Editing photographs and videos on the smartphone is possible but the quality of video will not be the same. To take editing to the next level, I would still suggest a laptop. You can click photos and videos on your phone but use a laptop to get it all together. You don’t need the most powerful laptop on the market to get things done. Instead, choose an option that slips easily into your backpack without pulling you down with its weight. Something like Asus Vivobook Pro 16 OLED 2023 (K6602). We have been following Asus for some time and, if you are a Windows user, it’s difficult to move away from the OLED magic the company continues to focus on.
OLED DOES THE TRICK ONCE AGAIN
It’s a machine that can tackle gaming as well as content creation. In terms of looks, there is nothing stunningly different about it, which works fine. It’s a simple, premium design in which everything feels to have been put together very well. There are no creaking sounds or screen wobble when you open it. The laptop is not the thinnest, like the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra, but it’s a crowd-pleaser. The magic of the machine has a lot to do with the 16-inch 3.2K (3,200 x 2,000) ASUS Lumina OLED panel that comes with 120Hz refresh rate and 0.2ms response time. It’s Pantone-validated for colour accuracy and from the few weeks we had with the machine, there was no flickering. With VESA’s Display HDR TrueBlack 600 certification, visuals will appear vivid with excellent HDR performance. You also get Dolby Vision. The best part is that the 16-inch screen is in a 15-inch chassis. The display is quite bright at 600nits, allowing us to get work done at home and the outside. We are also a fan of the 16:10 aspect ratio, which allows additional space vertically. Weighing under 1.9 kg, it features a side profile of 19.9 mm. The lid is made of aluminum alloy that is finished with new unique Quiet Blue and Cool Silver colour and a raised logo design on the lid. I wouldn’t suggest that you drop any laptop to check its durability, but this one has MIL-STD 810H militarygrade durability and has cleared more than 26 tests.
TYPING EXPERIENCE, PORTS AND ALL THAT JAZZ
Let’s talk about the full-size chiclet keyboard, which has fantastic backlighting. Ensuring that you can type for long hours is 1.4 mm key travel and there is a separate number pad on the right. The keys have a snappy feel as does the massive touchpad, which is 53 per cent larger than the last generation. There is multi-gesture support, making it easy to move between applications. The power button doubles as a fingerprint scanner. It’s an ideal laptop for long-term usage, thanks to the versatile port selection — Thunderbolt 4 port (supports up to 40 Gbps data bandwidth, 4K display output, and up to 100W power delivery), HDMI 2.1 port, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C port, two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, a microSD card reader, an RJ-45 gigabit LAN port and a 3.5 mm audio combo jack. The company hasn’t held back anything on the webcam front. There is an FHD webcam powered by what Asus calls 3D noise-reduction (3DNR) technology, which reduces noise, especially in low-light conditions. There is a manual privacy shield to protect you from hackers. Since the laptop comes with a gorgeous screen, you are bound to watch a lot of films on it. Surprisingly, the Asus Vivobook Pro 16 OLED will stun you with its audio output. The dual speaker system (supports Dolby Atmos) has been tuned by Harman Kardon. The output is loud and deep; there is good surround-sound effects.
CORE OFFERING: PERFORMANCE
Powered by 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900H processor, the hybrid architecture includes six performance cores(P-cores), eight efficient cores (E-cores) and provides users up to 20 threading. The overall performance doesn’t disappoint at all, be it games or the Adobe suite. There is MUX switch technologythat can send graphics frames directly from the GPU to display without passing through the CPU when users play games, reducing latency and boosting the frame rate. This was felt in games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. To help you through all kinds of graphics-intensive activities there is Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 mobile GPU. It boasts 2560 shaders and 80 tensor cores, along with 6GB of GDDR6 VRAM over the Ada Lovelace architecture. So expect excellent real-time ray tracing bringing shadows and effects to life in games. Most of the time, the fans stayed calm and in performance mode, some noise could be heard, which is expected. As far as battery life goes, you will get quite a few hours with office-related productivity tasks but battery life takes a hit when you begin gaming, just like on any rival device.
SHOULD YOU BUY IT?
You can’t go wrong with this machine. I just wish Asus left out things like McAfee and ScreenXpert. Apart from that Asus Vivobook Pro 16 OLED 2023 (K6602) (priced upwards of Rs 152,990) is a sleek powerhouse, perfect for gaming andcontent creation.