Review Verdict: as long as you are fine with some of its compromises, the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED is one of the most powerful laptops in the Philippines to have an RTX GPU and an OLED panel for under Php 80k.
Pros
Powerful and efficient Ryzen 9 Processor
Top-notch OLED display
Cons
Subpar speakers
No USB-PD charging
ASUS expands its line of RTX-equipped notebooks to the VivoBook series with the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED. Armed with an RTX 3050 and a Ryzen 9 processor, this is one of the most powerful VivoBook models in the Philippines right now. Can it serve as a suitable option for creatives who are looking for a powerful laptop without resorting to gaming notebooks?
Design
As the top-end model of the VivoBook series (which are at par with ZenBooks save for being thicker than their more premium siblings), the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED comes with an aluminum top cover with an updated VivoBook branding, where the lid has a raised portion for the VivoBook branding and the stripes logo (which you’ll also find on the Enter key). The body is made from polycarbonate; however, the material used on the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED feels more rigid and premium than the one used on the VivoBook 15 OLED.
Like its non-Pro sibling, you get the same port selection on the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED: two USB-A 2.0 ports on the left side and a barrel plug port, USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, HDMI port, headphone jack, and a MicroSD card reader. While the broad port selection is much-needed for creatives, I find it strange that ASUS still did not add USB-PD support for the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED’s USB-C port. It seems that USB-PD support is omitted on the Ryzen version, as Intel versions of the VivoBook Pro do have USB-PD and Thunderbolt 4 support.
Display and Speakers
The VivoBook series has shifted to OLED displays, and the one used on the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED is a high-end panel that has a 90hz refresh rate and a 2.8k (2880 x 1800) resolution. The panel is brighter than the one used on the vanilla VivoBook, and is just as vibrant. The higher resolution makes the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED a great option for creatives, especially since it covers 100% of the DCI-P3 gamut and is Pantone Validated for color accuracy.
As much as we love the display on the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED, the same can’t be said for the bottom-firing speakers. Despite its Harman Kardon branding, the speakers on the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED are subpar at best. Pushing the volume beyond 50% resulted in the overall audio sounding very tinny with practically no bass present.
Keyboard and trackpad
The VivoBook Pro 14 OLED’s keyboard has the same key travel and design as the one used on the non-Pro model. Key travel is decent, it’s not as tactile as the keyboard used in ZenBooks. You also miss out on the ZenBook’s ErgoLift hinge, though not all users will really look for that feature. I’ve used the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED for typing this review, and its keyboard is good enough for most day-to-day tasks especially when you are on the field.
The 14-inch variant has a more compact frame than the 15-inch variant, which is why the trackpad has a Numpad that you activate with a capacitive button on the top right corner. The trackpad is bigger than the one used on the non-Pro models and is more responsive too.
Internals and Battery Life
Our review unit is the top-end variant that comes with a Ryzen 9 5900HX processor, 16GB RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD, and an RTX 3050 Max-Q GPU. With its under Php 75k price tag, this variant of the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED offers an excellent price-to-performance ratio, with the MSI Katana GF66 being one of its closest rivals.
The Ryzen 9 5900HX is one of AMD’s most powerful laptop processors, and it goes head-to-head with Intel’s Core i7-11800H. On synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 5900HX leads over the Core i7-11800H in multi-core tests, while Intel’s offering takes a lead in productivity and graphics-heavy benchmarks like 3DMark and PCMark.
While benchmark scores reveal a tight competition between the Ryzen 9 5900HX and Core i7-11800H, AMD’s offering excels with battery life. Despite having an RTX 3050 GPU, the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED managed to do over 6 hours in our battery benchmark test, and we confirmed the same results with real-life use. Using apps like Lightroom Classic and DaVinci Resolve brings down battery life to around 5 hours, and that’s fairly impressive for a notebook with an RTX GPU and a powerful processor.
Unlike the vanilla VivoBook, the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED uses a large 120w charger to top up its 63wHr battery. It takes around 2 hours to fully top up the battery, and you will need to haul the charging brick with you if you are on the go since the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED does not support USB-PD (at least for the Ryzen version).
Wrap up and Conclusions
Our review of the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED in the Philippines shows that the top-end variant of the VivoBook series makes for a great laptop for creatives, especially with features like an RTX 3050 GPU and a Ryzen 9 processor. While the VivoBook Pro 14 OLED does have its fair share of compromises, there’s no questioning the fact that it has one of the best OLED displays for its price.
ASUS VivoBook Pro 14 OLED Review Philippines Price
The VivoBook Pro 14 OLED we reviewed is priced at Php 74,995. If you need the RTX 3050 GPU but have a stricter budget, there’s a variant with a Ryzen 5 5600H processor and 8GB RAM that retails for Php 59,995.
