Pros
- Ultra-thin and lightweight design ( 3.97 lbs )
- AMD Ryzen 7
- 1 TB SSD storage
- Integrated fingerprint sensor
Cons
- The screen could be brighter
- Does not support fast charging
We're talking, of course, about the ASUS VivoBook 15 S513IA-DB74, a laptop that's quickly gaining popularity thanks to its slick design, massive storage, and its octa-core AMD Ryzen 7 processor.
But, is it worth buying? And, more importantly, is it suitable for you? That's what we're here to figure out today in this review of the ASUS VivoBook 15 S513IA-DB74.
With this set of specs, the S513IA-DB74 is the perfect option for both students and professionals looking to buy a powerful laptop that they can easily carry around.
Index
- Who's it for?
- Technical specifications
- Design and Panel
- Processor and RAM
- Storage and Graphics
- Battery Life and Connectivity
- Wrapping it up
Who's it for?
With this set of specs, the S513IA-DB74 is the perfect option for both students and professionals looking to buy a powerful laptop that they can easily carry around.
It features a powerful processor and enough RAM to allow for hardcore productivity and a nice Full HD display for comfortable multimedia viewings. What's more, thanks to its massive storage (1 TB) it lends itself out to be the perfect option to store your entire media library in one place.
This ASUS ultrabook arrives manufactured with a chassis of proven resistance, bathed in an elegant black (indie black) with a matte finish and smooth surface on the lid and work area.
Another of its great benefits is found in the thinness of its profile ( 0.7 inches ) and how light it is to transport it in the backpack, thanks to its weight that doesn't reach the 4 pound-mark.
For the keyboard, it opts for a configuration of backlit island keys with 1.4 mm key travel, a numeric keypad on the right side, and a trackpad with fast response and ample space to do gestures. There's also the added bonus of a fingerprint sensor located on the top right of the trackpad to allow for a quick and secure login experience.
Designed for use indoors most of the time, the integrated NanoEdge display has a 15.6-inch diagonal with almost no bezels (85% screen), and relies on a Full HD 1080p resolution to reproduce the sharpest and most colorful images and videos.
Technical specifications
| Make model | ASUS VivoBook 15 S513IA-DB74 |
| Dimensions | 14.2 x 9.3 x 0.73 inches |
| Weight | 3.97 pounds |
| Panel | LED (15.6 inches) |
| Resolution | Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) |
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 4700U (8 cores at 4.10 GHz) |
| RAM | 8GB (DDR4) |
| Graphic Controller | AMD Radeon Graphics |
| Storage | 1 TB (SSD) |
| Battery | 3 cells (Lithium) |
| OS | Windows 10 Home |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi 6 Bluetooth 5.0 USB 2.0 (x2) USB 3.1 USB Type C HDMI Audio combo connector HD webcam Digital microphone microSD card reader Fingerprint sensor |
It goes with you where you need it most
It adapts to any environment and personality
This ASUS ultrabook arrives manufactured with a chassis of proven resistance, bathed in an elegant black (indie black) with a matte finish and smooth surface on the lid and work area.
Another of its great benefits is found in the thinness of its profile ( 0.7 inches ) and how light it is to transport it in the backpack, thanks to its weight that doesn't reach the 4 pound-mark.
For the keyboard, it opts for a configuration of backlit island keys with 1.4 mm key travel, a numeric keypad on the right side, and a trackpad with fast response and ample space to do gestures. There's also the added bonus of a fingerprint sensor located on the top right of the trackpad to allow for a quick and secure login experience.
Enjoy your content from every corner
Designed for use indoors most of the time, the integrated NanoEdge display has a 15.6-inch diagonal with almost no bezels (85% screen), and relies on a Full HD 1080p resolution to reproduce the sharpest and most colorful images and videos.
Let's not fool ourselves here, you're not going to get a high-end laptop screen here but we can definitely appreciate the fact that resolution was upped to 1080p as well as the fact that the display is IPS allowing for 179 degrees of viewing angles.
Let's talk about the performance
When it comes to defining this laptop in one word many customers seem to point to how fast it is. In effect, ASUS has opted for AMD and its new Ryzen 7 4700U processor, powered by no less than 8 real cores (running up to 4.10 GHz), 8 virtual cores, and a 12 MB cache. That's nothing to scoff about and should deliver a solid performance on most tasks.Add to that 8 GB of DDR4 SDRAM and we're looking at a laptop that was clearly built with powerhouse users in mind.
That said, while 8 GB should be enough RAM for most users now, if you're a very intensive multitasker who's prone to having 20 chrome tabs open at any given time while also listening to music and rendering a video then you'll be really happy to know that this model also features the possibility to expand the RAM up to an additional 8 GB to a total of 16 GB of RAM.
To do so, you'll need to buy a single 8 GB unit for the empty slot and you're good to go, it's a pretty easy process altogether and one that we tend to recommend to our readers when possible as it futureproofs your laptop for many years to come at a completely negligible cost.
What's to expect in terms of performance?
What's to expect in terms of performance?
In a nutshell, with this combination of RAM and CPU we're looking at a laptop that's well suited for editing documents, streaming movies, doing some picture retouching, video editing (on a non-professional level), browsing the web and, of course, chatting up with friends through videoconference software or listening to music.
You can also use this laptop to program as it definitely has a processor that's open to that and working with multiple virtual machines is also possible. However, with these last couple of tasks, you'd be well advised to increase the RAM as they are very memory-hungry activities.
As far as storage is concerned, this laptop definitely delivers. Specifically, we've got a very unusual 1 TB of SSD storage capacity. We say it's unusual because it's quite rare to see that big of an SSD unit on a device in this price range, its much more common to see 512 GB or even 256 GB so we can definitely appreciate Asus going the extra mile here.
Start your activities in the blink of an eye
What's more, in the event that you're coming from a hard drive wielding laptop you should know that once you step onto the world of SSD-powered-laptops there's no turning back as life as you know it will have changed completely.
Ok, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but seriously, anything from turning the laptop on to downloading files and locating documents will be much much faster than you've seen on a mechanical drive, it's definitely a major improvement and one that every new laptop owner who's recently made the switch will be happy to point out.
Sponsored by next-generation solutions, this laptop comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 technologies, a reversible USB-C input, an HDMI video output, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
In addition, 3 conventional USB ports are incorporated, a microSD card reader, an HD webcam located in the upper frame with a double matrix microphone, and Windows Hello support to unlock the device by simply pressing the fingerprint sensor located on the trackpad.
A Battery Life that keeps you from being a wall hugger
While we're big fans of the key specs on this laptop and we can appreciate that Asus really went the extra mile here, the battery is the one segment where this laptop doesn't really excel, though it doesn't really disappoint either. Specifically, this model can deliver roughly 5-7 hours worth of battery life, as many customers have attested.
This isn't revolutionary but it's far from bad and should be enough of battery life for most of us.
Modern and versatile connectivity
Sponsored by next-generation solutions, this laptop comes with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 technologies, a reversible USB-C input, an HDMI video output, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
In addition, 3 conventional USB ports are incorporated, a microSD card reader, an HD webcam located in the upper frame with a double matrix microphone, and Windows Hello support to unlock the device by simply pressing the fingerprint sensor located on the trackpad.
Wrapping it up
Wrapping up this review of the Asus VivoBook 15 S513IA-DB74 it's quite clear that Asus went all out to deliver a laptop that's very balanced, offers superb performance yet still manages to contain its price.It features more SSD storage than we ever thought we'd see below the 1000 dollar-mark, a highly efficient processor, and enough RAM with the ability to double down if you want to. Add to that a Full HD display and a very portable design and you've got yourself a winner that's undoubtedly going to become a staple on the top seller's list for many months to come, an excellent option you should not miss out on.