Luke Larsen / Digital Trends
TheApple MacBook Air M3has rule the 13 - inch laptop market for a while now . Unless you absolutely need Windows , there ’s been short intellect to choose any other laptop computer thanks to the MacBook ’s habitus timber , functioning , and social class - lead battery life .
Asus has long provided some upstanding rival , though . In particular , theZenbook S 13 OLEDbrings a spectacular OLED display to the fight . It ’s a very good laptop computer as well , but does it have enough to dethrone the MacBook Air ?
Luke Larsen / Digital Trends
Specs and configurations
The Asus Zenbook S 13 organic light-emitting diode kickoff at $ 1,200 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H , 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD , and a 13.3 - inch 2.8 cat valium OLED presentation . While the laptop computer can also be purchase with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD in some areas , pricing is presently unavailable in the US .
The MacBook Air M3 come in a compass of constellation , with the base model priced at $ 1,099 for an 8 - core CPU/8 - magnetic core GPU M3 chipset , 8 GB of RAM , a 256 GB SSD , and a 13.6 - column inch IPS display . Various acclivity are useable , such as an 8 - nitty-gritty CPU/10 - core GPU M3 for an extra $ 100 . It ’s $ 200 more for 16 GB of RAM and an additional $ 800 for the maximal 2 GB SSD . The in full loaded model with the faster M3 , 24 GB of RAM , and a 2 TB SSD is $ 2,299 . That makes the MacBook aura less expensive at the entry - grade , but a lot more expensive at the gamy destruction .
Design
These are two very thin laptops , with the ZenBook S 13 coming in at 0.46 inch at its thickheaded point and the MacBook Air M3 at 0.44 in . The Zenbook is considerably light-headed at 2.2 pounds versus 2.7 points . The MacBook ’s bezels are a bit thinner all around , making it just slimly wider , but not as thick , even with its larger video display .
The Zenbook S 13 has more slant and a keyboard that prop up at an angle , which yield it a more or less sleeker aesthetic than the blockier and less angular MacBook Air . Somehow , though , Apple ’s punctilious blueprint comes through and gives the MacBook Air a slightly more elegant appearance . Apple also offer more colors , include Midnight Black , Starlight , Space Gray , and Silver . notwithstanding , both laptop have their good luck charm and you ’ll have a great - looking machine no matter which you prefer .
In terms of build timber , they ’re also on adequate footing . In fact , the Zenbook S 13 might be the more unbending laptop given some bendiness in the MacBook Air ’s display . While the MacBook is machined from a chunk of atomic number 13 , the Zenbook apply a “ plasma ceramic aluminum ” textile that gives the hat a unequalled flavour . Overall , both laptops feel very well build and full-bodied .
The Zenbook S 13 also has more connectivity , with a mix of advanced and legacy ports . The MacBook Air ’s one advantage is its MagSafe 3 tycoon adapter that keeps both Thunderbolt 4 ports available for utilisation even when charging . Both have the same spirit level of wireless connectivity .
Both also have 1080p webcams , while the ZenBook S 13 adds in an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition . The MacBook Air has Apple ’s Touch ID detector built into the power button . The ZenBook S 13 can take vantage of the Neural Processing Unit ( NPU ) built into the Intel Meteor Lake chipset that power Microsoft ’s Studio Effects package , including AI background blurring and other effects . The MacBook Air will be capable to take advantage of the AI feature coming inmacOS Sequoialater this year .
Performance
The Zenbook S 13 organic light-emitting diode uses the 15 - W Intel Core Ultra 7 155U with 12 essence ( two Performance , eight Efficient , and two Low Power Efficient ) and 14 threads . It ’s a chipset aimed at better efficiency for productivity users . The MacBook Air has two chipsets , an 8 - core CPU/8 - core GPU edition and one with 10 GPU magnetic core . It ’s also direct in the main at productiveness substance abuser , but it has a reasonably firm GPU and C.P.U. optimisation that facilitate speed up various creativity tasks like encoding and decoding video .
Overall , the MacBook Air M3 is faster than the Zenbook S 13 organic light-emitting diode , and it would make for a well launching - spirit level photo- and television - editing laptop . Neither of these machine are very good for gamers .
Display and audio
The Zenbook S 13 OLED ’s best feature is right there in its name — its splendid OLED video display . It ’s sharper at 2880 x 1800 in a 13.3 - inch 16:10 display size of it compare to the MacBook Air ’s 13.6 - inch , 16:10 2560 x 1664 venire . And of course , when looking at the two side by side , the OLED display ’s brilliant colors and inky blacks resist out .
When tested with a tintometer , the divergence is pregnant . First , the Zenbook S 13 OLED ’s display has all-inclusive colors at 100 % of sRGB , 97 % of AdobeRGB , and 100 % of DCI - P3 liken to the MacBook Air ’s display at 100 % , 87 % , and 99 % , severally . The Zenbook ’s gloss accuracy is also in force at a DeltaE of 1.12 versus 1.24 for the MacBook Air . And the Zenbook ’s dividing line is closely infinite , measuring at 27,180:1 compared to 1,480:1 . The only metric where the MacBook Air ’s display is safe is brightness , at 495 nits versus 391 nits .
The MacBook Air M3 has a very dependable IPS display . But the Zenbook S 13 organic light-emitting diode ’s control panel is a lot better .
The MacBook Air also has a much right 4 - utterer sound system that delivers more mass and clearer sound than the Zenbook ’s 2 - speaker setup .
Portability
Both laptops are very portable , with the Zenbook S 13 OLED winning found on its half - pound low weighting .
More impressive is the MacBook Air M3 ’s phenomenal efficiency . It lasted 19 hours in both our web - browsing and video - loop battery examination , while the Zenbook drop dead for 8.75 hours and 12.5 hours , respectively . The MacBook Air also hold up longer when running more demanding test .
at long last , if battery life matter , then the MacBook Air is your best choice for a small laptop .
The Zenbook S 13 OLED puts up a good fight
The Zenbook S 13 organic light-emitting diode is among the best 13 - inch Windows laptop you’re able to buy right now . It ’s very well built , fast enough for demanding productivity users , has an attractive and square build , and its battery life is decent . It ’s even one of the very few Windows laptop that is portable enough to compete with the MacBook Air . You ca n’t snub that brilliant OLED screen either . If you need a MacBook Air rival on the Windows side , the Zenbook S 13 is one of the very best .
But liken it directly with the MacBook Air M3 , it must be said that the latter is quicker and perplex significantly well battery life . It ’s hard to quiver the efficiency of Apple ’s Silicon chipsets , and considering the two are very close in price , the MacBook Air M3 gets the overall win .
