We recently reviewed the ASUS Vivobook S 15 S5507, ASUS’ first Snapdragon-based and CoPilot+ certified device. Every aspect of the Vivobook S 15 deserved praise but the brain powering it all, the Snapdragon X Elite X1E78100, isn’t worth the price premium for its performance and non-exclusive AI features. So, what happens when you change the CPU, say an x86 one? That’s the ASUS Vivobook S 16 M5606 powered by the latest AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX370 CPU. Let’s see how the same chassis but a different CPU performs in this review.
ASUS TUF 14 – A Closer Look
You have the exact same eco-friendly brown packaging found on its previous Vivobooks. There’s no way to tell the SKUs apart except for the small black strip at the back.
You have an included 90w Type-C adapter for the Vivobook S 16 – an overkill charger for the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370’s TDP range of 15-54W.
The Vivobook S 16 M5606 has the exact same chassis design as the Snapdragon Vivobook S15 S5507. Surprisingly, the S 16 is heavier at 1.5kg compared to the Snapdragon S 15 at 1.42kg.
Like the S 15, the Vivobook S 16 has a full standard keyboard layout with very small arrow keys and 3/4th-sized number keys to fit on a whole keyboard. Despite the lack of a Copilot+ branding, the Vivobook S 16 has a dedicated Copilot button that replaces the supposed right control key.
You also have the exact same trackpad, a decent one relative to its size but it’s slightly short on the tactility of the left and right clicks.
While you do have the exact same port configuration as the Snapdragon model, the Vivobook S16 edges out in terms of bandwidth thanks to one of the Type-C ports being a USB 4.0 port with support for display and power delivery.
On the right side, you have the same two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports rated at 5Gbps data speed.
ASUS Vivobook S 16 M5606 Lumina OLED Display
The Vivobook S 16 M5606 sports a 16-inch 3.2k 16:10 aspect ratio OLED display, a larger and higher resolution display compared to the S 15’s 15.6″ 16:9 3k display. Both are rated at 0.2 response time, 400 nits brightness with 600 nits HDR peak.
Upon checking with our SpyderXPro Display Analysis Tool, the Vivobook S 16 is rated at 100% sRGB, 96% AdobeRGB, and 100% DCI-P3. Its AdobeRGB rating is better than the S 15 by 1% making a better professional photo and video editing laptop, especially paired with the larger 16:10 display.
MyASUS App
MyASUS app lets you customize the Vivobook S 16’s settings from different power profiles, display color profiles, sound profiles, and many more. The app also serves as your update hub for the device’s driver updates though you may also receive crucial updates via Windows Update.
Benchmark Setup and Test Methodology
Gadget Pilipinas’ testing philosophy is to provide detail-oriented results as accurately as possible so that our readers can replicate our tests given that these conditions are met. Different benchmarking apps and sequences are used depending on the tested component or device.
We use CapFrameX 1.7.2 Beta as our primary FPS capture and analysis tool for all our gaming benchmarks. The latest build version of Windows 11 Pro and WHQL-certified drivers are used for our benchmarks. Readings such as temperatures and power draws are recorded using HWINFO64, and OCCT Enterprise.
We benchmarked the ASUS Vivobook S 16 M5606 together with its different power profile settings found in the MyASUS App – Whisper, Standard, Performance, and Full Speed. The main purpose of benchmarking power profiles is to show how aggressive or conservative the manufacturer is in terms of thermal management. These profiles will affect the CPU and GPUs’ boosting behavior in terms of duration and max clock speed, translating to higher scores and stable framerates.
As part of our 2024 laptop benchmark methodology revamp, we’ve changed how these profiles are tested. Synthetic and Productivity benchmarks include all of the power profiles. We decided to drop the silent or power-saving profile for gaming benchmarks as these lowest profiles generally produce unplayable framerates, especially at 1440p and above resolutions. Moreover, games are tested at the laptop’s native resolution as we expect most, if not, all gamers to game on the laptop’s native resolution.
For more information read our Benchmark Methodology article.
ASUS Vivobook S 16 M5606 Synthetic and Productivity Benchmarks
OCCT Benchmark
OCCT is a popular benchmark and stability testing tool among overclockers, enthusiasts and system integrators
CINEBENCH 2024
Maxon’s Cinebench benchmark is one of the most iconic benchmark applications used by reviewers and enthusiasts. The latest Cinebench 2024 uses the latest rendering architectures, including Intel’s Embree ray tracing technology and other advanced features from AMD and Intel that allow users to render the same scene on the same hard.
PROCYON – ADOBE PREMIERE PRO VIDEO EDITING BENCHMARK
Procyon benchmark suite is developed by the UL, the same team behind 3DMark and PCMark benchmarks. The UL Procycon video editing benchmark uses Adobe Premiere in a typical video editing workflow. The benchmark starts by importing two video project files with various edits, adjustments, and effects – the second project uses several GPU-accelerated effects. Each project is exported in 1080p with H.264 encoding and again in 4K with HEVC H.265. The reported score is based on the time taken to export all four videos.
PCMark10
From the same developers of the popular game benchmarking tool 3DMark, PCMark 10 is a benchmarking app for measuring a whole PC’s performance. It covers a wide variety of tests to reflect common tasks performed in a modern workplace. We selected PCMark 10’s extended benchmark and reported both the overall score and Digital Content Creation Score.
V-RAY 5
V-Ray Benchmark is a stand-alone version of V-Ray developed by Chaos Group. It is designed to test the CPU and GPU by rendering sample scenes at a fixed amount of time. V-Ray is a plug-in mostly utilized by 3D computer graphics software applications mainly for industrial design, product design, architecture, film, and video game production. V-Ray is not limited to 64-threads as it supports multi and mega-threading.
SuperPI 32M
SuperPI is a single-threaded benchmark application that lets the CPU calculate Pi(π) to the nth digit. In this benchmark, we selected the Pi calculation to 32M, the highest available for the app.
wPrime 1024M
wPrime is a benchmark tool similar to SuperPI, but the former takes on finding prime numbers using Newton’s Method. The benchmark is set to calculate 1024 million prime numbers, and the performance is measured according to calculation time.
GeekBench 6.3
Geekbench is a multi-platform benchmark used to gauge CPU performance and compare them across Windows, Mac, and Mobile. Geekbench 6 is the latest version and doesn’t rely on memory more than the previous Geekbench 4, making it a great tool to measure both single-core and multi-core CPU performance.
CORONA RENDERER
Corona Renderer is an unbiased photorealistic render available for Autodesk 3Ds Max, Maxon Cinema 4D, and as a stand-alone application. Its popularity, similar to Blender, led Chaos Group to develop a benchmark version of the app which runs using Corona Renderer 1.3. Workstation systems, especially CPUs, can utilize Corona Benchmark as up to 72 threads can be used in the benchmark, making it very suitable for CPUs with various price segments.
BapCo CROSSMARK
Crossmark is one of the few native cross-platform benchmark tools available for Windows, Android, Linux ChromeOS, iOS, and macOS. It measures overall system performance and system responsiveness using models of real-world applications making it a great comparison point across multiple platforms.
ASUS Vivobook S 16 M5606 SSD Benchmark
The Vivobook S 16 has the same SSD found on the S 15- a Micron 2400 MTFDKBA1T0QFM QLC SSD rated at 4,500MB/s read and 3,600 MB/s write. Having the same SSD, I also have the same complaints about ASUS using a QLC SSD instead of the common WD S560 or Blue SSDs found om the laptops in its price range.
ASUS Vivobook S 16 M5606 Battery Life
Team AMD gets another win in terms of paper specs as the S 16 has a larger 75wHr battery compared to the S 15’s 70whr. That said the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX370 consumes way more power at a peak of 64.804W compared to the 35W(or 50W peak PL2) of the Snapdragon X Elite X1E78100. The architectural and TDP differences between the CPU and larger resolution display contribute to the shorter battery life of the Vivobook S 16 despite having a larger battery capacity.
That said 11 hours is still in the realm of very impressive, and renders the Snapdragon X Elite’s efficiency key feature moot especially when you take into account the difference in performance.
ASUS Vivobook S 16 M5606 Temperatures
ASUS’ IceCool thermal cooling system is able to handle the higher wattage Ryzen AI 9 HX370 with a peak temp of 99°C under the full speed profile. It’s nothing new especially for the x86 platform.
Conclusion – The Better Vivobook Variant
To simplify it in one sentence: The ASUS VivoBook S 16 M5606 addresses the S 15 Snapdragon VivoBook’s shortcomings and still manages to be better in some key aspects such as the display and connectivity. That said, there’s a cost for this performance improvement namely the added weight and slightly shorter battery life. Upon seeing our benchmarks, the 1-hour~ battery life difference is a no-brainer trade-off as you’re getting faster performance, native app compatibility, and better stability thanks to the x86 CPU architecture.
Both the Vivobook S 15 S5507 and Vivobook S 16 M5606 are priced at Php 84,995 and it’s clear that the S 16 is the laptop to get. The S 15 still has the edge in battery life, but the performance and reliability advantages of the S 16 simply make it the better option, even for those who want the best battery life in a laptop – what’s an extra hour of runtime when you can only rely on basic applications with potential crash or BSOD issues if you run apps with complex instruction sets?
On the AI side of things, the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 has a higher AI TOP count at 50TOPS compared to the Snapdragon X Elite’s 45TOPs, meaning that the S 16 is clearly faster in AI workloads, especially in memory-intensive ones thanks to the larger 24GB LPDDR5X memory compared to the S 16’s 16GB capacity.
At Php 85,000, you’d be hard-pressed to find any other competitive thin and light laptop other than the ASUS Vivobook S 16 M5606 – it’s so good that it even cannibalizes ASUS’ own product offerings. It’s clearly the better choice compared to what’s available in the market. That said, Php 85,000 is still a tough pill to swallow regardless of all the mentioned benefits compared to the ARM variant – it’s just an easier one to swallow. The Lumina OLED display is still the major driving force behind its price so if your workflow or hobby does not require a stunning color-accurate display, then maybe you can save up and temporarily hold your purchase until a sale comes, or check for other non-OLED alternatives.
Grant is a Financial Management graduate from UST. His passion for gadgets and tech crossed him over in the industry where he could apply his knowledge as an enthusiast and in-depth analytic skills as a Finance Major. His passion allows him to earn at the same time help Gadget Pilipinas' readers in making smart, value-based decisions and purchases with his reviews and guides.
