Would you spend eight thousand Malaysian Ringgit on a laptop? That is such a hefty price to pay that not many customers would even think twice. However, after using the ASUS Zenbook S 16 (UM5606) for two weeks, I actually think it's quite a decent investment if you're looking for a powerful and compact laptop.
I will be the first to admit that I wasn't expecting much from the Zenbook S 16 because of its AI marketing. Over the past few months, laptop brands have hopped on the AI bandwagon and none have really impressed me so far. While the AI functions on the Zenbook S 16 are serviceable, the quality and features of the laptop are what make it shine.
Starting with the design, the model that I received was in Scandinavian White (UM5606W-ARJ108WSM). Granted, the design hasn't changed much since the pandemic days, but it somehow became lighter than I remembered. The Zenbook S 16 only weighs 1.50kg, which is unbelievably lightweight, considering all the top-tier hardware it packs.
There is also a Zumaia Grey colour, but why wouldn't you choose Scandinavian White?
The Zenbook S 16 in the flesh
My, such a big trackpad you have there
The necessary ports on both sides
Built from "Ceraluminum" (high-tech ceramic aluminium), the Zenbook S 16 still has some essential ports for everyday usage, the display's bezels are narrow, and the ergonomic touchpad is 40% larger than before. ASUS also stated that it has MIL-STD 810H military grade for durability, but I didn't have the heart to drop-test it.
In terms of features, ASUS is marketing the Zenbook S 16 like crazy with "Superior AI". It's equipped with AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, which boosts up AI performance across the board. The processor also sports a TDP of up to 28W and a built-in Ryzen AI engine that can deliver up to 50 TOPs of power-efficient AI performance. Sounds great on paper, but I'm unsure how my hands-on application reflected that.
This laptop has Copilot+ and, as usual, comes with a dedicated Copilot+ button for you to quickly access it. From experience, the AI assistant is very responsive and can deliver helpful, lengthy, and detailed answers whenever I ask for it. However, I think it could still be better. For example, there was one time I asked it to generate a nice flowery field. I also requested it to add a dinosaur, which it did nicely, followed by "Now add Iron Man fighting with it", and it changed the image.
My conversation with Copilot+ AI
Perhaps it has something to do with copyrighted characters, such as Iron Man, that caused it to change the background. But even if that's the case, the AI assistant drew Iron Man exactly how I wanted (so much for the copyright excuse) and could not simply add the hero into the existing flower field with the green dinosaur. I guess the AI still has much to learn.
The AI Caption could use more work as well. Initially, I thought it was an auto-translator for the caption bar, which wasn't the case. In fact, it's just a toolbar that generates captions in real-time. It works well, but when it comes to language slang, the AI will misunderstand what the subject is trying to say. As seen in the screenshots below, the AI got the lyrics correctly (almost) at first. But when it came to the chorus, it didn't understand "Apateu", so it wrote out random words instead.
The AI can't grasp slang from other languages yet
ASUS' StoryCube is...leaves much to be desired
Some functions to check out in the MyASUS app
Other than that, it also has other AI tools, such as an AiSense camera for online video calls. But it didn't really make a big difference if I'm being honest. I suppose the background blur, eye contact correction and automatic framing would be useful in a busy environment such as a cafe. There's also a StoryCube app by ASUS, which is an AI album that most smartphone photo albums can do as well.
So far, the Zenbook S 16 doesn't sound that impressive in the AI aspect, but AI isn't everything, and I believe the AI can learn to be better over time. All is not lost, though, I really like the laptop's Adaptive Lock tool. This feature can turn the screen blank when you look away and will try to detect your eyes for identification for security purposes. Another thing that I really love is the smart gestures on the trackpad. To my knowledge, no other company has done this yet, so gotta give credit where it's due.
The infrared camera is smart enough to lock the laptop when I'm not in front of it
These smart gestures on the trackpad are a genius move!
Ah yes, OLED display
Other than the AI features, the Zenbook S 16 itself is a great laptop to use. The 16-inch 3K OLED display provides a viewing pleasure, the speakers are sound, and the battery performance is a beast. If you aren't doing much on your laptop, it can easily last a full day or two. When the battery is almost depleted, the fast-charging technology can fully recharge it up to 60% in less than an hour (performance may vary depending on usage).
I wouldn't call myself a full-time content creator, but I can definitely see how much use it can be to one. The powerful specs can render videos super fast on the go, so I use it to work on events or in a car whenever needed. It's also worth mentioning that the connection speed is insane thanks to the integrated WiFi 7. According to ASUS, the transmission speed is more than twice the speed of WiFi 6.
By the way, the Zenbook S 16 comes with a stylus inside the box. Very useful for signing documents!
Or drawing out sketches when needed with AI's help
Video rendering with multiple layers seamlessly
Performance-wise, the Zenbook S 16 excels superbly. But it can get quite warm at the bottom. So at times, I did have some uncomfortable moments when using the laptop on my lap even though it has machined cooling vents and a vapour chamber to dissipate heat. Given its extremely slim design, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by this.
Overall, the Zenbook S 16 is a great laptop for working remotely despite minor AI flaws, which can be improved over time. In fact, this is the best compact laptop I have ever worked on, due to the fact it has almost everything that a user needs - great battery life, great display and speaker performance, easy to carry around, protected with smart AI privacy tools, and just fast performance all around.
A great laptop with minor flaws
There is one more caveat that I didn't mention, and it's not the AI. There is this feature called Hibernate Helper that could use some fixing. What it does is help the laptop to sleep or shut down when unused over some time. When I wanted to turn the laptop back on after a few hours, it refused to do so, and that was such a frustrating experience. I speculate that there could be a software bug in Hibernate Helper. But anyway, turning that thing off helped a ton.
For RM7,999, it is understandable why the Zenbook S 16 costs this much. If you are a gamer looking for something similar, you might want to consider the ROG Zephyrus G16 instead (read my ROG Zephyrus G16 review here). But what do you think of the Zenbook S 16? Let us know in the comments below, and stay tuned for more trending tech gadget reviews at TechNave.com.
ASUS Zenbook S 16 (UM5606) tech specs and features:
- AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor
- AMD Radeon Graphics
- 32GB LPDDR5X of RAM
- 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD
- Measures 35.36 x 24.30 x 1.19 ~ 1.29 cm, weighs 1.50kg
- 3K (2880 x 1800) OLED touch-screen display (16:10 aspect ratio, 120Hz refresh rate, VESA CERTIFIED Display HDR True Black 500, Pantone Validated, TÜV Rheinland-certified)
- Features - Copilot+, ASUS AI tools, StoryCube, MyASUS, FHD camera with IR function for Windows Hello
- Connectivity - Wi-Fi 7(802.11be) (Tri-band)2*2 + Bluetooth 5.4 Wireless Card
- Ports - 1x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2x USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C support display/power delivery, 1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS, 1x 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, SD 4.0 card reader
- Battery - 78WHrs, 2S2P, 4-cell Li-ion (power supply TYPE-C, 65W AC Ultra Mini Adapter)
- Windows 11 Home
Pros - It has everything in one package, from battery to display, and great performance for work.
Cons - Some AI functions can still be improved and the laptop can get warm sometimes. Hibernation Helper is also bugged (just switch it off and you will be fine).
Conclusion - Despite minor flaws, the Zenbook S 16 is one of the best professional laptops to use for anyone who needs a lightweight device to work.
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