ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400) review – a slender machine with great performance and exquisite display

Creativity-inspired devices have now merged with daily drivers, gaming laptops, and why not even the mobile workstation industry. And the VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400) is the real-life epitome of what we just said. This laptop looks super low-key but bears so much raw power, that we feel the chassis is going to explode. Why? Because it needs to handle the Ryzen 9 5900HX.

However, this makes us really confused. ASUS uses 35W chips for their Intel model (the N7400). AMD also offers 35W iterations of their CPUs, but instead, the manufacturer went for the superior 45W ones. Why then, haven’t they given their Intel machine the real deal and equal chances? This question might remain unanswered, and we will focus on the device we have in our office (which is the AMD one), but we are really confused by this bizarre dilemma.

So, the hardware inside is indeed important, but it’s not the only highlight of this model. That’s because there is the 90Hz OLED panel that promises quite a lot actually. As always, we’re going to learn more about it later in the review. First, let’s pop the box open, and see what we have on our hands.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-vivobook-pro-14x-oled-m7400/

Contents


Specs Sheet

ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400) - Specs

  • Samsung ATNA40YK04-0 (SDC4154)
  • Color accuracy  2.2
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 1000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 32GB
  • OS
  • Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Home, No OS, Windows 11 Pro, Windows 11 Home
  • Battery
  • 63Wh, 3-cell
  • Body material
  • Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 317.4 x 228.5 x 17.9 mm (12.50" x 9.00" x 0.70")
  • Weight
  • 1.45 kg (3.2 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 2x USB Type-A
  • 2.0
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • HDMI
  • 1.4
  • Card reader
  • MicroSD
  • Ethernet LAN
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.0
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • optional
  • Web camera
  • HD
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Microphone
  • Microphone with Cortana and Alexa voice-recognition
  • Speakers
  • Speakers by Harman Kardon
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, we found some paperwork, an envelope with stickers, as well as a 120W power adapter.


Design and construction

Although the VivoBook subbrand is considered more of a lifestyle series, that shouldn’t have a premium appeal, we are glad to see a surprise. The entire body of this notebook is made out of metal, while the base is very resistant to flex. And what is more impressive is that ASUS managed to do that at a weight of 1.45 kilos, and with a profile of 17.9mm.

Here, the lid opens easily with a single hand, thanks to the super-smooth hinges. On the lid cover, you will find an extruded section that houses the ASUS VivoBook branding, and on the user-facing side, there is a glossy display, surrounded by pretty thin bezels, and an HD camera that sports a privacy shutter.

Moving to the base, we find a keyboard with an interesting pattern, a backlight, and a fingerprint reader embedded onto the power button. Additionally, you will be met by a comfortable typing experience, thanks to the clicky feedback, and the relatively long key travel. This laptop features a giant touchpad, that is covered by a sheet of Mylar.

To make it appear even more Pro, ASUS has given this notebook a virtual knob onto the touchpad. It is enabled by sliding at a diagonal from the top right part of the touchpad. It’s good to know that it is configurable through the ProArt app, and it can work with pretty much all Adobe programs.

And if you turn the laptop upside down, you will see the speaker cutouts, hiding a couple of Harman Kardon branded units, as well as the ventilation grill. Hot air here is exhausted from in between the lid and the base.

Ports

On the left, you get two USB Type-A 2.0 ports. Then, on the right, there is the charging plug, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, an HDMI connector, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, a MicroSD card reader, and an audio jack.


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

There are 9 Torx-head screws, holding this laptop’s bottom panel in place. After you undo them, pry the panel with a plastic tool and remove it from the chassis.

Inside, we see a 63Wh battery pack. To remove it, undo all 6 Phillips-head screws and unplug the battery connector.

Although there are configurations with up to 32GB of dual-channel RAM, you won’t be able to upgrade it, since it is soldered to the motherboard. On the bright side, you get one M.2 PCIe x4 slot for storage expansion.

Two heat pipes are cooling both the CPU and the GPU. In addition, you get two heat sinks and two fans.


Display quality

ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400) is equipped with a 90Hz OLED panel, Samsung ATNA40YK04-0 (SDC4154). Its diagonal is 14.0-inch (35.5 cm), and the resolution – 2880 x 1800p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:10, the pixel density – 243 ppi, their pitch – 0.1 x 0.1 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 36 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

Viewing angles are comfortable. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

The maximum measured brightness is 400 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6400K – almost matching the 6500K temperature for sRGB.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective.
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio here is incomparably better than that of the IPS and TN panels and is mathematically infinite.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976 and 100% of DCI-P3 providing a punchy and vibrant image.

ASUS provides its users with the ProArt Creator Hub, which allows calibration and color profiling.


Interestingly, using the HDR Windows mode, the display emulates the sRGB color space pretty well.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400) against the sRGB standards.

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 2 ms – insane speed.


Health impact – PWM / Blue Light

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

Unfortunately, ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400)’s panel uses low-frequency PWM for brightness adjustment up until 95 nits. Afterwards, we detected small pulsations, which makes the display generally safe in this aspect (after 95 nits).

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400) configurations with 14.0″ Samsung ATNA40YK04-0 (SDC4154) (2880 x 1800p) OLED panel.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400)’s Harman Kardon speakers are quite good. The low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.asus.com/Laptops/For-Home/Vivobook/Vivobook-Pro-14X-OLED-M7400-AMD-Ryzen-5000-Series/HelpDesk_Download/

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. This device’s 63Wh battery pack lasts for 10 hours of Web browsing, or 8 hours of video playback.


CPU options

There are three processor choices here – Ryzen 5 5600H, Ryzen 7 5800H, and Ryzen 9 5900HX.


GPU options

In addition to the integrated graphics cards, you get two dedicated options – the GeForce RTX 3050 (50W), and RTX 3050 Ti (50W).


Gaming tests

Metro ExodusFull HD, Low (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Extreme (Check settings)
Average FPS81 fps38 fps18 fps

Borderlands 3Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Badass (Check settings)
Average fps68 fps49 fps37 fps

Shadow of the Tomb RaiderFull HD, Lowest (Check settings)Full HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)
Average fps99 fps64 fps58 fps

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon WildlandsFull HD, Medium (Check settings)Full HD, High (Check settings)Full HD, Very High (Check settings)
Average fps67 fps60 fps53 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX (45W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400)3.44 GHz (B+4%) @ 78°C3.38 GHz (B+2%) @ 91°C3.27 GHz (B-1%) @ 85°C
Acer Nitro 5 (AN517-41)3.41 GHz (B+3%) @ 69°C3.42 GHz (B+4%) @ 74°C3.35 GHz (B+2%) @ 80°C
ASUS ROG Strix SCAR 17 G7333.58 GHz (B+8%) @ 76°C3.55 GHz (B+8%) @ 81°C3.59 GHz (B+8%) @ 81°C
ASUS ROG Strix G17 G7133.44 GHz (B+4%) @ 70°C3.38 GHz (B+2%) @ 72°C3.44 GHz (B+4%) @ 71°C

This laptop gave us the warmest experience we’ve had with the Ryzen 9 5900HX. However, it is also the smallest of the laptops we’ve tested with this CPU, so we feel that the results are quite remarkable.

Real-life gaming

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 2 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (after 30 min)GPU frequency/ Core temp (Max Fan)
ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400)1423 MHz @ 63°C @ 44W1387 MHz @ 67°C @ 43W
Lenovo IdeaPad 5 Pro (16″)1651 MHz @ 72°C @ 55W1636 MHz @ 75°C @ 55W
HP Victus 16 (16-e0000)1824 MHz @ 73°C @ 75W1814 MHz @ 73°C @ 75W1822 MHz @ 73°C @ 75W
MSI Katana GF661675 MHz @ 73°C @ 60W1660 MHz @ 78°C @ 60W1699 MHz @ 67°C @ 60W

Well, there is the toll we were expecting. You can’t expect to have such a thin body without any setbacks. The RTX 3050 can’t maintain its 50W TGP limit, but it gets close. Also, it is fairly cool, which is a bit surprising.

Gaming comfort

The laptop was definitely loud during gameplay, and this was with the Performance setting turned on. There is also the option to max out the fans, but it appeared to make a little-to-no difference in terms of performance and temperatures. We measured a maximum temperature of 45°C in the middle of the keyboard, which is average on the scale of cool to Hellcat exhaust pipe.


Verdict

Quite frankly, we were surprised by this laptop in pretty much every aspect. It offers a performance that puts to shame some titans manufactured a couple of years ago. They were expensive, and super bulky, in contrast to the slim chassis of the VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400) and its relatively affordable price tag.

Even the battery life was pretty good, given the high resolution of the screen, and its 90Hz refresh rate. We got up to 10 hours of Web browsing or 8 hours of video playback with a single charge.

Speaking of which, ASUS VivoBook Pro 14X OLED (M7400)’s 90Hz display has a high resolution, rather high maximum brightness, comfortable viewing angles, and practically infinite contrast ratio. Additionally, it has super-fast pixel response times and covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. This allows for a very punchy and vibrant image. This panel also features HDR support, and with the HDR mode enabled in Windows, you get a pretty respectable color accuracy.

Let’s not forget the fact that the ProArt app offers you the opportunity to calibrate the display. And not only that, but it allows you to customize the virtual knob. It is not as satisfying to use as the hardware knob found on other professional devices, as it lacks feedback. However, it is pretty useful for fine-tuning some settings, or to scrub through the timeline of the video you’re editing.

Now, it is time for some of the drawbacks. Unfortunately, two out of the three USB Type-A ports here work at 2.0 speeds. This is a real bummer, as having so many ports of this type is something few manufacturers manage to execute at this form factor.

The other low point of this notebook is the fact that the memory is soldered to the motherboard. Again, there is some consolation in the 32GB maximum capacity, but you have to pay the premium initially, and you have no option to upgrade down the line.

At the end of the day, this is a pro-grade product in a lot of aspects. And in our opinion, it is worth the purchase. Especially if you’re going after the AMD model, as it offers twice the core count and nearly twice the performance. Yet again, the RTX 3050 and the RTX 3050 Ti have a low 50W TGP, but they will enable gaming, faster workflow, and of course – ray tracing.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-vivobook-pro-14x-oled-m7400/

Pros

  • Great price-to-performance ratio
  • Strong aluminum chassis
  • 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 coverage + HDR support
  • High resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio
  • Deep blacks and virtually infinite contrast ratio
  • DialPad
  • 90Hz refresh rate with fast pixel response times
  • Fingerprint reader + MicroSD card slot


Cons

  • Uses PWM below 95 nits
  • 2 out of 3 USB Type-A ports run at 2.0 speeds
  • Soldered memory

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