The ASUS Vivobook Pro is a 16-inch creative laptop with a lot of design flair. ASUS seem to think that creative people want their notebooks to have hashtags etched onto them for some reason so the notebook has a very unique, yet confusing outer shell to it. Thankfully, the specs on offer here are some of the best you can get when it comes to creative work. Its 16-inch 4K OLED panel means your viewing experience is bright and vivid and the display meets all the best certifications around.
Watch our ASUS Vivobook X16 review below
The ASUS Vivobook Pro comes in a range of specs. The model in this review is the 16-inch OLED device but you can also pick up a 14-inch model and there are versions without OLED panels and instead use LED panels. The 14-inch model starts at R22,999 and the 16-inch model at R27,999. Some models in the Vivobook Pro range also include the new ASUS Dialpad but this one uses a digital version on the touchpad. There’s also AMD models and Intel models. If you’re looking for Intel, look for models that start with an “N” and AMD starts with an “M”.
I will have to say out of the gate that ASUS’ new naming conventions for this Vivobook range are hella confusing. Make sure you know what you’re getting if you are picking this notebook up.
ASUS Vivobook Tech Specs
- Display
- 16-inch 3840×2400
- OLED
- 550 Peak Brightness
- 60Hz Refresh Rate
- 16:10 aspect ratio
- CPU
- Intel Core i7-11370H
- 3.3 – 4.8 frequency
- 4 core / 8 threads
- GPU
- Discrete NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050
- 4GB GDDR 5 RAM
- Integrated Intel Iris Xe GPU
- RAM
- 16GB DDR
- 3200MHz
- Storage
- 1 x 1024 M.2 PCIe 3.0
- Ports
- 1×USB 3.2 Gen
- 1 Type-A1×USB
- 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C (Thunderbolt 4)
- 2×USB 2.0 Type-A
- 1xHDMI 1.4
- 1x.3.5mm combined audio jack
- MicroSD Port
- Other Features
- 720p Webcam
- Wifi 6
- 96Wh battery
- Dimensions
- 360 x 259 x 18.9
- 1.95KGs
ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X N7600 Design
The design and style of the ASUS Vivobook Pro is pretty plain and simple but it works. There isn’t anything over the top about it and instead, the notebook boasts a clean shell with a strip on the lid that includes some branding and hashtags. I personally don’t get the point o the hashtags because if you’re buying a product, why should you advertise a brand’s campaign hashtags for them.
Apart from that, the ASUS Vivobook Pro packs some interesting and subtle design features here and there. The more I used the device, the more I noticed them. For example, the keyboard is unique. The escape key is bright orange and sticks out quite a bit compared to the rest of the keys. Some of the keys also have some cool symbols and icons above them. Some keys like the enter and Windows key are also translucent and you can see the LED lights through the clear plastic.
These design choices are somewhat unusual but it also gives the notebook some sort of personality. The keys and differences all depend on the colour you decide to go with too. As for the rest of the notebook, the shell is aluminium and quite sturdy. Except for the display area, these are plastic. Speaking of the display, the bezels aren’t exactly the thinnest I have seen but it’s not a huge issue. The top bezel houses the microphone and webcam.
When it comes to ports, the ASUS Vivobook Pro comes packed with most of the ports you’ll need for design and other use. On the right side, there’s the 3.5mm combo jack, MicroSD card reader, USB ports, HDMI 1.4 and the power connector. On the left side, you’ll only find two USB ports and LED lights. ASUS put no ports on the back of the Vivobook Pro. Here, you’ll only find ventilation.
ASUS Vivobook Pro Performance
Let’s talk about the display first. The ASUS Vivobook Pro packs a 16-inch OLED panel and it is awesome. The 3840×2400 pixels and 16:10 aspect ratio make this panel glow from corner to corner. It also packs a peak brightness of 550 nits and a contrast ratio of a million to 1. As for its colour coverage, it supports 100% DCI-P3 and 133% sRGB. The refresh rate is 60Hz which is expected on a notebook like this. The display is a bit glossy but also expected with OLED panels. A pity though because it does cause a bit of reflection. The display does not support a touch screen.
The display on the ASUS Vivobook Pro is one of the best you can get on the market. Well, for work and design. If you’re a gamer. you’ll definitely want to look at a higher refresh rate and lower resolution. However, designers will love this panel. It comes out of the box perfectly calibrated, has great viewing angles and even in lower brightness, colours pop and the image is clear.
ASUS also added some great eye protection features on the Vivobook Pro. These are all customizable and optional settings that users can use to enhance the image quality. These even go as far as to increase eye care by reducing the blue light. You can also adjust the colour temperature and use this “Tru2Life” setting that automatically optimizes sharpness and image quality across the board.
ASUS has also added a feature called OLED Care that aims to reduce the risk of burn-in while using the notebook. It includes pixel shift to avoid static images burning onto the panel as well as automatically hiding the taskbar and enabling a clear mode for windows. These settings will definitely help reduce the risk of burn-in on the OLED while also saving you some battery power at the same time.
The ASUS Vivobook Pro packs a full-sized keyboard that is slightly recessed into the notebook body. The number pad includes smaller keys than your typical full-sized keyboard so you will have to get used to these smaller keys. All the keys have a travel distance of 1.35mm which is the common practice on these sorts of notebooks. The keys also have three brightness levels that you can increase. Some parts of the keyboard were brighter than others but it’s not the end of the world.
As for the touchpad, it is quite large at 130 x 85mm. It is smooth and decent. A big feature of the ASUS Vivobook Pro is the DialPad that pops up on the touchpad. Think of the DialPad as a touch analogue to all sorts of tools. By touching on the DialPad, a radial menu appears on the notebook screen and you can activate the tool or shortcut by moving the dial to the corresponding area on the circle. There’s a lot to do with this DialPad from adjusting the brightness of the display to the sound to colour picking a colour in Photoshop.
Depending on your programs will depend on how much use you get out of this DialPad. The whole thing is mainly there for creators. Hence why ASUS offers a trial of Adobe Creative Cloud with the notebook. These programs have been updated with specific DialPad features but you can also create useful shortcuts for other stuff if you don’t use these apps.
ASUS Vivobook Pro Benchmarks
The ASUS Vivobook Pro packs an NVIDIA RTX 3050 GPU and Intel Core i7-11370H CPU. The combination means you can get away with most tasks including photo editing, video exports and even some gaming. Keep in mind that the RTX 3050 is a decreet GPU with a power consumption of 35W or 50W when boosted. You can pump 1700MHz of clock frequency out of the GPU.
Here are some gaming and productivity benchmarks scores
Benchmarks
- 3DMark Time Spy Extreme
- Graphics 1999
- CPU – 2176
- Overall – 2010
- 3DMark Time Spy
- Graphics – 4189
- CPU – 3781
- Overall – 4116
- 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra
- Graphics – 2551
- Physics – 11970
- Combined 1342
- Overall 2641
- PCMark 10
- Overall – 5181
- Productivity – 7992
- Essentials – 8231
- Digital Content Creation – 5751
Gaming Benchmarks
- Far Cry 6 – 28FPS (4K Ultra)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 – 26FPS (4K Ultra)
- Red Dead Redemption 2 – 37FPS (FHD Ultra)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider – 20FPS (FHD Ultra)
- Forza Horizon 5 – 27FPS (FHD Ultra)
- Guardians of the Galaxy 30FPS (FHD Ultra)
You can clearly see that this is not a gaming notebook. While you could probably get away with some HD gaming, most games won’t go above the 30FPS mark on the highest settings. You can obviously tweak some settings to boost the frames while lowering the visual fidelity across games.
Performance-wise, the notebook helo up pretty well when it came to the heat and frequency. On battery, the notebook heated up to a max of 79-degrees during heavy use and the CPU clocked at 1.5GHz. On power, it clocked at around 2.0GHz and never peaked over 74 degrees celsius. You can then boost this all by using the performance mode. This clocked the CPU at 3.0GHz and maxed the temperature to 91-degrees on battery power.
The most juice you’ll squeeze out of this is by making use of the performance mode while plugged in. The CPU averaged at 3.6Hz and maxed the temperature at 94-degrees. This is the highest that this notebook will run on its spec. During this test, the fans maxed out at 50 dB which is pretty loud. Outside of heavy use, they idled between 37 and 29 dB. Unless you’re doing something intense, stick to the normal spec mode to keep these fans from making a noise.
Lastly, we have the battery power and sound. The ASUS Vivobook Pro packs a Harmon Kardon sound system and they are okay. You’re not getting much bass here and the overall levels are quite flat. I suggest you make use of the DTS profiles here to enhance this speaker system bit more.
As for the battery, this 6-cell, 96 watt per hour battery is quite impressive. It also helps that the hardware on this Vivobook is very energy efficient. You can get a max of 7 hours of average use out of the notebook with web browsing and video streaming. Anything more intense will drop this below 5 hours and less. The results are okay for a 16-inch notebook. Then again, coming from someone who uses a 16-inch M1 Pro MacBook that lasts over 14 hours, this battery life is pretty sad.
In the end, the ASUS Vivobook Pro is a decent notebook with a stunning display. Its gaming performance isn’t up to scratch but that is okay. You’re getting a fairly decent creative notebook here that will get the job done.
ASUS Vivobook Pro 16X Review
-
Cooling - 9/10
9/10
-
Performance - 7/10
7/10
-
Design - 8/10
8/10
-
Value - 8/10
8/10
Summary
The ASUS Vivobook Pro is a decent notebook with a stunning display. Its gaming performance isn’t up to scratch but that is okay. You’re getting a fairly decent creative notebook here that will get the job done.
Overall
8/10Pros
Brilliant display
Great build
General performance
Cons
Not for gaming
Quite pricey