A Great MacBook Air Alternative: Exploring the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED.

 A Great MacBook Air Alternative: Exploring the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED.

When it comes to laptops, portability is a key factor for me. Ever since my college days, I have favored either the Surface Pro or the MacBook Air due to their slim and lightweight designs, which perfectly suit my on-the-go lifestyle and productivity needs. I transitioned from the Surface Pro to the Intel MacBook Air, and eventually upgraded to the M2 MacBook Air because I value certain aspects in my laptop alongside its performance, namely a long-lasting battery, a comfortable keyboard and trackpad, and a decent screen.

Asus Zenbook S13 OLED

Over the past couple of weeks, I've had the pleasure of using the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED, and it seems I have finally discovered the ideal alternative to the MacBook Air for Windows users. Whether I was working from home, traveling to different cities, or attending meetings in cafes, the Asus laptop was able to effectively replace my MacBook Air for the most part.

The Zenbook S13 OLED boasts a sturdy build quality and features a standout design on the lid, setting it apart from other laptops in its segment. It's a stylish machine that also manages to resist fingerprints, which is a welcome bonus.

The laptop sports a 13.3-inch OLED display with a 2.8K (2880x1800 pixels) resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The screen is sharp and vibrant, delivering vivid colors. I thoroughly enjoyed watching movies with dark action scenes, particularly in dimly lit environments. However, it's worth noting that the glossy display can cause significant glare in bright surroundings. The refresh rate is limited to 60Hz, but I didn't find this to be a drawback. On the downside, the speakers that accompany the display are unremarkable.

To test the OLED display, I used an OLED checker that turns blue on an LCD screen but remains the same on an OLED display. The checker turned blue on my MacBook Air but remained consistent on the S13 OLED.

In terms of connectivity, the Zenbook S13 OLED offers two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, allowing you to connect a 4K monitor, along with an HDMI 2.1 port (which is uncommon for 13-inch laptops these days), a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A port, and a 3.5mm audio jack. It also provides WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 for wireless connectivity, and I didn't encounter any connection drop issues.

The review unit I received is equipped with the 13th Gen Core i7 1355U Processor, but there is also a Core i5-1335U variant available. You can choose between two RAM options (16GB or 32GB LPDDR5) and two storage options (512GB or 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0).

During my usage, I put the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED to the test with productivity-oriented tasks, which involved running at least eight Chrome tabs simultaneously, with Slack running in the background. Typically, with my M2 MacBook Air, I would have to close a couple of background tabs on Safari due to their memory-intensive nature. However, that wasn't the case with the Zenbook S13 OLED. At one point, while conducting research for an article, I had up to 18 tabs open simultaneously, and it hardly posed any problem.

Asus Zenbook S13 OLED

While typing on the Zenbook S13 OLED in bed, I noticed that the trackpad can register unintended inputs if there is pressure applied from underneath or if you accidentally press the palm rest slightly harder than usual. This issue tends to be more common with thinner devices like the Surface Pro series. In comparison, the MacBook Air feels more solid, and the haptic feedback incorporated in the Apple laptop eliminates this problem.

The standout feature of the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED is its impressive battery life. It consistently lasts for eight to nine hours on average, easily enduring through an entire day, which is commendable for Windows laptops. For comparison, my M2 MacBook Air provides up to 12 hours of battery life on a single charge. Considering that I pushed the Asus laptop to its limits most of the time, this is a solid performance. It charges using the included 65W USB-C adapter, although I mostly used a third-party charger, and I didn't notice any significant differences in charging times.

Asus Zenbook S13 OLED

So, should you consider purchasing the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED? As someone who has always struggled to find a MacBook Air alternative that offers exceptional battery life without compromising on performance in a sleek form factor, I can confidently say that the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED is the perfect solution. It surpasses the Apple laptop by being lighter, featuring a superior display, offering more screen tilt angles (up to 180 degrees), providing powerful performance, and delivering a battery life that is almost on par with the MacBook Air. All things considered, I wholeheartedly recommend the Asus Zenbook S13 OLED as a worthy investment for those seeking a MacBook Air alternative.