If you're on the hunt for a new big-screen OLED laptop that isn't too expensive, your options are limited. The ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604) is one of the possible solutions but there is a catch. The fancy 4K 16:10 display is optional so as always, have a look at the specs before buying the device. The default screen is an IPS panel with 1200p resolution. Since the base is big enough, the keyboard has a NumPad which can be important for some users who are making tons of calculations on a daily basis. The Web camera has a privacy shutter which is nice to see in a laptop with such a thin lid. You can also opt for a fingerprint reader for faster and safer one-touch logins. The notebook is offered with a choice of three Raptor Lake U CPUs and two more powerful P-series chips. You can see part of the cooling through the big vent on the bottom side - it has just one fan. This means that the thermal system can be pushed to its limits if you pick a device with a 28W processor (like we did). The I/O isn't full of ports but at least there is one Type-C port with Power Delivery function. The ASUS Antimicrobial Guard is here and this can be a deal-breaker for some of you who want such a feature. For connectivity, you can rely on Wi-Fi 6E + Bluetooth 5.3 (option). For this review, we bought a max-out configuration to see how good the OLED display is and to torture the cooling with the Core i7-1360P. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-vivobook-16x-oled-k3604/ Specs, Drivers, What's in the box Drivers All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://www.asus.com/laptops/for-home/vivobook/asus-vivobook-16x-oled-k3604/helpdesk_knowledge/ What's in the box? The box contains the laptop itself, a bit of paperwork, and a compact 65W barrel plug adapter. Depending on your region, you can find a wired optical USB mouse or a 3-in-1 backpack in the package. Design and construction The ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604) looks almost similar to the ASUS Vivobook 15 F1504 (X1504) or ASUS Vivobook 17 F1704 (X1704). Two color options are available - Indie Black and Cool Silver. As you can see, we got the silver option, the finish feels pleasantly smooth and it doesn't attract a lot of smudges. The machine stops the scales at 1.76 kg and the profile thickness is 17.9 mm - the dimensions are good for a 16-incher. The metal lid can't be opened with a single hand and it feels spongy when we try to twist it. The plastic base isn't stable as well - the whole zone around the keyboard can be pressed down and there is a visible flex during typing, especially in the central part of the board. The bezels around the panel are narrow which leads to an up-to-date look. The 720p Web camera with a privacy shutter is orthodoxly placed above the display. Because of the 180-degree hinge, the laptop can lay fully flat. The lid lacks the modern lever design but that's not a problem here since the back of the base sits pretty high off the ground. The ErgoSense keyboard is comfortable for typing with its big keycaps with long travel and clicky feedback. The board has a NumberPad section and our only complaints here are the small Arrow keys and the fact that the single-color backlight is optional. The touchpad is great for this kind of price class. It is big, smooth, and accurate (of course, we've seen better units than this one). The pad also houses an optional fingerprint reader in its top right corner. Flipping the machine upside down reveals the sizable ventilation grill, four small rubber feet, and the cutouts for the speakers. The heat is guided via three vents - one on the back and a pair on the bottom. Some amount of hot air makes its way to the display when the CPU is doing the heavy lifting. Ports On the left side, there is just one USB Type-A 2.0 port. The right side is much more populated with a charging plug, an HDMI 1.4 connector, two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 1) port with a Power Delivery function, and an Audio combo jack. Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604) is equipped with an OLED panel, model number Samsung AMOLED ATNA60YV02-0 (SDC415D). It comes with a 60Hz refresh rate. Its diagonal is 16.0" (40.6 cm), and the resolution - 3840 x 2400p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:10, the pixel density – 283 ppi, and their pitch – 0.09 x 0.09 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 30 cm, which is excellent for a laptop (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels). Viewing angles are good. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality. Also, a video with locked focus and exposure. The maximum measured brightness is 401 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen (HDR off) and 402 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of only 2%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6470K („Splendid“ – „Normal“ Color Gamut: „Native“ in „MyASUS“ app). In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits). 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 of OLED panels is practically infinite, due to their ability to turn off black pixels entirely. 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 16X OLED (K3604)'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, ensuring a super vibrant and attractive picture (HDR off, „Splendid“ – „Normal“ mode). The "MyASUS" app also emulates the DCI-P3 and the sRGB color spaces. We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. Below you can compare the scores of the ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604) with the default settings - HDR off, „Splendid“ – Color Gamut: „Display P3“, „Normal“ mode compared to P3-D65 (Display) color space. There is one more thing we have to say about color accuracy. “MyASUS” features a “Flicker-Free Dimming” function, which allows you to use PWM-free brightness adjustment. Thankfully, it almost doesn’t affect the colors in the sRGB gamut - we show the compliance with sRGB color space at maximum brightness, "Flicker-Free Dimming" - 50% and "Splendid" - Color Gamut: "sRGB", "Normal" mode. ASUS engineers have successfully enhanced the display capabilities of ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604), making it suitable for various use cases such as Web design, pre-press design, video editing, etc. 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. (HDR Off) 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 = 2.8 ms. The score is much better compared to the majority of the LCD panel results. After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude. Health Impact: 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 display 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. ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604)'s display uses PWM with low frequency up until 105 nits. Above that, we see very weak pulsations (the “Flicker-Free Dimming” function in the MyASUS app eliminates the issue). This makes the panel relatively comfortable to use in this aspect. Health Impact: 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. Health Impact: Gloss-level measurement Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 158 GU). Sound ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604)'s speakers produce a sound of very good quality. Furthermore, the low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations. 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 16X OLED (K3604) configurations with 16.0" Samsung AMOLED ATNA60YV02-0 (SDC415D) (3840 х 2400) OLED. *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 bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com. Read more about the profiles HERE. Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests All benchmarks and tests were conducted with the “Best performance” preset activated in the Windows “Power & Battery” menu. Also, the Fan profile is set to “Performance mode” in "MyASUS" software. CPU options This notebook can be found with Intel Core i3-1315U, Core i5-1335U, Core i7-1355U, Core i5-1340P, or Core i7-1360P. GPU options No dGPUs here, just integrated graphics solutions. Gaming tests CS:GO HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) Average FPS 113 fps 111 fps 58 fps DOTA 2 HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) HD 1080p, High (Check settings) Average FPS 121 fps 78 fps 43 fps By default, the iGPU of the Core i7-1360P is the Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (96EU) but our chip has the 80EU version. Aside from that, the performance is good, especially considering the DDR4 memory which at least in this case works in dual-channel mode. [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Laptop Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life 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 P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power Intel Core i7-1360P (28W TDP) 0:02 - 0:10 sec 0:15 - 0:30 sec 10:00 - 15:00 min ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604) 2.94 GHz @ 2.04 GHz @ 68°C @ 44W 2.89 GHz @ 2.09 GHz @ 85°C @ 44W 2.26 GHz @ 1.65 GHz @ 72°C @ 30W ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip OLED (UP3404) 2.93 GHz @ 2.29 GHz @ 81°C @ 44W 2.65 GHz @ 2.12 GHz @ 91°C @ 38W 2.24 GHz @ 1.75 GHz @ 83°C @ 28W MSI Summit E14 Flip Evo (A13M) 3.45 GHz @ 2.89 GHz @ 74°C @ 68W 3.72 GHz @ 2.85 GHz @ 83°C @ 66W 1.86 GHz @ 2.14 GHz @ 83°C @ 36W MSI Summit E14 Flip Evo (A13M) Max Fans 3.92 GHz @ 3.00 GHz @ 70°C @ 71W 3.82 GHz @ 2.97 GHz @ 78°C @ 68W 2.49 GHz @ 2.14 GHz @ 72°C @ 36W Lenovo Yoga 7i (14", 2023) 3.74 GHz @ 2.72 GHz @ 87°C @ 62W 2.87 GHz @ 2.19 GHz @ 91°C @ 43W 1.92 GHz @ 1.31 GHz @ 66°C @ 22W Lenovo Yoga 9 (14", 2023) 3.45 GHz @ 2.71 GHz @ 81°C @ 64W 3.00 GHz @ 2.37 GHz @ 92°C @ 50W 2.17 GHz @ 1.68 GHz @ 72°C @ 28W The Core i7-1360P inside the 16-inch Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604) can show almost the same clocks in short and long loads as the 14-inch Zenbook 14 Flip OLED (UP3404) with the same chip. The latter even has a slight advantage when it comes to E-core frequencies. Overall, the score in the long run is good - 2.26 GHz P core clock, 30W power limit plus pleasant CPU temperature but all other devices in the table above can achieve much higher frequencies in short loads than this ASUS machine. We think that a U-series processor should be a better choice for such a modest thermal system. Comfort during full load The combination of a 28W chip and cooling with just one fan and a single heat pipe doesn't sound like an optimal solution. In short and medium stress, when the fan is set to "Performance mode", the noise is above average. Still, it doesn't sound like a jet fighter. In long periods of 100% processor loads, the noise is notably lower. However, if you don't need the full power of the machine, the "Whisper mode" is the way to go because the fan becomes quiet during tasks such as Web browsing or video playback. Battery Now, we conduct the battery tests with the 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. The optional 63Wh battery lasts for 16 hours and 40 minutes of Web browsing or 6 hours and 40 minutes of video playback. To achieve that, you have to apply the “Balanced” preset in the Windows “Power & Battery” menu and select the "Standard" fan mode in the MyASUS app. There, you also have to turn off the "AI Noise Canceling for the for the speaker and microphone. Disassembly, Upgrade options, and Maintenance To open this machine, you need to undo 10 Phillips-head screws. Then, pry the bottom plate with a thin plastic tool starting from the front and then work your way around the sides and the back. Here's how the bottom plate looks on the inside. The battery in our machine is the optional 63Wh model. The base version has a capacity of 42Wh. To remove it, unplug the connector from the motherboard and undo the 4 Phillips-head screws that fix the unit in place. The optional capacity lasts for 16 hours and 40 minutes of Web browsing or 6 hours and 40 minutes of video playback. All devices have 8GB of soldered DDR4 memory. At least there is a SODIMM that can handle an 8GB memory module. The maximum possible amount of RAM is 16GB of DDR4-3200MHz memory in dual-channel mode. For storage, you get just one M.2 slot compatible with 2280 Gen 4 SSDs. The cooling is basic. It has one fan, one long heat pipe, a top-mounted heat sink, and a heat spreader. Storage performance Our laptop has a 1TB Micron 2450 MTFDKBA1T0TFK. This is a Gen 4 NVMe that has TLC memory. Below you can see some benchmarks of this SSD. It reached 68°C during the testing which is still fine since we didn't observe thermal throttling. Verdict The ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604) has a lot of potential to be a true blockbuster in its class but the device isn't perfect. Let's start with the positives - the 16:10 4K (3840 x 2400p) OLED display (Samsung AMOLED ATNA60YV02-0 (SDC415D) is just great. It boasts 100% sRGB and DCI-P3 coverage alongside good out-of-the-box color accuracy. The HDR panel amazes with quick pixel response times and infinite contrast ratio. The display flicker here isn't an issue since there is a ”Flicker-Free Dimming” function in the MyASUS software. Speaking of which, some useful options in the ASUS app can prevent the so-called "OLED Burn-In". We are talking about things like "Pixel refresh", "Windows taskbar transparency effect", and "Automatically hide Windows taskbar in desktop mode". These three can be found in the ASUS OLED care tab. The overall performance of the laptop is good. The machine feels snappy - our laptop is configured with the Core i7-1360P which is the top CPU option for the series. This chip is a serious challenge for the basic-looking cooling solution. Interestingly, the CPU can maintain decently high frequencies in prolonged periods of 100% stress while the clocks in short loads are so-so. Still, the processor temperatures are always in check. The fan is noisy (but not too much) when the "Performance mode" profile is applied. However, in "Whisper mode", the noise isn't an issue. Unfortunately, 8GB of DDR4 memory is soldered. Luckily, you get one SODIMM that can handle an 8GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM stick. The maximum amount of memory is 16GB which may be okay for now but this RAM size isn't future-proof at all. The storage options are unimpressive - just one M.2 slot for Gen 4 SSDs. At least the slot is for 2280 NVMes that are widely available. Now, the chassis rigidity isn't good. The lid is spongy and the same applies to the base. The lid flexes badly only if you try to twist it on purpose which shouldn't be a problem during normal usage because most people don't try to break the lid of their laptop. On the other hand, the base flexes during typing which is annoying. On the bright side, the keyboard is comfortable for work and the touchpad is smooth and fast. The ASUS Vivobook 16X OLED (K3604) has a great OLED display, comfortable input devices, and an optional 63Wh battery that lasts for more than 16 hours of Web browsing. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/asus-vivobook-16x-oled-k3604/