ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (N7601 Intel 12th Gen) Review

The Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED isn’t anything new for me. Earlier this year I reviewed the 11th-gen Intel model and this one is sort of the same except for its added 12th-gen Intel CPU. It also comes with an RTX 3060 instead of the other model’s RTX 3050. So overall, there are some nice internal improvements on this newer model but generally speaking, much of the experience remains the same. That isn’t actually a bad thing because the original Vivobook 16X I reviewed was already such a great notebook so why change things that don’t need to be changed?

Watch the ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X OLED Review below

You can also get this notebook in a Ryzen variation but this exact model is the N7601Z which comes with an Intel CPU and the NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti. This notebook is aimed at creators who want a colour-accurate display, great performance for design and video work and a lightweight device that you can take around with you. The ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED checks all those boxes and will cost you R34,999 in SA.

This notebook, in essence, does a lot more than just show pretty things on a pretty OLED display. You could also get away with some impressive gaming benchmarks while you’re at it too making this piece of tech incredibly versatile at the same time. The full specs of this notebook include the following:

Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED Unboxing

In the box, you’ll get the notebook itself, some instructions and some cool stickers. You can stick these onto the notebook if you’re crazy enough to ruin the shell. It is your device so do with it what you wish. The box itself is also environmentally friendly and made with recycled paper and printed with eco-friendly ink. You’ll also get a hefty 240W power adapter in the box alongside the power cord.

Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED Design

Of course, as its name suggests, this is a 16-inch OLED notebook and it packs a lightweight and sleek design. It is only 2.3 kg. This is likely the closest a Windows user will get when it comes to the simplistic sophistication Mac users enjoy from the MacBook Pro range. It is fully coated in a Magnesium Alloy, has no outer lights, and nicely-placed ports and the screen here is the main business.

The display is 2300 x 2000 and 120Hz. This means it is a 3.2K OLED and thanks to the panel, it checks all the colour accuracy certifications too. It has a DCI-P3 colour gamut, is VESA certified and is Pantone validated. If you know what all that means, you’ll likely be grinning right now. If you don’t, just know this panel is extremely accurate and amazing for design work. It also hits 550 nits of peak brightness which is great for an OLED panel.

There’s nothing really wow about the design of this Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED. The bottom features some nice vents for cooling and there are some bright orange finishes across the notebook that stick out. There’s a strip underneath and the escape button packs the same feature. You’ll also notice that the Enter key features a ribbed design where the white parts are slightly raised.

Speaking of the keyboard, it is a full-sized chiclet keyboard that packs a 1.35mm travel time. The keyboard includes three brightness levels. My only gripe was how tiny the arrow keys were. There’s space around them so just make them bigger.

As for the ports, on the left-hand side, you’ll find the Gigabit Ethernet port, DC in, Micro SD Card Express 2.1 slot and 1 USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port. Then on the right, you’ll find the 3.5mm audio jack combo port, HDMI 2.1 port, one Thunderbolt 4 port and one USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port. Both of these ports support power delivery and display out.

The notebook also includes the ASUS Dial on the giant touchpad. It is triggered on and off by simply swiping down from the top right-hand corner. I have covered the ASUS Dial in countless videos in the past. It is a nifty piece of tech that allows users to assign various shortcuts to the ring from across various apps and settings. You can easily turn up and down the volume, increase the brightness of the display or dive deeper into Photoshop and other design shortcuts. For example, it can be used to increase a brush size, hide layers, paste stuff, select different tools and more. There’s honestly no limit to what you can do with this Dial.

Overall, the design of the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED is effective. The orange finishes were likely the only thing I scratched my head over because they really stick out a lot on this notebook. I also need to mention that, unlike most ASUS design notebooks, this one doesn’t feature ergo lift so the screen doesn’t lift the back of the notebook up when you open it up.

I also liked the webcam shutter that let me slide it open and closed when I wasn’t using it. This sort of feature is great for those paranoid about their security and also just nice to have in case you turn on your camera by accident.

Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED Performance

When it comes to the performance of the Asus Vivobook Pro 16X OLED, this notebook doesn’t disappoint. The includes 12th-gen 12650H CPU and RTX 3060 are a great combination. There are also some incredibly fast transfer speeds on the slots of this device too. The Micro SD slot is the latest meaning it is ten times faster than original SD readers at up to 985MB/s. The Thunderbolt 4 port and Ethernet port are also the latest meaning everything you do here is faster than ever.

I ran some benchmarks to put all of this to the test and got the following scores. I did both performance benchmarks and some gaming ones so you can see what is possible on the notebook.

Performance

• Geekbench
  • Single-Core – 1721
  • Multi-Core – 11271
• Cinebench
  • Single-Core – 1795
  • Multi-Core – 14280

Gaming

• 3DMark Fire Strike 4K – 28091
• Cyberpunk 2077
  • Ultra HD – 76fps
  • Ultra 4K – 22fps
• Dying Light 2
  • High HD – 70fps
  • High 4K 26fps
• God of War
  • High HD – 85fps
  • High 4K – 30fps
• Back 4 Blood
  • Ultra HD – 160fps
  • Ultra 4K – 61fps
• Far Cry 6 
  • High HD – 92fps
  • High 4K – 35fps

You can see from the tests that this notebook packs some impressive power. Not only will it get your performance-heavy tasks done but you’ll also be able to play games on it at the same time. During tests, the device also managed to keep its cool and most of the notebook remained around the 40C mark. This increased slightly to the mid-40s when I played more heavy graphical games.

The fans were also okay and peaked at 48dB during gaming. Average use had them spinning at around 30dB which is decently soft for your general use. As for the speaker, they are okay. They have some power to it and provide a decent listening experience but don’t expect anything wonderful from this notebook speaker set at all. The sound was loud, rich and clear but nothing magical.

Lastly, the battery. This notebook packs a 90Wh cell and you’ll likely get around 8 hours of general use out of it if you aren’t gaming, watching content and have the screen brightness on around 60%. Anything more, and it will die faster. However, I did see the notebook last into the 10-hour mark at times when I was just on YouTube using the Edge browser. In short, this is a good battery.

Overall, the ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED is a great machine. It stands out thanks to its fantastic OLED display and decent internals. R35,000 is a lot to ask but the performance here isn’t bad for the asking price. It makes for a decent notebook for designers, business people and is even better for those who love to jump into a game every now and then.

This ASUS Vivobook review was based on a unit sent to us by ASUS. Find out more about it and pick it up here.