Multimedia laptops are inclined to hit the candy spot between worth and efficiency. Such units usually provide high-quality shows for watching movies, are highly effective sufficient for gentle gaming, and are comparatively reasonably priced. Asus’ Vivobook sequence has been following this development, and immediately we’ll be looking on the new K15 OLED sequence, which is surprisingly very properly priced.
The Asus Vivobook K15 OLED sequence pricing in India begins at round Rs. 47,000 and goes all the best way to round Rs. 80,000. We’ll be testing a variant that falls someplace in between, and options an AMD Ryzen CPU as a substitute of Intel ones that the majority different variants have. With not plenty of different OLED laptops on this worth phase, is the Asus Vivobook K15 OLED deserving of your consideration? Let’s have a look.
Asus VivoBook K15 OLED (KM513) design
The Asus VivoBook K15 OLED has a big footprint because of the 15.6-inch show, however it’s not very thick or unwieldy. It’s on the heavier aspect at 1.8kg, however this isn’t too dangerous for a laptop computer of this measurement. The construct high quality of the chassis is sweet, and the plastics have match and end, with no undesirable flex or creakes wherever. Asus despatched me a unit within the Hearty Gold end, however this mannequin also needs to be out there in Indie Black and Clear Silver.
The OLED show is the primary attraction of the Asus VivoBook K15 OLED
The principle attraction is the OLED show. This 15.6-inch display screen has a full-HD decision, 600nit peak brightness, and 100% DCI-P3 color gamut assist. The show additionally carries certifications from Pantone, TUV Rheinland, and others for issues like color accuracy and low blue-light emission. The Asus Vivobook K15 OLED has slender borders on the left and proper of the show, and barely thicker ones on the highest and backside. There’s an built-in webcam above the display screen however it solely has a 720p decision. The lid presents respectable safety for the OLED panel, and although there is a little bit of flex, this does not visibly have an effect on the show.
One of many massive benefits of a 15.6-inch laptop computer is you could have the luxurious of a full-sized keyboard with a quantity pad. I wanted to recalibrate my muscle reminiscence a bit coming from a smaller laptop computer, as I stored hitting the flawed keys initially, however I bought used to this after a few days. The keys themselves are properly spaced and comfy, however I want that they had been barely sculpted and never flat, for a greater typing expertise. The ‘Enter’ key has fluorescent inexperienced highlights, which is a enjoyable little contact. The arrow keys are properly spaced too. The Asus VivoBook K15 OLED has a fingerprint sensor positioned in a single nook of the trackpad. It really works properly and does not get in the best way.
The Asus VivoBook 15 OLED encompasses a full-sized keyboard
Coming to the ports, you get loads of them. On the left aspect, you get two USB 2.0 Kind-A ports and on the appropriate, there is a USB 3.2 Gen1 Kind-A port, a USB 3.2 Gen1 Kind-C port, HDMI 1.4 video output, a headphone jack, a DC energy inlet, and a microSD card slot. For on a regular basis use, these ports ought to do exactly nice, though I’d have most well-liked extra USB 3.0 ports as a substitute of the 2 USB 2.0 ports, and HDMI 2.0 as a substitute of the older v1.4 spec would have allowed for output at 4K 60fps.
I additionally do not perceive why Asus went with a microSD card slot as a substitute of a standard-sized one, particularly since there must be ample area on a 15.6-inch laptop computer. You’ll be able to’t cost the laptop computer by way of the Kind-C port, and not one of the USB ports will provide energy to cost different units if the laptop computer is off. This may increasingly sound like I am nitpicking, however it’s the little conveniences that make a giant distinction to on a regular basis use.
Asus VivoBook K15 OLED (KM513) specs and software program
The Asus VivoBook K15 OLED is offered with both an Intel or AMD CPU. The Intel-based variants begin at Rs. 46,990, and at this worth you’d get an eleventh Gen Intel Core i3-1115G4 CPU. You’ll be able to go all the best way to a Core i7 if wanted. On the time of this evaluation, Asus solely has a single AMD-powered variant on sale in India, which options an AMD Ryzen 5 5500U CPU with built-in Radeon graphics. This variant additionally has 8GB of RAM, a 256GB M.2 NVMe SSD, and a 1TB mechanical arduous drive. Out of the 8GB of RAM, solely a single 4GB module was detected within the CPUz app, which suggests the opposite 4GB is almost definitely soldered onto the motherboard.
The MyAsus app presents fairly a number of customisation choices
My unit shipped with Home windows 10 however you possibly can decide to improve to Home windows 11 whereas setting it up. Among the preinstalled applications embody a trial model of McAfee Livesafe and a completely licensed model of Microsoft Workplace Dwelling & Pupil 2019. All of Asus’ applications will be discovered by means of the MyAsus launcher app, for which there is a devoted shortcut button on the keyboard too. The app is a little bit clunky however purposeful, and presents a great deal of choices for battery care, updates, and show settings.
There’s an OLED Care part right here too, which has choices for a particular display screen saver that may be activated if the laptop computer is idling on a static display screen for too lengthy, and a Pixel Shift function to keep away from display screen burn-in points. These are enabled by default to guard the OLED show in the long term. One other function that I preferred is the flexibility to toggle the first capabilities of the Fn row keys.
Asus VivoBook K15 OLED (KM513) efficiency and battery life
The Asus VivoBook K15 OLED excels at video playback because of the colourful OLED display screen. Blacks are deep and colors can look very vivid, relying on the way you tweak the show. The shiny display screen may cause reflections, which is one thing to bear in mind. Viewing angles are good however there’s a slight color shift when viewing the display screen off-axis, though that is solely actually evident with a white background.
The show does assist HDR, however to make use of it, you might want to allow this setting in Home windows. The default image profile is fairly dangerous, as any spotlight in an HDR video will get immediately blown out. You will want to regulate the HDR brightness slider in Home windows’ show settings to search out the appropriate steadiness, and likewise allow HDR streaming whereas working on battery energy. After doing this, HDR movies appeared significantly better. The stereo audio system sound respectable however not nice, even with the DTS app enhancements.
There is a respectable collection of ports however a full-sized SD card slot would have been preferable
Home windows 11 ran very properly on the configuration of the Asus VivoBook K15 that I examined. Applications had been fast to open and shut, waking the laptop computer from sleep was speedy, and the fingerprint sensor labored properly for authentication. The white backlight on the silver keys make their labels difficult to see within the day, however does its job in low gentle. The laptop computer carried out properly in benchmarks too, returning good numbers in artificial assessments.
The Ryzen 5 5500U CPU was solely barely behind the Ryzen 5 5600U that we just lately examined within the Acer Swift X, which made sense. Nonetheless, the built-in Radeon GPU is not highly effective sufficient for demanding video games. Fortnite was solely playable at low graphics settings on the show’s native decision. Video games corresponding to Far Cry 5 had been solely nearly playable at low graphics high quality, and right here, the decision needed to be lowered too.
The intense and vivid show of the Asus VivoBook 15 OLED makes it very best for binge-watching films
The Asus VivoBook K15 OLED has a modest 42WHr 3-cell battery, which lasts for about 4 hours with gentle to medium use and the Home windows battery profile set to ‘Balanced’. This type of battery life isnot nice, particularly for a 15.6-inch laptop computer. With the laptop computer in ‘Higher energy effectivity’ mode, I used to be in a position to squeeze out one other hour with comparable utilization, which continues to be not a lot. It will have been good to have had a bigger battery given the scale of the chassis, even at the price of the laptop computer being a little bit heavier.
Verdict
The Asus VivoBook K15 OLED (KM513) is a wonderful laptop computer for media consumption and is comparatively slim and lightweight for a 15.6-inch display screen measurement. The six-core Ryzen 5 CPU presents loads of energy for multitasking and demanding workloads. Gaming isn’t this laptop computer’s robust go well with, which suggests you may have to have a look at different choices if it is a precedence for you. Battery life is a little bit disappointing and I want Asus had supplied a full-sized card slot as a substitute of a microSD slot.