To add to the already-expansive list of improvements all the major tech brands are making at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), some are releasing interesting redesigns of older products. Take the ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED as an example – it now gets a shiny ceramic coat that should enhance the glow of its lid. Is this now one of the most attractive laptops one can buy?

Premium Vibes

This ceramic-coated finish might be similar to other aluminum-like materials to the untrained eye. That’s not a bad thing as these metallic lids emit this premium vibe that definitely makes the device feel more upscale in use. It’s also less of a fingerprint magnet which is ideal for power users who carry their devices everywhere. What’s the point of having a beautiful new gadget if you’re required to put a case on it?

Since this is brand’s first time doing this type of finish on not just the ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED but on any device, this finish is only available in one color. It’s an understated yet elegant sandstone shade that will fit into any minimalist’s color palette. For those who don’t like its hues, another non-ceramic option can be purchased in Gray.

It’s not just the outside that gets updated.

Other specifications have also been beefed up: a prime example being the 14.5-inch OLED touchscreen display on the other side of that lid with a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. It appears that high refresh rate displays are becoming the norm in this day and age. That makes sense since smartphones have already paved the way forward in making these accessible to the mainstream. It’s admittedly jarring coming from a 120Hz display to a 60Hz one when you’ve already gotten used to the former.

What’s on the Inside?

On the CPU side of things, Intel’s latest 13th generation of Core chipsets will be available for use alongside up to 32GB of DDR5 RAM for multitasking capacity. Despite being an ultraportable device, the ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED can also be specced with a discrete GPU in the form of an NVIDIA RTX 3050. Sure, it’s not a 40-series GPU like in the 16X OLED, but it’s already great for most tasks.

Other notable additions include WiFi 6E connectivity, a full HD webcam, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, dual AI noise-cancelling mics, and a sizeable 70-watt-hour battery. Combined with the latest chips’ efficiency and a chunkier battery pack, this should prolong the laptop’s single-use battery life further than ever before.

The ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED definitely delivers a lot of the specifications people are looking for – at least on paper. Whether or not all these shiny new features make sense in real life is something we’ll have to judge when we get a unit on hand.