ASUS Vivobook S 16" S5606CA-MS96 Neutral Black

A breathtaking 2.8K OLED screen and top-tier CPU make this a creator's dream, but the lack of a real GPU means gamers should run for the hills. Find it at the right price and it's a killer productivity machine.

What surprised us most is how well the new Intel Arc integrated graphics hold up for everyday creative work. It's not going to replace a discrete GPU, sitting around the 65th percentile in our database, but it chews through photo editing and light video work without breaking a sweat. The real star is the CPU, which lands in the 89th percentile. This thing rips through multi-core tasks and keeps everything feeling snappy, even with a dozen browser tabs and a few heavy apps open. The 32GB of RAM is a standout, giving you plenty of headroom that many competitors skimp on.

The elephant in the room is the Apple MacBook Pro M5. It's the direct competitor for creative pros, and while it will cost you more, it offers vastly superior GPU performance and battery life that runs circles around this ASUS. On the Windows side, the Lenovo Legion Pro Series 7i Gen 10 is the other one to watch. It's heavier and not as sleek, but it packs a real discrete GPU, making it a true all-rounder that can game and crush creative workloads. The Vivobook's main advantage over both is its incredible OLED screen and lighter weight for the price.

With a price spread from $1400 to $1915, you absolutely need to shop around. The best deal we're seeing makes this a solid value for the screen and RAM alone. At the high end, you're creeping into territory where a MacBook Pro or a powerful Lenovo Legion starts to look a lot more tempting. If you can snag it closer to that $1400 mark, it's a great buy. If you're looking at the $1915 price tag, walk away and get something else.

The ASUS Vivobook S S5606CA is a stunning laptop for anyone who lives in front of a screen and doesn't need a dedicated GPU. That 16-inch 2.8K OLED display is the absolute best right now, and it makes everything from spreadsheets to Netflix look incredible. You're getting a top-tier Intel Core Ultra 9 chip and a generous 32GB of RAM in a surprisingly portable package. The one thing to know? This is a creator and productivity machine that will absolutely fall on its face if you try to play modern games on it.

If you're looking for a machine that can handle gaming or heavy 3D rendering, this isn't it. Go get a Lenovo Legion Pro 7i with a real NVIDIA GPU instead. You'll sacrifice a bit of screen quality and portability, but you'll gain a massive performance boost where it counts.

The ASUS Vivobook S S5606CA is a fantastic choice for a very specific person: a student, office pro, or content creator who values a world-class screen and raw CPU power above all else and never plans to game. It's a productivity and media consumption beast that's easy to carry. Just know its limits. If you can find it for a good price, it's an easy recommendation for that crowd.