Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403) review: our full review – Laptops


The Asus Vivobook 14X does not only exist in an OLED version. Its simplest and most accessible brother, the Vivobook 14X, is now being tested to prove its worth.

Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid

In the 2022 line from Asus on the mid-range, there is of course the Vivobook 14X OLED… but also the Vivobook 14X, little brother to the LCD panel which is not entitled to as much emphasis. So be careful when buying, since as you will discover in this test, one is not the equivalent of the other, and confusion quickly arises.

Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403)Technical sheet

ModelAsus Vivobook 14X (M1403)
Screen size

14 inches

Definition

1920 x 1200 pixels

Display technology

LCD

Touchscreen

Nope

Processor (CPU)

Ryzen 7 5800H

Graphics chip (GPU)

AMD Radeon Vega 7 Graphics

Memory (RAM)

16 GB

Internal memory

1TB

Wi-Fi standard

Wi-Fi 6 (ax)

Bluetooth version

5.0

Operating system (OS)

Microsoft Windows 11

Dimensions

317.1 x 19.9mm

Weight

1600 grams

Repairability index?

6.9/10

Price

€1,599

Product sheet

Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403)Design

The Asus Vivobook 14X is exactly what you imagine when you think of a mid-range computer. That is to say: pretty much everything on the top-end version, but with slightly less precise construction and less valuable materials. This is exactly what happens to the Vivobook 14X compared to the latest Zenbooks, since it recovers a chassis of substantially the same shape and with the same intention, but this time in plastic.

Asus Vivobook 14X OLED M1403 test frandroid 2
Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid

Its feel isn’t bad though, and its flexibility remains minimal for a design of this kind. Still, hand-printing is far from luxurious, and tends to err on the side of the utilitarian. Its cover, which can be opened completely flat at 180°, has a slight tendency to sink into the skin when using the Vivobook 14X on your knees, and as its edges are a little more marked than average, the feeling can become uncomfortable.

Asus Vivobook 14X OLED M1403 test frandroid 6
Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid

Nevertheless, it is a large comfortable computer, whose weight of 1.6 kg does not make it the champion of lightness, but which is transported with ease in any circumstance. A good little laptop, all in all.

Keyboard and touchpad

The slightly plastic impression naturally continues on the keyboard, which still has the merit of offering very wide, spaced out and above all well-balanced keys. The switches are however very plastic and light, which impacts typing comfort. That said, we are in the middle of this product category. It will therefore be criticized above all for this Enter key cut in two in the American style, still as squeaky for a European user.

Asus Vivobook 14X OLED M1403 test frandroid 10
Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid

The touchpad is not made of glass, but remains very wide and very slippery. Above all, it once again incorporates the numeric keypad that can be activated at the touch of a button. This feature is a significant asset at Asus, and is particularly useful for anyone who has to work on Excel regularly.

connectors

We will qualify the Asus Vivobook 14X as well off when it comes to its connectivity. If the left edge only offers a single USB A 2.0 port, the right edge accommodates the power port, a full-size HDMI 1.4 port, 2 USB A 3.2 Gen. 1, a USB C 3.2 Gen. 1 and a combo jack.

What would we have liked to see? An additional USB-C port that can be used as a charger for the computer, rather than the dying out traditional barrel port. An SD card reader would not have been refused either. But overall, the computer won’t be begging to invest in a dongle anytime soon for the majority of users.

webcam and audio

WIN_20220906_16_13_29_Pro

A small 720p webcam that does not perform miracles, but which has the merit of transcribing the colors of the scene well. It is therefore not so bad compared to its rivals in the same category, which do not even make the effort to process the signal as much as possible.

The speakers, on the other hand, are of very low quality. They lack volume, and the sound produced does not really ensure on any point, from bass to treble through the mediums. Everything seems like it went underwater, and the placement of the speakers under the device does nothing to support them.

Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403)Screen

This is where you will have to pay attention. Yes, the Vivobook Pro 14X has an OLED display. But the classic Vivobook 14X that we are testing in these lines is far from being housed in the same boat. We take advantage of a simple 14-inch IPS LCD panel in 1920 × 1200 pixel definition, i.e. a 16:10 ratio. This panel is not tactile, and is not particularly qualitative: the manufacturer honestly announces a coverage of only 45% of NTSC.

And under our probe, with the DisplayCal software, it is… indeed what the manufacturer announces. If the manufacturer offers two display modes (Normal/Vivid) in its interface, the difference is so small that it is not even worth comparing them. Choose the slightly better Vivid mode, but it still only covers 60.6% of the sRGB space, 42.9% of the DCI-P3 and 41.8% of the Adobe RGB. We are here on a maximum brightness of only 362 cd / m², and an average Delta E00 of 6.97 which is far from suitable for the slightest graphic work.

asus-vivobook-14x-screen

We would almost have been tempted to compare this panel to that of the HP Victus, but it still does much better, thanks in particular to a contrast of 1502:1. Visually, the display is honestly decent. But as soon as it’s next to a good screen, the Vivobook 14X will reveal its weaknesses to you with the naked eye.

This is not disturbing in itself for a product intended to be sold at a relatively low price. However, we would have appreciated from the manufacturer a clearer demarcation of this product in its range, since it risks being confused by ordinary mortals with the Vivobook Pro 14X with OLED screen. And in which case, the disappointment will be terrible.

Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403)Software

Asus has always given us the pleasure of integrating a good software suite with MyAsus, which makes it possible to find the most important settings of its machines in a flash and on a clear and concise interface. This is obviously still the case here, and we still like this application as much.

But the manufacturer is also used to integrating many advertising applications, like McAfee, which we don’t like… on the high end. On the mid-range where the Vivobook 14X is placed, it is already much more forgivable.

Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403)Performance

In our test configuration, the Asus Vivobook 14X is backed by an AMD Ryzen 5 5600H SoC, a 6-core, 12-thread CPU that can turbo up to 4.2 GHz. It is coupled here with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM and a 512 GB SSD in PCIe 3.0. A mid-range configuration par excellence, where AMD still excels with its Zen 3 SoCs that combine power and autonomy.

General benchmarks

No disappointment on this point: the Ryzen 5 5600H sings in tune with a score of 9289 points in multi-core and 1361 points in single-core on Cinebench R23. As usual on this generation, AMD supplants Intel on multi-threaded tasks, when single core performance is above at Intel. The PCMark 10 score of 5891 points reassures us that this Vivobook 14X is simply on par with any 2022 ultrabook in terms of raw power.

asus-vivobook-14x-ssd

You can also count on the integrated GPU, of generation Vega 7, which offers relatively similar performance to a Steam Deck. Suffice to say that you can comfortably play your favorite free-to-play games on the go, without going overboard. It is especially on the storage memory side that the limits will be felt, the PCIe 3.0 generation starting to age against a 4.0 well installed and a 5.0 in deployment. Remains a Vivobook 14X today fast, fluid and powerful.

Cooling and noise

Good surprise on this side since in classic use, the Asus Vivobook 14X is not only perfectly cool, but also perfectly silent. It is in performance mode that it will begin to be heard slightly, and that the heating will show, but this remains under control with a hot spot located well in the center of its chassis, at 46°C maximum in our tests. . The keyboard area is still comfortable at only 36°C.

Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403)Autonomy

The Asus Vivobook 14X is equipped with a 50 Wh battery and requires a traditional 90W power supply to operate. This is a first disappointment here: as said in the connection part, we would have liked USB-C Power Delivery (which supports up to 100W) to be implemented rather than using this aging format.

Asus Vivobook 14X OLED M1403 test frandroid 14
Source: Chloé Pertuis – Frandroid

Autonomy level, the computer is not a champion of the year. There are between 8 and 9 hours of fairly standard office use, with YouTube video, sound, and of course many open tabs while writing an article. That being said, it remains a comfortable one-day autonomy, which will suit a student or a classic employee.

All this would have really been enhanced by the USB-C PD, which would have made it easy to charge the device on the go, but here you will have to bring your block with you. At least it’s small enough.

Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403)Price and availability

The Asus Vivobook 14X is already available in France. You can find it at the recommended starting price of 799.90 euros.

Where to buy

Asus Vivobook 14X (M1403) at the best price?



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