In recent times, ASUS has been consistently pushing the boundaries of laptop display technology, and the VivoBook series is no exception. Among them, the ASUS VivoBook Pro 14 OLED M3401 stands out, boasting an OLED display and a discrete NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics processor.
This laptop offers a comprehensive selection of ports and is powered by the potent AMD Ryzen 5000 series processor. All of these factors contribute to making the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED a swift and reliable choice for everyday tasks.
– Display: 9/10
– Performance: 8/10
– Features: 8/10
– Battery: 8/10
– Design: 8/10
Overall: 8.2/10
Summary:
The ASUS VivoBook Pro 14 OLED M3401 is a versatile laptop suitable for both daily work and casual gaming. Its price point is reasonable considering the features it offers.
Pros:
– Stunning OLED Display
– Equipped with GeForce RTX 3050
Cons:
– Limited to 8GB of RAM
Design
The ASUS VivoBook Pro 14 OLED M3401 presents itself with a simple yet attractive design. It adheres to the standard 14″ laptop size and weighs in at 1.45kg. The majority of the laptop’s body is constructed from sturdy polycarbonate material, with some parts seemingly using aluminum.
The entire body is coated with a single color, available in either silver or dark blue, as featured in this review. The dark blue hue is particularly interesting as, under certain lighting conditions, it can appear as a deep grayish shade.
Ports and Connectivity
On both sides of the laptop, you’ll find two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-C, HDMI 1.4, an audio jack, and a MicroSD card reader. The selection of ports is comprehensive, although it’s worth noting that ASUS still includes two USB 2.0 ports, which are slower compared to newer generations.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard of the Vivobook Pro 14 OLED provides keys with a size and feedback that feels just right for everyday typing. These keys can also be backlit for added convenience.
Interestingly, the Power button on the laptop’s keyboard also functions as a fingerprint scanner for quick logins. Thanks to this feature, I can power on the laptop and log into my Windows 11 account with just one press of the button.
Adjacent to the keyboard, there’s a touchpad with a generous and smooth surface. Navigating with my fingers on this touchpad feels comfortable, and it exhibits good precision.
Display
As the name suggests, the Vivobook Pro 14 OLED boasts a 14″ OLED display with a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels, a 90Hz refresh rate, a maximum brightness of 600 nits, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut, and PANTONE Validation.
As expected from an OLED display, this laptop can produce vibrant and captivating colors. The 16:10 aspect ratio provides an expansive screen real estate, especially when used for tasks like document editing.
The brightness of the screen is sufficient for my day-to-day use, both indoors and outdoors. I even used it for typing outdoors on a sunny day, and the display remained clear and legible.
Features
Above the display, the Vivobook Pro 14 OLED features a webcam capable of recording video at 720p resolution. The video quality is decent and suitable for virtual meetings.
What’s noteworthy is the presence of a physical privacy shutter to cover the webcam, providing an extra layer of privacy for those who prioritize it.
Inside the Vivobook Pro 14 OLED, there are microphones with a unique ASUS feature – AI-powered noise reduction. There are several noise reduction configurations to choose from according to your needs.
When I used it in Basic Reception Optimization mode, this feature successfully reduced ambient noise around me, ensuring that it didn’t interfere with my online meetings.
In terms of speakers, the audio output is good for a laptop, and the volume can go quite high. ASUS also added AI Noise Cancelling to the speakers, focusing the sound output on human voices.
Performance
The VivoBook Pro 14 OLED offers a choice of processors, either the AMD Ryzen 5 5600H, as used in this review, or the Ryzen 7 5800H for the powerhouse option. This is paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 graphics and 8GB of DDR4 RAM.
For my day-to-day tasks, the performance felt smooth without any significant hiccups, whether I was browsing in Chrome with multiple tabs open or using various Microsoft Office applications.
Given the presence of a discrete graphics processor, it’s not surprising that this laptop can smoothly run games like Genshin Impact. When I played this game at Medium graphics settings and a resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels, it ran smoothly with frame rates ranging from 40-60.
After using it to play Genshin Impact for over an hour, the left side of the laptop only felt slightly warm, which fortunately wasn’t too bothersome.
To further delve into the laptop’s performance, I tested it with 3DMark Time Spy, and it achieved a score of 4,148, with Graphics at 4,099 and CPU at 4,452. Another test using the Cinebench R23 application yielded a score of 1,269 for single core and 4,835 for multi-core.
The VivoBook Pro 14 OLED uses a 512GB M.2 NVMe PCIe 3.0 SSD, which boasts swift read and write speeds for its class. The provided capacity is sufficient for daily use, with the caveat that you don’t install too many games, which typically require more storage.
Battery Life
In terms of power source, the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED uses a 63WHr battery. I typically get around 4 hours of usage from a full battery down to 10% for my daily work routine, which mostly involves using Microsoft Office applications and browsing.
The battery endurance is quite good considering I use the highest resolution and refresh rate when working. Of course, battery life can be extended if you use lower screen settings.
When I tested the battery using PCMark 8 at a resolution of 1920×1200, refresh rate of 90Hz, backlit keyboard turned off, and screen brightness at 50%, it achieved a score of 5 hours and 8 minutes. The same test at a refresh rate of 60Hz resulted in 5 hours and 43 minutes.
As for battery charging, it still uses a dedicated port and takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes to charge from 10% to 100%.
Conclusion
The ASUS VivoBook Pro 14 OLED M3401 is a well-rounded laptop suitable for both everyday work and casual gaming. Its price is reasonable given what it offers.
The OLED display elevates this laptop, showcasing content with richer colors compared to the average laptop screen. What I regret is the absence of a larger RAM variant to maximize the laptop’s performance, especially for multitasking. Additionally, I find