday user seeking a dependable laptop for work, as well as leisurely movie or show watching during the evenings, the Vivobook 16 emerges as a near-perfect choice. It offers the ideal blend of performance, portability, and affordability, making it a valuable addition to the Asus Vivobook lineup.