Asus Vivobook 15 review: A good, affordable laptop for students

After launching a bunch of high-end laptops for creators and gamers, Asus is shifting its focus towards regular customers with its new budget-friendly, Asus Vivobook 15 (touch). Priced at Rs 44,990, the laptop promises a wholesome experience with its lightweight design, large 15.6-inch touch-enabled screen, and some nifty features like a touch sensor and webcam shutter.

While these features may attract some customers, especially students who have very specific needs, I still feel many customers will have their apprehensions after seeing the Intel Core i3 sticker, which traditionally has been the least capable CPU compared to the i5, i7, and i9 line of processors. For its worth, the Vivobook 15 gets the latest 12th-Gen processor, which offers some amount of performance gains over its predecessors. Of course, there are variants with up to 12th-Gen Core i5, but those are more expensive.

More than the processor’s capabilities, Asus is banking on Vivobook 15’s glossy touch-enabled display, which remains an uncommon feature in this segment. But is that enough to save it in a highly competitive market? Here’s a detailed review.

Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) design

At first glance, Asus’s new Vivobook 15 looks premium. I was also very happy to receive a blue color variant that might go well with a lot of young customers looking for something less traditional and upbeat. If you’re one of those traditionalists, there is an option in silver as well.

As expected, Asus made some sacrifices to keep the laptop affordable. The Vivobook 15 features a plastic build that raises some alarms regarding its durability. At least in my brief testing, I didn’t face any problems, although the plastic felt slightly sub-standard, and Asus could’ve worked better on that front. At least the plastic build helps the laptop maintain its lightweight design, and it wasn’t a hassle carrying it to work every day. Moreover, there’s a US MIL-STD 810H rating for durability.

I also like the placement of the trackpad, as it leaves ample space to rest your palm. I can’t speak much about the trackpad quality, as I generally prefer using an external mouse. But I am sure many would not be pleased with the trackpad’s plastic finish, and in that case, there are loads of inexpensive wireless mice to look at.

The port selection is good, if not the best. There is a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports, a USB 2.0 port, HDMI output and an audio combo jack. I would’ve also preferred having an ethernet port, though that’s slowly getting extinct on most laptops – a change I am not greatly fond of.

Overall, the new Vivobook 15 will meet most customers’ expectations, but there are better laptops in terms of build in the market. If that’s your concern, I’d suggest you check notebooks by Xiaomi or Realme.

Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) display

Asus is putting its money on the Vivook 15’s display, and honestly, there are hardly any complaints. Firstly, the 15.6-inch viewing area is ideal for watching movies or using apps like Chrome. If you extensively use spreadsheet apps, I normally advise getting a laptop with a 16-inch screen. But this will also suffice. However, the display does not have the slimmest bezels, although the ones here aren’t eyesores. The addition of touch capabilities is useful, but I honestly don’t use it regularly. If a touch display at this price is your priority, the Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) won’t disappoint.

Users can even tilt the screen back up to 180 degrees. At least the hinge is firm, and the screen does not wobble too much, which is the most important part. Touch or no touch, I thoroughly enjoyed working on this screen, and the colors look fantastic. The display offers decent viewing angles, and I also like the glossy finish. The display has Full-HD resolution – a standard on most laptops.

Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) keyboard

Typically, laptops with big screens include a keyboard with the Numpad, which we also find on the Asus Vivobook 15. The typing experience on this laptop is brilliant, and the key offers 1.4mm travel. The space between the keys is also adequate, and there are enough hotkeys for regular users. However, there is no backlight, which should be considered by the company.

Asus also says that the Asus Vivobook 15 is protected by Asus Antibacterial Guard. It is designed to inhibit the growth of bacteria by more than 99 percent. There is no way to test this without proper tools, but if it is true, it is a thoughtful addition during the ongoing pandemic.

Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) performance

At the heart of any gadget, there’s a processor, and the Asus Vivobook 15 gets 12th-Gen Intel CPUs. The variant I received includes Intel Core i3 (1220P) with 8GB LPDDR4 RAM, 512GB PCle 4.0 SSD storage, and discrete Iris Xe GPU.

If you’re planning to game, the Asus Vivobook 15 can run old titles and some newer ones like Age of Empires 4 at moderate settings. I also played Apex Legends, but the stutters in the game were prominent. In that case, don’t expect a great gaming experience on this one.

But from a productivity point of view, the laptop easily runs the most popular apps, like Chrome and Excel. It also runs Windows 11 and I did not notice any abrupt crashes in my brief usage. However, 8GB of RAM isn’t ideal for the best productivity performance. For instance, tabs on a heavy app like Chrome would get refreshed automatically due to low read memory. If you want more juice in your computer, there’s an option to upgrade the RAM to 16GB.

The HD webcam, on the other hand, is average, and if you have a notebook to take video calls, only an external webcam can save you.

In terms of benchmarks, the Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) achieved 4110 points on PC Mark10’s CPU test, which isn’t bad at all when we look at competitions with 11th-Gen Core i3 CPUs. The laptop also scored only 722 points on 3D Mark’s GPU test, which is quite an average score.

Coming to the battery, the Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) gets a bigger 42WHr battery compared to the 37WHr unit on last year’s model. On a single charge, the laptop offers roughly 5 hours of runtime, which is decent. The charging speed is also good with the bundled 65W charger. It took a few minutes, over an hour, to fully charge the notebook.

Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) verdict

Overall, the Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) offers decent performance, and I feel the laptop is a good choice for students. It looks modern, and it comes with many features (like fingerprint sensor and Wi-Fi 6) that might attract young customers.

I would still suggest customers go for the variant with the Core i5 CPU, which should also offer better performance. If you want a productivity-focused laptop with a good display and decent battery under Rs 45,000, the Asus Vivobook 15 (X1502) won’t disappoint.

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