ASUS Vivobook 16 (X1605) – Top 5 Pros and Cons
ASUS is quickly entering the 16-inch space not only with high-end machines like the Vivobook Pros and the ZenBooks but with the more affordable Vivobook 16 as well. It’s a very welcome addition to the family, showing that the lineup is ready for the future (as if there was any doubt whatsoever). Today’s Vivobook 16 doesn’t have the OLED panel of other Vivobooks, but the standard IPS version still comes with a 16:10 aspect ratio, which perfectly fits the form factor. As for hardware, you’ve got a wide variety of Alder Lake CPUs to choose from, with both U-series and H-series chips. They are very different and will need adequate cooling, so we’re excited to show you what the Vivobook’s got.
Today we’re giving you a quick overview of the ASUS Vivobook 16 (X1605).
ASUS Vivobook 16 (X1605): Full Specs / In-depth Review
3 reasons to BUY the ASUS Vivobook 16 (X1605)
1. Design and build quality
The chassis of the Vivobook is entirely made from plastic, however, that also keeps it lightweight and portable, as the laptop weighs only 1.88 kg and has a profile of 19.9mm. In terms of durability, things could be better, as there’s some flex from the lid and the base, however, we wouldn’t say that it’s a dealbreaker. The laptop still looks fine, offering a 720p webcam with a privacy shutter. The lid is a bit heavier, so it’s difficult to open with one hand. On the other hand, the base has an Antibacterial, which inhibits the growth of bacteria by more than 99%, which is useful considering what the past three years have taught us.
2. Input devices
The Vivobook 16 manages to house a pretty competent keyboard and touchpad, which provide a pleasant user experience. The keyboard sports long key travel and clicky feedback, so typing is definitely good enough. The touchpad is one of the biggest that we’ve seen, and the surface is smooth and responsive. The clicking surface can be a bit tough to press the higher you go along the pad, but we’re generally happy with it.
3. Upgradeability
The appearance of soldered memory on the device is a bit shocking, but at least you’re also getting one SODIMM slot for further memory expansion. There’s up to 8GB of DDR4 RAM that’s soldered, while the slot can fit up to 32GB more. For storage, there’s only one M.2 slot for both Gen 3 and Gen 4 SSDs.
Here’s our teardown video, which shows how to access both the RAM and SSD slots.
2 reasons NOT to buy the ASUS Vivobook 16 (X1605)
1. I/O
The port selection of the laptop includes one USB Type-A 2.0 port, two more USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, one USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, an HDMI 1.4 port, and a 3.5 mm audio jack.
2. Display quality
The Vivobook 16 comes with a Full HD+ IPS panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio. For regular use, the panel is fine, as it has comfortable viewing angles and a peak brightness of 324 nits. If you want to do anything more like video rendering or design, you’d have to either look elsewhere or splurge for an OLED display. The current IPS version covers half of the sRGB color gamut.
Its accuracy also doesn’t improve much even after applying our Design and Gaming profile. Here are the results of our test with the stock settings (left) and with our profile applied (right).
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 16 (X1605) configurations with 16.0″ Innolux N160JCE-ELL (CMN1618) (1920 x 1200) IPS.
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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.
Can i Activate iris xe using one 32Gb RAM (8Gb Soldered + 32Gb Card).
I would like to share some thoughts about this computer that might be helpful in your next review. I am a 77 year old woman who considers herself fairly computer literate. And customer service agents have found that to be true of me. I find that I am using my iPad for most things now. But I have two programs I need a computer to run, my Bible translation program which helps me translate from Hebrew to English and my genealogy program which has an enormous database. I purchased the ASUS – Vivobook 16 16″ Laptop – AMD Ryzen 7… Read more »