With a dark-silver brushed-aluminum body that gives it a premium swag and makes it look more expensive than it really is, the Asus VivoBook E403SA is one laptop Asus found in their quest for something incredible. Weighing 3.18 pounds and rocking a 14-inch full HD 1920 x 1080 screen – a luxury most laptops in the same category cannot afford – the VivoBook is worth owning especially given that it costs just $399. It can conveniently handle basic document editing, media playback, and very simple video editing tasks just as good as its sibling, the Asus Transformer Mini T102HA does. The VivoBook holds under its aluminum body…
- A 1.6GHz (can be Turbo Boosted to 2.4GHz) Intel Pentium N3700 processor with 4GB RAM and a 128GB SSD paired with a basic Intel HD Graphics chip.
Upon opening the lid, two small tabs protrude from the rear and help keep the lid from scratching against surfaces. The Asus VivoBook has a solid Chiclet-style keyboard which lacks backlighting alongside a very easy to use touchpad; both responded swiftly to every keystroke, touch and button press. The keyboard deck has the looks like it has the same aluminum silver body like the rest of the laptop’s body, but on close observation, you’ll find out that the keyboard deck is actually made of a metallic-looking plastic. The speakers aren’t premium in any way, but it sounds good, thanks to the SonicMaster audio enhancer. There’s a VGA webcam which is poor in all ramifications.
To the left of the laptop are the headphone jack, a USB 3.0 and a USB Type-C port alongside an HDMI port, and to the right, are the SD card slot, the lock slot, and a USB 2.0 port. The USB Type-C port can also be used to charge the laptop.
The battery life is quite impressive as it lasted slightly above 9 hours, better than laptops like the Dell Latitude 13 3000 Series but not up to the standard set by the Dell XPS 13. There is noticeable increase when browsing over WiFi as a result of the presence of the dual band Intel 7260 2 x 2 802.11ac WiFi antennae.
Gaming on the Asus VivoBook E403SA is something you shouldn’t even think about. The Intel HD Graphics chip would conveniently play the Candy Crush game preinstalled on the laptop, but not your favorite games.
Take a look at the Asus ROG G752VS OC Edition if you’re interested in gaming laptops.
For a laptop with its kind of processor, the VivoBook E403SA with its $399 budget price tag, an HD screen and longer battery life, it’s apt for a Christmas gift for someone who doesn’t require much power from a laptop.