ASUS Vivobook S15 CoPilot+ PC Review: Setting a benchmark for ARM-powered Windows laptops
Ben Madilynn
ASUS Vivobook S15 CoPilot+ PC Review: We’ve entered a new chapter for Windows PCs—the ARM era—ushered in by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X series chipsets, as seen in laptops like the ASUS Vivobook S15 CoPilot+ PC. This shift feels refreshing and stands as a fitting counterpart to Apple’s ARM-based M-series chipsets, which have powered Macs since 2020. I was excited about Apple’s transition, and while ARM isn’t a complete overhaul for Windows PCs, it offers an alternative approach that I truly appreciate. After using the ASUS Vivobook S15 for over 20 days, my opinion was solidified—this laptop delivers a pleasant and convenient experience. Here’s my review of the ASUS Vivobook S15, powered by the Snapdragon X Plus chipset—covering who should consider this laptop, its key strengths, and areas where ASUS could improve.
We have also reviewed the ASUS Vivobook S15 with the Intel Core Ultra 7 chipset; you can find the review here.
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ASUS Vivobook S15 CoPilot+ PC Review: Display, Build Quality
The ASUS Vivobook S15 gets one of the best displays on a laptop under ₹1.5 lakh, with its stunning 3K 15.6-inch 120Hz panel. It also addresses one of my main gripes with rival Qualcomm X series-powered laptops—a dim display. In my testing, the Vivobook S15’s panel was plenty bright for most situations, including sitting outdoors (perhaps at a café), with its 600 nits of peak brightness. Yes, I would have appreciated a matte screen to reduce reflections, but since the display is bright, legibility isn’t an issue. You will also enjoy watching TV shows and movies on this display. I binge-watched The Rings of Power Season 2 during a weekend, and I can safely say that I thoroughly enjoyed the experience, with deep blacks and punchy yet accurate colour reproduction.
Plus, the high refresh rate at 120Hz is a great addition, especially as rivals, even at this price range, still come with 60Hz displays, which isn’t ideal, even for business-grade laptops. Paired with the fast Snapdragon X Plus (more on this later), this results in a buttery smooth experience that you will appreciate while using the laptop.
As for build quality, I have no complaints, though I do have some feedback for ASUS. The laptop has a well-made chassis that barely creaks. It features a solid hinge that inspires confidence in day-to-day use, and I’m happy to report that it even passes the one-finger opening test, just like MacBooks. The bezels surrounding the display are minimal, the trackpad is well-made and registers clicks accurately, and most importantly, the keyboard has excellent travel and is quite satisfying to type on.
However, similar to my MacBook Air M1, the edges of the laptop can be uncomfortable against the bottom of my wrists after using it for a full day. Softer edges at the bottom of the laptop could improve user comfort, and I would recommend that ASUS switch to curved edges in the next iteration instead of sharp ones.
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The laptop is also rather light for a 15.6-inch device, weighing 1.42kg. This means you can travel with it easily without worrying about its weight. I’ve been carrying the ASUS Vivobook S15 alongside an iPad Pro 13-inch in my shoulder bag for a while now, and I barely notice the weight. It feels similar to my personal MacBook Air M1.
As for I/O, you get a good selection of ports including 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, 2x USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C with support for display and power delivery (offering data speeds up to 40Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.1 TMDS, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, and a Micro SD card reader.
Another key aspect of the laptop’s design and aesthetics that I’d like to mention is that ASUS has opted for minimal branding on the top of the laptop. There’s just a small logo that says “ASUS Vivobook” and that’s it. In a sea of flashy laptops, this stands out. So, if you want something that looks professional with minimal branding, the ASUS Vivobook S15 is a good choice.
ASUS Vivobook S15 CoPilot+ PC Review: Performance and Battery Life
Performance and battery life are two areas where the ASUS Vivobook S15 truly excels. It provides reliable performance and outshines most x86 and even some ARM-based machines in this price range by a significant margin. Let me first talk about the performance and the use cases it supports.
The major factor behind the fluidity of this laptop is its specifications, particularly the star of the show—the Snapdragon X Plus chipset, which has 8 cores and 8 threads clocked at 3.4GHz. This model also comes with 16GB LPDDR5X RAM and is complemented by a fast 1TB M.2 NVMe drive, ensuring you won’t be left wanting more. Transfer speeds are lightning quick, app switching is almost instant, and app opening speeds are impressive as well. Thanks to the 120Hz display, animations appear smooth, and the OS just feels incredibly fluid.
Despite not having the Snapdragon X Elite (which is available in other versions of the Vivobook S15), the Snapdragon X Plus is plenty fast and delivers many of the benefits its more powerful counterpart provides. I tried editing RAW images from the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL in Adobe Lightroom, and the laptop barely skipped a beat. The export times were quicker than my RTX 2080Ti-powered PC (not an Apple’s-to-Apple’s comparasion, but still does provides context) and this encouraged me to try Adobe Premiere Pro in compatibility mode (it’s not natively supported), and I was able to edit a few layers of 4K video without any hiccups. That said, a lot of creative apps, like the Adobe Creative Suite, are still unsupported natively, but we’ve been told that native support is in the works. Once it rolls out, I’m confident this laptop will handle complex workflows with ease.
As for gaming, support is limited for ARM chipsets. Aside from some titles like Baldur’s Gate 3, there’s a limited selection of games you can play. But I don’t think this machine is intended for gaming, and you shouldn’t buy it for that purpose. So, who is this laptop for?
It’s ideal for someone like me—a consumer who wants long battery life coupled with enough performance to handle multiple browser tabs and occasional creative production. I enjoyed replacing my MacBook Air M1 with the ASUS Vivobook S15 for work. I could get through most days without plugging in the laptop, and the fluidity was an added bonus. Based on my testing, you can expect 13-15 hours with light usage and around 11-12 hours with heavy use. This is excellent battery life from the 70Wh battery cell, and it’ll motivate you to leave the charger behind and take the laptop outside the workplace.
ASUS Vivobook S15 CoPilot+ PC Review: Speakers
The ASUS Vivobook does a decent job with its speakers, though I wouldn’t call them the best in the business. They’re downward-facing and can get muffled when you place the laptop in your lap. However, on a desk, the experience isn’t affected as the laptop has sturdy, rubberised feet that provide height. The lows are lacking, but the overall balance is well-tuned, and you’re unlikely to have complaints about the speakers. They’re loud enough and don’t distort at maximum volume. Overall, you can expect decent audio, though it’s not the best in this price range. I’d still give that title to the MacBook Air 15-inch model.
Verdict: Reliable, Efficient, and Smooth (and Also Great for Media Consumption)
If you’re looking for top-end everyday performance with no hiccups the ASUS Vivobook S15 CoPilot+ PC is a great choice. That said, I believe ASUS could have priced the laptop more aggressively—perhaps ₹5,000-10,000 lower—and that would have made it an even better deal. However, it’s important to remember that this is an ARM-powered laptop, and there will be occasional compatibility issues, whether it’s with a creative app or a game. If you can live with that, there’s no better time to enter the Windows ARM/AI PC space.
When it comes to AI, the laptop features a dedicated CoPilot key and includes useful tricks like generating live captions in 44 languages, which works well in most scenarios. Additionally, the CoPilot functionality allows users to complete illustrations. However, these AI features alone aren’t enough to justify purchasing the laptop. Instead, the focus should be on the basics that this laptop excels at, and that’s why I recommend it.
