When you think of a 16-inch laptop, you think of a ‘desk-bound’ machine that is heavy, thick and demanding. The ASUS Zenbook S16 flips that script completely with its 1.19cm thin design and 1.5Kg light weight body. This raises an important question: can a laptop this sleek actually deliver stable performance, especially with AI-heavy workloads? ASUS doubles down on it with AMD Ryzen AI 9 465 processor and AMD Radeon 880M graphics – a match made to power modern AI PCs. On paper, it looks like a powerhouse. But the question remains: can this power translate into real-world performance? We’ll try to answer that question and more in the detailed review below. But before that, let’s take a peek at its top specifications.
ASUS Zenbook S16 specifications
FEATURE |
ASUS ZENBOOK S16 |
| Display | 16-inch 3K OLED touch-screen panel |
| Build & Design | Aluminium body 35.36 x 24.30 x 1.19 cm, 1.5Kg |
| Processor and Graphics | Up to AMD Ryzen AI 9 465 processor, AMD Radeon 880M graphics |
| RAM and Storage | 32GB LPDDR5X 8533MHz RAM, 1 TB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe M.2 SSD storage |
| Operating System | Windows 11 Home |
| Camera | ASUS AI Camera, FHD 3DNR IR camera with ambient light and color sensor |
| Audio | 6 built-in speakers with Dolby Atmos, Built-in 3 microphones |
| Connectivity | Tri-band Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Battery & charging | 83 Whr Li-polymer with 68W Type-C power adapter |
| Touchpad | ASUS ErgoSense touchpad (multitouch smart gestures support) |
| Ports | 1 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 2 USB 4.0 Gen 3 Type-C support display, 1 HDMI 2.1 TMDS, 1 3.5mm Combo Audio Jack, 1 SD 4.0 card reader |
| Colours | Antrim Gray, Scandinavian White |
| Price | ₹134,990 (AMD Ryzen AI 7 350), ₹175,990 (AMD Ryzen AI 9 465) |
ASUS Zenbook S16 design: Feather light body with premium appeal
The ASUS Zenbook S16 has an unmissable appeal that leaves a mark on you the moment you see it. No, it doesn’t have any RGB lights or a logo that lights up when the device is being used. Instead, it has something that is more complex to achieve – a simple no-frills design that speaks for itself.
The body of this laptop is made of a material called ‘ceraluminium’, which ASUS says has been made by ceramising aluminium. This material offers durability of ceramic and lightness of aluminum. It helps that it comes with US military grade durability, which makes it immune to extreme temperatures, high altitude and shocks and vibrations. In usage, it offers this laptop a distinct premium feel that is hard to ignore. Open the lid and you get a geometric CNC-machined grille that looks like a fancy speaker setup. In reality, it’s a part of the vapour cooling system that keeps it cool and calm even under pressure.
What adds to the overall appeal of this laptop is the fact that it’s just 1.19cm thick and weighs 1.5Kg. For understanding, that is slimmer than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 folded and lighter than the 2026 MacBook Pro. Typically, you expect a 16-inch laptop to be big, bulky and difficult to carry. But not the Zenbook S16. You can carry it around all day like a book that you’re reading and you still won’t feel the weight, which I feel is a part of its broader appeal.
Now, you would expect a machine this sleek to cut corners in terms of offering ports for connectivity. But the Zenbook S16 surprises here as well by offering an entire gamut of ports including multiple USB ports, HDMI port, a combo audio jack and even an SD card reader. Simply put, the Zenbook S16 blends premium aesthetics with practicality well.
ASUS Zenbook S16 display: Bright and vibrant
The Zenbook S16 comes with a 16-inch OLED glossy touchscreen panel with a 3K resolution of 2880 x 1800 pixels, 120Hz screen refresh rate, 1100 nits of peak brightness, with HDR support and PANTONE validated colours. Specifications aside, the Zenbook S16 features a gorgeous screen with bright and vibrant colours that is ideal for editing images and videos and watching movies. The colours that you see on the screen are so rich and deep that watching classics like The Amazing SpiderMan and Interstellar feels like a different experience. It helps that this laptop gets six speakers with Dolby Atmos for a balanced experience.
Colours aside, you get a touch screen panel that works nicely. You also get stylus support with this laptop. But you’ll have to purchase that separately. That said, I don’t see the point of having a touch screen display in a laptop that’s not a 2-in-1 convertible owing to limited utility.
What I like about this screen is its brightness that withstands the sun – something that’s rare to find. I’ve used this laptop extensively while travelling and I must say that the unforgiving Delhi sun wasn’t able to slow me down, at least not because of a poorly lit display. Sure, it has a glossy panel, which can make reading the screen a bit challenging in certain lighting conditions but overall, it works well.
ASUS Zenbook S16 keyboard and touchpad: Comfortable to use
The Zenbook S16 comes with a compact backlit keyboard with dedicated keys for enabling and disabling the touchpad, managing various displays, turning the mics and camera on and off, invoking the ASUS Screen Xpert and its My ASUS app. You also get a dedicated Copilot key – a subtle sign that this laptop focuses on AI-based productivity. Oddly enough, the power key is placed ahead of the Delete instead of being stacked towards the right end of the row, which leads to a lot of goof-ups during typing. Typically, the power key sits on the extreme right of the row with function keys in most laptops and a slight change in that lineup means you have to consciously keep yourself from pressing the wrong key, at least in the beginning – nothing you can’t un-learn and re-learn.
Beyond this, the keys have a dish-shaped design and a long travel that improves accuracy. It also makes up for a comfortable typing experience, especially when you are writing for a long duration. The LEDs used in its backlit keyboard also light it up nicely and uniformly, making it comfortable to type in low-light and dimly-lit conditions.
Coming to the touchpad, the Zenbook S16 has a large touchpad, which the company says is 40 percent bigger than its predecessor. In usage, it takes a while to get comfortable while typing with that extra area. Once you do, the entire keyboard – touchpad setup makes using this machine easy as a breeze. The touchpad specifically comes with a bunch of touch-based controls that let you control factors like the screen brightness and volume using swipe-based gestures. You can also rewind and fast-forward tracks using swipe-based gestures. It also supports multi-touch based gestures. So, you can use three or four finger-based shortcuts to launch frequently used apps and even control the display. That said, I do have a gripe with this touchpad. Double tap-based screen movements are a mixed bag of hits and misses – nothing deal-breaking, just a tiny detail. Overall, everything works smoothly and comfortably.
ASUS Zenbook S16 software: AI takes the stage
The Zenbook S16 runs Windows 11 Home operating system and it comes with a dedicated Copilot key that instantly launches the AI experience on this laptop. You can ask it to collate information, make presentations, analyse data, create images and even access experimental AI initiatives all by pressing a key. In that sense, it works pretty much the same way Gemini or ChatGPT does, the difference being that Copilot, in this case, comes as a built-in experience. The built-in Copilot also brings experiences such as finding files and other information on your PC and on the internet using simple conversational commands, live captions in videos, and managing device settings and app settings. What differentiates it from the rest of the laptops is that this one here is a Copilot+ PC, which means it gets dedicated hardware, NPU or Neural Processing Unit, to handle localised AI-based workloads swiftly and efficiently.
ASUS Zenbook S16 performance: Power house performer
The Zenbook S16 is not just an aesthetically pleasing laptop but it is also a powerful machine that can handle almost anything that you throw at it with ease thanks to the combination of AMD Ryzen AI 9 465 processor, AMD Radeon 880M Graphics Card and up to 50TOPS XNDA NPU. You can customise the performance using the AMD Software app that lets you pick between HYPR-RX, Quality, HYPR-RX Eco and Default modes. Each mode serves a different purpose and provides a different experience. Whether you want to edit videos, play games while saving power and extending playtime or play games while maintaining low latency or simply use it as your work device, you can pick a performance mode that suits your needs.
As far as day-to-day usage is concerned, the Zenbook handles everything that you throw at it with easy. Whether you are juggling between apps, editing videos, or using AI to crunch numbers for an analysis, this PC doesn’t stop, it doesn’t stutter. What I like about this laptop is that it maintains its cool even when you push it to its limits. Barring the fan speed nothing changes.
ASUS Zenbook S16 battery: Long lasting relief
Battery is another one of this laptop’s winning aspects. It gets a 83Whr battery that easily lasts for 10 to 11 hours on a single charge on light to moderate usage. This means you can go on doing your day’s work without having to worry about keeping the charger closer or looking for a charging point. Heavy usage requires charging after 8-9 hours of use. I used this laptop as my daily driver for two to three weeks and I was able to get around without charging it for almost 10 hours consistently.
On the charging front, this laptop gets a 68W charger in the box, which charges it up to 50 percent in just 30 minutes. However, it took around two hours to charge this beast completely.
ASUS Zenbook S16 review: Pros and Cons
Here’s what we liked in the ASUS Zenbook S16 and what could have been better:
Pros
– Light weight and premium design
– Bright and vibrant display
– Decent battery life
– Steady performance
– Touchpad’s tap gesture can be tricky
ASUS Zenbook S16 review: Final thoughts
The Zenbook S16 is a simple yet stylish beast of a machine that is easy to like and recommend. It has a vibrant display that is coupled with an aesthetically pleasing and durable shell, a power performer core and AI-first software approach is ideal for anyone who is looking to maximise productivity. Whether you want to crunch numbers, edit images and videos or do some AI intensive tasks, it can handle everything that you can throw at it with ease. But is it for everyone? Probably not. At a starting price of ₹1.35 lakhs, it is ideal for creators and people with AI intensive workloads. And the rest of us? We can go with something a lot cheaper than this.
Disclaimer: At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority.
