Seems they didn't really try with higher end configurations. My Razer Blade 14 is slightly heavier at 3.94lbs, but beats this thing in everything except the OLED screen (though the refresh rate and resolution on the Razer Blade is much higher).
While OLED screens are a boon for content consumption on mobile devices like phones, these smaller panels have advantages in high color accuracy, high brightness, high quality, etc. The review outright uses the word “terrible” to describe the accuracy of the display on this laptop. Windows has more static user interface elements than Android or iOS, creating greater risk of burn-in. OLED screens also tend to “smear” when pixels need to change from dark to light quickly, and this would surely be unpleasant in games or movies, and more noticeable on a larger screen. I’m left wondering, if the display is merely less accurate, more prone to degradation, and has unimpressive brightness to boot, why wouldn’t consumers prefer a quality LCD which will at the very least have better longevity?
Where do you get this idea that OLED pixels have problems changing brightness quickly? That's an LCD problem, OLED has no issue at all in that respect.
Often the pixels on an OLED are turned off entirely when displaying black, and there's a delay to switch them back on again, greater than LCD response time, that leads to black smearing. I certainly notice this on my phone when scrolling something black but I haven't noticed this at all on my Asus OLED laptop -- they obviously chose response time over battery life and don't turn the pixels off completely.
You could do us a solid favor if you added two things to all your laptop reviews.
1. Does it use proprietary peripherals? I never would have purchased a Dell XPS 13 had I known in advance that if you forget your Genuine Dell Charger, you're screwed. It refuses to charge without one.
The Linux point is definitely a good one. I am very tempted to put Linux on my next laptop as my old one uses OSX, which I really like over Windows, but hate what Apple do to customers.
If a laptop can run a specific Linux distro without excessive hassle, that would be a superb test for me. It has the potential to be a rabbit hole, so I'd suggest something like "n hour Linux install and config test" - set a specific time limit for a competent Linux user and see if they can install a popular distro, and have it configured to run all the hardware properly, within that timeframe.
I also like the proprietary charger idea. That stuff boils my piss.
Sometimes there's a huge difference between popular distros, usually because they run a really old kernel (Ubuntu/Debian/Mint) and/or don't support proprietary drivers (Nvidia, wifi) ootb (Fedora).
And sometimes there are specific community fixes that take seconds to install, but that you might not otherwise know to look for.
Basically, I'm saying this is a tough ask for a reviewer, and such a linux "test" could be very misleading. You are better off diving into the online communities for a particular line/brand yourself.
Just test Ubuntu. Sure there are lots of distros and I personally am not an Ubuntu fan at all but reality is that it just makes sense with its user base and with the aim of keeping it simple.
It really is unfortunate how Apple has not chosen to take the high road when it comes to respecting the agency of individual consumers. That is both about its high level of spying and its incessant changing of UI. It’s also about force-feeding people what certain developers there want them to eat — like relentless punishment for using low power mode in iOS.
Unfortunate but not at all surprising, since these companies don’t work for ordinary individuals at all. On the contrary…
It's a pain, but barrel chazrgers have two notable advantages: more resistance to force damaging the connector and port, and (IDK if its true on this machine) they can be mounted seperate fromt he botherboard, allowing easy replacement. USB C cant do this.
Would it be possible to run the graphics tests again using the integrated GPU? Would be interesting to see just what the difference is between the iGPU and dGPU. Or is that even possible on AMD-based laptops (I have no experience with laptops that include dGPU)?
Could also be interesting to see what (if any) impact switching between the GPUs makes for battery life.
Most laptops are basically unusable on battery with a loaded dGPU, unless its something barely better than an IGP.
As for IGP perf, you have to stick to low intensity games on the IGP. Vega 8 is nearly an order of magnitude slower than my 2060, which is somewhat comparable to this 3050.
This is kinda why Ryzen 6000/Van Gogh are so exciting. For the first time ever, gaming on battery may actually be practical.
"Sadly, Windows does not offer great support for either HDR or wider than sRGB color spaces. There is no native color management system in Windows which will display sRGB content at the correct color levels on a wider than sRGB display, which means the colors will be over-saturated unless you are using a properly color-managed application such as Adobe Photoshop. That means most content you look at on this notebook will be the oversaturated. […] Sadly Windows still does not handle non-sRGB color gamuts very well, so even though ASUS has done a reasonable job calibrating the display, most of the time the color accuracy will be terrible unless you are using a color managed application."
This is NOT correct when using Windows with HDR mode enabled. In HDR mode, Windows correctly gamut-maps sRGB from SDR apps to the absolute BT.2020 color space "container" used for HDR, transparently and in real time. Apps that want to use the extra color space are free to do so using the relevant Microsoft APIs, and they will be properly presented alongside other apps. See: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/dir...
I'm doing precisely this using Windows 11 in HDR mode with an LG OLED TV. I have personally verified using a color meter that standard sRGB apps are being gamut-mapped correctly, and the saturation is correct, with only slight errors caused by the TV's imperfect calibration.
The quote above describes a state of affairs that was certainly valid a few years ago, but it is now quite outdated.
Thanks for this info. I am going to look into this more. In HDR it does appear to tone map to sRGB by default which is certainly the less offensive implementation.
Check out the tftcentral site and possibly prad.de (if that’s still around). Those sites have long had rather comprehensive information about all of the nuances involving monitors. Prad.de, for instance, was the first to write about LCD backlight flicker.
How is a macbook pro mroe portable then this? And it may surprise you, but not all creators are addicted to daddy Ives ruining their wallet every year.
Battery life is better indeed but price is far far higher… I’d consider a MacBook Air though, for at least a subset of creator taks (audio, image and video editing) it would do great.
OLED is an interesting feature however with these slim bezel laptops replacing the display is a royal PITA and sometimes isnt possible (looking at you HP G5 chromebooks). With burn in as an issue I'd be hesitant.
The battery is another sticking point. I know they had to make room for the dGPU, but seeing such a small cell....bleh. My mechrevio has a 99wh battery in a nearly identical sized PC and it rocks, but I think clever motherboard design would have allowed asus to use a much bigger cell.
For an average user who is not working on his laptop, oled shouldn't be a problem I think. After all an oled phone also has static elements and lasts many years isn't it?
Thank you for sharing best network book computers and its features. I hope keep posting it. <a href="https://www.couponkoz.in/coupons/dell" rel="nofollow">CouponkozIndia<br /></a>
Ballysports enact Regional Systems or Bally Sports will be sports telecom companies that are working inside the United States. They are auxiliaries of Gemstone Sports. The primary point of the organization is show inclusion of various sporting events of high universities, schools, and other elite athletics. It began broadcasting in 45 expresses all around the US region immediately on There are a few directs in this organization, https://pcfielders.com/bally-sports-activate-code/ which have separate brand names.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
33 Comments
Back to Article
eek2121 - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
Seems they didn't really try with higher end configurations. My Razer Blade 14 is slightly heavier at 3.94lbs, but beats this thing in everything except the OLED screen (though the refresh rate and resolution on the Razer Blade is much higher).matagyula - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
I think it is worth pointing out that that Razer Blade 14 costs twice as much as the unit reviewed.Alistair - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
so your laptop costs twice as much, is missing the main feature, the OLED screren, and it is miraculously faster? amazing stuff... /sbrucethemoose - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
This isn't really a high performance gaming laptop. Asus has a compact ROG lineup to compete with the Blade more directly.relux - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
While OLED screens are a boon for content consumption on mobile devices like phones, these smaller panels have advantages in high color accuracy, high brightness, high quality, etc. The review outright uses the word “terrible” to describe the accuracy of the display on this laptop. Windows has more static user interface elements than Android or iOS, creating greater risk of burn-in. OLED screens also tend to “smear” when pixels need to change from dark to light quickly, and this would surely be unpleasant in games or movies, and more noticeable on a larger screen. I’m left wondering, if the display is merely less accurate, more prone to degradation, and has unimpressive brightness to boot, why wouldn’t consumers prefer a quality LCD which will at the very least have better longevity?Doug_S - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
Where do you get this idea that OLED pixels have problems changing brightness quickly? That's an LCD problem, OLED has no issue at all in that respect.itsAdamS - Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - link
Often the pixels on an OLED are turned off entirely when displaying black, and there's a delay to switch them back on again, greater than LCD response time, that leads to black smearing. I certainly notice this on my phone when scrolling something black but I haven't noticed this at all on my Asus OLED laptop -- they obviously chose response time over battery life and don't turn the pixels off completely.Doug_S - Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - link
That's not true at all. What you observe has nothing to do with response time, but a mismatch of screen updates and refresh rate.Oxford Guy - Sunday, March 13, 2022 - link
There is no laptop LCD with this much static contrast. So, define ‘quality’.If VA panels begin to appear then OLED might have some competition.
pjcamp - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
You could do us a solid favor if you added two things to all your laptop reviews.1. Does it use proprietary peripherals? I never would have purchased a Dell XPS 13 had I known in advance that if you forget your Genuine Dell Charger, you're screwed. It refuses to charge without one.
2. See if Linux will install on it.
reuthermonkey1 - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
I do appreciate that they denoted it does not use a USB-C charger, for example.philehidiot - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
The Linux point is definitely a good one. I am very tempted to put Linux on my next laptop as my old one uses OSX, which I really like over Windows, but hate what Apple do to customers.If a laptop can run a specific Linux distro without excessive hassle, that would be a superb test for me. It has the potential to be a rabbit hole, so I'd suggest something like "n hour Linux install and config test" - set a specific time limit for a competent Linux user and see if they can install a popular distro, and have it configured to run all the hardware properly, within that timeframe.
I also like the proprietary charger idea. That stuff boils my piss.
brucethemoose - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
Sometimes there's a huge difference between popular distros, usually because they run a really old kernel (Ubuntu/Debian/Mint) and/or don't support proprietary drivers (Nvidia, wifi) ootb (Fedora).And sometimes there are specific community fixes that take seconds to install, but that you might not otherwise know to look for.
Basically, I'm saying this is a tough ask for a reviewer, and such a linux "test" could be very misleading. You are better off diving into the online communities for a particular line/brand yourself.
TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - link
Basic things, like if it instlals, and if the dual graphics work without hassle, are simple for a reviewer to check with a couple different distros.jospoortvliet - Saturday, March 12, 2022 - link
Just test Ubuntu. Sure there are lots of distros and I personally am not an Ubuntu fan at all but reality is that it just makes sense with its user base and with the aim of keeping it simple.Oxford Guy - Sunday, March 13, 2022 - link
It really is unfortunate how Apple has not chosen to take the high road when it comes to respecting the agency of individual consumers. That is both about its high level of spying and its incessant changing of UI. It’s also about force-feeding people what certain developers there want them to eat — like relentless punishment for using low power mode in iOS.Unfortunate but not at all surprising, since these companies don’t work for ordinary individuals at all. On the contrary…
TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - link
It's a pain, but barrel chazrgers have two notable advantages: more resistance to force damaging the connector and port, and (IDK if its true on this machine) they can be mounted seperate fromt he botherboard, allowing easy replacement. USB C cant do this.phoenix_rizzen - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
Would it be possible to run the graphics tests again using the integrated GPU? Would be interesting to see just what the difference is between the iGPU and dGPU. Or is that even possible on AMD-based laptops (I have no experience with laptops that include dGPU)?Could also be interesting to see what (if any) impact switching between the GPUs makes for battery life.
Alistair - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
no point with ryzen 5000 though, you want ryzen 6000 for thatbrucethemoose - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
Most laptops are basically unusable on battery with a loaded dGPU, unless its something barely better than an IGP.As for IGP perf, you have to stick to low intensity games on the IGP. Vega 8 is nearly an order of magnitude slower than my 2060, which is somewhat comparable to this 3050.
This is kinda why Ryzen 6000/Van Gogh are so exciting. For the first time ever, gaming on battery may actually be practical.
edechamps - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
"Sadly, Windows does not offer great support for either HDR or wider than sRGB color spaces. There is no native color management system in Windows which will display sRGB content at the correct color levels on a wider than sRGB display, which means the colors will be over-saturated unless you are using a properly color-managed application such as Adobe Photoshop. That means most content you look at on this notebook will be the oversaturated. […] Sadly Windows still does not handle non-sRGB color gamuts very well, so even though ASUS has done a reasonable job calibrating the display, most of the time the color accuracy will be terrible unless you are using a color managed application."This is NOT correct when using Windows with HDR mode enabled. In HDR mode, Windows correctly gamut-maps sRGB from SDR apps to the absolute BT.2020 color space "container" used for HDR, transparently and in real time. Apps that want to use the extra color space are free to do so using the relevant Microsoft APIs, and they will be properly presented alongside other apps. See: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/dir...
I'm doing precisely this using Windows 11 in HDR mode with an LG OLED TV. I have personally verified using a color meter that standard sRGB apps are being gamut-mapped correctly, and the saturation is correct, with only slight errors caused by the TV's imperfect calibration.
The quote above describes a state of affairs that was certainly valid a few years ago, but it is now quite outdated.
Brett Howse - Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - link
Thanks for this info. I am going to look into this more. In HDR it does appear to tone map to sRGB by default which is certainly the less offensive implementation.Oxford Guy - Sunday, March 13, 2022 - link
Check out the tftcentral site and possibly prad.de (if that’s still around). Those sites have long had rather comprehensive information about all of the nuances involving monitors. Prad.de, for instance, was the first to write about LCD backlight flicker.lemurbutton - Monday, March 7, 2022 - link
If you’re a creator, you get a MacBook Pro with far more power and portability.TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - link
How is a macbook pro mroe portable then this? And it may surprise you, but not all creators are addicted to daddy Ives ruining their wallet every year.jospoortvliet - Saturday, March 12, 2022 - link
Battery life is better indeed but price is far far higher… I’d consider a MacBook Air though, for at least a subset of creator taks (audio, image and video editing) it would do great.yetanotherhuman - Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - link
Numpad to the left of the keyboard? Looks like it's on the right, as standard, to me..TheinsanegamerN - Tuesday, March 8, 2022 - link
OLED is an interesting feature however with these slim bezel laptops replacing the display is a royal PITA and sometimes isnt possible (looking at you HP G5 chromebooks). With burn in as an issue I'd be hesitant.The battery is another sticking point. I know they had to make room for the dGPU, but seeing such a small cell....bleh. My mechrevio has a 99wh battery in a nearly identical sized PC and it rocks, but I think clever motherboard design would have allowed asus to use a much bigger cell.
rc_nair104 - Friday, March 11, 2022 - link
For an average user who is not working on his laptop, oled shouldn't be a problem I think. After all an oled phone also has static elements and lasts many years isn't it?Oxford Guy - Sunday, March 13, 2022 - link
Most vaunted ‘content creators’ work on their machines… creating content.Oxford Guy - Sunday, March 13, 2022 - link
Replaceable panels, easily installed by users, would be a welcome accommodation for OLED in PCs.But, planned obsolescence is the driver behind ‘profit’-seeking.
Couponkoz.in - Saturday, March 19, 2022 - link
Thank you for sharing best network book computers and its features. I hope keep posting it. <a href="https://www.couponkoz.in/coupons/dell" rel="nofollow">CouponkozIndia<br /></a>pcfielderss - Monday, March 21, 2022 - link
Ballysports enact Regional Systems or Bally Sports will be sports telecom companies that are working inside the United States. They are auxiliaries of Gemstone Sports. The primary point of the organization is show inclusion of various sporting events of high universities, schools, and other elite athletics. It began broadcasting in 45 expresses all around the US region immediately on There are a few directs in this organization, https://pcfielders.com/bally-sports-activate-code/ which have separate brand names.