Asus Vivobook 17X review: a big display for reasonable

Asus Vivobook 17X

MSRP $1,000.00

“The Asus Vivobook 17X’s poor show spoils what can be a stable finances 17-inch laptop.”

Professionals

• Strong productiveness efficiency
• Good keyboard
• Engaging worth
• Affordable weight

Cons

• Poor show
• Flimsy construct high quality
• The touchpad may very well be greater

The biggest mainstream machines out there right now, 17-inch laptops, supply essentially the most display actual property for multitasking and artistic work. Additionally they include bigger chassis. However they’re not all constructed the identical, with some aiming at finances costs and productiveness efficiency and others packing within the quickest parts and greatest shows aimed toward creators.

The Asus Vivobook 17X belongs within the former group. It presents a low worth beginning at $630 whereas maxing out at $1,000, with quick 45-watt Intel Twelfth-gen CPUs out there. But it surely’s restricted to built-in Intel graphics, which means it gained’t churn via GPU-dependent inventive apps or hit excessive body charges whereas gaming. The Vivobook 17X is an intriguing possibility when configured for round $700, however the construct high quality, show, and battery life make it arduous to advocate at the next worth.

Asus Vivobook 17X specs

The Vivobook 17X begins at $630 for a Core i3-1220P CPU, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. On the excessive finish is my $999 review unit, outfitted with a Core i7-12700H CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. All fashions include a 17.3-inc,h 16:9 Full HD (1920 x 1200) IPS show.

Essentially the most enticing configuration, although, is the $730 model with a Core i5-12500H, 12GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. I didn’t take a look at this configuration, nevertheless it’s an honest worth on paper.

The muted show

While you’re shopping for a 17-inch laptop, the standout characteristic is the show. It’s the entire level of shopping for such a big machine, and its high quality has an outsized influence on the computing expertise. Sadly, the Vivobook 17X show is properly under common, actually in comparison with midrange and premium laptops and even in accordance with many finances machines we’ve reviewed within the final 12 months or so.

The Asus is the least costly 17-inch laptop we’ve examined in a while, however even with out direct comparisons, I’m snug saying that is fairly a poor show for this worth.

This was apparent after I turned it on. It wasn’t very brilliant, and its colours have been muted. The distinction additionally appeared low. Even judging it from the attitude of productiveness work, I wasn’t impressed. It’s additionally an old-school 16:9 IPS show working at a mere Full HD (1920 x 1080) decision. That’s not very sharp, with noticeable pixelation in textual content that’s made even much less enticing because of the low distinction. And this show gained’t even come near assembly the wants of even entry-level creators.

As I famous, we haven’t reviewed some other 17-inch finances laptops lately, however we will examine the show to these on another moderately priced laptops. Merely put, the Vivobook 17X show is the worst show we’ve seen shortly. It doesn’t hit our 300-nit brightness threshold, its 660:1 distinction ratio leads to greys somewhat than blacks, and its colours are slender and inaccurate.

The HP Envy 16 with the identical CPU, RAM, and storage however with a a lot sooner Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU and a spectacular higher-resolution OLED show is simply $1,400 proper now. Sure, that’s extra money than my review unit, nevertheless it’s additionally a a lot sooner machine with a show that’s in one other league totally.

The audio high quality matched the show. Sure, the twin audio system have been loads loud, however the highs have been grating and overpowered the mids and lows. There was additionally appreciable distortion at full quantity. You’ll need headphones or Bluetooth audio system for something apart from system sounds.

Look elsewhere for discrete graphics

A number of producers have been putting in 45-watt Intel Twelfth-gen CPUs together with built-in Intel Iris Xe graphics, particularly in 14-inch laptops. That’s a swap from the previous the place sooner, extra power-hungry CPUs have been extra sometimes put in with discrete GPUs for optimum efficiency. In a 17-inch machine just like the Vivobook 17X, it’s an odd mixture however nonetheless guarantees superior efficiency.

Because it seems, the Vivobook 17X did certainly present wonderful efficiency, particularly for productiveness workflows and fewer demanding inventive duties. It did properly in CPU-intensive processes like our Handbrake take a look at that encodes a 420MB video as H.265 and in Cinebench R23. In case your inventive work doesn’t contain purposes that make the most of the GPU to hurry issues up, then you definitely’ll be pleased with the laptop’s efficiency.

After all, the Vivobook 17X show isn’t well-suited for inventive purposes.

In the event you use purposes that may use the GPU, although, like Adobe’s Inventive Suite, then you definitely’ll need to spend extra money to match efficiency with show dimension. I present each balanced and efficiency outcomes utilizing the Asus thermal administration utility within the desk under, however the settings made little distinction.

After all, the Vivobook 17X show isn’t well-suited for inventive duties, in any occasion, so trying on the laptop as a multitasking productiveness workstation is the very best wager. In the event you’re on the strictest finances, then the laptop may deal with some much less demanding inventive workflows. Given the built-in graphics, gaming can be restricted to older video games and esports titles and low resolutions with lowered graphical element.

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

The Vivobook 17X was outfitted with a 50-watt-hour battery, which is small for a quick CPU and 17-inch show, even in Full HD. As such, its battery life was under common throughout the board, hitting simply 5 hours in our net looking take a look at, 10 hours in our video take a look at (which isn’t horrible), and fewer than seven hours within the PCMark 10 Purposes battery take a look at.

Total, the outcomes don’t bode properly for all-day battery life. The ability brick isn’t big, although, so carrying it round shouldn’t be an enormous burden.

What a finances machine buys you

While you’re spending about $700 for a 17-inch laptop, you’ll be able to’t count on an all-metal construct with unbelievable rigidity. And that’s not what you get from the Vivobook 17X with its aluminum lid and plastic chassis.

As a substitute, you get some bending within the lid and flexing within the keyboard deck. It’s not an affordable construct by any means, however as I’ve careworn all through this review, it’s extra appropriate at its decrease costs.

The hinge may be very tight, requiring two fingers to pry open.

In the event you’re going to spend $1,000 for a laptop, you’re creeping up into the territory of laptops just like the HP Envy 16 that aren’t fairly as giant however are a lot better constructed. And the hinge may be very tight, requiring two fingers to pry open, however the lid nonetheless manages to be a bit wobbly.

The Vivobook 17X is a fairly sized laptop, with thicker plastic show bezels that drive a bigger chassis than a tiny-bezel laptop just like the (far more costly) Dell XPS 17. The plastic development has one important profit, and that’s a comparatively low weight of 4.63 kilos.

The aluminum and carbon fiber XPS 17 weighs 5.34 kilos, and an all-aluminum 17-inch laptop just like the (additionally far more costly) MSI Creator Z17 is a hefty 6.79 kilos. The Vivobook 17X can be skinny for a big cheap laptop at 0.78 inches in comparison with the XPS 17 at 0.77 inches.

Mark Coppock/Digital Traits

One fascinating design aspect is the inclusion of Asus’s Antibacterial Guard remedy. The coating is utilized to the whole laptop and makes use of silver ions to limit bacterial development by 99%. It doesn’t work in opposition to viruses like those that trigger COVID-19, nevertheless it’s efficient in holding the laptop free of doubtless disease-causing micro organism.

Aesthetically, the Vivobook 17X is somewhat plain. Its darkish blue shade is maintained all through, apart from the black keyboard, and there’s little bling. Even the chrome Vivobook emblem isn’t the identical refined model you’ll discover on different contemporaries. As with another Vivobooks, Asus integrated its odd black and white stripe alongside the underside of the Enter key, which doesn’t add a lot to the look however somewhat simply distracts.

Asus included a really good keyboard, with tons of key spacing even with the numeric keypad and sculpted keycaps. The switches are mild and snappy with a snug bottoming motion, and whereas they’re inferior to these on Dell’s XPS laptops, they’re wonderful for an inexpensive machine. The touchpad is smaller than it may very well be, with loads of out there area on the palm relaxation.

Even so, it has a clean, responsive floor with dependable Home windows 11 multitouch gesture help and stable, quiet buttons. There’s no contact show possibility, which isn’t stunning.

There are many ports out there. The issue is that a few of them are behind the curve. For instance, the USB-C ports don’t help Thunderbolt 4 whereas the HDMI port is caught at HDMI 1.4. You will get each Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI 2.0 or later in machines underneath $1,000, so the value just isn’t an excuse right here. Wi-fi connectivity can be behind, with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 somewhat than the newer and sooner Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.

Lastly, Home windows 11 Whats up passwordless help is supplied by a fingerprint reader embedded within the touchpad. That’s my least favourite location, because it takes away from out there scrolling area. But it surely labored simply advantageous.

Obvious weaknesses, however the worth issues

The Vivobook 17X is lots just like the Asus Vivobook S 14 Flip: it’s much more enticing at its cheaper price factors than on the $1,000 configuration that I reviewed. In the event you’re on a good finances however want a big show, then the Vivobook 17X is an honest providing.

Its show isn’t almost ok neither is its construct stable sufficient at its larger worth. I don’t advocate the review unit, however the Vivobook 17X is price a have a look at $730. Take into accout — you actually must worth that enormous display, as a result of in any other case, you’ll discover loads of higher choices for smaller laptops, even at that worth.

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