ASUS Vivobook S14 14" M5406WA-DH71-CB Neutral Black 2025

The ASUS Vivobook S14 M5406WA pairs a gorgeous 14-inch 3K OLED display with AMD's latest Ryzen AI 9 365 and 24GB of RAM for around $1,800. It's a productivity and media powerhouse with excellent port selection and a lightweight build, but the integrated Radeon 880M graphics mean gaming is basically off the table. If you want a premium screen and all-day portability without spending MacBook Pro money, this is one of the best options out there. Just don't buy it expecting to play anything more demanding than esports titles at reduced settings.

The Ryzen AI 9 365 is a 10-core chip that sits comfortably in the 88th percentile for laptop CPUs, which puts it ahead of most Intel Core Ultra 7 configurations and right on the heels of some lower-tier HX-class processors. In real-world terms, this thing chews through browser tabs, Office apps, and even light video editing without breaking a sweat. The 24GB of LPDDR5X RAM is a nice sweet spot, more than the 16GB you typically see at this price but not quite the 32GB that power users might crave. It's enough to keep dozens of Chrome tabs and a few Adobe apps running simultaneously without hitting the page file.

The integrated Radeon 880M is where things get interesting. It's a solid step up from the old Radeon 780M and lands in the 70th percentile overall, which is impressive for integrated graphics. You can play esports titles like Valorant or CS2 at respectable frame rates if you drop the resolution to 1080p, and older AAA games run fine at medium settings. But don't expect to push that native 2880x1800 resolution in anything demanding. The GPU simply doesn't have the bandwidth for 3K gaming, and you'll notice stuttering if you try. For photo editing and GPU-accelerated tasks in Premiere or Blender, it's competent but not fast. The 1TB NVMe SSD is quick enough at the 82nd percentile, though not class-leading, and you'll rarely notice load times in day-to-day use.

The most obvious competitor is the Apple MacBook Pro M5, which absolutely demolishes the Vivobook in GPU performance and build quality but costs significantly more for a comparable RAM and storage configuration. The MacBook's screen is also excellent, though the ASUS actually wins on pure brightness and refresh rate. The Microsoft Surface Laptop ZGQ-00001 is a closer match in price and philosophy, but its display doesn't hold a candle to this OLED panel, and you typically get less RAM for the money. The Surface does have better build quality and a touchscreen, which the Vivobook lacks.

On the Windows side, the Lenovo Legion Pro Series 7i Gen 10 and HP OMEN Transcend 14-fb1023dx are both gaming-focused machines that trade blows differently. They offer discrete GPUs that run circles around the Radeon 880M, but they're heavier, have worse battery life, and their displays, while fast, don't match the color accuracy or contrast of the ASUS OLED. The MSI Prestige PRE13EVOA2088 is a more direct ultrabook competitor, but its screen and port selection fall short of what the Vivobook offers. If you want one device that does a bit of everything except serious gaming, the ASUS carves out a nice niche. If gaming matters at all, look at the Legion or OMEN instead.

At $1,785 to $1,800, the Vivobook S14 is priced aggressively against the MacBook Air and Surface Laptop, both of which typically offer less RAM and worse displays at similar price points. You're essentially getting a top-tier screen and a very capable CPU for hundreds less than an equivalent MacBook Pro, though you sacrifice the GPU performance and build quality that Apple brings. The 24GB of RAM is a genuine differentiator here, most Windows ultrabooks in this range stick to 16GB, and upgrading to 32GB usually costs a premium.

That said, the value proposition gets shaky if you need any kind of graphical horsepower. The integrated Radeon 880M is fine for everyday use, but spending $1,800 on a laptop that can't game or handle serious GPU workloads feels like a mismatch for some buyers. If you're purely after a productivity and media machine, this is a strong deal. If you want to do any gaming or 3D rendering, you'd be better off looking at something with a discrete GPU, even if it means sacrificing some screen quality or portability.

The ASUS Vivobook S14 M5406WA is one of those laptops that makes you do a double take when you see the price tag. For around $1,800, you're getting a 14-inch 3K OLED display that lands in the 97th percentile of our database, paired with AMD's brand new Ryzen AI 9 365 processor and a generous 24GB of RAM. This isn't a gaming laptop and it doesn't pretend to be, but for anyone who stares at spreadsheets, code, or Netflix all day, the spec sheet reads like a wish list. ASUS clearly built this for people who want a premium media and productivity machine without jumping into the $2,500+ territory where the MacBook Pros and high-end ThinkPads live.

What makes this particular Vivobook interesting is the balance it strikes. At 1.30kg, it's genuinely portable, and that 75Wh battery paired with a power-sipping AMD chip suggests you won't be hunting for outlets all day. The port selection is absurdly good for a thin-and-light in 2025, with Thunderbolt, USB-C, USB-A, and even HDMI 2.1 all present. You won't need a dongle for your monitor or your old flash drive, which is more than we can say for a lot of competitors at this weight. The integrated Radeon 880M graphics are the wildcard here, capable enough for light gaming and creative work but clearly the bottleneck if you're pushing 3K pixels in anything demanding.

This laptop is aimed squarely at students, office workers, and content consumers who value a gorgeous screen above all else. The 600-nit OLED panel with 100% DCI-P3 coverage means HDR content looks stunning, and the 120Hz refresh rate keeps everything buttery smooth even when you're just scrolling through documents. It's not for gamers, as the 22.7 out of 100 gaming score makes painfully clear, but for the right person, this is one of the most compelling all-arounders we've seen in the sub-$2,000 bracket.

Gamers should look elsewhere without hesitation. The gaming score of 22.7 out of 100 tells you everything you need to know, this laptop was not built for gaming and the integrated Radeon 880M will leave you frustrated in anything beyond the lightest esports titles. If you want to play modern games, even at 1080p, you'll need a discrete GPU. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i or HP OMEN Transcend 14 are both in a similar price bracket and will run circles around the Vivobook in any gaming scenario, though you'll sacrifice the OLED screen and some portability.

Anyone who needs a touchscreen or a 2-in-1 form factor should also pass. The non-touch display is a deliberate choice by ASUS to keep costs down and battery life up, but if you're an artist, note-taker, or just someone who likes poking at their screen, this will feel limiting. The Microsoft Surface Laptop or a Lenovo Yoga model would serve you better. And if you're a creative professional doing heavy 3D rendering or 8K video work, the lack of a discrete GPU and the 24GB RAM ceiling will become bottlenecks quickly. Look at the MacBook Pro M5 or a workstation-class Windows laptop instead.

For students and office workers who spend their days in browsers, documents, and video calls, the Vivobook S14 is an easy recommendation. That OLED screen makes everything look better, from spreadsheets to Netflix, and the 120Hz refresh rate is a quality-of-life upgrade you'll notice every time you scroll. The 24GB of RAM gives you headroom that most ultrabooks don't offer, and the port selection means you can leave the dongles at home. Battery life should be solid with the 75Wh pack and efficient AMD silicon, though we'd want to test real-world longevity before making promises.

Creative professionals on a budget will find a lot to like here too. The 100% DCI-P3 coverage and high resolution make this a capable photo editing machine, and the CPU can handle light video work without issue. Just don't expect to render complex 3D scenes or play modern games at native resolution. If you need GPU grunt, you'll need to spend more or carry a heavier laptop. But for the right user, someone who values screen quality and portability above all else, this Vivobook hits a sweet spot that few competitors can match at this price.