ASUS VivoBook S15 Slim, Ryzen 5 5600H, 8GB, 1TB SSD + 160GB SSD, Black

The ASUS VivoBook S15 Slim gets you a 1TB SSD and a capable Ryzen 5 processor, but 8GB of RAM and a dim 250-nit screen hold it back. It scored 46.5 out of 100 in our database. Worth considering only if storage is your top priority and you can find it on sale.

The Ryzen 5 5600H is a solid mid-range chip, sitting right around the middle of the pack in our CPU rankings. It handles everyday multitasking, web browsing, and Office work without breaking a sweat. The 1TB SSD is the real star here, landing in the 88th percentile for storage, which means you won't be deleting files to make room anytime soon. But the 8GB of RAM is a bottleneck, ranking in the bottom 14 percent of laptops we've tested. Open too many Chrome tabs and you'll feel it. The AMD Radeon integrated graphics are fine for streaming and light photo work, but this is not a gaming machine or a video editing rig.

Stacked against the competition, the VivoBook S15 Slim struggles to stand out. The Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition are in a completely different league on performance, display quality, and build, though they cost significantly more. The Lenovo ThinkPad P14s Gen 6 offers better durability and a brighter screen for business users. Even the HP OMEN Transcend 14 and MSI Prestige 13 Evo outclass this ASUS on graphics and portability. The VivoBook's only real advantage is storage capacity per dollar, and that's a narrow win.

At CAD 1,129, this is a tough sell when you look at what else is out there. The storage is generous and the processor is capable, but 8GB of RAM and a dim screen at this price feels like a compromise too far. You're paying for the big SSD and the docking station bundle, which is nice, but the overall package doesn't feel like a great deal. If you can find this on sale for under CAD 900, it starts to make more sense. At full price, you're better off shopping around.

The ASUS VivoBook S15 Slim is a budget-friendly 15.6-inch laptop that leans hard on its storage and processor to make up for some pretty obvious compromises elsewhere. You get a Ryzen 5 5600H, a 1TB SSD, and a bonus 160GB docking station drive, which is a weird but welcome combo at this price point. The 8GB of RAM and a dim 250-nit screen are the trade-offs, and they're noticeable.

We ran this through our database and it landed at 46.5 out of 100 overall. That's not a score that turns heads, but for students and casual users who need a big screen and lots of storage without spending a fortune, it does the job. Just don't expect it to punch above its weight in graphics or portability.

Skip this if you need more than 8GB of RAM, because that's the single biggest bottleneck here and it's not upgradeable in most VivoBook S15 configurations. Also skip it if you work outdoors or in bright spaces, since the 250-nit screen will fight you every step of the way. And if you want to play games or edit video, the integrated graphics simply won't keep up.

This laptop is for someone who needs a big screen, lots of storage, and a numeric keypad for school or office work, and who doesn't care about gaming or photo editing. The Ryzen 5 5600H is fine for spreadsheets, essays, and streaming. But if you need more than 8GB of RAM, a brighter display, or any kind of graphics horsepower, this isn't the machine for you. It's a basic workhorse with one standout feature, the storage, and a lot of middling everything else.