In 2019, Asus unveiled the world’s first portable OLED monitor, the ProArt PQ22UC. Although the PQ22UC is the first portable OLED monitor released, it has a resolution of 3840×2160 and meets 99% of DCI-P3, which corresponds to high specifications even by current standards. The problem is that the launch price of the product, which only includes the monitor, is too expensive at 7 million won. Of course, this is the first product, and the price was high because of the high specifications, but the price was difficult to access not only for general users but also for professionals, so the sales were quietly stopped after a while. However, notebook manufacturers, recognizing the potential of portable OLED, are beginning to install OLED panels in notebooks in earnest.
Now, three years later, OLED panel notebooks have managed to come down to a fairly reasonable price point. At first, it was mainly installed in premium and high-end laptops, so the price range was 3 million or more, but as sales increased, the price began to decrease, and now you can get it in the low range of 1 million won. . Since laptops with good specifications start at 800,000 won, there is little difference from LCD laptops. In the case of Asus, at first, it was applied only to high-end lineups such as Zenbook, but now it presents products with OLED panels in VivoBook, which is a cost-effective lineup. Let’s look at the composition of the 1.2 million won OLED notebook, based on the Asus VivoBook Pro 15.
Up to ASUS 5800H, RTX 3050 TI on OLED panel
The Asus VivoBook Pro 15 belongs to the entry-level Asus office laptop line, but among them, it is a slightly higher level product. The feature of the VivoBook Pro lineup is that it has a higher level of performance than the entry-level model, without including premium hardware. In the case of the VivoBook Pro 15 used in the review, it has a 45W class processor, AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor, Nvidia RTX 3050 TI processor, and 16GB memory, so the price is higher than the entry level. model, but it is not premium. In particular, it has an OLED panel, which was mainly installed on high-end products until last year, so the configuration is more logical.
The display was released in two types: FHD 15.6-inch or 3K. Source = IT DongaThe OLED display can choose between 15.6-inch FHD (1920×1080) and 3K (2880×1620) resolutions, and the DCI-P3 meets 100% with 400 nits of brightness. The 15.6-inch FHD is the standard size and resolution for general office laptops, and can be used for general document work as well as video viewing. The brightness is up to 400 nits, which is slightly brighter than normal laptops, and even if it is used outdoors, it is easy enough to recognize visually as long as it is not in direct sunlight. DCI-P3 meeting 100% means that it is a color space used as a standard by the Film Society of America, which means that it can be used for video editing by professionals as long as it has to calibrate properly.
The advantages of OLED panels are that they are thin and light, and that the contrast ratio, which is the contrast between bright and dark points, is infinite. First of all, OLED does not need a backlight unlike LCD because each element emits light directly. This makes the display thinner and lighter. In addition, since the device itself is turned off when displaying dark areas, complete black can be expressed. In the case of LCD, even if it expresses black, there is still a little brightness, so the contrast ratio is limited to 1000~3000:1. Another advantage is that you can save battery consumption by using dark mode, and etc.
Left and right interfaces. Source = IT DongaThe interface is tailored to office level. There are two USB 2.0 terminals on the left, and an audio terminal, a micro SD slot, a USB-C type terminal, an HDMI terminal, a USB 2.0 terminal, and a power terminal on the right side. The dual USB-C terminal for data transfer is simple and does not support USB-PD input or display. Although the degree and transmission speed of the interface is relatively low, the number of options is varied, so it is suitable for office use. However, you have to keep in mind that most of the interfaces are on the left side, which can be a little inconvenient when using a mouse.
It includes a webcam cover, an enter key decal, and a 180 degree rotating display. Internal upgrades are difficult other than replacing the main NVMe. Source = IT DongaAlso, internal upgrade is not possible. Since most editing laptops require a lot of storage space, it is often necessary to secure additional storage space or upgrade RAM. However, since the VivoBook Pro 15 has only one NVMe slot, it can be completely replaced instead of adding storage space, and the memory is soldered onto the board, so it is impossible to add it. There is no room for a 2.5 inch storage device. So, if you’re looking for a work/editing PC that’s upgradable while in use, find an upgradable product.
AMD Ryzen 7 5800H based on 8 cores and 16 threads is the core
Asus VivoBook Pro 15 is AMD’s Ryzen 5 5600H and Ryzen 7 5800H. The 5600H operates at a maximum speed of 4.2GHz with a 6-core and 12-thread configuration, and the 5800H operates at 4.4GHz with an 8-core and 16-thread configuration, so there is a noticeable speed difference. The graphics card is divided into a model that operates only with integrated graphics without external graphics, a model that has an Nvidia RTX 3050 4GB, and a model that has an RTX 3050 TI. In the review, we used a model with RTX 3050 Ti installed on 5800G and 16GB memory.
Since this product is basically a FreeDOS model, you have to install drivers after installing Windows, and the manufacturer recommends RTX Studio. This is because the product itself is a product that focuses more on work use than on game-specific configuration. However, when using the RTX studio driver, it is difficult to compare some benchmark test results with other control groups, and performance may decrease in some incompatible programs, so it was run with a game-ready driver. For tasks such as Adobe software or 4D cinema maxon rendering with GPU hardware acceleration, it is advantageous to use the RTX Studio driver.
Fire Strike results (left) and Cinebench R23 results (right). Source = IT Donga3DMark used to test gaming performance to check performance: FireStrike and Cinebench R23 were used to check CPU rendering speed. Fire Strike is the process of testing the performance of FHD resolution games, and the performance can be evaluated against the Fire Strike results of other PCs. The score of the result is confirmed as 12,295 graphic points and 22,551 physical points, which is higher than GTX 1060 6GB and slightly higher than RTX 3050 ti average. The CPU is not as good as a gaming laptop, but it performs well enough for an office product.
In the case of the Cinebench R23 version, which tests 3D performance by repeating a certain rendering image for 10 minutes, it scored 11,189 points for multiple cores and 1394 points for a single core, slightly below the AMD Ryzen 5 5800H average. This is because most of the products with the 5800H are gaming laptops with higher heat dissipation performance. Even with this level of performance, it is higher than AMD Ryzen 5 3600X or Intel Core i5-11400F.
Rainbow Six: Siege benchmark results, proceeded with the highest option in FHD resolution. Source = IT Donga
Far Cry 6 built-in benchmark results, went ahead with FHD Ultra resolution option. Source = IT DongaGaming performance was also briefly checked. Although the VivoBook Pro 15 is a business laptop lineup, this is because it is fundamentally closer to a gaming laptop. In particular, the display supports a 120Hz refresh rate that is played 120 times per second, so it is not inferior to playing first-person shooter games. As a result of benchmarking the FPS game Rainbow Six: Siege with the best option, it achieved a minimum of 152 frames and an average of 189 frames, showing satisfactory performance even when playing at a 120Hz refresh rate. In addition, as a result of running Pell Cry 6 released last year in FHD and ultra options, it was confirmed that it can be used for gaming sufficiently by acquiring a minimum of 44 frames and an average of 50 frames. Although 4GB of video memory is insufficient , if you compromise on resolution and options, you can easily handle most of the latest games.
The battery is confirmed to be 5 hours and 20 minutes based on the PCMark Modern Office test. Source = IT DongaThe battery is 63Wh, so it doesn’t last long. In the case of a laptop with an original 45W processor and an external GPU, the battery is not very long. The PCMark 10 Modern Office test was carried out to check the battery performance in real use with the best possible power efficiency with the brightness set to 100%. The test repeatedly performs various functions such as video conferencing, document work, web surfing, and 3D editing to produce results close to the actual life of the battery. At this time, the actual usage time of the VivoBook Pro 15 was about 5 hours and 20 minutes, which was found to be about half a day. As it is a laptop that considers work efficiency, the battery performance seems to be insufficient, but I believe it is at a usable level.
A decent work laptop with a focus on the display
The Asus VivoBook Pro 15 is a product with a clear customer base. The fact that it is equipped with an OLED display is suitable for the conditions that require a sub-OLED display for video editing, and by installing AMD Ryzen 5800H and RTX 3050Ti, simple editing can be performed without problems. In terms of performance, AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and RTX1660 Ti placed on the mainstream desktop two years ago can be seen as a higher level. The price range is appropriate, from 850,000 won for the base model without built-in graphics to 1.4 million won for the high-end model. If the weight is adjusted to this level of performance and weight of 1.3 ~ 1.4kg, the price will rise to 2 million won, so the price / performance ratio is not bad.
It is a reasonable configuration, but many things are missing from premium elements. You have to think carefully and choose. Source = IT DongaInstead, compared to the high-performance Zenbook, the lack of additional functions and interfaces is a limitation. A Thunderbolt 4 port is inevitably not provided due to the nature of the AMD series, but the fact that a USB 2.0 port is still included or that USB-PD and DP-ALT are not supported are entry-level limitations . type. It can be supplemented with HDMI or USB-C type hubs, but the lack of basic performance itself is unavoidable. In addition, due to the characteristics of OLED displays, it is not free from the burn-in phenomenon where the device hardens to a certain image when used for a long time. To prevent burn-in, it is necessary to shorten the time for the screen to turn off automatically, hide the bottom bar, or move icons frequently.
The price of electronic products has risen steadily in recent years due to the increase in semiconductor prices. Laptops are also worth looking at when looking at the price of a mid-range product in the 1 million won range. In such a standard, Asus VivoBook Pro 15 has an OLED display, AMD Ryzen 45W processor, and up to RTX 3050 Ti, with a price range of 1.2 to 1.4 million won, which is cheaper than the smartphone latest flagship. If you need a product with good usability and editing performance, choose it.
Donga.com IT Specialist Nam Si-hyeon (sh@itdonga.com)
