Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED review (UM5302TA model- AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, OLED)

26 Comments

  1. pR

    May 31, 2022 at 8:44 pm

    Having in mind that I would like to buy a new laptop as soon as possible (nothing critical) the biggest dilemma for me is UM3402 now or UM5302 sometime in… October? I'm not a power user, Lightroom is my maximum, no games :) Camera is the same? Speakers the same? Faster memory, storage, processor, graphic card? Will I notice that? The only thing I will notice for sure is weight difference, especially having in mind I own Surface Pro 5 now.

    • Andrei Girbea

      June 1, 2022 at 9:20 am

      I plan on reviewing the UM3402 at some point in the near future. The main advantage for the Um5302 is the reduced weight, while the um3402 offers full-size ports.

      • mrfroid

        June 9, 2022 at 9:45 am

        it's amazing how very few reviews are available (if at all?) for amd version (um3402). comparing ux3402 with um3402? zero. with s 13? :D but one more question… subjectively, how different aluminium alloy chassis for ux3402 feels compared to aluminium-magnesium for s13? cheaper, more premium? which collects more fingerprints? i had a few surface pro's that were from magnesium alloy so I would scratch them somewhere in a week if without a skin.

      • Andrei Girbea

        June 13, 2022 at 6:40 am

        they felt rather similar to me.

      • mrfroid

        June 13, 2022 at 11:13 am

        thanks, btw, they already start to appear on asus eu shops. let's say german https://estore.asus.com/de/90nb0wa3-m00710-zenbook-s-13-oled-um5302-amd-ryzen-6000-series.html with july 11th availability (some other countries as well), just without touchscreen.

  2. Lorry

    June 1, 2022 at 2:15 pm

    I wish Asus still made a 15" ZenBook like they used to, the ultrabook version with U-series chip and beefy cooling system with two fans and two heatpipes and big 96Wh batery. 6800U would be perfect for it.

    • Andrei Girbea

      June 2, 2022 at 11:44 am

      The Vivobook pro 15x series comes close. No Ryzen 6000 model yet, and 76 Wh batteyr

      • Lorry

        June 9, 2022 at 5:49 pm

        Thanks to you guys, I actually got myself new VivoBook S 15, it's like VivoBook Pro but without dGPU and comes 3 CPU choices – Ryzen 5000, 6000, and 12th Gen Intel. I got myself the cheapest model with Ryzen 5600H and 120HZ OLED for only 550 USD in my country. Really happy with it so far, great battery life and amazing screen for an affordable price!

  3. BH

    June 2, 2022 at 8:05 am

    I would love to buy this laptop but it won't be available any time soon in the UK.. so I ordered Lenovo yoga slim carbon 14 with Ryzen 7 5800u, which is available for order now.

  4. alinea

    June 3, 2022 at 1:51 pm

    These new ryzen look so good 12+ hours of battery life with an oled 2.8K this is incredible !

    I'm always in awe with the tremendous amount of work you guys put in your reviews, graphics, comparisons, screenshots, now you only need a thingy to test the possible flickering. I'm wondering if it's true or just a marketing tool like the nits. The only problem I had with Oled panels was the PWM, do you know if it's an Asus+Samsung deal or others brands as well ?

    Before re-reading in a quieter environment I have two questions about GPU performance which is meant to be the big selling point of this generation :

    – does the LPDDR5-6400 memory actually changes anything compared to slower DDR4 ?
    – how about FSR, if I'm not mistaking it is an AMD feature for RDNA2 (660M 680M) and should improve, sometimes double the fps, where you able to test it ? because, again if I understand correctly, this is the key difference with previous vega igpu

    Thanks

    (why do we have 15 models called Zenbook, 30 called Vivobook, lenovo just released an armada of Yogas, I get the intel/amd but it's like 13, 14, 14+, 14x, 14pro, 14pro x+, 14+pro special, 13s +-², some vivobooks are better than zenbooks, half of the yogas aren't real yoga convertible, seriously… they really want to confuse customers, without webreviews like yours it's impossible to understand and their official websites are terrible with no explanation and a lot of information missing or misleading)

    • Andrei Girbea

      June 3, 2022 at 5:23 pm

      1. I haven't looked into it. Should help, but hard to tell by how much and where
      2. I haven't tested FSR with the 680M.

      • alinea

        June 4, 2022 at 9:03 pm

        Thank you !

        I looked at the yoga 7 you're talking about, it seems too good to be true, except for the price which is way too high for me. I worry a bit about the heating as well. For some reason I thought a laptop without dGPU and a light CPU would stay under 70-75°C no matter what. It's tricky to understand how effective the cooling is, especially when you compare with the RogFlow another 13", a few mm/grams changes everything.
        The xps are really disappointing imo but that's because of their Intel cursed partnership.

        One last thing, irrelevant for experts, it is pleasant to get various colour choices.

  5. Jet

    June 3, 2022 at 6:03 pm

    First….FANTASTIC review, there is really nothing that I would change about the content and style of this review…You are now my go to reviewer. EXCELLENT job…keep up the great work!!!

    Regarding this laptop, there is definitely a LOT to like about it…They really did get a lot right with this laptop…Unfortunately, I can NOT purchase a laptop that doesn't have an IPS matte option with 400nits of brightness. I've owned GLOSSY screened laptops before but now having owned a laptop with a nice IPS matte screen I will never go back to a glossy screen. I tend to use my laptop in a number of locations…including well lit areas of my house and on my brightly lit patio. At 350 nits with a glossy display this laptop would prevent me from using it comfortably in these well lit areas and that is a compromise I'm not willing to make. What's the point of getting a laptop that significantly limits where you can use it…you purchase a laptop for portability.
    If Asus were to offer this laptop with an IPS matte display with 400nits of brightness I'd buy it…but with out a matte display option, sadly it's a 'no go' for me. I'm all about function over form and overall value.

  6. Hawk Sama

    July 9, 2022 at 12:46 am

    Is the chassis not inferior or cheap feeling? Compared to the Zenbook 14 with the aluminum aloy vs the magnesium aloy on S13. Saw one YT review saying the aluminum aloy on Zenbook 14 feels a lot better and referencing this one as inferior. A rather rare sight most typical reviews praised the built quality if not, said they're "good".

    I'm leaning towards the S13 because of the more efficient battery and better GPU especially it's 210USD cheaper here in my region.

  7. Rodrigo

    July 12, 2022 at 4:52 am

    Hi, is the 6800u better than Intel i5 1240p?
    In doubt about the Lenovo thinkbook 13s gen 4.

    • Andrei Girbea

      July 12, 2022 at 11:03 am

      better for what? it would depend on the kind of loads that you're running and the overall sustained power of each design. Generally, the 6800U is more capable in demanding loads and graphics, while something like the 1240P should be faster in quick loads and daily multitasking.

  8. Eze

    September 2, 2022 at 9:24 pm

    Hi Andrei! I would like to know where can I find the NON touchscreen model since I've never seen it on the internet. Do you have any idea?

    • Andrei Girbea

      September 3, 2022 at 8:49 am

      this was an early sample from AMD, I don't know when they'll finally have it in stores

    • Blueskull

      October 23, 2022 at 5:39 am

      Touchscreen is only available on UP5302, which is the Intel one. UM5302 does not have a touch option.

      • mrf

        October 23, 2022 at 5:40 pm

        That's not true. There are UM5302 models with touch screen. Depends on the market.

  9. Ray

    November 5, 2022 at 6:42 pm

    Would you recommend this or the S 13 Flip Oled version more? Im stuck between the two and I'm going into college for chemistry.

    • Andrei Girbea

      November 6, 2022 at 1:36 pm

      depends on what you preffer: better CPU power and a 2-in-1 format, or better GPU power and longer battery life.

      • Pascal Gautherot

        February 5, 2023 at 1:11 pm

        Excellent review. But, for me, 16 Go soldered is not acceptable. Two slots with the upgrade to 64Go and I take immediately my credit card.

  10. Dishonored One

    May 27, 2024 at 3:16 pm

    Hey, thanks for the review!

    Dunno if you're still monitoring the comments section here, but I'll ask anyway – given that you have reviewed both UX3402ZA model and this one, is there any chance that 1240P SKU would be somewhat comparable in terms of battery life for light office multitasking(working with documents etc.) to S13 here, say put it on balanced profile and 60Hz refresh rate? I know Ryzen 6000 series is generally more efficient than Intel SKUs, but unfortunately they're out of stock everywhere in Europe, and I don't wanna go with used hardware either.

    • Andrei Girbea

      May 27, 2024 at 5:36 pm

      Should be close, but not quite what we got on this AMD model. The Intel platform is a bit more power hungry, but not by that much.

      • Dishonored One

        May 27, 2024 at 5:42 pm

        Gotcha, thanks again!

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