ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin Full Review With Pros And Cons

As all artists know, if your motivation is financial, you’re probably not a true musician. But regrettably, starting still requires money. ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin is the most widely used and visible piece of music production gear. But if you want one more option, consider Asus VivoBook 13.

While it may be pleasing to blow all of your money on an incredible computer, you might want to save some cash for the other pieces of technology necessary for your home studio. Making excellent music does not require a supercomputer with the highest specifications.

ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin

We had great hopes for the Asus VivoBook 15, a cheap DJ laptop. Budget laptops frequently look too good to be true, as you are already aware. It’s alluring to think that you can obtain performance that will last you for a few years at an incredibly low price. But frequently, you also get less when you spend less.

With the Asus VivoBook 15’s most recent update, you pay more for less performance and battery life and choose a less colorful display. This Asus VivoBook 15 review will demonstrate how the trade-offs are only a reminder of the sacrifices one must make to save money, even though you receive multiple ports, a small chassis, and a practically edge-to-edge widescreen display.

Design

Its slate-gray exterior doesn’t appear like a cheap laptop, and despite its plastic construction and relative lightness (3.7 pounds vs. 4.4 pounds for the Acer Aspire 5 and HP 15), everything feels well-designed and well-built.

The VivoBook 15’s inside reveals a keyboard integrated with the rest of the device, similar to premium Asus models. There is even a fingerprint scanner for system locking, and the trackpad is flush on the wrist rest without being overt.

There is sufficient space for you to comfortably rest your wrist while thumbing through your work because Asus managed to incorporate an entire number pad without constricting the keyboard surface.

One of the VivoBook 15’s most useful features is the ErgoLift Hinge, which angles the keyboard so that it is lifted slightly for more comfortable typing while seated at a desk. It is a feature from some of Asus’ ROG gaming laptops, among the greatest gaming laptops money can buy. It’s great that the business included it in its more affordable DJ laptops.

Ports

If you ever want to dock your laptop and use a full setup, purchasing a laptop with lots of ports is a good idea. Two conventional USB 2.0 Type-A ports and a status indicator light are on the notebook’s left side.

The remaining ports, which include a proprietary power jack, an HDMI 2.0 port for tethering the laptop, a USB 3.1 Type-A port, and a headphone and microphone jack, are located on the right side of the device. A USB Type-C port is uncommon for a laptop in this price range, and a compatible adapter can be used to add an Ethernet port.

Additionally, there is a MicroSD port, which is convenient and enables the expansion of storage capacity. However, I would have preferred a conventional SD slot to use my DSLR when traveling.

Display

A little bezel is on either side of the VivoBook 15’s 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 NanoEdge display, with a small amount at the top to allow the webcam. Beyond its widescreen appearance, the display is a lackluster option for watching web videos due to its flat color profile and odd viewing angles.

It made episodes of classic TV shows like Baywatch, which already had a worn-in color palette, appear older than they are. On the other hand, it made dark parts in modern movies like the Emma remake very difficult to see.

The VivoBook 15 received a meager 65 percent on the sRGB color gamut test results. That puts it ahead of comparably priced laptops like the Acer Aspire 5, which had a score of 63%, and the HP 15, which received a score of 67%, but it falls short of the industry average of 85%. Anecdotally, it appears that the VivoBook 15’s display is crooked.

I can watch a YouTube video without immediately identifying it, but as I switch displays, it’s clear. And while I could edit RAW photographs in Adobe Lightroom, it wasn’t until I connected to an external display with superior color reproduction that I felt more secure in the outcome.

Additionally, the VivoBook 15 has several peculiar viewing angles. To see the laptop’s display without a sheen, you must angle your gaze at roughly 100 degrees. Black and gray, in particular, are affected by the problem, which is difficult to overlook if you rely on dark mode in most programs.

Due to this shine issue, I found the laptop difficult to use when using Windows 10’s night mode. Additionally, the VivoBook 15’s maximum brightness in tests was just 205 nits, so it’s not particularly bright.

Even though they are brighter than the industry average of 268 nits, the Acer Aspire 5 and HP 15 Laptop only measure 258 nits and 222 nits, respectively. The VivoBook 15 isn’t designed for a cinematic viewing experience, no matter which way you shake it.

Camera And Sound

The Asus VivoBook 15’s bottom-facing twin speakers might use some improvement. You can view a movie and listen to music without headphones, but the sound will sound strained. For instance, the catchy music of The Midnight’s Deep Blue was audible enough, but the voices appeared to be coming from a distance.

Even in bassier musical genres like house and synthwave, the voices can occasionally be difficult to hear. With the laptop resting on a table, I could hardly hear the conversation while I watched Emma. It is best to connect the system to external speakers to listen to anything.

The 720p built-in webcam is a backup in case you get invited to an unforeseen video conference. The quality of the built-in webcam on the VivoBook 15 is comparable to a webcam I used more than ten years ago, so you’ll want to combine it with an external webcam.

Even on low-cost computers, the camera is often an afterthought, which is unfortunate because so many professionals and students would benefit from having access to the better-quality video.

Other Hardware

The VivoBook 15’s keyboard is a bit divisive. The chiclet keys are easy to type on, and there is enough backlighting to do your job with dimmed lights. I like how the number pad is crammed into the right side of the keyboard and that, like a full-sized external keyboard, it can be quickly activated and deactivated with the Number Lock key.

But after using the keyboard for about an hour, I got impatient with the space between the keys. It feels like you’re slogging through the Sahara because they are so far apart. Every time the backlight went out, I became lost in the configuration.

Additionally, I noticed that the Page Up and Page Down keys were placed farther apart than I would normally prefer to rest my fingers. If you want to get things done, plan to use this laptop while docked.

On the 4.1 x 2.9-inch trackpad of the VivoBook 15, using Windows 10 gestures was occasionally frustrating. I just disabled them after noticing that I was receiving a lot of unnecessary swipes. The trackpad might be slightly larger because it feels out of place in its current location and width.

Product Testing

Despite its dismal benchmark results, the Intel Core-i3 processor and 8GB of RAM in the VivoBook are highly capable. The fans didn’t sound like they were getting ready for flight as I navigated through dozens of Google Chrome tabs and my cloud-based collection in Adobe Lightroom.

I ran the included Intel UHD graphics to test whether it could handle an old favorite. As I strolled over poorly drawn icy mountains in Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, the VivoBook 15 maintained between 18 and 25 frames per second.

It powers on in 8 seconds, launches Windows, and includes a backlit keyboard and fingerprint reader. Despite being a core i3, I believe the solid disk makes it quick. I also appreciate that it has practically all the ports needed nowadays, including HDMI, c type, and USB, and is 1080p.

Its extremely tiny and expanded keyboard is something I enjoy. Laptops like this one, which do not display capital letters or numbers, can be fixed using the lightweight, cost-free software program TrayStatus, which runs on Windows.

Product Comparison

Asus VivoBook 15 stylish laptop offers good value while maintaining a light weight and adequate performance (SSD and I3 processor). The backlit keyboard and lovely screen (1920 x 1080) were welcome additions for the primary purpose.

The Asus VivoBook 13 Slate OLED has a fluid design and outstanding build quality despite feeling a little hefty at roughly 785 grams. The device’s 7.9 mm thinness and the thin display bezels add to its allure.

Conclusion

The ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin is light and tiny, with extremely thin screen frames. It is also quite stable; unlike other devices I’ve owned, it does not fail or lock. Despite having an i3, it is quite quick, thanks to the solid-state drive, fingerprint sensor, and backlit keyboard.

I installed AutoCAD on it, and it works well in 2D without locking or stuttering. It also doesn’t heat up when I use it virtually daily, and I suggest it. If I wanted a “throwaway” laptop in a hurry, the Asus VivoBook 15 might do. It can run an older game at low settings for nostalgia. It can file words at Denny’s before the deadline.

The Asus VivoBook 15’s performance isn’t impressive; therefore, it’s not worth upgrading. A monitor, speakers, and mouse can help with the VivoBook 15’s idiosyncrasies if it’s your only option. If you can afford it, choose the Core-i5 version of the VivoBook 15 for higher processing power.

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