Asus VivoBook 15 X512JA [X512JA-BQ240] (90NB0QU2-M03260)

Viva La VivoBook

In recent years, Asus has surprisingly managed to cross seemingly incompatible things in the VivoBook line: to fully use the attributes of premium ultrabooks, while using optimal hardware and putting a moderately modest price tag. The hero of today's Asus VivoBook 15 X512DK review goes even further — it is a moderately performant, thin and stylish laptop with a record low price.

Low-cost display with TN+film matrix

VivoBook 15 X512DK received a TN + film display with an anti-reflective coating, which is standard for the ultra-low-cost class. From the positive: surprisingly wide viewing angles (this is not IPS) and Full HD resolution. From the negative: so-so colour reproduction (only 45% of NTSC space coverage) and not the largest margin of brightness. Although if the laptop will be used for study or work, then this is not particularly critical.

Sense of style

The ErgoFit stand, which raises the top of the laptop at a slight angle, leaving some free space under it to remove excess heat, has become a signature feature of vivobooks. Although it does not heat up very much, the tenth generation dual-core Core i3 with a couple of additional virtual cores generates a minimum of heat, the Intel G1 graphics card rarely has a TDP of 35 W, and the built-in 256 GB SSD does not make noise and does not heat up. In general, the filling here is just right for studying, enough comfortable work with a browser, voracious Google Docs, a simple graphic editor like Canva, etc.

Inspired by Macbooks

Unlike its boring office counterparts, the VivoBook 15 looks stylish and modern: a thin body, barely visible bezels around the display, matte plastic that is pleasant to the touch and non-trivial colours that make it stand out from the same type of black and grey laptops. Outwardly, it is somewhat reminiscent of the Macbooks of the previous generation. If you remember a typical student laptop 3 – 4 years ago, then imbued with our delight. Given the incredibly low cost, it's hard to ask for more from such a machine. However, it has a couple of tricks up its sleeve: namely, fast charging, a decent HD webcam, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a card reader.