Intel Lunar Lake vs. AMD Ryzen: ASUS Zenbook S14 Review

ASUS Zenbook S14: Design and Display

• 💻 The ASUS Zenbook S14 features a slim and light Sarah aluminum chassis in Zumaya gray, weighing 2.65 lb and under half an inch thick.
• 🔋 It impressively packs a 72-wh battery despite its compact size.
• 🔌 External IO includes one USB Type-A, HDMI 2.1, two Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports, and an audio combo jack, along with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4.
• ✨ The 14-inch OLED touchscreen boasts a 2880x1800 resolution, 16:10 aspect ratio, 120 Hz refresh rate with VRR, stylus support, 500 nits peak brightness, 100% DCI-P3 coverage, and a 0.2ms response time.
• ⚠️ A notable quirk is an occasional, unexplained screen dimming that couldn't be resolved through settings.

Performance: Intel Lunar Lake vs. AMD Ryzen

• 🚀 Intel claims a 16% gaming performance advantage for Lunar Lake over AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX370, though real-world testing suggests otherwise.
• 📊 Benchmarks in Cinebench 2024 show AMD leading in both single and multi-core scores.
• 🎮 Gaming performance, while improving, still sees AMD's Radeon holding the lead.
• ⚡ The Core Ultra 7 256V in the Zenbook S14 trails the Ryzen AI 9 365 found in the Zenbook S16 in most aspects.

Thermal and Battery Performance

• 🌡️ Under a CPU stress test at 28W, the CPU package temperature settled around 82°C.
• 🎮 Playing Cyberpunk 2077 at 28W resulted in a CPU temperature of 79°C, dropping to 65°C at 17W.
• 🔋 Battery life estimates suggest around 5 hours of mixed usage (web browsing with video) and closer to 7 hours for web browsing alone.
• 🎮 Gaming on battery at 17W shows the Intel chip's TDP swinging, affecting frame rate consistency, while the AMD chip has a more stable power draw.
• ⚖️ Performance per watt in gaming shows the Intel chip slightly ahead, but overall system power draw from the battery is similar between the two models.

Conclusion: Who is the Zenbook S14 For?

• 🏆 The Zenbook S14 offers excellent build quality, a stunning display, and good features for an ultra-thin laptop.
• 📉 However, it is outperformed by ASUS's own Zenbook S16 for the same price, especially considering the S16's larger screen, more memory, and better battery.
• 💡 For everyday tasks like web browsing and media consumption, the difference is negligible.
• 💻 Users focused on software development, video editing, or light gaming might benefit more from the AMD-based Zenbook S16.