TheASUS Zenbook S 16 OLEDtakes ASUS’s signature Zenbook formula—sleek design, lightweight portability, and a stunning OLED display—and scales it up to a 16-inch form factor, making it one of the best large-screen Windows productivity laptops of the year.
Asus Zenbook S 16
The ASUS Zenbook S 16 OLED is a premium 16-inch Windows laptop that combines sleek design, lightweight portability, and a stunning OLED display, making it an excellent choice for productivity and creative tasks. Its standout features include a refined Ceraluminum finish, impressive AI and gaming capabilities, and a vibrant 3.2K OLED screen with 120Hz refresh rate. While it offers solid performance and a premium build, minor drawbacks like the glossy display, soft keyboard feedback, and subpar battery life compared to competitors prevent it from being perfect, but it remains a top contender in its class.
Price and Availability
The ASUS Zenbook S 16 OLED is available directly through ASUS' website and major retailers, including Best Buy and Amazon. It is available with either the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 or Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processors and in either the Zumaia Gray or Scandinavian White color variants.
Specifications
Ultraportable Design
Design has always been a cornerstone of ASUS’s Zenbook line, and the S 16 continues to uphold this tradition with its chic and robust build. One of its standout features is the introduction of a Ceraluminum ceramic finish on the lid, which is slightly refined compared to before, giving a smoother texture overall. ASUS touts this new material as having many benefits, including increased scratch resistance, improved durability, and a matte texture that feels very nice to the touch, especially now that it’s smoother rather than feeling like a chalkboard on theS 13 OLED.
At under four pounds and less than 0.7 inches thick, the Zenbook S16 is also remarkably lightweight and portable for a 16-inch laptop. It’s an excellent size and weight for those who need a device that can transition effortlessly between home and travel.
The keyboard is well-designed, with an intuitive layout and sufficient spacing between keys to minimize typing errors. Key travel is adequate, but the feedback can feel slightly soft or squishy, especially compared to that of MacBooks or Microsoft’s Surface devices—this has been a typical trend I’ve seen in ASUS’ keyboards. I wish they refine it because it’s an otherwise excellent keyboard and trackpad. For example, the inclusion of a numeric keypad is something we don’t see that often, and although its compact placement can feel slightly cramped, it’s still nice to see it here.
The trackpad is also really close to being one of my favorite aspects of this laptop, as it delivers a smooth and responsive experience. It’s almost as big as the gigantic trackpads found on Apple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro. It is certainly one of the largest trackpads I’ve ever seen on the Windows side, so it’s a welcome addition to having an expansive surface to use as you navigate the laptop.
In terms of port selection, ASUS continues to do what it always does and gives a fairly versatile selection of ports. The Zenbook S 16 includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB-A port, an HDMI 2.1 output, and a headphone jack, and it’s all in a package that isn’t too thick. I wish they included an SD card slot, though.
Stunning 16-inch OLED Display
The display on the Zenbook S16 is undeniably its crown jewel, offering a 16-inch OLED panel with a stunning 3.2K resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio. The display on the S 13 OLED was one of my favorite aspects of that laptop, and this larger display on the S 16 delivers unparalleled vibrancy thanks to its ability to cover 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, making it a standout choice for creatives and multimedia enthusiasts.
Whether I was editing photos, watching movies, or simply browsing the web, the colors were rich, the blacks were deep, and the details were incredibly sharp. The panel also sports a 120Hz refresh rate, which enhances the overall fluidity of animations and navigation on this laptop.
That said, not everything about the screen is perfect. While enhancing color depth, the glossy finish tends to attract glare, particularly in brightly lit environments or outdoor settings. Coming from using the new nano-texture of theM4 MacBook Pro, this makes it less practical for users who frequently work in variable lighting conditions. However, this limitation is a common trade-off with OLED panels.
Still, for most people, the Zenbook S16’s display sets a high bar for what a laptop screen can achieve, even at its premium price point.
Excellent Performance With AI and Gaming Headroom
Under the hood, the ASUS Zenbook S 16 packs up to AMD’s Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor, paired with up to 32GB of LPDDR5X-7500 memory and a 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. The performance here is snappy and reliable for most everyday tasks, including multitasking, web browsing, programming, and light creative work like photo editing or video playback. Combined with AMD Radeon graphics, the laptop delivers smooth and consistent performance for day-to-day use, and it feels impressively responsive when switching between tasks.
In my testing, during moderate usage, the Zenbook S 16’s performance felt like one of the best Windows laptops I’ve encountered this year. Applications launched quickly, multitasking was seamless, and the laptop remained mostly whisper-quiet thanks to its ambient cooling system, which keeps fan noise under 25 dB in Whisper mode. This makes it an excellent machine for office tasks, media consumption, and web-based workflows.
On the AI front, ASUS has integrated AMD’s Ryzen AI engine, which promises to deliver next-generation AI workflows. In practical testing, I was able to run Llama 3.2 just fine, which is impressive for a thin-and-light laptop like this. AI tools such as Windows Copilot and ASUS’ own StoryCube worked smoothly, and I didn’t notice any hiccups while testing AI-driven applications.
Honestly, the biggest selling point of this Zenbook is its ability to balance the new frontier of AI applications while also being able to do what most ARM-based systems can’t: gaming. I am not a big gamer in any regard, but I was able to play games likeValorantwithout issue and at a fairly acceptable 30–40 frames per second. This cannot be said for any ARM-based machine I’ve tested because those can’t even launch the game because their anti-cheat system is still currently x84-based.
Subpar Battery Life
In terms of battery life, the Zenbook S 16 sports a 78Wh battery, and paired with the OLED display, it fairs pretty well for day-to-day tasks. Still, it’s not as efficient as a MacBook Pro, so its battery performance largely depends on how hard you push it.
For my testing, on a light day with mostly web-based tasks and photo-editing in Photoshop, I can get around 10 hours of screen time, enough to last me the entire day without needing to charge at home. However, on other days when I am relying on the machine for programming, that figure drops to around eight hours, and at that point, I need to plug in if I want to continue working without having to go home.
Should You Buy the Zenbook S 16?
TheASUS Zenbook S 16 OLEDis a compelling option for anyone seeking a large-screen Windows laptop that doesn’t compromise on portability, performance, or display quality. Its sleek design, enhanced by the new Ceraluminum finish, offers a premium feel, while the 16-inch OLED display delivers one of the best visual experiences you can find on a laptop in this price range.
That said, it’s not without its caveats. The glossy display can be a hindrance in brightly lit environments, the keyboard feedback could be made better, and smaller things like the omission of an SD card slot might be a dealbreaker for some users. Additionally, while the battery life is respectable, it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Apple’s MacBook Pro lineup, especially for heavy users.
Overall, if you prioritize a great display, lightweight portability, and solid performance with AI and gaming capabilities, the Zenbook S 16 OLED is one of the best 16-inch laptops you can buy today. It may not be perfect, but it’s a strong contender in its class—and one I’d easily recommend to those looking for a premium Windows experience.
