I just bought a new laptop, ASUS ZenBook S16. This is intended to be my backup workstation in case my main computer gets broken or I’m traveling and somehow need to work.

Why did I choose this laptop

Honestly, it’s because I got a neat deal in my local online store (Blibli), around IDR 24 million / USD 1,493 at the time I bought it. So, it’s not purely because I really like or want this laptop. I did, however, spend time researching this laptop before I bought it.

What’s the spec

Here is the quick specification:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370
• GPU: AMD Radeon 890M
• RAM: 32 GB LPDDR5X
• Storage: 1 TB NVME SSD
• Display: 16 inch, 3K (2880 x 1800), OLED, 120 Hz
• Battery: 78 Wh

You can read the benchmark for this laptop on these websites:

• Phoronix
• Phoronix 2
• RTINGS
• Tom’s Hardware
• Tom’s Guide
• NotebookCheck

And here are other details about the laptop:

• Unique material for the chassis — ASUS calls it “Ceraluminum”, a portmanteau of “Ceramic” and “Aluminum”. It feels like the surface of paper on metal.
• 1.5 kg — Honestly, I never had a 16" laptop before, so I can’t make comparisons. But my current opinion is the laptop feels quite lightweight.
• Features NPU — which AMD claims has 50 TOPS of power. A new processing unit inside the CPU intended to assist operations related to local AI inference.
• HDMI port, 1 USB-A 3.2 port, 2 USB-C ports, SD card slot, 3.5 mm headphone jack
• No NumPad

What I like

• Beautiful, large screen — really helpful for coding and video/image editing. This is the first time I’m using a screen that has the combination of: 3K + OLED + refresh rate more than 60 Hz. The first moment I saw the screen of this laptop was the same as when I first saw a game playing in 60fps. This also ruined me in a way; I think I will have difficulties going back to 60 Hz from now.
• Great performance — lowkey what drew me to buy this laptop for its price. More than capable of covering my working tasks which mostly consist of: compiling and managing containers using Docker, transpiling JS, playing video in a web browser, and transcoding video files.
• Pretty, simple aesthetics — slightly resembles Apple MacBook 16 if the stickers are removed
• Quiet fan
• Keyboard is nice to type — feels like my old Apple MacBook Pro Retina 2015
• SD card slot is helpful for me, who often needs to transfer between my mobile devices (phone, camera, handheld consoles)

What I don’t like

• It gets severely hot under heavy load — however, the hotspot is quite far from the keyboard, on top of the function keys, so it’s not that annoying when working
• Battery is not that great — I can get around 5 hours under normal workload
• The OLED screen is so glossy — makes it difficult to see in a well-lit area.

What I think is interesting

• The Ryzen AI NPU on this laptop makes me curious and gets me interested in the topic. There are some resources by AMD for developers to run local AI inferences of some models on the NPU. I think I may experiment a bit in the future, comparing it to both CPU and GPU inferences.

Overall

I think I’m happy with the laptop, especially considering the price I paid for it. At the time I bought it, there were no other laptops that offered the same internal specs and features at the same price.

I plan to use this laptop for a minimum of 5 years before replacing it, just like my old Apple MacBook Retina.