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I didn't find the fans in the Asus VivoBook 15 to be as loud as other laptops we've tested, namely the Acer Aspire 5. Asus VivoBook 15 Verdict While it beats out other 15-inch laptops like the Acer Aspire 5 (5:16) and the HP 15 laptop (4:58) in the same tests, it’s still at the tail end of the spectrum compared to a couple of other budget laptops (6:42). How is the competition? inch, FHD (1920 x 1080) 16:9 aspect ratio, 60Hz refresh rate, 200nits, 45% NTSC color gamut, Anti-glare display, Non-touch screen, (Screen-to-body ratio)83% In the case of the Vivobook 15 X515JA, you’re paying for less performance, less battery life, and a less stellar display. In return, you’re getting decent connectivity, a thin chassis, and a nearly edge-to-edge widescreen display, but this review will show how the result is merely a reminder of the corners one has to make to save money. Design and Features Our Handbrake video transcoding tests gave the VivoBook 15 another chance to get outperformed. The VivoBook 15 managed to transcode 4K video to 1080p resolution within 28 minutes and 33 seconds. The Acer Aspire 5 and HP 15 were much faster, transcoding at 21:55 and 25:53, respectively. The VivoBook 15 was faster than the 40 minute average for other budget laptops that took this test. Asus VivoBook 15 review: Battery Life

The Asus VivoBook 15 is definitely a budget laptop

Some devices for academic use will automatically be updated to Windows 11 Pro Education with the Windows 11 Anniversary Update. Features vary; see https://aka.ms/ProEducation for Windows 11 Pro Education feature information. The VivoBook 15's 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 NanoEdge display offers little bezel on either side of the laptop, with a bit more at the top to accommodate the webcam. But beyond its widescreen look, the display's dim color profile and weird viewing angles make it an underwhelming device for consuming online video. It made episodes of vintage TV shows like Baywatch, already with a worn-in color palette, look older than they are, while movies like the recent remake of Emma were extremely hard to see in dark scenes. The VivoBook 15 has a decent collection of ports for a laptop that’s quite slim, but I wish it had Thunderbolt 3 input. On the left side, there are two USB 2.0 ports, a microSD card slot, and LED indicators for charging and battery status.

The bottom-facing dual speakers on the Asus VivoBook 15 need a little boost. You can listen to music and watch a movie without headphones, but the sound will seem as if it's strained. The Midnight’s Deep Blue’s strong melody, for example, came through clearly enough, while the vocals seemed as if they were coming in from a distance. Bassier genres of music, like house and synthwave, sound just as hollow, and sometimes it's hard to hear vocals even on podcasts. While I was watching Emma, I could barely hear the dialogue with the laptop set down on a table. You're better off pairing the laptop with external speakers to listen to anything. There's also a MicroSD slot, which is a nice-to-have and allows adding on storage space, but I would have preferred a standard SD slot to work with my DSLR on the go. Asus VivoBook 15 review: Display Most budget laptops can last well over six hours on a single charge, but the VivoBook 15 struggles to hit this mark. It only lasts five hours and 24 minutes through continuous surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. Some devices for academic use will automatically be updated to Windows 10 Pro Education with the Windows 10 Anniversary Update. Features vary; see https://aka.ms/ProEducation for Windows 10 Pro Education feature information.

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In the case of the latest refresh of the Asus VivoBook 15, you're paying for less performance and less battery life and opting for a less vibrant display. In exchange, you get numerous ports, a thin chassis, and a nearly edge-to-edge widescreen display, but this Asus VivoBook 15 review will show how the result is merely a reminder of the compromises one has to make to save money. Asus VivoBook 15 review: Price and Configurations

Most budget laptops can last well over six hours on one charge of the battery, but the VivoBook 15 struggled to hit this mark. It lasted only five hours and 20 minutes through continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. Although this beat out the Acer Aspire 5 (6:55) and the HP 15 Laptop (4:57) in lab tests, it's at the tail end of the spectrum compared to the average of other budget laptops tested (6:39).The 720p built-in webcam exists as a failsafe for when you're called into an unexpected video conference. But you'll want an external webcam to pair with the VivoBook 15, as the quality on the included one is comparable to a webcam I had over ten years ago. It's too bad the camera is an after-thought even on budget laptops because there are so many students and professionals who could benefit from the presence of higher quality video. Asus VivoBook 15 review: Keyboard and Touchpad For graphics, you have an Intel UHD graphics card that is quite usable for basic tasks that utilize an integrated card, though it is not enough to power AAA gaming. It seems like you can do plenty with the VivoBook 15, but most budget laptops feel this way at first. The VivoBook 15's benchmark numbers show how little the laptop has to start with. It scored 2,399 overall on Geekbench 5, a testing suite that measures everyday computer tasks like browsing the internet and rendering augmented reality effects. That's below the Acer Aspire 5, which scored 2,744, and even further down the graph from the industry average of 2,983. I used the VivoBook 15 with low brightness and the least aggressive setting in Windows 10's battery-saving mode and noticed only slightly better numbers than the lab tests. The VivoBook 15 burned through 15 percent of battery after about an hour into a work session. Two hours later, the laptop used up 45 percent at the same setting. That's nearly 50 percent after three hours of use. Perhaps I could have eked out a bit more time by futzing with the power saving settings. It's clear from the numbers that the VivoBook 15 can barely manage six hours of continuous use. Asus VivoBook 15 review: Heat The Vivobook 15 X515JA has a 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080 NanoEdge display that has a little bezel on either side, but with a bit more at the top to accommodate the webcam. But beyond the widescreen display, the display’s dim color profile and unsettling viewing angles make it an underwhelming device for consuming online videos.