[Review] Asus VivoBook 15 F512JA-AS54: Yes! Yes! Yes!

When it comes down to finding the perfect student laptop it's easy to get overwhelmed by the multitude of options currently flooding the market. However, once in a while, we find a laptop that quickly manages to stand out because of its perfect balance of specs and price. Such is the case with the model that brings us here today; the Asus VivoBook 15 F512JA-AS54.

This particular notebook has quickly managed to win the audience over thanks to its powerful Core i5 processor, ultrafast SSD drive, and stunning FHD display. Couple that with being one of the highest-rated notebooks currently on the market and a killer price and you've got yourself a combination that's bound to leave you satisfied. 

The Asus VivoBook 15 F512JA-AS54 sports a minimalistic design boasting a solid gray brushed aluminum lid with the ASUS logo on the center of it as well as an ErgoLift hinge to optimize your typing experience and reduce wrist strains when typing for long sessions. 

As you'd expect, this laptop is also extremely portable, weighing just 3.5 pounds and measuring a slick 0.8 inches.  

Despite being a low-cost model, the ASUS VivoBook 15 at hand manages to pack an interesting NanoEdge IPS 15.6-inch screen with an 88% screen-to-body ratio, and a Full HD resolution. The picture quality overall is good and manages to deliver crisp and colorful images from almost every viewing angle (180 degrees to be more specific).

Furthermore, thanks to its matte coating you'll be able to focus on your everyday tasks without having to deal with annoying reflections. Having said that, this laptop does not feature a touchscreen. If you're looking for a similar laptop that actually does pack a touchscreen then the Asus VivoBook R564JA-UH51T could be a better option for you.

As for the keyboard, it's backlit and full-sized with a key travel distance of just 1.4 mm which allows you to type comfortably even in the dimmest lighting condition. There's also a dedicated numeric pad on the right side, as well as a multi-touch touchpad which is very comfortable to use.

The F512JA-AS54 features the 10th-Gen (Ice Lake) Intel Core i5-1035G1 processor powered by four cores and a burst frequency of 3.60 GHz. This CPU also features eight threads, 6 MB of SmartCache memory, and a TDP of just 15W, which means that it's a low-consumption processor (better battery life).

Couple that with 8 GB of DDR4 RAM and you'll get the performance you need to do everyday tasks such as editing spreadsheets and documents, browsing the web, running cloud-based software, video calling, 2D CAD rendering, and light photo/video editing.

The graphics department is equipped with an integrated Intel UHD Graphics which allows you to play some light games as well as stream 4K content through an external monitor since the screen doesn't support that resolution.

The storage is quite generous with a 512 GB SSD drive. More than enough to be able to comfortably work or play with the notebook.

Overall, this set of specs delivers a well-rounded experience for a laptop that won't disappoint users who plan to use it as a student laptop or a professional laptop. Sure, it doesn't pack the bells and whistles that you can find on the high-end but it features everything you actually need to be able to work comfortably and efficiently. 

Tackling the connectivity, the VivoBook 15 F512JA-AS54 offers the ports you'll need on a daily basis. It has two USB-A 2.0 ports, a USB-A 3.1 port, and a single USB-C port for high-speed file transfers. 

Moreover, it comes with an HDMI output, a 3.5 mm headphone/mic combo jack, a much-appreciated Micro SD card reader, and an HD webcam on the top bezel. As for wireless connections, it supports Wi-Fi 5 as well as Bluetooth 5.0.

As an extra feature, we've got a built-in fingerprint reader on the touchpad, which is very helpful to log in to Windows with one touch via Windows Hello.

This is an excellent connectivity suite. One could argue that it's missing an ethernet port. However, this can easily be remedied through the use of an Ethernet to USB adapter of you really need to use a wired connection. Otherwise, it boasts just about every connectivity feature we want and then some. 

Regarding battery life, the 37 Wh built-in battery delivers a decent but not great performance lasting around 5 hours of average use as stated by several of its users.

This would be worrying but the laptop also comes with quick-charge technology so you're able to charge 60% of the battery in roughly 50 minutes. That offsets the rather limited battery life.

Ultimately, while battery life isn't great, considering all the features the laptop is packing and its lightweight design it's something that we can definitely look past. 

Finding the perfect student laptop is hard. We've said this before. It's a matter of compromises. The  ASUS VivoBook 15 F512JA-AS54 reviewed today is a great laptop but it does have its own flaws, mainly the battery life being limited.

If you can look past this, then this is an excellent laptop. It packs really generous storage, a powerful processor, a solid display, and a compact design that make it an ideal laptop for most users. Be it for a student who needs to carry a laptop everywhere he goes or for a professional looking for an affordable laptop to work on, this model is an excellent option that won't let you down. 

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